DVD Movie Review: A Silent Voice

A Silent Voice (UK Rating: 15)

There's a new girl in school and she's got something that makes her different to any transfer student the kids have seen before. Shoko Nishimiya is deaf and introduces herself to her class via a big notebook, a tool she uses to communicate with the world. While her class embraces the novelty of their new friend at first, the special attention she requires soon makes her the target of a few bullies. It starts off with just one or two little moments but soon it escalates into some really disgusting acts. Worst of all is a boy named Shoya Ishida, the protagonist of this tale. Shoya is horribly cruel to her, stealing her hearing aids, mocking her voice, and leading the class in their tormenting. No matter what they do, though, Shoko takes it all in stride, constantly trying to befriend the class, always with a smile for them, and often repeating three little sign language movements - three movements that mean "Can we be friends?" It's hard to watch as this innocent girl is completely ostracised for no good reason.

Five long years of this has made Shoya completely introspective; he's decided he's going to make right all his wrongs. He saves all his money, sells all his stuff, and plans to give all his money to his mother to make up for all the money she had to spend replacing the hearing aids he stole and destroyed from Shoko. Then he plans to finally apologise to Shoko, before killing himself. There are some deep and some dark moments here that some viewers will find hard to watch. Ultimately, Shoya doesn't kill himself and instead tries to build a friendship with Shoko, a friendship that begins to change his life. It's a friendship that begins to open Shoya to the world and allow him to start to come out of his shell.

Nothing else can be said about the plot. It deserves to be watched; it's a beautiful and moving story that deserves to be seen firsthand.

Speaking of beautiful, A Silent Voice comes from Kyoto Animation and its always high-quality presentation is on fine form here, with every element of the visuals shining to perfection. There are some individual and recognisable designs for the characters (although one character is stealing the iconic hairstyle of the stud muffin of My Hero Academia, Minoru Mineta). The environments also paint the picturesque reality of rural Japan, whether it be biking through the country, sitting in a cat cafe, or feeding koi from a bridge - every scene looks stunning.

8/10

Great - Silver Award

Heartfelt, touching, beautiful, moving - this is a story that looks deeply into friendship and bullying, bonds and loneliness; ultimately, a story about life. This is a movie that deserves to stand alongside the finest there are; to stand beside Wolf Children and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, to even stand beside Your Name. While it has some moments that will be difficult for some in the audience to watch, it's also a story that will touch others on a level that no-one will understand; a story that understands, a story that gives sound to A Silent Voice.