From its original manga written by Yoshitoki Oima, “A silent voice”, was given a beautiful anime adaptation that was released in 2017. Imagine a world where you can’t hear and the words on paper don’t get through to people. This story takes us to Shoya who bullied someone like that in middle school and then tries to make up for it in his senior year of high school. What does it take to find redemption? Sometimes the answer is as simple as learning to listen.

Based on a true story it takes us down Shoya Ishida’s internal conflict as a child and into his teen years. He was in a race against boredom when Nishimiya becomes a new student at his school. The film’s unwavering depiction of teenagers and their social struggles, through the eyes of Shoya the bully. You can feel the surprise and anticipation of learning about Nishimiya when she announces to the class in writing that she’s deaf. 

The movie dives into deeper topics such as depression, anxiety, bullying, suicide, and disabilities. While touching on these harder topics the animatics, music, characters, and even dialogue clash so well together. Songs like “lit” and “Your silent portrait” perfectly bring out more suspense in those scenes of the film. There is much symbolism in the movie as well, the deaf not only being Nishimiyas disability but also Ishida’s self-isolation. 

The movie is heart-wrenching and a bit difficult to watch because it goes so in-depth with those deeper topics, but it does things that other anime films don’t do. It sidesteps a lot of the mellow drama that some animes fall into. Along with having a different viewpoint from the bully instead of the victim. From a boy who found fun in bullying a deaf girl, to a man who is deeply traumatized by the pain he inflicted on others.