The Past and A Silent Voice Anime
Remember, a time where you did something in the past and regretted that choice years later? This feeling is always around people, past actions could potentially haunt. Humans can fall in this pattern because we have something happen to make us wonder about a time that reminds whoever of another time.
A perfect example of self-reflection for me was the movie A Silent Voice. A Silent Voice portrays scenes of the hard reality of harassment, suicidal thinking, and how it affects others. A Silent Voice tells the story of a transfer student, who goes by the name of Shoko Nishimiya, and how he experiences life differently than others. Shoya Ishida is the person who misjudges Shoko and soon the infamous nickname of Sho occurs for both characters. Shoya begins to bully Shoko, who is deaf. In his mind has fun making her life as miserable as possible. Finally, Shoko decides enough is enough and transfers to another class, meanwhile Shoya gets the blame for being the sole bully in the classroom.
Following the betrayal of the class, Shoya looks at people differently and begins to gain a reputation himself for being bullied in his middle school years. He grows up as an outcast and becomes the victim himself in some regard. He is soon more focused than ever to make amends for his mistakes and for bullying Shoko.
A Silent Voice is the work of Naoko Yamada. It is a little perplexing as I've not encountered a lot of female Anime directors. I was also a little surprised to find out it was also based on a Manga by Yoshitoki Oima. The film itself is an endearing tale of living one's life as a young person being affected by regrets and opening up to the world in a brighter manner than before, but it's also about atonement and reconciling with one's consequences of their actions.
The characters are relatable as they are touching, carrying the film through it's compelling plot especially with the main character himself and the deaf girl who he's trying to understand. In the end it's not surprising the characters learn something more about themselves as well as their relationships with others in order to lead happier lives.
The animation is unique and top of its class to say the very least, not the most outstanding especially for its environments though; it does a superb at blurring the line between imagination and reality. Even if the success of “Your Name” is to suggest one piece of Anime that was hugely successful, this deserves just as much attention as it does acclaim. I have no regrets watching this film and I encourage people of all demographics to seek it out and watch it for themselves.
