Koe no Katachi review

Elle2915
Apr 17, 2021
I’m trying to parse through what I just read. This story, A silent voice, was nothing like I expected. I thought it would be a story of redemption and reconciliation between the bully and the bullied of the past; it’s not. This is a story about self-hatred and ignorance. Or, at least that’s what I’ve seen. The main heroine was disabled, and I thought that it was going to be used as a point of contention for the bullying. For me, that would’ve hurt the show. Instead, it becomes more like the fact that she’s deaf opens new avenues to view the world. Since she’s deaf, she starts to see herself as a strain on the lives of others. Since she’s deaf, an act of thoughtfulness is to learn sign language. Using her deafness like this instead of a way to conjure up sympathy is a part of what forms a strong basis for the show. She’s not even the one you empathize with the most throughout the show. For me, I grew fonder of the main character, the bully in the beginning of the show. I don’t think that words on a piece of paper could even begin to capture the poignancy of the show, but I’m willing to try.
There is a stark realization that the main character of the show, Shouya, is going to be a bad guy when he chalks up all his aspirations to escaping boredom. All his life, he wants to escape boredom and have a good time. He isn’t particularly worried about his future or the consequences of his actions. Getting in a fight or jumping off a bridge into a river for an act of courage is all to stave away boredom. It is visible in the harsh aesthetic of the drawings. The way it’s presented is grimy. It gives this muddy feeling like you’ve gone in the woods when you weren’t supposed to, got so dirty that there’s no hiding it, and when you leave this dark forest, there’s something waiting for you on the other side. Something ominous… That ominous thing is the main heroine, Nishimiya-san, a deaf girl who is unabatedly nice. For him, she is just but an object of his constant run from boredom. His harassment of her is just for fun, but he takes it too far and it all comes back at him. Once he’s caught, Karma has got him in its claws. He begins to get bullied and his mom pays for the hearing aids that her son had destroyed. Nishimiya transfers out from the school and all the bullying starts to get directed straight at him. It’s his ignorance that became his own fall. Like a fool, nay, a child, he did something because he derived amusement from it, yet he never knew what lied beyond the hill: consequences. It makes you empathize with him in a painful way. It’s easy to write off someone as scum for their actions without realizing they’re a human too; the man who hurts is also hurt himself. When you look past their humanity, it can be detrimental. From this event, Shouya begins to become warped as a person. He is shut out by others and shuts others out; he has a stain on his life which he punishes himself for constantly; he is hated by others and in turn, hates himself. From here, he turns from a foolish child into a more docile, self-hating, empathetic human by having it beat into him. Yet, there is no redemption for those labeled as bullies. It hurts to see how the past actions of this boy have screwed him over so badly. He tries to repay all the money he owes to his mother, working a part-time job and selling all his belongings before he kills himself. Can you really blame his ignorance? Even if he learned from his mistakes?
Right before he kills himself, he decides to apologize to the one he bullied. He had learned sign language and he goes up to Nishimiya to apologize which in turn keeps him from killing himself. The rest of the show serves as Shouya acceptance of himself and the world around him. He thinks he needs to repent and to make it up for Nishimiya without understanding the world around him. Nishimiya is more similar to Shouya than he thinks. To him, she’s just a victim of a monster like him who would’ve lived a happy life if he hadn’t done what he did. That misses the point. Nishimiya sees herself as a bog on the lives of those she comes in contact with, so she constantly apologizes, puts on a fake smile, and takes whatever she must while she secretly hates herself and what she thinks she’s done by existing. She doesn’t see Shouya as the monster he sees in himself. Their relationship starts to make the both of them come to terms with their lives, how they’ve affected the lives of others, and what they can do to be both better themselves and fix the mistakes they’ve made. Shouya tries to give Nishimiya the good childhood memories she missed out on, repent, and show sympathy for his actions and Nishimiya tries to be more open with herself and become closer with her new friends, no matter how hard it is. By seeing multiple perspectives, we see that everyone has their vices and virtues and that their ignorance and mistakes shouldn’t leave them to be eternally condemned. Both Shouya’s bullying, Nishimiya’s being a burden and the rest of the side cast who have to face themselves truthfully, along with their past, and learn to grow from it and become better as a person instead of letting it consume them and define who they are foolishly. This story doesn’t serve to condemn everyone or accept everyone. It serves to display that everyone has their misgivings and humanity and it does no good to write them off because in the end, we're all just ignorant fools who need the time and the nudge to learn from our mistakes.
Once the characters start to become accepting of reality, only then can they start to reconcile. Not with themselves, but with their own pasts. Shouya and Nishimiya’s bond served as a catalyst for all this to take place. Two people who were more alike than they ever thought who come together for each other and in turn pull those around them into a spring of change where the rotting petals can fall off and new ones can take their place.

Faire un don
0
0
0

commentaires

Koe no Katachi
Koe no Katachi
Auteur Ooima, Yoshitoki
Artiste