Koe no Katachi Review

Koe no Katachi started as one shot published in the February issue of the Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine in 2011 and later became a full serialization in the Weekly Shōnen Magazine starting from August of 2013 and ending in November 2014. Since then, the series has garnered a fair amount of acclaim online and there were those, myself included, who wanted the series to be made into an anime. Their prayers were finally answered in 2015, well, sort of. Kyoto Animation, creators of popular series such as Clannad, Kyoukai no Kanata, and Miss Koboyashi’s Dragon Maid, announced that they were going to create a film adaptation to the manga for 2016. I was so happy when I found out. So now that it’s out, did Koe no Katachi turn out like I had hoped?The narrative begins showing the daily lives of a few boys in their final year of grade school. Shouya Ishida, who at the time is loud, boisterous, and insensitive, is introduced here. After introducing Shouya and his classmates, they all find out about the arrival of a new transfer student. The teacher introduces Shouko Nishimiya, the story’s main heroine, and she introduces herself using a notebook, letting the class know that she’s deaf.

Initially she’s greeted with optimism and curiosity, but shortly afterwards her disability is seen as a nuisance and something to make fun of. Spearheaded by Shouya and his deskmate Naoko Ueno, a number of classmates begin to gang up and bully Shouko until it becomes too much for her. This all leads to a climactic moment, leaving everyone involved to be hurt or regretful, and causing everyone to drift apart. The rest of the story resumes years later when they are third year high school students.

At it’s core, Koe no Katachi is about redemption. Shouya is haunted by his past grievances. Although now awkward and socially inept, he works hard to give Shouko back what he believes he stole from her. This involves reconnecting with old classmates and trying to give her good memories.

The film has plethora of good points, along with a few downsides. The level of quality on display is definitely standard fare for Kyoto Animation. The movie clocks in just over two hours, and the animation looks great. There are a few scenes that try to get artistic with symbolic compositions or slow camera pans that feel more like Shaft’s wheelhouse, but overall work well for the story’s message. The sound design is relatively minimalistic, with mild background ambiance during most conversations and light, dulcet piano melodies during transitions and emotional scenes. The voice cast is pretty solid, although I’m not a fan of Shouko’s voice. I think it’s a decent attempt, but a few lines felt a bit vocaloid-like. The rest of her lines sound like they were recorded during a game of Chubby Bunny. It just doesn’t feel even close to authentic to me.

For the most part, the movie hits almost all the right notes. However, as an adaptation of the manga, I still feel a bit disappointed. Due to time constraints, some things are left out, but it also feels like the studio made a lot of decisions to make the film feel more family friendly by the end to feel more in line with their other works. These small changes however, set a different tone for the film compared to the source material.

The central appeal of Koe no Katachi is the characters. Context is everything, and it’s my biggest fault with the film. The characters are all relatable in some way due to the series’ painfully realistic parallel to typical schoolyard antics. These themes of awkward and rough childhood are what initially drew me to Koe no Katachi. Nobody involved is blame free. Everyone has their own baggage, and over time each of them gets fleshed out by the end of the manga. Even Shouko, who is quite the “Mary Sue” archetype, is shown by the end to be much more than just an abuse victim. This all helps build a better story piece by piece.

The lack of time also hurts a number of characters as well, such as Naoka and Mashiba. Naoka, who is mainly seen as an antagonist, is eventually fleshed out by the end manga. In the film however, much of her motivations are left out or watered down. Some of it is still recognizable, but it’s mostly left up to the viewer to interpret based on implied actions. Mashiba barely gets any screentime either. The film doesn’t really dig into his past, and his vehement hatred of bullies after being bullied as a child. Originally, he serves as a constant reminder to Shouya of his past transgressions; Since, they are only friends because Mashiba doesn’t know about Shouya’s past. In the movie, he plays a backseat roll of just being the pretty boy with a slightly creepy smile.

Another example of changes to a character is Shouya himself. In the film, he begins to have a change of heart during grade school after getting admonished for his bullying, which is fully realized at the end of the first act. Later in high school, he’s seen as repentant and kind hearted. However, in the manga he still never fully changes his bad attitude. He becomes much kinder after meeting Shouko again, but his bad side still appears from time to time which is used to drive certain scenes and add weight to his attempts at redemption. However, without this characterization of Shouya, the film uses other reasons to achieve these sequence of events and impact the viewer.

As a fan, the film kept me still wanting just one more bite. I wanted to see more of what was left out. I wanted to see more of how dysfunctional the Nishimiya family is, and how the grade school teacher despised having Shouko in the class. I wish the build up towards the second act was slightly longer to provide more weight.

Even in light of the flaws mentioned, they still did a tremendous job telling a bittersweet tale about youth and growth of maturity. I’ve seen a lot of comparisons to Kimi no na wa. They are very different stories, but I’d say they’re relatively on par with each other, and it’s up to you which you prefer. I still wish Koe no Katachi was a twelve episode anime rather than a movie, but otherwise it was a great watch, and I highly recommend watching it. 4 out of 5

-Magnus Rex

Recommendations:

-Onani Master Kurosawa (manga)

-Kimi no Na wa (movie)

-March Comes in like a Lion (anime)

-Oyasumi Punpun (manga)