A Silent Voice

(Important note: This review was written before the 2016 anime film adaptation was released.)

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. No matter whether it's not being able to do so or something else entirely, we all have something that we regret doing deeply; I personally have a regret that has haunted me for several years, but as I've been hanging around the person who is centered around those regrets, I've recently started to feel better about it. Another thing I've done recently is read this manga, which evolved from an already emotional one-shot to something that caused my heart to explode into pieces. I don't remember how I first heard about it, but after reading the one-shot and seeing the announcement that it was being made into an anime movie, I felt like I absolutely HAD to read it. All I can say is that reading it was such a wonderful decision.

Ladies and gentlemen, please read my review for "A Silent Voice", known in Japanese as "Koe no Katachi".

A Silent Voice is mostly seen through the eyes of Shoya Ishida, who was classmates with a girl named Shoko Nishimiya back in elementary school. Shoko was unable to hear, so Shoya and his classmates bullied her until it got to the point where she transferred out of school. The bullying ended up getting to the point where it was Shoya getting bullied; thus, years later, Shoya is in high school with no friends and no desire to make any. However, he is soon reunited with Shoko, and they begin to hang out with each other. Shoya soon sets out to get Shoko to reconnect with some of their old classmates.

Let me start off by saying that the artwork was.... not bad, actually. It had a great style, and it seemed realistic; the artwork also helped to make me feel the emotion in the story. The character designs weren't too bad, either. It wasn't the best art I've ever seen in a manga, but for what it was, it was very great.

The story in A Silent Voice is undoubtedly the best part of the manga. It made me go from smiling to trying not to cry to wanting to throw whatever volume was in my hand against the wall; if a manga can make me feel such a range of emotions, it must be a great manga. There was a great amount of character development, too, especially for Shoya; Shoya starts off as a real jerk, but as time went on and he got more development, I sympathized with him more and more. I liked the heroine, Shoko, from the beginning. It's not just that I truly sympathize with how she's deaf; there are a few aspects of her that reminded me of myself. There are even more great characters, but there was one that I did not like from the beginning. That character is Naoka Ueno, who was Shoya and Shoko's classmate in elementary school; she helped Shoya bully Shoko, and six years later, she shows no signs of regret. You know how I mentioned earlier that I would occasionally want to throw the manga against the wall? Her actions throughout the manga was the main reason why. Aside from her, I came to like pretty much all of the characters.

Overall, I found A Silent Voice to be a great manga. If you're someone who is in the mood for a realistic story that is full of emotions, look no further; you've got the right manga. Either that, or wait for the anime movie adaptation coming out in Japan in September; I'm quite excited about it for a number of reasons!