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

Ishida, Miyako Supporting

Yukino, Satsuki Japanese

Pedro Supporting

Watanuki, Ryuunosuke Japanese

Sahara, Miyoko Supporting

Ishikawa, Yui Japanese

Mashiba, Satoshi Supporting

Toyonaga, Toshiyuki Japanese

Nakamura, Shinichi Producer

Tateishi, Kensuke Producer

Iizuka, Toshio Producer

Uetsuki, Mikio Producer

Reviews

Jan 20, 2026

Kranst

Recommended

A Silent Voice encourages us to listen. Not superficially, but completely. To understand the meaning behind words. This important lesson is communicated through two endearing individuals. Ostracized and solely blamed, one is haunted by past mistakes and questions their right to exist. The other, a victim of childhood bullying from the former, has been afflicted by the view of being burdensome. Within these somber themes resides a profoundly beautiful narrative surrounding redemption, self-improvement, forgiveness, self-worth, and learning to love oneself again. This film delivers a lasting impression, and those with the genuine desire to change, to truly listen, can learn to live sincerely once more.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jul 15, 2025

entergungeon

Mixed Feelings

Well-written

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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Dec 31, 2025

jlzap

Not Recommended

Funny

Honestly, kind of mid and somewhat confusing. We spend the first thirty minutes of the film seeing all the cruel stuff that Ishida and his friends do to Shouko. After this, Ishida is bullied relentlessly by his classmates (for some reason???). Then a bunch of stuff happens, some actually interesting, some not. It leaves me wondering why this film has such a high rating, it felt like it took a long time to go almost nowhere. I think it would've been better if Ueno was cut out after the first interaction with her when they were grown; and it would've ... been better if we learned more about Shouko's life for her to do what she did towards the end, it would've been more impactful I think.

Ueno's character also really bothered me. She continued to be a bully throughout the whole film yet somehow kept getting invited back to hang out with Shouko and friends???? Why was she even AROUND. And then at the end she mentioned Shimada and Hirose did something I can't say for spoiler reasons... but then WE NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN????? Why even mention it????

I also have no idea if Ishida and Shouko are lovers or not. It felt like it was meant to be, but also had scenes that contradicted it? So I'm left unsure. Vague to avoid spoilers, but there was a scene that Ishida initiated that should have upset Shouko, but didn't; so I feel like they should have left out what Shouko said earlier for that scene to actually hit hard instead of it being like "well why is she happy about this, this could've been a cute confirmation that they are." For those who have seen it, I am referencing Ishida hearing moon and Ishida forming Shouko's hands into a certain sign.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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	Poll: Koe no Katachi Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) nihon_no_tsuki - Sep 21, 2016	789 replies	by NonoAnime333888 »» 4 hours ago
	Does anyone else hate Kazuki Shimada? RubyZiggy07 - Jan 14	11 replies	by ahlzn »» Jan 17, 5:23 AM
	It got messy after reading fanbook Gunkan2213 - Aug 25, 2021	14 replies	by zeidXD »» Dec 1, 2025 12:29 AM
	Not MisUsing disabilities?? SethXoXkun - Sep 28, 2021	21 replies	by Romax24245 »» Nov 6, 2025 8:43 AM
	Why was Shouka in a choir class if she was deaf? That seems horribly unfair to her. TheBlockernator - Oct 29, 2023	27 replies	by Romax24245 »» Oct 24, 2025 7:40 PM

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