‘A Silent Voice’ serenades with heartwarming story

Photo+courtesy+of+Kyoto+Animation

Photo courtesy of Kyoto Animation

WEB EXCLUSIVE 

This Japanese animated teen drama film tackles and explores the wide-spread issue of bullying, and its long-term effects on the tormented. The narrative starts out following Shoya Ishida, from his years in grade school bullying his deaf classmate Shouko Nishimiya, which later results in him being bullied after going too far and Shouko transferring school, skipping to him in high school trying to fix and mend what he’s done, and trying to break the constraints of guilt he’s built onto himself.

Right out of the gate, this film deserves several commendations, for its perfect animation, heart-tugging soundtrack and fantastic writing. Every element of this animated film ties-in together, creating scenes and situations with heavy emotions and harder impacts. The main cast of characters are shown in-depth and feel like real characters so to say, just adding more to the meaning of every moment as the film forwards itself. Every scene is animated and filled with motion, conflict, or meaning, so there’s no chance you’ll look away from this masterpiece of a film either.

A close friend introduced me to this film. Although, I’ve never even watched anything from the genre before, I cannot explain enough how much people need to see this movie. Overall, this film deserves so much attention, for it really is a masterpiece among film listings.

This film hits every check mark and more, with superb animation style, memorable characters, a soundtrack that fits perfectly and a story that drives home meaningful message on bullying and realizing the people around.