It’s hard to put "Koe No Katachi- A Silent Voice" in words. There is no perfect statement which can express the love between Shoya(male protagonist) and Shouko(female protagonist). The animated movie certainly puts out an array of emotions running through our veins like any other movie. It sets your emotions on a ride where you will deeply feel the pain and the thread through which Shoya and Shouko are connected to each other.
The story starts when Shoya, a high school student intends to commit suicide but he stops when he recalls his days in elementary school and the events that have led him here. A new student named Shoko informs the class that she is deaf. She tries to integrate with the class but ends up annoying Shoya and his friends, so they start to bully her. When word of bullying reaches the principal, Shoya is singled out as the culprit by his teacher. Shoya blames Shoko, and the two get into a physical altercation. She is subsequently transferred to another school. He later finds Shoko's notebook which she left behind and keeps it. In middle school, Shoya's reputation of being Shoko's bully led him to become an outcast. Now in high school, he has fallen into a depression. He blocks out the faces of those around him, unable to look them in the eye. Tomohiro Nagatsuka, another loner, befriends Shoya after Shoya helps him with a bully. Shoya visits the sign language center and returns Shoko's notebook in the hopes of making amends, revealing that he has learned sign language. The two begin meeting at a bridge to feed bread to fish. One day, Shoya accidentally drops Shoko's notebook into a river, and they jump in to retrieve it, which is prohibited. Yuzuru, Shoko's younger sister, takes a photo of Shoya jumping in and posts it online to get revenge on him, eventually leading to Shoya being suspended. Shoya finds Yuzuru, who ran away from home and brings her to stay at his house. When she leaves in the middle of the night, Shoya follows and they make amends.
Shoya and Shoko reunite with Miyoko Sahara, a classmate from elementary school who was friendly to Shoko. Shoko gives Shoya a gift and confesses her feelings for him, but because she tries to speak her affections rather than signing them out, Shoya mishears her. Shoya learns that Shoko's grandmother had died recently. To cheer them up, Shoya takes them to the countryside and sees that Shoko blames herself for everything that has happened to him. Shoya decides to devote his entire social life to the sisters.
During a fireworks festival, Shoko goes home under the guise of finishing homework. Shoya follows when Yuzuru asks him to get her camera. When he arrives, he finds Shoko standing on the balcony, about to commit suicide. Shoya succeeds in grabbing her and pulls her back up, but falls into the river below. He is rescued by his best friends of elementary school but slips into a coma. Hoping to help Shoya, Shoko meets with each of the group members to explain her and Shoya's situations.
One night, Shoko dreams about receiving a farewell visit from Shoya. Horrified, she runs to the bridge and collapses in tears. Shoya, awakening from his coma, stumbles to the bridge and finds her there. He apologizes for the way he treated her, asking her to stop blaming herself and admits that, while he once considered ending his own life, he has since decided against it. Shoya then asks her to help him continue to live.
When Shoya goes to the School Festival with Shoko, he finds out how much his new friends still care for him, and they reconcile. During the festival, Shoya is finally able to look at other people's faces again. He looks around at his family and all the new friends he has made, and cries.
The movie ended. Rohan grabs Aarohi into his arms and hugs her tightly. Aarohi takes a deep breath and looks at Rohan’s face. She says nothing and smiles. Both of them feel the same thing that it's hard to find someone in this world with whom you can spend your life and their place can never be replaced with someone else no matter the distance between them.
The whole movie is going to set you on the drive of emotions where you are going to connect to each and every emotion of the characters. In the early stage, you may hate Shoya for his nature and his behaviour towards Shouko. You will also see the sufferings of Shoya and what he feels from the things he have done in the past. But, destiny gives him second chance to correct his all mistakes, opening her heart for Shouko. The movie is a piece of art, the emotions you will feel in the movie, you’re probably not going to find it in any other movie.
Even if you are a stone-hearted person you will still feel the emotions of the characters and also the plot is going to make your eyes wet. The movie is worth watching and you want to see it again and again because of the bond this movie creates with you.
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