A Silent Voice (Koe no Katachi) [rating=4]
As a huge fan of Naoko Yamada I was naturally excited to see what she would do with the anime adaptation of the hit manga Koe no Katachi. Having previously enjoyed K-On! for it’s light hearted charm I was curious to see how she would handle a different tone of project, albeit set in a familiar high school slice of life setting. I wasn’t disappointed.
Koe no Katachi follows Ishida Shouya, an elementary school student who begins to bully fellow classmate Nishymiya Shoko, a girl with impaired hearing. After encouraging his classmates to join in with the teasing it proves too much for Nishymiya and causes her to transfer to another school, which in turn leads to Ishida himself being bullied and socially outcast. The film deals with themes of bullying and isolation in a tasteful and thought provoking manner as we see Ishida try to return to a normal life and make amends after being socially outcast for his actions.
Koe no Katachi is a beautifully directed offering from Yamada Naoko, and a fantastic addition to the Kyoto Animation library. With truly beautiful animation and a touching and compelling storyline set to Kensuke Ushio’s score, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Admittedly I did find that the film dragged in the third act but this took away little from my overall enjoyment of the film. I would highly recommend you catch this film if you have the chance.
For Full listings of all Cinemas screening A Silent Voice, check out the movies official website.
Anime, Drama, Romance | Japan, 2016 | 12A | 15th March 2017 (UK) | Anime Ltd | Dir.Naoko Yamada
