But communication between them is not that simple, even if Shoya tries to learn sign language, while the lasting effects of their trauma seem to leave permanent wounds. Their very long and awkward friendship - or courtship, if you can call it that - occupies the majority of the film, with the two damaged souls searching for some kind of solace in each other’s company. He tracks down Shoko, who he hasn’t seen since they were kids, in the hopes that she will pardon his terrible behavior. Already a hit in Japan, where it grossed close to $20 million last year, Silent Voice has been released in several other territories (including the U.K.) and should embark across Europe after playing competition at Annecy.Īnnecy: Guillermo del Toro Talks Creative Freedom With Netflix, the Future of 'Hellboy'Ī decade later, Shoya has never managed to shed the bully label of his youth, becoming an outcast in his own right who’s now shunned by the rest of his school.
BEST ANIME OF 2017 A SILENT VOICE SERIES
Packed with drama, laughter, tears and at least two suicide attempts, this third animated feature from director Naoko Yamada ( Tamako Love Story) does its best to condense a seven-volume series into one feature-length film, though it tends to suffer under the weight of so much material.
The ripple effects of bullying come back to haunt a high school student years later - and over the course of two ambitiously overstuffed hours - in A Silent Voice ( Koe no katachi), which was adapted from the popular manga series by Yoshitoki Oima.