LogFAQs > #941620270

1. A Silent Voice

Inviso: 1
Karo: 2
Genny: 2
Red: 3
Charon: 4
Johnbobb: 5
Jona: 10

Total: 27

Inviso: I had a really tough time trying to decide just how high to rank this, because its amazing and could genuinely have taken the top spot on the list (and keep in mind, I still have NINETEEN more films to watch as of this write-up). Ultimately, the ONE thing that holds it back is that its just a LITTLE too cruel. Like, I get that thats the point, but there was just a LITTLE too much discomfort at times for me. Not enough that I wouldnt watch it again, or recommend it to my friendsbut enough to potentially rob it of the top spot.

Really though, almost everything else about this movie is great. I appreciate the fact that you establish your two main characters are the CLEAR shithead in need of redemption, and the designated woobie of the filmbut theyre more than that. Shoya certainly needs redemption, but its almost interesting to see him go from king bully to relentlessly picked on, to the point where he contemplates suicide. He tries a BIT too hard for redemption, but its also interesting to note that he struggles with this. He wants to make amends, but it only winds up blowing up in his face, testing his resolve. Thats interesting to me.

MEANWHILE though, Shoko is a fascinating character. On the surface, its HORRIBLE watching just how shabbily shes treated at the start of the movie, and that feeling only becomes worse when Naoka enters the picture and is incapable of behaving like a decent human being. And it would be so easy to just have her be this punching bag so the audience feels bad and slowly appreciates Shoya more for trying to help herbut then you realize that youre falling into the same trap as the majority of the other characters in the movie.

Shoko is deaf, and from minute one, we see that her deafness makes things difficult for those around her. And she KNOWS this. Shes so quiet and polite and kind and forgiving because she knows how difficult it is to adapt to HER. We see this in the school scene, we see this in scenes with her family, and we see this in JUST how hard Shoya tries to help and befriend her. None of this is her fault. She cannot help her disability. But as the film goes along, you realize that shes AWARE of how much trouble she causes just by existing. It doesnt help that Naoka is a fucking BITCH, but ultimately, everything leads to Shoko attempting suicide, because she thinks everyone will be happier if shes not around to make them miserable.

Shoya going the extra mile to save Shokos life is a great scene (he even politely takes his shoes off an everything), but it just sets the ball rolling for both of them, and their friends. It reveals that everyone has shit they deal with, and EVERYONE feels guilty about the things theyve done, and how their actions negatively impact others. That realization, and the affirmation that theyre all gonna work together to be betterits just, its a nice ending. And I appreciate that the ending comes without NEEDING to settle the lingering romantic leanings between Shoko and Shoya. This all just worked extremely well for me, and even as I write this, Im debating its placement once again. And my final solution, having finished the whole list, is that Im giving the nod to A Silent Voice. It just REALLY stuck with me long after I watched it, and Id definitely recommend it to anyone who asks.

Karo: What It Is:
A former bully tries to make amends to the deaf girl he tormented in grade school.

What I Think:
The characters are the heart of this movie, each has their flaws and quirks that make them feel real, and avoids all the overused tropes that are often seen in anime about schoolchildren.
It is a film as beautiful visually as it is emotionally, and it ranks as one of the best anime films ever made.

Score: 92/100

Genny: A Silent Voice is such a treat to watch, one I've indulged in three times now. There are so many subtle nuances I missed the first time around that every subsequent viewing feels like a new learning experience. The hand signals used throughout this beautifully animated film are factual JSL (Japanese Sign Language) gestures which differ greatly from those used in ASL. All the little details in Shoya's and Shoko's communication with each other and with other characters, while not critical to the understanding of the film as a whole, add so much more to the atmosphere that it's phenomenal. For example during the funeral scene shortly after Grandma Nishimiya passes away, a butterfly lands on Shoko and floats off. She gazes at her sister Yuzuru, hooks her pinky finger and bounces her hand twice, the JSL gesture for "grandmother", indicating that Ito Nishimiya 's soul has reincarnated and come to visit them one last time, and it's a poignant moment that's so esoteric it makes me want to watch through this entire series: https://youtu.be/PSqxz-OmT-E, just so I can watch A Silent Voice a fourth time and understand every word of the entire second language that is said without speaking.

On the subject of characters Shoya's transformation from a bullying brat of a child to a depressed, remorseful young adult is somehow endearing despite the fact that neither characterization is one I'm overly fond of. Shoko and Yuzuru are also quite sympathetic, and over the course of the film and found myself rooting for their happiness and success respectively. The supporting cast is stellar with the exception of one character, but I'll get to her in a moment. Shoya's mother is one of my favorite moms in anime: she's funny, hardworking, supportive, and doesn't take any of her son's crap regardless of his age, and Nagatsuki is the best friend I'd be happy to have: one that never gives up on you even despite your best efforts to isolate yourself. He's the fun extrovert every introvert needs to be brought out of their own shell. Those are the standouts and also the supporting cast members featured the most in the film, and the rest are all varying degrees of tolerable, aside from Naoka Ueno. I just flat out don't understand her characterization. On the one hand she wants things to go back to how they were in her childhood despite her and Shoya being objectively bad people back then, but on the other she wants to forget the actions that drove them apart in the first place in a delusional effort to become friends again. She can't have it both ways, and her misdirected rage at Shoko is the most confusing of all. I understand why she feels like Shoko came between her and Shoya, but is she really so ignorant as to assume the status quo would be restored if Shoko were out of the picture? Obviously Shoya befriended Shoko in an effort to better himself so of course he'd want nothing to do with his own checkered past which included Ueno; I just can't comprehend why the film treats Naoka as nearly as sympathetic as the main duo and shows her image alongside much more likable characters in the outro montage, and I think this sentiment is what holds the film back slightly for me.

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Congrats to azuarc on being really good at predicting stuff