Yoshitoki Oima’s ‘Silent Voice’ is a work that’s bubbling with life-changing moments, affecting not only the protagonists but also the people around them. The story features our sweet female lead Shouko Nishimiya and the male protagonist Shoya Ishida.
They both met when they were in elementary school, but due to unavoidable circumstances, they get separated and reunited later as teens. Between their time gap, both undergo their own metamorphosis and try to find a reason to keep going from the other. The story intricately portrays the simple yet daunting issues a child can face even in everyday society.
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Summary Of Silent Voice
In the movie, Shoya Ishida is your typical bad boy. He bullies weak students and makes fun of them while having his own group of friends. He believes making jokes and bullying people makes him look cool in front of the class. In such circumstance a deaf girl transfer to his class, which only makes matters worse.
He finds it very intriguing how Shouko Nishimiya tries to speak in an inconsistent tone while reading in class and bullies her for her weird voice. Though at first, it all starts as fun, things take a serious turn when the gang bullies her, throws her notebooks, screams in her ears, takes off her hearing aids, and even writes names on her desk. But with a smile on her face, Nishimiya endures all and even tries to befriend the group.
Her smile and positivity rub off Ishida making him act cruelly. One day, he pulls out her hearing aid, causing her to bleed. Shortly after Nishimiya’s parents transfer her to another school. When teachers start questioning the series of incidents around Nishimiya, everyone in the class points out Ishida.
His friends and classmates are now on the opposite side, cornering him. He starts to experience all that Nishimiya had to endure and eventually shuts himself out of the world. When Ishida and Nishimiya meet each other once again years later, they become friends, and friendship turns to love. Their relationship gives each other the power to face their adversaries and stand tall atop them.
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The Message Of ‘Silent Voice’
Silent Voice deals with themes of bullying, mental health, friendship, and redemption. After undergoing the same treatment as Nishimiya, Ishida closes off from all people. He can’t see their faces or hear anyone’s voice, which is wonderfully portrayed as ‘X’ in the movie.
As he starts to open himself up, the ‘X’-es fall off people’s faces, indicating his character and mental health improvement. Before meeting Nishimiya again as a teen, he tries to commit suicide but is stopped by a man in the nick of time. He starts to believe he’s worthless and that his absence from the world will solve his problems.
Only after meeting Nishimiya, he starts to find a reason to live. He learns that to overcome everything, he needs to forgive himself first. Self-redemption plays a very important role in the movie. As he starts accepting other people in his life, he gets better mentally.
One of the main things is, Ishida didn’t run away from his problems but rather chose to punish himself for them. Though he didn’t have the courage to face them head-on, he at least accepted what he did wrong. The movie is a brilliant piece of work that one should watch at least once. It teaches many lessons in approximately 130 minutes.
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