A Silent Voice: The Movie (Region A Blu-ray) (Japanese Language 日本語. Cantonese 粵語配音 Dubbed / English & Chinese Subtitled) Japanese Animation aka Koe no Katachi / 聲の形 / 聲之形

First off, this is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time, not just a solid 'best anime' contender. While some would deem this a love story, and a lot of people see this as a movie about bullying, it's not really either of those, per se, but rather (I would contend) the story of one person's redemption. You'll spend your first third of the movie or so actively detesting the male lead, and the last third or so hoping that the vastly superior person he later became can make amends and finally find peace. The art is gorgeous and at times lush - both on par with, and characteristic of, the quality the work we've come to expect from Kyoto Animation. While everything I have seen from them to date is quite literally beautiful, the story here and the painstaking, loving care they have so obviously put into this film really do make this a piece of art on a whole different level. I can't recommend this film enough. As with any suitably subtle and complex film, different people will take different things from it, but I believe anyone would find something of value that lasts long after they've seen it. This is one of a vanishingly small number of films I actually prefer watching in dub rather than the original language with subtitles. And I'll tell you why: This was given the deluxe treatment. Literally every english Dub voice actor is uncommonly good, several superior to the original voice actors, particularly the female lead. The Dub female lead was *so* convincing, I looked her up and was only slightly surprised to learn that she was actually deaf. Perhaps it's because English is my first language, but I didn't get that sense from the Sub female lead (who wasn't bad, but after you hear the Dub you miss it when you go back to the Sub) at all. I'll be suitably vague, to avoid outright spoilers here: A hearing-impared girl named Shouko transfers to a new school, where she's initially well-received but her welcome is ultimately short-lived. The male lead, Shoya seems at first blush to be a typical boy with regular friendships who's both shocked and intrigued by his new classmate. Unfortunately, he proves both insecure and isolated enough to seek popularity and approval from his peers by ruthlessly bullying his classmate. There are moments (granted few during the childhood flashback) where his interest ('"sign language, huh?") or an opportunity to act like a decent human being ("You like it. You're blushing") is met with hostility and scorn by his peers, which reinforces his basest impulses. This situation escalates beyond the point where the adults are forced to intervene, as chances to change course pass unnoticed while an increasingly frustrated, isolated, and angry Shoya continues to vent his spleen on his undeserving victim while we, the viewer, realize that despite everything she has had to deal with up to this point, she's trying to protect him from his other classmates, who have now turned on him. It's at this moment that he misses his last chance to show any compassion, and a confrontation devolves into a physical fight causing two (arguably three) lives to be essentially ruined. Following this, Shouko transfers (again) out of the school and Shoya is now the sole target of his peers - Mind you not for tormenting a young deaf girl, but rather for the crime of turning on them when the adults finally started asking much-needed questions. Years later, a repentant, scarred, and socially isolated Shoya goes to return Shouko's communications notebook, having first learned sign language so that he can set his affairs in order. Her reaction to this causes him to change his plans, and start looking for a way to repair *something* he instinctively knows is terribly wrong with himself. As the two grapple with the wreckage their lives had become, various family, friends, and acquaintances are involved with both beneficial and disastrous results. Penultimately, one is able to limp along toward a future while the other is unable to, and only serendipity allows both to realize what really matters in life. I've done the manga as well as the anime, and while some omissions from the film are missed (some backstory, indications Shoya's friendships were already fraying before Shouko's arrival, anime's 'generic friend' [Satoshi] being a bit less generic and aggressively confrontational about the revealed bullying), while others are welcome edits (the Koi bridge nighttime reunion rather than the movie subplot comes to mind). Overall, the anime is both a solid adaptation and a real gem in its own right. Naoka comes off as a bit less awful in the manga, and Satoshi less two-dimensional, but a lot of the rest is tolerable and expected trimming. There's an amazing level of attention given to subtle queues relating to the interpersonal dynamics in the anime, which you might miss at first watch if you're not attentive: The distraught\sad\guilty expression Shouko makes after the bridge confrontation when asked about summer plans, Nao glancing at Shoya multiple times, the sequence of expressions on Shouko's face when Shoya locates her unexpectedly at sign language class, the festival fireworks "you're coming, right" synchronized (literal) looking to mom for approval, and Miyoko's hunched shoulders while walking down the hall last the 'popular girls' mocking her are fine examples of this. Other actions such as the signing of "Thank You" rather than "Later" at the festival, scrubbing of Shoya's desk, or Naoka's standing to ask "Why can't we just write in her notebook?" after Shoya seems interested in learning sign language are artfully fraught with meaning which is later revealed (if\as needed). My sole complaint with the original release was the English Sub having a couple of jarring errors, most notably the "I'm Helping You! I'm doing the best I can!" being mangled to "I'm mad! I'm doing the best I can!" in the school desk confrontation scene, and "Then stop Breathing!" being butchered into "Then stop Breeding!" at the hospital fence scene. Given the overall quality of the work and the care put into it, I was disappointed at the glaring subtitle errors, which I hope they addressed in the Limited Edition release.

This movie is so good. Its very emotional at times. Such a good story though. Full of highs and lows.

If you like a good character redemption film or like huge character development this movie is for you. I didn't even hear about this until today, and a ton of people recommended it to me. Took a shot, and really don't regret it.

Very nice movie good quality

Okay... *sniffles* I'll try to make it through this review without crying. I absolutely love this movie! I've watched it 16 times so far over the past few weeks since I got it. I recommend this movie to pretty much everybody. This movie hits home with me because of my own experiences with being bullied, and having a 'Shoko' in my past life as well. I've fallen out of practice with Signing since her departure long ago, but this movie has made me want to learn Sign again. Something that I always wanted to do, but since I don't have anyone to converse with in Sign, I just haven't. My 'Shoko's' departure left me somewhat broken hearted, so my reticence to Sign up until now is also from those feelings of loss for her. Somehow this movie brings me back that desire to sign. One theme of this movie is being able to move on and forgive the past, or even a loss. You have the power to make changes, overcome fears, find love... (in yourself. ) There are already many reviews that can tell you more about the story, but I wanted to share how this movie affected me, that it is a powerful story that anyone can appreciate, but to those of us with these personal associated experiences and traumas, this movie's impact is tremendous and moving. I am truly grateful to all those who created this story. It is beautiful on so many levels, and courageous. As for myself, my hope is to move on with faith, and hopefully find another 'Shoko' to reach out and be able to communicate with in 'The Shape Of Voice'.

Love this movie

This movie is very emotional. I definitely recommend having tissues on hand because the ending is a masterpiece! I will warn that some content is a bit hard to watch given that there are scenes related to bullying and death...however, it goes with the author's message (a message in which you have to watch to discover it). I love how it puts us in the perspective of the HoH and deaf community and expresses just how difficult relationships can be without sound. I highly recommend this movie if it sparks your interest! This is absolutely one of my favorite anime films! The only negatives I experienced were checking out, the sound, and the quality of packaging. I wish I could upload a photo to show what I'm saying, but the back of the discs looked used when they arrived. When I bought it, it was supposed to be brand new (I paid for the price of a new DVD) but when it arrived I examined the back of the discs and they had multiple little scratch marks on the DVDs. Luckily, they had no problem playing and I could watch the movie smoothly. Lastly, I was a little disappointed with the sound. The background music was formatted so high that it was difficult to hear low voices in the film, so definitely turn on closed captioning when watching!

This movie makes me cry every time. Watch it free with adds but then I had to own it.

One of my favourite movies of all time but it doesn't work in ireland. I tried putting the disc into my bluray player and it says "This disc is region code 1 and the player is region code 2 so it cannot be played". Not an ounce of advertising for that on the actual description for this product.

watch it please

Excelente película... 😢

This turned out to be a fantastically told story of essentially a deaf girl and her tormentors as they bridge the pain (past and present) and not knowing how to properly handle situations as they navigate into their adult-hood. The manga has a LOT of character background information that make the story even more impressive in its telling; but without that a second viewing will allow you to catch a lot of that as it is implied or shown so fast it is hard to really grasp it. As an FYI, YouTube does have character videos which I found helpful .. but look at those AFTER as I found I kind of knew the plot too well because of it. The DVD-BLURAY from what I can tell (I have both) seemed identical for the most part. You actually get a nice sample frame of the artwork on the back side of the cover (see photo). It comes with 2 musical extras (sound pieces) and trailers. Around 12 minutes of material I would say. Spoiler Warning The animation is just outstanding and full of symbolism, and hints about the characters, with one being the grey fish representing the characters with the coloured one that stands out being the deaf student. The music is there, but brilliant is how it is design to not be overtly noticeable. Again, there are YouTube videos on this, but they actually took a piano apart to place microphones in unusual locations to make it sound a mix if distorted and different .. my opinion is to coordinate with how the deaf girl would not hear the world like we do and has to listen to her own song really. Though they sound disjointed, the source material is from training exercises Brahm used for his students. The Japanese voicing is outstanding, but the English is noteworthy as the deaf girl/woman was voice by someone who is deaf; and I felt that her acting was well done. The story has many levels, but the one I picked up on is how "society is intolerant of bullying" .. but at the same time actually bullies collectively. It also shows that it is a complex process - as you could say that none of the children got out of that grade 6 class as better future adults - and it took the events of 5 years later, to create the condition where people stop blaming (attacking) and get that sense of compassion, and finally understanding, to address and heal the situation. I highly recommend this beautiful movie, and very relatable and moving story !!!

A pocos meses después de su estreno en Japón, empece a verla sin saber exactamente con que me iba a encontrar, ya que como en otras ocasiones, no había leído ni la sinopsis y pensaba que me encontraría con alguna historia bastante cliché. El caso es que tras terminarla, me encanto, es un drama romántico inusual, con buenos giros y sucesos inesperados. Esta es la segunda película de ese "3x2", que mencioné en la entrada anterior. Historia: Un chaval, Shouya Ishida, que es el trasto de la clase, inquieto y payasete, esta siempre con su pequeño grupo de amigos. Al poco se une a la clase una nueva compañera, Shouko Nishimiya, que tiene la particularidad de ser sorda. Esto sorprende a Shouya, despertando un ascendente interés por bromear, centrándolas en la nueva, aunque quizá su incitación se ve incrementada al descubrir que la joven niña, usa el mismo mote que él para nombrarla, "Shou". Tras varias trastadas protagonizadas por Shouya, y aunque algunos profesores y compañeros de clase se ríen o hablan a escondidas de ella, acaban mal. Su grupito le da la espalda y acomete en acciones, es expulsado de la escuela durante unos días y Shouko acaba siendo transferida, además de otro ciclo de sucesos de bullyng. Pese a todo y antes de que Shouko se transfiera, intenta medrar con Shouya a través de la lengua de signos, pero sin éxito, ya que la rebeldía salvaje de este, solo puede mostrarle rencor y odio de sus actuales problemas. Así nos acaba dando pie, poniéndonos en muchas ocasiones casi en la misma situación de impotencia, de no saber el por que de las cosas, debido a la inmadurez de las personas a ciertas edades. Tiene un entramado muy muy cuidado, incluso con los personajes más prescindibles. Como decía al principio tiene buenos giros, estupendamente justificados, sabiendo como estremecer y sobrecoger al publico. Es sin duda una película grandilocuente, que por mi parte he visto ya más de 5 veces, eso ya debería decir mucho más de su magnificencia, de lo que mis palabras constaten. Personajes: Nos encontramos con los típicos chavales de barrio en la escuela, revoltosos, inmaduros y muy "aleatorios", que dan de lado a otro del grupo para evitar males mayores o falsas habladurías, aplicando además el ensañamiento como parte de repulsión y exclusión. Por otro lado esta la típica metomentodo, que pese a no ser una "líder", siempre quiere tener la ultima palabra, enfocando sus frustraciones en el protagonista, para luego, a pesar de sus verdaderos sentimientos, quedar en un segundo plano. La verdad es que casi todos los personajes podrían pasar por un comportamiento totalmente normal en la sociedad, ya que tienen esa "aleatoriedad" de acción, cambios de opinión, reminiscencia y autoreproche, lo que a mi entender se aleja mucho del cliché estándar, que suele estar más normalizado en la animación japonesa. Todo esto se une al buen argumento y hace que sea una película de 9 sobre 10. Música/Sonido/Efectos: No es que tenga una extensa y gloriosa banda sonora, ya que en cierta medida se han centrado mucho en el argumento y posiblemente enfocándose en el problema de fondo de la protagonista, no es que haya ausencia de melodías, pero son bastante suaves, no importunan la conversación y respetan el tono de la historia que nos cuentan. Algún tema vocal pasado de época, para acentuar la pre-adolescencia y un buen tema final para los créditos son suficientes, para dar el broche definitivo a la película, que la verdad no nos dará muchos momentos para centrarnos en la música, dado el impacto de la trama. Doblaje: La adaptación de la lengua en si, está bien, pero de nuevo fallan los actores además de las voces seleccionadas para cada uno de ellos, sonando los chavales como plenos adolescentes o una niña pequeña casi como una adulta en alguna de las ocasiones. No transmiten la intensidad de las escenas con la misma fuerza y exactitud que las voces primigenias. La verdad es que esperaba que al no ser una película de acción, el doblaje estaría mejor adaptado y los actores representarían mejor las acciones y sus papeles correspondientes. Es una lastima que no sea así. Por si eso no fuese poco, al tener escenas tan "naturales" y cotidianas, se notan mucho más las voces interpretativas, que son las más comunes en este mundillo, haciendo ver que no hay nuevos actores de doblaje que cambien el panorama auditivo en el doblaje. Así que nada, a quien le guste todo en castellano le dará igual, pero para mi es un punto muy negativo en una película de tan alta categoría. Una vez más, a favor el doblaje japonés. Extras: En esto si aprueba esta vez, y es para no ser menos, como ya digo es una película grandiosa, así que incluye un disco a parte con los extras, además de una postal y el libro con ilustraciones, sketchs y otras imágenes. Packaging/Contenido: Se repite el formato ya visto en otras ediciones de Selecta-Vision y como no hay muchos cambios, no tiene puntos a destacar, tiene algunas imágenes representativas de la película en las cubiertas, como suele ser habitual, aunque una vez más no han puesto buenas imágenes debajo de los soportes de los discos, que son transparentes. En cualquier caso esta bastante bien.