One of the biggest hit in the mainstream anime and was widely appreciated upon it’s theatrical worldwide relase. A 2016 Japanese animated teen drama film produced by Kyoto Animation, directed by Naoko Yamada, this movie along with movies like Kimi no na wa(Your name) and the flagbearer itself Ghibli studios, are the main carrier or we should say a window for the people from all demographics to look into the fantastic world of anime.

This movie addreses the biggest problem of the youth in Japan, lack of communication and high rates of suicide among Youths yet it resonates with all irrespective of their gender, age or the region where they belong.

Plot

A new student, Shoko Nisimiya gets enrolled in the class 6. We soon discovers this girl is rather special, a beautiful soul who wants to make friends despite of her hearing problem. She is trying hard to communicate with the other children but soon other children start ignoring her. She gets bullied by her classmate Shoya Ishida, a lively boy who is under a sense of encouragement from other class mates. When the line is crossed, she gets transferred and the bully gets punished, the feel of guilty and shame hampers his confidence, he is left alone with a overbearing sense of guilt. Table turns he accidentally meets the deaf girl in a sign language class, he sets out to amend his ties with her by apologizing to her so he could have enough courage to look into the eyes of others.

The visible affection or a kind of bond she has with her bully reminded me of The Monster call released in the same year, I am quoting it here

Shoyo, the deaf girl wanted to talk with other classmates and make friends but when everyone started ignoring her, maybe she developed a kind of bond with her tormentor, he was the only person who recognized her presence and maybe this was the reason she was somewhat soft on him. This movie is so thought provoking and deals with a very complex and dark truth and it still it has it’s own beautiful moments of friendship and relations which is very joyful to watch.

The animation quality is top notch so beautifully crafted which is so difficult to explain in words. The creative choices made by the director are amazing make the story very endearing and very hard hitting. There is a scene in which background music goes out and the texts appears on the scene, there could not be a better way to communicate with the character of Shoya, a deaf girl who is so apologetic for her existence and still tries to live with her confidence at the brink of the extinction.

Shoya Isimada is left alone to be blamed when he needed his friend the most. He is very low in confidence can’t look into the eyes of others. All people appear having a sign of X over their face as if they don’t exist or he could not muster enough confidence to look into their face.

My favourite scene from the movie is where Shoya tries to express her feelings with Ishida without using sign language or by writing. But Ishida is not able to understand her, she continues to yell the words and finally runs out of there. This is the scene where we learn about the feelings of Shoya, who always try to supress her feelings and how she struggles to convey her feelings.

Conclusion

A movie with so much emotions and a dark plot but you just keep watching it through your watering eyes without any kind of protest just immersing yourself in this heartwarming experience. A heartwarming experience which is I have find so difficult to explain in words.

A 10/10 for sure, a must watch anime movie.