INTRODUCTION
It is very fitting that a movie about deafness and how hard it can be to communicate would leave one speechless. Given that this is my first review of an anime, please let me dawdle as I attempt to put in words what I felt while watching this masterpiece.
(THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS SO READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION)

STORY I will divide this section into 3 parts, the premise, the execution and the conclusion. -Premise So, right of the bat, A Silent Voice pulls the viewer in with a very interesting premise. But in order to understand why it works for me, I must disclose a bit about myself. I am, admittedly, a person with no patience. I can't wait for shows or movies to "get good" like some people say. This either causes me to drop a show, or slog through it, and by the time I get to the good part, I no longer care. Case in point being Neon Genesis Evangelion; that show may be good, but as someone who hates episodic content, it does little to appease my sensibilities. Which is why, when I find that one thing which starts of firing on all cylinders, I am pleasantly surprised. I do not think there is a single movie (save for maybe Lighthouse) that sold me on its premise as quickly as this one. You are drawn to sympathize with the main heroine as soon as you see her, and before you know it, you're hit with a sledgehammer of emotions, and want to throat-punch all of her abusers. I think the part that does it for me is the unlimited amount of kindness the heroine shows in face of adversity. Electing to wipe Ishida's table of mean messages in spite of the bullying received from his end, forgiving every indignity suffered at the hands of her classmates and such all serve to promote our protagonist as a person with a heart of gold. -Execution So, it is a known fact among any sort of media that, regardless of your premise's quality, if the execution falls flat, so does the story. A lot of us will chose to consider this to be a case of untapped potential. Think of things like Tokyo Ghoul (anime), some are still regretful over how good it could've been, given the outstanding premise it had. This movie delivers on its premise and then some. It fills every scene to the brim with content but never feels like a slog to go through. It doesn't have those long scenes of nothing happening which leave your mind pondering about how you'd rather do anything else. But this isn't just a story of one person, like any piece of media that delves into friendship, it must be about two. Our male protagonist, Shoya Ishida goes through extraordinary amount of character development through the story. Going from a bully, to an introverted cynic, and, by the end, a more open person is a joy to watch over the movie's 2-hour runtime (even if I did want to throat punch him initially). I think the way the story is structured naturally lends itself to having 2 main characters, giving both equal time on display. I also like the way they incorporated sign language, and while I do not know any deaf people, I found the portrayal of what it's like to be deaf through Shoko's experiences believable (even though the kids at her school are a tad cartoonishly villainous). -Conclusion You can tell how well-written and likeable a movie's characters are by how much you're invested in their fate. For example, when I was reading Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, the idea that something bad might happen to Cosette and Jean Valjean kept my heart pounding. The only thing I wanted for this memorable duo was happiness. Here, I find myself at something of a similar predicament. Right around the time Shoko was about to jump, I had to pause in disbelief about 2 or 3 times. As Ishida was latching onto different obstacles in his attempt to catch her (in what will become 2 of the most intense minutes in my lifetime), I found myself gasping for air. But this scene doesn't let you of the hook just yet, even after he catches her, the story throws a new twist your way when he falls instead. This shows one of this movie's most prominent qualities, which is building on something that's already good, or rather, building on a good premise. ANIMATION AND AESTHETICS I will start with a confession, I know very little about what makes or breaks animation. All I go by is what looks appeasing to my eyes, and this movie, from drop-dead gorgeous aesthetics to overall solid animation work, gives an even more notable visual tint to this already amazing experience. I must praise the animation of hands when characters are communicating in JSL, I found it very compelling and distinct. MUSIC AND SOUND DESIGN The thing I found immediately surprising with this movie is how much more diegetic the sound design is compared to other shows. And when there are soundtracks, they are usually the very subdued variant of soothing piano tracks meant to give an additional shade of melancholy to the atmosphere. They enhance the scene while letting it speak for itself, which I found refreshing. The OST as a whole is something to be listened to on a rainy day (much like BOTW's OST) and I would definitely recommend checking it out.

Well, if you've made it this far, I thank you. This is my first review so it's already far from perfect, feel free to suggest how I might improve my writing for the next one. Also, thank you for slogging through this aimless verbiage of mine!