A boy bullies a deaf girl at school, but then the tide turns, and he becomes the one who’s bullied and frozen out because of what he did to her. The girl transferred to a new school because of the bullying. Now he’s miserable, starting to understand what he put her through as he experiences his own personal hell. Eventually, he tries to find her to make things right.
It’s so nice to sit down and watch a movie with a great and tender story to tell. A Silent Voice is one of those movies that really captivated me with the emotions it creates. It plays on every string of the emotional guitar.
The protagonist isn’t very likable at first. He bullies a deaf girl who’s done absolutely nothing wrong to him or anyone else. His group of friends follows his lead, but they’re not as bad as he is. He’s pretty messed up in the head to bully someone with a disability, and he definitely deserves the karma that comes his way. At the same time, it’s hard to fully understand him because he has a caring mother, so it doesn’t seem like he comes from a bad home, meaning he can’t really use that as an excuse.
It’s easier to understand the deaf girl and why she’s depressed. I felt so sorry for her when she received bad news, and you realize what happened as she starts using only one hearing aid instead of two. As mentioned, she doesn’t do much wrong at all, but she ends up angering another girl who used to be close friends with the protagonist. That girl blames the deaf girl for ruining their friendship and causing their group to fall apart. She comes across as a bit unstable and cheap.
The protagonist later tries to reconnect with the deaf girl after she transfers to a new school. He also attempts to reunite with his old group of friends, hoping they can become close again. He’s completely alone in the world after being ostracized and bullied himself, and he can’t even look people in the eye anymore. That’s visualized cleverly; the people around him have Xs covering their faces, and those Xs fall away when he finally makes a connection with someone.
Speaking of “cheap,” there are some weirdly creepy Japanese moments here. The camera tends to linger on women’s legs a lot. Normally, I wouldn’t mind, but this is an animated movie, and yeah, it feels kind of creepy. And no, I don’t get turned on by animated feet, you sick pervert!
Ultimately, this is a movie about not giving up and trying to become a better person, and that message really works in A Silent Voice. After karma hits him hard, you see the protagonist genuinely trying to change, and you start to feel sympathy for him. You hope people can give him a second chance because he’s sincere about improving himself.
The characters we follow are flawed, but that’s what makes them relatable, even though there are some you never get deep under the skin of. But that’s okay, because it’s the feeling you’re left with that matters most during and after watching this movie.
It’s a story that ultimately gives you hope, that even if you’re alone in the world, you can learn from your mistakes, man up, and take responsibility for your wrongdoings. And that’s where A Silent Voice truly excels.