wow, this was one of my first animes ever and my first anime movie and I have to say it is spectacular! expectations out of the water. The story follows Shouya Ishida, a teenage boy in his third year of high school, who has been shunned by his peers for bullying deaf student Shouko Nishimiya back in elementary school. The movie is beautifully executed in every way imaginable. The way the movie tackles depression, social anxiety, feelings of worthlessness, and Shouko’s position in society because she is deaf is breathtaking. the story is so beautiful and you really get attached to the main characters. it also shows mental illnesses very well without judging or discriminating against them. my favorite character would have to be shoyo only because he gets great character development in the end. I also love Shoko's sister (sorry I am blanking on her name) because she is very funny and you can tell she really cares for Shoko. I would for sure recommend this to people how are just getting into anime. 1st reason is that the animation is truly beautiful. you really feel like you are there in the story. 2nd reason is that it gives an element of sadness but also relief (lol just wait till you get to banana fish honey, you will be going for a ride.). you can also really bond with most of the characters, especially teens. I am a teen myself and I can really relate to shoyo and his struggles with anxiety. Though it has been said that Ishida has no personality, both he and Shouko show signs of depression and feelings of worthlessness throughout the movie. Shouya is dead set on redeeming himself and making up with Shouko. He feels terrible for everything he’s done to her, and she feels bad for not being able to understand what is a “normal” human being is like. Neither of them feels like the other can be happy unless the other is not there. Ishida goes as far as trying to kill himself in the opening scene, and whether it is Shouko’s fault or the other person’s in an argument, Shouko doesn’t hesitate to apologize.

Neither Shouya nor Shouko understands how society works, both being excluded from it for different reasons. This makes for amazingly awkward scenes when the two are alone together because neither knows what to say or do. Before the events of this movie, Shouya has no friends, and Shouya’s only friends are her family.

The story is an absolute roller coaster of ups and downs and happiness and sadness, and I can assure you I felt every moment. The movie is a beautiful example of the regret someone can go through after realizing what they did was wrong. and once you are done with this movie, you can go and read the manga!