Koe no Katachi

Most people have been bullied in some way shape or form, and some have had it worse then others. Here in Koe no Katachi, we watch as the main character Ishida who bullied the female main character (along with many others), Nishimiya, who is deaf, try to change himself and make up for the childhood that he took away from Nishimiya.

Some of the things that really made me like this manga storywise was how real the actual setting of the show is and how it can be a very controversial thing to cover in a manga. The bullying is realistic, it isn't kiddie bullying that some people get, its the real full on, bullying that can cause many incidents in our world, and the depictions in the manga about the bullying in their world were actually fair and fair the same or even maybe worse then some other cases. Its even worse how its towards a deaf person, where as people with disabilities are the ones who are often times the easiest targets for bullying.

The art of the manga in all honesty isn't that good, in fact the art wasn't really good for most of the series, but the art isn't really the thing about the series that drags you in, its the storyline and the characters. I think the art isn't bad enough to completely drop the show, I think the art fits in most of the situations but is poor in quite a lot of other areas as well.

The characters in this manga we're in all honesty, very good characters. I mean good as in "they're realistic." not "they're amazingly great."

The characters in this series all are pretty much assholes at the start. Even Nishimiya had her fair share of problems, but we understand why she acted that way from basically the start of the manga.

Ishida was by FAR the best character in this manga, and honestly I would read it again for his development as a character in this series. I was simply amazed and inspired watching Ishida grow and mature throughout the series, especially while his former classmates and future people that came into play not wanting to change for a MAJORITY of the series, but they do end up changing, for the better, I think.

I rate the characters so highly in this series because it shows that, really change DOES NOT happen overnight, and you can't expect it to, it shows a very accurate depiction of how humans are and how the teenage years work a number on you and how they shape you as a person, and that if you want to change ONLY you can do that, and Ishida was a prime example of that throughout the entire series.

The series even has the hateable characters for a while but it does a very good job closing and setting the scene for change in them.

My enjoyment level of this series was at a high for a while, I started reading the manga 2 days prior to finishing it. Its a short 64 chapter manga that can really keep you entertained throughout the whole manga.

My only disappointments for this series is a very lackluster, rushed ending with basically a ending that anyone can spin anyway they want to. I'm not really a fan of those types of endings (except for Code Geass) because they have to be executed well, but in this case the closings on the characters were not so great, the ending didn't really give anyone a look into what happened after, or anything of the sort.

So don't read this series if you're looking for a romance-esque type series, I thought that it would be like that going in, but frankly there's no kissing scenes, full on confessions (there are halfassed ones) but I think the manga is definitely better without it because I think the story was more focused on change and how to improve yourself as a person overtime and that more people have these problems then you might think.

Overall I rate this series a 9/10 because of the ending being lackluster, everything else was amazing and its one of the best mangas I've read in the past few years. Be sure to check this out if you're bored and looking for a read.

One of my all-time-favorite mangas!

I absolutely love the work of Yoshitoki Oima and I can say that I can buy any of her mangas and I know I like it.
The same thing goes for this one.

Overall, the idea of having a deaf main character is pretty genius, but I was totally fascinated by the shift of the theme from the first to the second book.

It's just very good thought through and all details are important and make sense. Take for example the cover of the sixth book. People who read the manga will know what I mean...

There's something in Yoshitoki Oima's way of expressing feelings with images and dialogue, that is absolutely amazing and this shows especially with a character who cannot hear or talk.

I am very excited to read more of her work and at the time I'm writing this review I'm also reading her new series "To your eternity", but that is the matter for a whole different review...

A Silent Voice covers the arc of redemption of a bully who dearly regrets his past. After being betrayed, punished, and bullied himself, Shoya becomes the one in the story with the 'silent voice' rather than his original victim, Shoko Nishimiya.

Before reading this wonderful manga, I watched the movie adaptation. The adaptation was so wonderful and even brought me to tears multiple times as I continued to think about these characters. After purchasing the source material and giving it a read I truly believe there was only one part of the movie that did better than its manga. The animation. Kyoto knocked it out of the park and made the heartbreaking scenes in the manga even better by bringing it to life.

Now what the manga did better. Pretty much everything, from character arcs and their depth and development, the plot, the pacing. The manga was a better story overall and showed a lot more love for the more confusing characters in the anime adaptation. For example, Satoshi, a kid who was bullied and lived his time before knowing Shoya's past hating bullies in every way. He would go to the point of hurting children and disrespecting adults if he found them the slightest bit disrespectful. Because of his past trauma, Satoshi hated bullies until he finally met one that changed for the better. All of Satoshi's arc was cut out of the movie... all of it.

Yuzuru Nishimiya is the sister of the main character Shoko and I truly feel that we get a better grasp of her in the manga. We see more of her overall and how she connects with Shoya and the others. We also get to see more of her depressed state and how much she really does for Shoko.

Now for the two everyone hates. Naoka and Miki. I still dislike Miki after this read but it dawned on me that Naoka's character made more sense rather than her just being a nasty brat like she is in the adaptation. As they are meant to be disliked, I like how their selfish personalities show how hard it can be to change even with good people around you. And this really hits, as Shoya is trying to do just that.

We also get to see some more content after the ending of the film. We see what everyone wants to be when the are older and how they go about it. The main duo end up studying to become hairstylists, Shoya, to carry on his mothers business, and Shoko, because she loves it and was inspired to do so.

There is so much more to the written story and I recommend everyon to read it .

I went into A Silent Voice with an attitude of equal parts interest and trepidation. Interest because of the high praise I had heard for the manga, and trepidation because the subject matter of childhood bullying seemed ripe for disaster. There are a million ways to make a story about bullying into a preachy PSA or a melodramatic angsty train wreck. What I ended up getting was a marvellously written story that completely shattered my fears that this manga was going to paint by numbers or take the easy way out.



STORY

If there's one archetype I'm an incurable sucker for, it's 'The Atoner'. A high school boy tries to make ammends to the girl he bullied in 6th grade, but also needs to learn to forgive himself and others. A Silent Voice covers the subject of bullying from multiple angles, covering not just the main victim and main bully, but also delving into how bullying can affect large groups even if only a handful of people are directly involved.

As for the actual sequence of events that make up the plot, those are fairly simplistic and straightforward. The plot focuses more on simply putting characters into normal situations and letting them go to work, rather than than creating grand setpieces or throwing lots of curveballs from out of the blue for the cast to react to. It has a couple moments of perhaps excessive drama, where emotion seems ramped up for the sake of 'feels' rather than logical progression. But overall the story is solid.



ART



Excellent background work is the best part of this series' art, with strong character designs to boot. For a series so heavily grounded in realism, it was critical to sell the idea that the story is taking place in the real world. To help sell this idea, A Silent Voice has highly detailed, beautiful backgrounds and settings that are practically reference photos. Combine this with character designs that are clearly distict and have a healthy dose of realism mixed in with the traditional manga aesthetic (body types, faces, and outfits are all fully within the realm of believeability) and it becomes very easy to believe you're seeing something that could happen in real life- which helps the emotional moments hit home. The layout and design of this series very straightfoward, with few gimmicks or tricks in the presentation.



CHARACTERS



This series should be required reading for anyone who wants to know how to make a character sympathetic even while they're not always or even often likable. Characters don't always fall into common tropes, and sometimes it can even take a couple re-readings to decide what you truly feel about a character. It would have been so easy to write this story with a Mary Sue or two for leads, surrounded by nasty bad guys who are just mean for the sake of being mean. The most admirable characters can sometimes make big mistakes and reveal major personal flaws, and the least likable pain-in-the-butt characters can sometimes show positive traits and do a good deed, and in neither case does it feel like a Deus Ex Machina because the writer took the time to properly flesh the cast out.



There are a couple flaws in this area however. In the middle a story a new character appears who is treated like they're super important and have always been there, despite never having been seen or shown affecting the plot in any way. And then just a chapter or two later, that same 'super important' character leaves the story and isn't referenced again. So there are flaws if you take a good look, but dang if the character writing isn't still strong.



OVERALL



An excellent manga, hands down. I give this series a very strong recommendation, a real 'must read' for someone looking for a serious emotional story.

The story is about a strange couple: Nishimiya Shouko and Ishida Shouya and the development of their relationship.

Nishimiya is a deaf girl who gets bullied by Ishida.It leads to Nishimiya leaving the school.But because of this Ishidas classmates turn againts him.He realises his mistake and regrets it.After a few years Ishida meets Nishimiya again.He decides to atone what he does.To do that he learns sign language and starts to build up a relation with her.

The manga itself operates with mature topics such as suicide and bullying.Overall, the manga militates very mature the problems with which the characters strugle feel real and believable.The characters and their development are the main advantage of this manga.Around the main characters is formed a group of unique personalities in spite of the fact that these people dont have anything in common.

The art is really good and there is nothing I can point out about it.

I enjoyed this manga and I would recomend it to anyone who looks for more, than just an ordinary romantic story.

I stumbled this manga through browsing it in the manga recommendations. As I’ve read the synopsis, it catches my attention and say I should read this one. The story and art were exceptional. I never encountered a story something like this where the main character seeks for redemption. It really tackles deep in life, especially the past and mistakes also issues on friendship. One of the manga that will give you the feels. I really like how the author builds up the character of Ishida Shouya. The author also gives light to the other characters. Although, it is a romance I think it lacks because somehow in the story both of the characters are oblivious to each feelings. I did enjoy reading this one it keeps on pique my curiosity as to how it will end. Has a little comedy. It also has a lesson something that will make you realize. Overall, it was a worth while to check out this manga.

Hello! I'm going to review this comic. This review based on my opinion, you can accept or deny it ^o^

This comic serve the story so well. The intro gives me bad opinion to Shoya, a boy who search his happiness so he doesn't get bored, until he meets girl with disability, a deaf girl, Shoko, and he starts to make fun of her for his happiness.

Honestly it burns my heart when read the intro. The story is told so well, drama wasn't told excessively, It really describe what you find in real life. Bullying will leave bad impact for the victim, and remember, "KARMA EXISTS".

Regret always come last. I'm moved after this part when he wants to fix everything from the beginning. Along story so much drama happens. Actually I couldn't resist myself when enter the climax. (I'm afraid, I told it in detail)

But, the ending is quite make me dissapointed. Actually I was expected something bigger than that. but well, I really want to watch the movie ASAP!

Overall is good! Very tocuhing story.

Thank you very much. :D

I discovered this manga by chance, and after I read the summary, I put it on my "Plan to Read" list. After finally getting some time to dive into it, here came chapter 1. "Completely absorbed" would be the state I'd find myself in.

In terms of pace, I really enjoyed this work, even though it had a lot to take in, I still found it rather smooth to do so, and the exposition of such details didn't feel as forced as I've seen in some other works.

Character-wise, I loved it as well. The way the characters exposed their thoughts and intentions really nailed it for me, to such degree I could nearly relate to some events, understanding exactly each perspective. Overall, there wasn't a character I hated (in this case, liking/hating is related to how well the characters were made, not if they had the purpose of being heroes/villains in the story).

Laughing, nearly crying, I even found myself holding my breath sometimes; that's how invested I was into the story, hence why I can safely say it was one of the most enjoyable works I've read up to date (not that I've read that many, but it's the feeling that counts :p).

Overall, I deemed this manga worthy of an 8/10, and I know many will disagree, but after all, this is a personal review, hopefully you found these general remarks somewhat useful, and come to enjoy it as much as I did.

As someone who was bullied and abused quite a bit during his formative years, I generally don't care to think of my past tormentors as human beings. When you're going through the thick of it all, they don't really seem like people as much as they come off as monsters. Of course, one of life's painful truths is that people are capable of changing for better or worse. There have been countless times in my adult life where I'm confronted with my past tormentors and I had to accept the reality that they weren't the same person they were back then. Some of them actually realised the errors of their ways, others had karma bite them square in the ass and they took a lesson in humility, and others still were victims of peer pressure who felt some twinge of remorse after the fact. So you know what? I don't really have /too/ many hangups over reading a story told from the perspective of the bully.

Come to think of it, that actually would be a refreshing change of pace considering how most works told from the perspective of the bullied basically come across as edgelord revenge fantasies set to the tune of late 90s/early 2000s nu metal (I'm looking at you, Onani Master Kurosawa!). However, I'm not so quick to simply jump in and hope for the best. There's a certain nuance to this type of thing which basically allows it to either be a great work about how there's good inside us all and it allows for all of us to redeem ourselves irrespective of our pasts OR being a work that justifies toxic behaviour because of how the abuser had some sort of past trauma. This doesn't even factor in whether or not the work takes into account things like laws, policies, etc because that in and of itself adds a crucial dimension to such conflicts that a lot of works just tend to overlook.

Thankfully, Koe no Katachi is very much in the former category and for the most part, it does handle the nuance quite well. With that said, it does get rather painful to read at some points. I suppose this stems from the very premise itself. For all intents and purposes, Shoko should /NOT/ have been enrolled in a general education school in the first place. Her deafness warrants specialised education that allows her to not only learn school subjects, but to also function in the real world. Granted, this is discussed later on in the manga's run and she /does/ transfer to a school for the deaf once the bullying became too much for her to handle. Still though, shame on the school administrators for even saying "yes" in the first place even though their teachers weren't properly trained to educate deaf students.

On that note, I suppose this does come down to a case of values dissonance as well. I did my time in the NYC public school system, which has a specialised school district (District 75) for students with learning disabilities, sensory impairments, autism, etc. Given this, seeing a deaf girl being placed in a general ed classroom without so much as a paraprofessional to help her understand what's going on comes across as fucking weird to me. For all I know, maybe the general mindset in Japan is to send students with disabilities into specialised schools outright rather than having inclusive schools with specialised programmes like we have here in NYC. But I digress, so let's take a look at what Koe no Katachi gets right.

Our protagonist is Shoya Ishida and for all intents and purposes, he starts off the manga as a complete and total jackass. At this point in his life, all he's concerned with is finding a way to amuse himself and boy does he get a LOT of mileage out of abusing Shoko. To him, she's not a human being so much as she is a deaf alien from planet Nishimiya (sorry Cryptic-senpai, I'm stealing your analogy). His favourite game at that point in time was finding new ways to abuse Shoko from throwing her hearing aids out the window to shouting in her ears among all sorts of other things. Of course, he wasn't the only participant in this game. Most of Shoko's classmates at that point in time got some sort of mileage out of bullying her. Oh yes, if there's one thing that this manga gets right, it's the sheer sadism that children are capable of.

That all changes when the school principal threatens police action once Shoko's fifth pair of hearing aids goes missing. Her classmates needed a patsy, and so they picked Shoya to take the fall for their collective abuse of Shoko. Now subject to similar abuse that Shoko endured, he must learn to take responsibility for his actions. Eventually, he becomes a loner who isolated himself from everyone around him for one reason or another. One day during his senior year in high school, he has a chance encounter with Shoko and that's when his metamorphosis occurs. No longer a bully turned loner, this fateful meeting sets the wheel turning for Shoya to start developing compassion and empathy for his fellow human being.

From a storytelling standpoint, the manga did a damn good job at showing off Shoya's change of heart along with every step of his progression in character. I just love how he doesn't magically earn the forgiveness of everyone he wronged. He actually had to work to make amends and more to the point, his growth isn't just something that gets stepped on just because he was a little shit. He actually does make new friends and he does fairly well for himself as time goes on.

As a character, Shoya is definitely the most well-written of the bunch. His desire to make up for all the trouble that he caused his mother and Shoko once she comes back into the picture is honestly one of the most wholesome things I've read in a long time. Make no mistake, his past actions are condemned to hell and back and he certainly built up a good deal of self-loathing over what a delinquent little shit he used to be. Still though, I gotta give the guy props for owning up to his mistakes and actually trying to make amends. His redemption arc is so masterfully done to the point where it almost rivals that of Zuko's from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

In regard to Shoko and how she's handled, it’s important to keep in mind that this story is being told from Shoya’s perspective and he’s an unreliable narrator. Also not helping matters any is how Shoko herself doesn’t speak and Shoya doesn’t always tell us exactly what she signed so we tend to only get one half of the conversation. At the same time though, Shoko is quite expressive and so we’re able to understand on some level what she’s feeling. With that said, I really wish that we got some clearer insight into what her thoughts were.

Yes, it’s easy to look at her facial expressions and know that she’s jovial, that she’s sad, that she’s irritated, etc but at the same time, what precisely is it that’s going on in her head? We do get some insight into what she thinks at times, because there were points in the manga where she texts Shoya, that someone says exactly what she signed, etc but at the same time those moments were so few and far between. It would’ve been nice if we saw a group chat or something between Shoko, Shoya, and their other friends over the course of the manga but it’s sadly a missed opportunity.
The other characters as far as the manga is concerned are handled well enough, I suppose. Nagatsuka in terms of appearance reminds me quite a bit of Bling Bling Boy from Johnny Test, but thankfully he’s nowhere near as annoying. In fact, he’s actually one of the more endearing characters throughout the manga’s run. He’s the first person who witnesses Shoya not as an ex-bully, but as a person trying to improve his lot in life. As such, he sticks by Shoya through thick and thin and is responsible for a good deal of the manga’s more heartwarming moments.

Yuzuru was a character that I was irked by in the beginning, but she turned into one of my favourite characters by the end of the manga’s run. Yuzuru acted largely as Shoko’s protector and provided her with a good deal of empathy that was sadly lacking throughout most of Shoko’s childhood. Yuzuru not only gives us insight as to what Shoko’s home life is like, but she also ends up growing as the manga moves along.

Then of course, we have Ueno… and honestly, I really didn’t care /too/ much for her. She’s one of the many people who bullied Shoko when she was in middle school and was also among those who decided to blame Shoya for everything that happened to her. And yet, she somehow still has feelings for the dude and despite being a senior in high school, still wants to hold a bizarre grudge on Shoko? Granted, she’s far more tolerable than Kawai is because she’s actually self-aware to some extent and some of her more vitriolic tendencies get toned down as the manga progresses. In fact, she’s also responsible for some of the manga’s most poignant scenes so I can’t be /too/ upset at her. Still though, she’s more or less just a hate sink for me.

The last of the characters I’m willing to talk about are Shoya and Shoko’s mothers, and honestly… it took me a good amount of time to actually get used to Shoko’s mom. My big issue with her is that she still decided to enroll her daughter in a general education school rather than a school meant for deaf kids. Don’t get me wrong, she does have every right to be viscerally angry with Shoko’s bullies, but uh… she’s partly to blame for all this. Not helping matters any is how she’s unnecessarily stern with her deaf daughter. Don’t get me wrong, you have every right to be frustrated with your kids, but why scold them for using sign language every so often when that’s realistically their only way to communicate?

However, her reasons for being this way are actually explored on some level of depth as the manga goes on. I suppose the best way to explain without too much in the way of spoilers would be to paraphrase what Momiji from Fruits Basket said about raising a child that’s part of the Zodiac: if you have a deaf child (rather than a Zodiac spirit), would you abandon it because you can’t bear the thought of raising someone disabled? Or would you cling to your child for dear life, and try to keep them protected no matter what? Shoko’s lack of a father figure in her life shows that he decided to take the former route, erstwhile Shoko’s mother decided to take the latter and it did take a big toll on her psyche. Gradually, she becomes much more endearing as Shoko’s circle of friends expands and she goes on to be one of the manga’s most endearing characters.

Shoya’s mother on the other hand is an endearing person right off the bat who genuinely wants to see her son change for the better and understandably, gets frustrated whenever he does something stupid. She’s an unending beacon of love and support for her son, and we actually get to see the joy on her face when she finds out that Shoya is actually making friends again rather than just isolating himself from everyone else. My only real complaint is that we don’t get to see more of her, but then again, that’s par for the course in most shonen manga these days.

Moving away from all that talk about storytelling and characterisation, let’s focus on the superficial stuff. I absolutely adore the manga’s artwork. All the backgrounds are drawn well, and I absolutely love the artistic decision to put gigantic Xs over the people that Shoya doesn’t want to associate with because it further reinforces the isolation he put himself into. As far as the characters are drawn, I absolutely adore the fact that Shoko isn’t drawn like a typical KyoAni moeblob with the big sad puppy eyes that take up half her forehead. She’s cute, but she still looks like an actual person. The same thing can be said about all the characters, really.

The artwork so done so well to the point where its most iconic scenes (i.e. Shoya and Shoko meeting at the bridge where they feed the carp in the rain) can be used as actual wallpaper for your desktop. With that said, there were points where you can tell the mangaka phoned it in and didn’t put /as much/ effort into some panels, but that’s to be expected considering how this manga was publishing on a weekly basis. Plus, you only really notice them if you read the scanlations from when the manga first came out. The actual volumes have cleaned up the artwork quite a bit since then.

When I was reading this manga for the first time four years ago, it was an emotional rollercoaster ride for me. I grew so attached to Shoya and Shoko and I genuinely wanted to see the both of them move on from the hardships of their past. Every chapter at that point in time had me on the edge of my seat, and there were points where I was actually starting to get misty eyed and actually hesitated to load up the next chapter on Batoto.

As an adult now, I’d say that this manga still manages to get me fucked up but not anywhere to the same degree as it once did. I suppose part of this can be chalked up to the casuals that won’t shut the fuck up about how great the movie was but there’s more to it than that. Four years ago, I was still fresh out of high school and I didn’t have the hindsight as to how the schooling system worked because I never decided on becoming a teacher back then.

As someone who’s trying to become a teacher now, Koe no Katachi really does test my suspension of disbelief at some points with its portrayal of the educational system. Granted, I can’t be too harsh considering there’s things like values dissonance at work but it still manages to raise an eyebrow at many points. Even then, I would still say that the manga does a phenomenal job with its storytelling to the point where I can reluctantly look past the stuff it gets wrong.

Koe no Katachi ultimately did a great job of showing us that we’re all capable of changing for the better, and on a more personal level, it taught me that sometimes your past tormentors are capable of changing for the better. Even now as an adult, it taught me that some grudges are better left behind in the past. I’d hate to reuse a sentence from a past review, but I really can’t think of any other way to say it - Koe no Katachi was far more than just an emotional rollercoaster. In some ways, it was therapeutic and in other ways, it was a work that left a major impact on my way of thinking. For all those reasons and many, many more, Koe no Katachi definitely gets high marks from me. Maybe it won’t from you, but you wouldn’t know until you give it a shot.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Feedback is always welcome and with that, I’m out. Peace :)

Spoiler Alert!

The world of A Silent Voice is a web of themes and relationships that’s underrepresented in the adaptation. So after I finished the movie, I knew I had to read the source material. This manga is an expansive tale that not only examines Shouya’s psyche, but grants the same care to the rest of the cast. Without a runtime to concern, author Yoshitoki renders the characters, themes, and visuals in comprehensive, beautiful fashion.

From the start, Shouya’s mentality during his elementary school years is given much more emphasis. We understand his motivations and relationship with his former friends, and see the full extent of the bullying. But more significantly, there’s more to Shouko as well. After Shouya’s fall, the story practically halts, and the subsequent chapters are spent with each character individually. In one chapter, we embody Shouko’s perspective as she imagines an idyllic childhood that never happened. It’s heartbreaking, and one of the many gems that are sadly excluded from the movie for the sake of efficiency.

As much as it’s great to witness more of the Nishimiya family’s past, there are some misses as well. I found Sahara’s dealings with fashion forced and Kawai’s flawed personality unresolved. Removing these characters entirely would have reduced clutter while still keeping the story true to its message. The whole movie arc is very entertaining but ultimately more of a diversion than anything. Still, witnessing the gang being demolished in pompous movie-critic fashion is a hilarious subversion of expectations. Realistically though, the speaker would’ve been promptly and instantly cancelled by the public, and rightly so.

From start to finish, A Silent Voice is one moving work of art featuring some truly stunning chapters. It’s the cherry on top of an already incredible film adaptation, but the movie and manga are equally good in their own right. As their endings demonstrate, one is trimmed and purposeful, and the other is intricate and complete. Despite these differences, both communicate forgiveness and friendship in a tale that’s incredibly heartfelt and boundlessly optimistic.

**Warning, some spoilers of the first few chapters will appear, nothing big but be warned!**

Well if your here that means that you are unsure whether to read this manga, you are looking for someone to explain to you why is there such a hype over this? To tell you the truth i don't know, i read the manga while waiting for the movie to come out and while i was reading it i just found my self drawn in to it.
Now i will point ot a few flaws that to me didn't make me give this manga a perfect ten, but non the less for me this is a must read.


- Ok we all been to school(some of you are still going) and we all seen, experienced, witnessed, did or tried to stop some sort of bullying. There are weaker kids, those that will pick on someone to make them self look stronger, those that will point out the flaws in others for a few laughs or trying to hide there own flaws and shortcomings.
And there are those that suffer, those that are picked on by others. The victims of the some times harsh life off a school kid. They can fight, run, hide, join others on bullying someone else so every one would leave them alone. Some times it's just to hard and they decide to change school or stop coming all together.
But that's not all, we talked about the few kids in a classroom that are directly involved. What about the rest, those that stand aside and do nothing? Or better yet just join in for the laughs and give support to the bully by doing so. Are they to blame, should they all stand up together and stop it?

Any way sorry for that but those are the main questions in this manga, and you will get to hear all sides of the story.

- Koe no Katachi is not a typical school slice of life manga. It's not all that happy, and for every moment you enjoy it it will give ten times more anger and sadness to overcome. We start the manga whit Shouya Ishida who is on a dally quest to fight against boredom. He jumps of bridges, get's into fights, doesn't really try to understand feelings of others. (he is the bully)
Then one day he hears a new transfer student is coming to his class. And on stage comes Nishimiya Shouko. A deaf girl. When she try's to be friendly towards the class Shouya doesn't really get it and starts picking on her. When he sees that the Nishimiya is still being nice to him and trying to get along he gets even more confused and starts to dedicate all of his school time to picking on Nishimiya. He starts destroying her things, writing insults and even gets physical...
To make the maters worse rest of the class and the sensei don't even seem to be trying to stop him. In the end Nishimiya is forced to transfer schools and all of the blame falls on Shouya.

Next we follow Shouya enter high school as a shut in kid, he doesn't have a single friend and has decided to end his life after he apologises to people he hurt the most.

For the rest read the manga!

- Now one of the main things that i didn't like about it is that Nishimiya dose not get any real depth. Most of the support characters on the other hand have been done like this was a much longer manga.
The story it self is so real and down to earth, and yet so exciting and at times so uplifting and so horrible and tragic at other. The artist really did mange to bring the pain of the characters to the reader. You hate some guys, then love them, then hate them again...
The story it self is great, but the way it was told is something that for me is the best part of this work.

- The art is standard for '13, it conveys the story to the full and is consistent throughout the whole manga. Nothing new or ground breaking, but on the other hand just right and perfectly fitted in to the story.

- Characters are great, for a 64 chapter manga they have an amazing depth. You get to know to motives of most of the characters to the end, and you don't hate them that much because you get to know them as human beings. On the other hand the shortness of 64 chapters is the "double edge sword" of this story. For me that's the only down side of this manga, that you don't get to know anything that's not essential to the plot. And the unfairness of Nishimiyas lack of story?!

- Enjoyment... well if i didn't have to go to work i would have read this in one go. It just pulls you in as the reader. You will want to know what happens next, why did he or she do what they did, how will something end? Enjoyment is a pure 10/10, i really didn't have such a fulfilling read for a long time!

- Overall this is a must read, i really rarely bother to even think to write a review and only a few times did i actually bother to write on. Koe no Katachi got me that inspired! For me now there is only to wait for the movie to come out, for those of you that haven't read it... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?!?

This manga had soo many potentials, I mean it could've been one of the best mangas out there (not that saying it's not but under there). So what's the reason that made this manga a let down? So let's get to the point. There are a lot of teases to the readers that this manga can develop a romantic subplot/plot but in the end it just felt like the mangaka just got tired with the manga and wanted to end it and quit. Basically that's how it happened, throwing romantic teases at you and in the end throws it away on a near by river to add insult to injury.




*Spoiler*

Remember the scene where Nishimiya is practicing her speech to confess to Ishida with her sister? Yea? So what happened to that scene? Did all of that go to waste because we don't know what will happen next? Yes. So are you excited that someday Nishimiya will confess her feelings to Ishida? Good, cause you aren't getting one.

*End of Spoiler*




Conclusion:

It's quite rushed and it ended quite quickly with left out question that aren't answered. But overall it was an enjoyable ride and it will be more enjoyable if weren't for the ending. And I think I it's kinda suspicious why the manga just ended it 'there' like "so I'm excited for the new chapter where it's gonna resolve everything... *Thank you for reading*"

A tearjerker with a pitiful main heroine who needs saving and a bully crushed by his guilt is a good read, but sadly comes off as unfinished. While dramatic side of the story draws you in, the romantic side of it leaves much to be desired.

Ms Ōima up-played the importance of a budding love of her characters, but never gave them any resolution, even in a form of a clichéd confession. Ultimately, story proves to be about overcoming one's flaws and weaknesses, and on becoming a better person. It's fine, but foundations for a young romance laid out over entirety of the manga go to waste and it's disappointing.

I do recommend reading the one-shot version instead as it ends in just the right place.

Understanding someone with a disability can be quite a challenge, but if you're willing to overcome that challenge, chances are that you will become friends with that disabled person. No matter whether it's not being able to do so or something else entirely, we all have something that we regret doing deeply; I personally have a regret that has haunted me for several years, but as I've been hanging around the person who is centered around those regrets, I've recently started to feel better about it. Another thing I've done recently is read this manga, which evolved from an already emotional one-shot to something that caused my heart to explode into pieces. I don't remember how I first heard about it, but after reading the one-shot and seeing the announcement that it was being made into an anime movie, I felt like I absolutely HAD to read it. All I can say is that reading it was such a wonderful decision.

Ladies and gentlemen, please read my review for "A Silent Voice", known in Japanese as "Koe no Katachi".

A Silent Voice is mostly seen through the eyes of Shoya Ishida, who was classmates with a girl named Shoko Nishimiya back in elementary school. Shoko was unable to hear, so Shoya and his classmates bullied her until it got to the point where she transferred out of school. The bullying ended up getting to the point where it was Shoya getting bullied; thus, years later, Shoya is in high school with no friends and no desire to make any. However, he is soon reunited with Shoko, and they begin to hang out with each other. Shoya soon sets out to get Shoko to reconnect with some of their old classmates.

Let me start off by saying that the artwork was.... not bad, actually. It had a great style, and it seemed realistic; the artwork also helped to make me feel the emotion in the story. The character designs weren't too bad, either. It wasn't the best art I've ever seen in a manga, but for what it was, it was very great.

The story in A Silent Voice is undoubtedly the best part of the manga. It made me go from smiling to trying not to cry to wanting to throw whatever volume was in my hand against the wall; if a manga can make me feel such a range of emotions, it must be a great manga. There was a great amount of character development, too, especially for Shoya; Shoya starts off as a real jerk, but as time went on and he got more development, I sympathized with him more and more. I liked the heroine, Shoko, from the beginning. It's not just that I truly sympathize with how she's deaf; there are a few aspects of her that reminded me of myself. There are even more great characters, but there was one that I did not like from the beginning. That character is Naoka Ueno, who was Shoya and Shoko's classmate in elementary school; she helped Shoya bully Shoko, and six years later, she shows no signs of regret. You know how I mentioned earlier that I would occasionally want to throw the manga against the wall? Her actions throughout the manga was the main reason why. Aside from her, I came to like pretty much all of the characters.

Overall, I found A Silent Voice to be a great manga. If you're someone who is in the mood for a realistic story that is full of emotions, look no further; you've got the right manga. Either that, or wait for the anime movie adaptation coming out in Japan in September; I'm quite excited for it for a number of reasons!

I really enjoy witnessing the fans of Kimi no Na wa and Koe no Katachi arguing which one is the better. The comparison is pointless in regard, since they were adapted from different sources, but it is interesting to observe how they keep the purposeless argument continuing. But let back to the main reason why I was here.

A Silent Voice.

The title is easily confusing reader of its concept. They thought this was a series talking about a girl with disability in hearing. But no man, it isn't. If you weren't the insider in this matter, you couldn't speak in behalf of those unlucky, because it was just like forcing one's personal beliefs onto others. And as Hachiman Hikigaya realised what his expectations onto Yukino Yukinoshita were, those beliefs would end up being a sham, you know. So the story of Shouko Nishimiya was not the content, and she would only play an important role at best.

Normal people do have silent voices. And in the protagonist's point of view, those unhearable sounds reveal themselves. He was a bully. Yeah, now we are getting in to the genuine core of this manga. He had bullied the poor unlucky girl. But when they met again, the situation just made a 180-degree turn. He was also a victim of bullying. According to that, I could say that silent voice was his. A soundless speech of the culprit who did the bullying. A silence from the one who eventually became a bullied. Unspeakable words about how he felt, and obviously he couldn't voice them, because it was what he deserved. Still the regret of his childish actions left him speechless. The author has prepared a a splendid stage for the show and that's why he deserves my credit. The outcome was so easy to predict, but he has done well taking me all the way.

Honestly, there is only one difference between the manga and its adaption, and it is how that silence was shown. In manga, it's just in some frames with thoughts or nothing, which was easily to overlook. However, the anime has done well voicing it non-communicatively. There could be monologue, words spoken, but they couldn't reach others, as the main character didn't transmit it verbally. But the viewers couldn't turn a blind eye on them, because they are meaningful details and irreplacable binders of the story. In this point only, I believe the movie has surpassed its creator, and the sound effect has never been more impactful than that.

As I said, outsiders shouldn't speak their mind of the matter, so I can't judge the development in term of personality among the characrers good or bad, but at least it convinced me.

The art was great, as the author used a childish style of design. Reading it is just like watching the main character reminisce, about his childhood and the scars existing there.

This was just a splash in my mind, as I sud-denly thought of it. And The Sounds of Silence there were beautifully ringing to my open ears, telling me what voices never share. This is not my favourite, but well done, Yoshitoki Ooima.

Why don't they ever write a story about the asshole instead of the 'nice guy' 'loser-kun?' That's essentially what began the process of breaking the mold with Koe no Katachi.

[8] : Art

I'm no art mogul, but I really enjoy the 'feel' of this artwork. The alternating line thickness really stands out to me. Sometimes it's thin and I take in the detailed backgrounds for each panel. Then it's thick and I focus on the astounding facial expressions. Those are two of the biggest high points for me and I truly feel this art is 'very good' on the verge of 'great.'

[10] : Character

Slice of life, school setting, romance in the air, you're already waiting for all the cliche characters to show up. Instead you're met with a deaf girl whose been put through the ringer, and the asshole trying to restore the happiness that once belonged to little girl naive of what lies ahead of her and her family. That's right, there's also a family element to this series that adds a layer of depth to both the development and complexity of our main characters. Mom and dad aren't just away on business the entire series *shock*. There's actually writing at work, and it's pretty damn good.

[8] : Story

Outstanding characters and very good art make it hard to file any grievances, but I wasn't that interested in the plot-device they chose to advance the characters and move the story. I felt that the pacing slightly dragged near the beginning, and although I would say the series ending was above average, I didn't get everything I was hoping for. Still, nitpicking aside, just the story's concept alone justifies the score.

[8] : Overall

If half scores existed it would get an 8.5 from me. Admittedly low-balling it a little here. This series will be a mainstay staple in what I recommend to friends in perpetuum. A breath of fresh air. Doesn't overstay it's welcome. Makes you think. Keeps you forgiving of it's flaws, and preaching it's merits. Feels like a classic. It's hard to believe it starting publishing in 2013. That's a damn compliment.

I will try to keep this review as brief and as spoiler-free as possible - I will probably go off tangent anyway

Story - 9/10
Art - 9/10
Character - 10/10
Enjoyment - 10/10
Overall - 10/10

Story - 9/10:
After watching the movie (and being deeply absorbed by it), I decided to read the manga and oh boy, was this a good decision. The movie left out many points from the manga in order to make it a suitable movie length (which was still too long for my taste xP), which I found great pleasure in seeing. Personally, I am not a big fan of the typical Slice of Life, Romance, Drama, School setting, but this story was amazing to say the least. Chapters were full of very interesting plot content, and they were usually around only 20 pages long. I tend to have trouble reading manga in general but this series kept me up non stop - I was reading unimaginable amounts of chapters every day (well, for me, anyway). I was never as engaged in a manga series as this one.

Art - 9/10:
I really loved the art style. Usually when I read manga, I may get lost in between panels and have to re-read slowly to understand where I am now, from what view etc etc. But in this series, I was on the ball - the panels were very easy to understand and the flow of the art and consistency was remarkable. The background art was always prominent yet not distracting and the detail the author implemented was very fascinating

Character - 10/10:
Goodness, where do I begin. The character design in this manga, the MULTITUDE of personalities was phenomenal. All the characters made me feel a certain way - whether it was deep and extreme hatred, powerful connection and resemblance, absurd interest, cringe, love, pity... all characters made me feel numerous ways, and each exact emotion was different towards each character. The character development for characters, which was either very clear or hinted, made me very happy.

Enjoyment - 10/10:
As I said before, this manga was the first one to make me so engrossed with a series. Any time I got, I was reading it, and I never felt a chapter to be bland or insufficient.

A realistic story of redemption, love, friends, bullying. The manga kept me on a relatable level of kids bullying and how it might affect them in the future and how you know you hate or make fun of people for no reason at all. The main characters growth were both incredible and emotional. The chemistry and development between the to leads are both fantastic and adorable given their past together.

For those who are going to see the movie done by Kyoto Ani this summer I might recommend you read the manga before you watch to see what your in for.

(MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)

I read Koe on Katachi after having watched the movie, and I must say that I am disheartened at the fact that I will have to give two separate ratings for the same work of art being displayed on two different mediums. To be fair to the movie, it had a lot more pressure on it, considering that it hard to work on cinematography, transitions, and other aspects of production that a manga doesn't have to work on. Nevertheless, I am here to review the manga, and I shall do just that.

Koe no Katachi's power comes from the different nuances that come to the fore with each new chapter. Character development is really strong here because all of the scenes give us greater insight into how each of the characters became who they are, allowing us to empathize with them. Even if I was opposed to Ueno's perspective vis-à-vis Nishimiya, I would be lying if I said that I didn't understand WHY she felt that way. What I love about Koe no Katachi is that it is a manga series that gives each of its characters a "voice": while Nishimiya San is the one who has an obviously "silent" voice, it can be argued that the other characters were also silent in the way it took time for them to be able to flesh out their narrative, and eventually come to terms with their respective past. The symbolism of Nishimiya's voice becomes very powerful when juxtaposed to that of the secondary characters, and this is something that the manga series has that the movie fell short of delivering.

It's hard not to get teary-eyed at the monologues of Ishida, especially since they can be very relatable at times. Feeling alone, question what others think of you, and all these all-too-familiar questions. The process of overcoming his guilt over his dark past with Nishimiya has been both an excruciating and a rewarding process, both for Ishida, and for the readers of this manga to witness. It is this for this very reason that this manga series has this allure for me: we eventually come to love (or at the very least understand) the characters for who they are, and how they are being presented to us.

This manga series is a rare gem, and I do hope that more people will come across it and read it. 10/10

Well hello. We got another tough one no?

Koe no Katachi... well, it's a manga about bullying. It should be in it's genre. It's drama, psychologicial and BULLYING. It should be like that.
Let me get this out of the way, this CAN'T be real. It just cannot be. I've had my fair share of bullying, and 'till I managed to punch the sucker out of his misery, I got bullied. That was my problem. That was my cowardness that I gave in to. And it seemed it was the biggest problem of the world. But, it was "childish." That bullying was childish. It was at a kids level. When you looked at it from afar, you knew that two kids were brawling. In my lifetime, I have never seen kids who act this... "monstrous". What was happening in the early chapters was NOT bullying. No it was something else. I've never seen kids like this in my life time. This seriously pisses me off. I mean, if they are kids, then what the hell were we? We got bullied, we bullied others, but no one never "really" wanted to harm. I mean, we never pushed the boundries of "being a kid", did we? Did we break people's equipments that would cost them 1.7 MILLION YEN and get away with it? What's up with that? Try converting that to your currency, YOU CAN STUDY AT A FOREIGN UNIVERSTY WITH THAT MONEY. The people who are portrayed in this manga, are bad people. No, I didn't say kids you see. I said "bad people". And this just pissed me off, thinking that f*ckers like this might be all around and we got so lucky and never noticed. If this is portraying the current Japanese children, then something is so very fucked up with Japan. In my country, if a kid calls their mother a "bitch", s/he'd get beaten up so bad, it'd probably switch the locations of the kid's mouth and nose. I do not recommend this manga to readers who are under 12.
God! I just can't calm down, even though it's just a manga.


Well, with that out of the way, let me start.



Story: It's the synopsis. There's this one little spoiled brat who does anything for his fun. Then he meets the deaf girl who goes to his school, and scarred her for life. Then the ball returns to him, and he pays the bill. Short summary.


Art: It's decent. Well, I can't really say anything because when I start reading the words, I forget everything else. But one thing bugged me, "the mouths". You'll see my meaning after you read it.



Character: This part is my favorute part, since I can say whatever I want in this part. Let me start with our main bastard whom you'll hate so much, you'll wonder why you're still reading this manga, Ishida Shouya. He's... Well I never hated any other character in my life. No as a person, it seriously stressed me. I mean, how the hell did he get away with all that? (At first I mean, lol he's so f*cked up later) There are adults who are in that school, and they just say "It's bad, don't bully" ? Well then f*cking save her from bullying you brainfarted monkey.

I'm calm. Well, Ishida Shouya. You'll hate him. I guarentee it. You just will. You will wish that he was dead from the very first time he jumped from that bridge. You will wish that they will f*cking rape his ass with 50 inch dildos. He just bullies this sweetest girl in the world who is deaf for the reason of his "boredom". I don't want to spoil the "kids bullying" for you, but it goes to a point of her transferring out from school. He literally beats her to that point. To that point, I'm sure you'll hate his guts. No, you'll want to cut his balls and switch it with his eyes.
Well, that's karma. What goes around, comes back around. People hate his guts for the bullying. Don't get me wrong, his class is also full of spoiled little punks, and when the teachers want a scape goat, they all point him and sell him out. It's amazing how many bad apples can gather in a school. Take teachers or students, they were all messed up. Not one good person was in there, and it seriously makes me wonder if Japan is really like this. They sell him out, and start bullying him. Do all kinds of messed up things to him. And you don't feel any sympathy, not one bit. You want it to keep going, and they do. They f*ck him up, and it was like god's way of saying "Karma, b*tch!". He grows up alone, hated and despised.
Well, he grows up. He despises himself, more then we do. He hates his own guts. He knows that he stole that girl's life from her, and he can't find a way to repent. No, he thinks he doesn't deserve forgiveness (Well I think so too). So he goes to see her to apologize for the last time, and kill himself after it.

Well, that's the ginx of it. I'm going to stop the character part here, since if I start, this review will be a booklong, but I'll just say that there will be a moment when you will hate all of the characters, and like all of the characters.


Overall: Well this manga was a pushed one for me. I hated it, but I just had to read it. It never seemed realistic to me, and I freaking hated the mangaka. Now thinking about it, why the hell did I read it? It wasn't heartwarming or sweet, fuck no it was the opposite. It was fucking dark and gloomy. It was depressing, showing all the fucked up sides of people. Who the hell thinks that this manga is sweet?
And I give an overall score of 8, because no other manga moved me this much. Be it in a good way or bad, it's been sometime that I've hated someone this hard. (Ouma Shu, Guilty Crown. I'll never forget that pussy.)
Read it if you want to. You won't forget it once you finish it.