Koe no Katachi

As a wild youth, elementary school student Shouya Ishida sought to beat boredom in the cruelest ways. When the deaf Shouko Nishimiya transfers into his class, Shouya and the rest of his class thoughtlessly bully her for fun. However, when her mother notifies the school, he is singled out and blamed for everything done to her. With Shouko transferring out of the school, Shouya is left at the mercy of his classmates. He is heartlessly ostracized all throughout elementary and middle school, while teachers turn a blind eye.

Now in his third year of high school, Shouya is still plagued by his wrongdoings as a young boy. Sincerely regretting his past actions, he sets out on a journey of redemption: to meet Shouko once more and make amends.

Koe no Katachi tells the heartwarming tale of Shouya's reunion with Shouko and his honest attempts to redeem himself, all while being continually haunted by the shadows of his past.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Nishimiya, Shouko Main

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Ishida, Shouya Main

Irino, Miyu Japanese

Nishimiya, Yuzuru Supporting

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Ueno, Naoka Supporting

Kaneko, Yuuki Japanese

Nagatsuka, Tomohiro Supporting

Ono, Kensho Japanese

Ishida, Maria Supporting

Kamata, Erena Japanese

Pedro Supporting

Watanuki, Ryuunosuke Japanese

Ishida, Miyako Supporting

Yukino, Satsuki Japanese

Sahara, Miyoko Supporting

Ishikawa, Yui Japanese

Mashiba, Satoshi Supporting

Toyonaga, Toshiyuki Japanese

Nakamura, Shinichi Producer

Tateishi, Kensuke Producer

Uetsuki, Mikio Producer

Iizuka, Toshio Producer

Reviews

Jul 17, 2025

Sharur

Recommended

A Silent Voice – A Masterpiece That Hits the Soul

This anime comes painfully close to being a flawless masterpiece.
Even as a 27-year-old man, I found myself on the verge of tears — and honestly, not many works of fiction have ever done that to me.

Watching A Silent Voice for the second time after years, I had almost forgotten just how emotionally powerful it is.
It’s not just about bullying or disability or redemption — it’s about all the unspoken pain, the guilt we carry, and the small chances we get to make things right.

The direction, the sound design, the delicate animation — they all come together ... to support a story that never tries too hard, yet hits exactly where it hurts.
It’s not dramatic for the sake of drama. It’s real.

If you've ever made mistakes you wish you could undo, if you’ve ever struggled with self-worth, or if you’ve ever wanted to be forgiven — this film will speak to you in a way few others can.

A Silent Voice doesn’t just tell a story. It holds up a mirror to who we are, and gently asks us to listen — to others, and to ourselves.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jul 15, 2025

entergungeon

Mixed Feelings

There are a lot of reviews of this movie that bash it for supposedly having flat characters that dont make sense. The argument is that Nishimiya Shouko is a one-dimensional character, who's only trait is being deaf and kind. She's just there to be sad and be a love interest for the main character. Ishida Shouya on the other hand, is the devil incarnate, and should be shot on the spot. I think this is a stupid idea. If you think something along these lines, then please, read my review and write a comment on what you think. I'm really interested to hear your response.

Many ... criticisms state that Ishida has "no reason" to bully Nishimiya, and that she shouldn't be so quick to forgive him and others for bullying her. Of course, it's not objectively wrong to think so. Nishimiya has really horrible things done to her. But that's what the observer believes; it's important to separate that from how other people may act. First off, bullying doesnt need a valid justification. That's kind of the whole thing with it. It is wrong, bad, not good. Ishida doesn't bully because he has a good reason to do so, he does it because he thinks it's what other people want him to do, because he's scared that someone else might take his friends away from him. The specifics of how the bullying happens isn't the important aspect. The bullying forms around the fact that Nishimiya is deaf, but it doesn't happen because of it. Ishida could have used anything to try to make her seem different from other people.

I've went through a very similar thing. I'll keep it short, i just want to explain why i feel strongly for Nishimiyas character. I transfered to a new school at the same age. I tried to make friends and to fit in. At first, my classmates welcomed me and i started to find my place. One of my closer friends started to believe that i was pushing them out of the friend group, and to protect their place in it, made me the butt of their jokes and pranks. At first, it was pretty harmless, but it escalated, became physical at times, and eventually i stopped going to school. I never felt any resentment towards this person, or anyone else at that time. I still don't. I thought that it was my fault i was ostracised, that it was "my flaws" that made people "hate" me. Something reflected in Nishimiya. It's different in every case, the important thing to realise is that bullying can lead to people reacting in different ways. The character Ueno brings forth the idea that Nishimiya should be more resentful of her bullies. She isn't the "villain" of the movie either, she has a different mindset and the movie talks about this. It's okay to have different feelings regarding bullying.

The side characters in this story are a bit flat. They're not awful, they serve the story well, but i've heard the comic fleshes them out more. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I like that the movie is focused on its main characters and premise, it needs to do so to have an impactful story in a two hour runtime. I will read the comic to find out more regarding the other characters.

In conclusion, i think a lot of criticism for this movie is misguided. I can understand different viewpoints, and i don't agree with everything the characters do in this movie, it's not always what I would have done. But this doesn't make the movie bad. Isn't the interesting part of experiencing the story someone else has made that they have different feelings, ideas and experiences than yourself?

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jun 5, 2025

super_toad_fan

Not Recommended

It’s super boring, not gonna lie.

The story is nothing special at all, and I don’t see why people like this anime so much.
I think there are way better stories about disabled people and how they live their lives.
Also, I don’t like that the story focuses more on the bully than on the girl herself — it’s more about the guy who chose to be an asshole than about the girl, who couldn’t do anything about it in the first place.


Of course, the movie is super pretty, and of course, some people see these topics differently then me, but I personally don’t think it’s that ... deep, and I don’t care about the characters at all.
(I watched the movie with friends or alone, I think 3–4 times, and every time I just hoped it would be over, because it’s so boring.)

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Ueno and miki (Spoiler) Gilbertaxel17 - Jan 14, 2024	18 replies	by Romax24245 »» Yesterday, 10:34 PM
	Poll: Koe no Katachi Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) nihon_no_tsuki - Sep 21, 2016	758 replies	by Dekkoy »» Jul 13, 8:30 PM
	Silent voice sub is better or dub ( 1 2 3 ) LORD_NARUTO - Mar 2, 2023	119 replies	by huanglongdotpers »» Jul 5, 7:34 PM
	Did you cry? ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stacias - Aug 1, 2022	269 replies	by Og2005 »» Jun 19, 5:05 AM
	Extended cut of the movie? edit: (probably not real) KaptainKoolaid - Dec 16, 2024	22 replies	by Yeshaiah2015yesh »» Dec 20, 2024 3:32 AM

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