A Silent Voice Review: Shattering a Deafening Silence

It's refreshing to see more and more anime films of a non-Studio Ghibli pedigree make splashes worldwide, and most especially in the Western world. With the wild success of Matoko Shinkai's your name across the world, more and bigger audiences are becoming receptive to anime films as something beyond "those Japanese cartoons". Kyoto Animation's A Silent Voice (Koe no Katachi), based on the manga by Yoshitoki Oima, hopes to captivate audiences globally in the same way, and while isn't quite the same experience as your name, is nonetheless a beautiful and moving film people of all ages and interests can enjoy.

To say A Silent Voice is just about bullying is an injustice. It's about that, yes, and so much more. It's about the the cycle of bullying, the long lasting effects it can have on a youth's mind, trying to build meaningful friendships, and the struggle to right the wrongs of the past. It's slow moving and painfully relateable, the kind of film that maybe wouldn't be made in Hollywood, but maybe should.

The film primarily focuses on Shoya Ishida and his relationship with Shoko Nishimiya, a deaf girl who transfers to his elementary school. After a bleak opener, the movie starts with how Ishida and his classmates meet and treat Nishimiya. The cruelty of schoolchildren to keep fragile friendships alive, to an extent that's hurtful to watch, magnified and almost clashing with the beauty of the animation and the serenity of the soundtrack, forces Nishimiya to leave the school to find peace. What follows is the story of Ishida trying to cope with a deep rooted depression from these events, and reconnect with Nishimiya to make things right.

To watch Ishida try to rectify the mistakes of his youth is heartening. Over the course of the film, he struggles to rebuild friendships and create new ones, closed off and still hurt from the fallout of his actions. KyoAni expresses this visually through downcast shots, exceedingly blurred faces of characters of no importance, and even giant Xs over the faces of those Ishida interacts with on a superficial level, adding to the sense of loneliness Ishida endures. His growth is contrasted by the weird lack of such from his elementary school classmates, a testament to how hard old habits and personality traits die hard.

The film's ups and downs (and there are quite the upsetting downs) lead up to a fitting end after nearly 2 hours of packed storytelling. For such a slow moving film, suprisingly there isn't a lot of downtime, but the story does seem to drag a bit in places. The visuals are nothing short of wonderful, with KyoAni once again putting out superb work. The soundtrack, although sparse, is mostly fitting, save for a few strange tonal choices against what's being seen onscreen. Overall though, A Silent Voice is a worthy addition to the modern anime classics pantheon, and most certainly a good spending of your time.

-Janette G

A Silent Voice premiers in the US this Friday, October 21. Showtimes and tickets available at http://www.elevenarts.net/asilentvoice .