![](http://i.imgsafe.org/51f944249b.jpg)

The anime *Koe no Katachi* (A Silent Voice) is an excellent movie marred by flawed execution. At its heart, *Koe no Katachi* is a story about redemption, friendship and overcoming social anxiety, covering childhood bullying, suicide and the psychic scars of isolation and ostracism. The anime makes excellent use of its heavy subject matter, creating a realistic and entertaining character study.

But only of the protagonist.

# The Sole Driver #

The story focuses on Ishida Shoya, a former delinquent trying to do good. When he was in elementary school, Nishimiya Shoko transferred into his class. Nishimiya is deaf, relying on hearing aids and communicating mainly through written notes on her notebook or through sign language. While she can speak, she is unable to properly articulate her words. Her mannerisms lead Ishida to pick on her, causing the rest of the class to join in.

Until one day, he goes too far. 

In an instant, the entire class turns on him. Nishimiya transfers out. Nishimiya's deeds haunt him through the rest of his days in elementary school. Guilt and regret set in, festering into crippling social anxiety. In high school, Ishida is unable to even look at most people, picturing a 'X' in place of their faces.

With no plans and no hope for the future, Ishida contemplates suicide. But one day, he meets Nishimiya again, discovering that she attends the same high school. Ishida reaches out to her, and begins his long journey to acceptance, recovery and redemption.

The anime's critical weakness lies in having too many characters. Nearly named character from the manga appears in the anime. This leaves very little screen time for *all* of them. While a manga has the capacity to fully explore the minds and actions of supporting characters in depth, the two-hour anime adaptation can only do so much. The anime elects to focus on Ishida's struggles to face his past, understand the meaning of 'friendship', and fight through the mental block that isolates him from everyone else. While it was masterfully done, it came at the cost of character development for everyone else.

Every supporting character is defined by their deeds and personalities, and remain static for much of the film. Aside from Ishida, only Nishimiya Shoko and Yuzuru enjoy character growth -- the former by being more willing to interact with others, the latter by growing friendlier and less sullen. 

 While everybody has believable personas and act entirely in line with their core beliefs and attitudes, the secondary characters exist mainly as a means to reflect Ishida's progress in becoming more sociable. Indeed, characters like Mashiba Satoshi and Nishimiya Ito barely have spoken lines and almost no influence on the plot. Further, at times in the anime I found it difficult to understand why some characters did the things they do; only in the manga are these motivations revealed, such as why Ueno Naoka began bullying Nishimiya, why Yuzuru takes so many photographs, or why Mashiba joins in Ishida's social group.

It is inevitable for lengthy manga to suffer major cuts when adapted to the big screen, but at least in *Koe no Katachi*, the core ideas and story remain intact. It is a testimony to the studio that they managed to deliver a powerful anime in spite of eliminating major story arcs and being forced to work with many shallow characters. 

# Almost-Amazing Cinematography #

The major flaw of the anime is its cinematography. To be sure, *Koe no Katachi* has excellent visuals. Every scene is stylishly depicted, combining traditional anime iconography with beautiful background scenery and fluid motions. The art direction and soundtrack shifts at key moments, driving home Ishida's mental and emotional state. 

However, those key moments are also interrupted by flashbacks and surreal sequences. This is especially jarring in the opening segments of the anime, covering Ishida's elementary school and early high school days. These shots distract from the main event instead of adding to it, making it more difficult to keep track of events and characters and muting the overall emotional impact of these scenes. The flashbacks could be cut from the anime without loss to the story -- and should have been, to retain its overall coherence.

# Final Thoughts #

*Koe no Katachi* is a beautiful coming-of-age tale of friendship and redemption -- but poor cinematographic techniques undo the key scenes. It stars realistically-portrayed characters suffering from deep psychic stories and personal failings -- though the secondary characters are all static. *Koe no Katachi* is a few steps short of being a genuine masterpiece, but it is nonetheless an amazing story in its own right.

--

Photo credits:

Anime poster from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Silent_Voice_Film_Poster.jpg)