Understanding someone with a disability can be quite a challenge, but if you're willing to overcome that challenge, chances are that you will become friends with that disabled person.... wait, haven't I already said this before? Well, regardless of whether or not I did, it's true that I somehow became aware of this movie while it was still an ongoing manga series. When I heard it was being adapted into an anime, even when it was confirmed to be an anime movie, I was already intrigued to watch it for myself; however, when I heard that Kyoto Animation would be the studio behind it, my interest exploded from there. I also read the manga to prepare myself for the movie, and needless to say, I really enjoyed it; however, because I enjoyed it, my concern for how a 2-hour-long movie will adapt the seven volumes grew. So, how did this realistic story of a young man's path toward redemption for bullying a deaf girl fare on the big screen?

Ladies and gentlemen, please read my review for "A Silent Voice", known in Japanese as "Koe no Katachi". (Gosh darn it, not again!)

A Silent Voice follows Shoya Ishida, a young man who was quite a jerk back in elementary school. You see, he was classmates with a deaf girl named Shoko Nishimiya, and he and his classmates used her deafness to bully her into eventually transferring out of school. However, the target of the bullying soon shifts from Shoko to Shoya, causing him to realize exactly how much of a jerk he is; that brings us to the present, where Shoya is a third-year high school student with no friends and suicidal thoughts. However, this changes when he happens to meet Shoko again. From there, Shoya seeks out to set things right.

I'm sorry, but there is just so much I have to say about KyoAni's animation here. The movement is solid, the backgrounds are beautiful, and the fact that they were able to capture the original style of the manga instead of resorting to their own style so much is just magnificent! The voice acting is quite superb, as well, with solid casting choices. I also have to genuinely give Saori Hayami, Shoko's voice actress, some credit for her performance; although I am unable to compare her performance to how a real deaf person speaks, since I admittedly don't know anyone who is actually deaf, it's easy to tell that she is doing her best with her speaking lines. Finally, there's the ending theme, "Koi no Shita no wa" by Aiko; it perfectly matches the overall tone of the film, and I've actually listened to it multiple times before even watching it!

Unfortunately, while I thought the story was the best part of the manga, I can't say the same about the anime; it is here that some of the concerns I had before come into play. Many parts of the story that I remember so clearly from the manga are either rushed through or cut out completely, and it kind of upset me. I mean, I understand why this was done; it's difficult for 62 chapters (7 volumes) of a manga to be squeezed into a 2-hour-long movie, so leaving some things out was going to be left out. Still, this upset me because of how some of the things that were left out of the movie were supposed to give us a better understanding of some of the characters. You know what, though? What we WERE given was still as effective on an emotional scale as the manga was, so I guess I can let this slide just this once.

Overall, A Silent Voice was as great of an anime movie as it was of a manga. If you're in the mood for two hours full of beautiful animation, a realistic story and characters, and emotional moments, I advise you watch this. Perhaps it could show you that no matter how many regrets you have, you've just got to open your ears and listen to the voices of others.