The Shape Of The Voice


A Silent Voice is a subtitled animated Japanese movie by Yamada Naoko. It’s about the relationship between two school students, Shoya Ishida (Miyu Irino) and Shoko Nishimiya (Saori Hayami). When Shoko, who has a hearing impairment, starts as a new student in an established elementary class, delinquent Shoya teases her because of her impairment. But when he transfers to junior high school, his former friends turn against him and Shoya finds himself isolated and lonely. He feels guilty about his past actions towards Shoko, and he frequently thinks about how he could atone for his behaviour.
One day, he reunites with Shoko and the two become tentative friends. In an effort to bring happiness to Shoko’s life, Shoya sets out to reconnect her with other students from elementary school, whom she never had a chance to know.


Shoko and Shoya gradually begin to develop strong feelings for each other, although Shoko still experiences feelings of hopelessness that eventually lead her to attempt suicide. When Shoya tries to stop her, he puts his own life in jeopardy and the two must both come to terms with their actions.



Because the movie deals with mature and disturbing themes like bullying, suicide and atonement, it isn’t recommended for children under 14 years. If you have older teenagers who see the movie, you might like to talk about these themes with them.


Some Facts You May Don't Know 

Shoko's English dub voice actress Lexi Marman is actually deaf in real life.At the very beginning of the movie (where "My Generation" by "The Who" plays), when Shoya and his friends enter his mother's hairdresser salon, Nishimiya with long hair can be seen looking at a magazine about hairstyles in the salon. The next day when Nishimiya starts to Shoya's school, she has short, bob-cut hair.The opening song is "My Generation" by The Who. Naoko Yamada's previous work, K-On! (2009) and it's film companion K-On! The Movie (2011) also paid tribute to the famous British band.

At the beginning, the song "My Generation" written by Pete Townshend by The Who is played. Mr. Townshend is tone deaf in his left ear. Similar to the character Shoko Nishimiya in the movie who is deaf in both of her ears and has hearing aids to help her understand.
This anime uses the same theme like Hope God Loves You, Mom (2013)

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