Malice. Guilt. Regret. Human beings are ugly on the inside. As much as we like to preach about love and affection, there is an equal amount of hatred and envy lurking in all of us. And when that dark side is unleashed, the line between human and animal is quite easily crossed.

Bullying is one of the most prevalent cases of just this type of behaviour, and is something that is almost unavoidable in any place that has some sort of social order. The offenders normally try to laugh it off as some sort of joke, or as if it's not really a big deal. For the victims however it can by a life changing and traumatic experience unlike any other.

Koe no Katachi is one of the most mature, painfully realistic and heart wrenching coming-of-age manga I've read in quite some time. It shows how actions always speak louder than words, and that there are some things in life that quite simply cannot be forgiven, no matter how many times you try to apologize. An impulsive action can end up becoming an irreversible mistake that you might regret for the rest of your life.

The story follows a deaf girl named Nishimiya Shouko who repeatedly gets bullied and isolated by most of her classmates until she one day transfers out of school. Following this, Ishida Shouya, the ringleader of the bullying gets betrayed by his fellow accomplices, and is made out to be solely responsible for the whole ordeal. For the next five years he has to suffer being the bully victim himself instead, and for every passing day he more and more regrets the sins of his past.

After being on the brink of committing suicide, Ishida eventually reunites with Nishimiya and begs her for forgiveness. He no longer believes he deserves to live an ordinary life. He seeks redemption. But no matter how much you apologize, you can never give someone back their stolen childhood.

However Nishimiya just smiles and says there is nothing to forgive in the first place... because she's strong.

What follows next is a spiraling rollercoaster of hatred and regret, involving not only the pair of them but also many other people involved in the bullying incidents of their childhood as well as their new classmates. This manga truly brings out some of the most despicable and animalistic sides of human emotions; "I hate you, therefore you hate me, therefore I hate you, therefore you hate me"... and so on in an endless circle of negative thoughts.

What I must truly applaud the story for is just how much it makes you feel for the characters involved. The level of realism is incredibly high, and the victims are very sympathetic. It should also be noted that there are some *really* nasty bitches in this manga. If you thought School Days had characters which made you want to punch them in the face, I have to say Koe no Katachi have some that are a hell of a lot worse. But this is exactly the type of emotion that the manga is trying to bring out of you as a reader... because that is exactly what it feels like to be bullied. If you've ever experienced being a bully victim in life before, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

It's rare to find a manga that makes you care for its characters as much as Koe no Katachi does, and that fact alone is testament to just how well-written it truly is. It shows that you don't need far-fetched and fantastical elements in order to make a story truly gripping. Rather instead it manages just as well simply by unveiling the cruel nature and harsh reality of humanity and life itself.

If nothing else it certainly makes you reflect on your actions and think about just who you are as a human being.