The Shape of Voice, aka A Silent Voice (2016)

[PictureGuy]

Kids can be so cruel, but cruel kids can also carry a lot of baggage. So let’s look at The Shape of Voice, aka A Silent Voice.

Shoko is the new girl in the 6th grade, and she’s deaf. Shoya leads the bulling which reaches a point to where Shoko must transfer out to a new school. Though others share the blame, Shoya is held totally responsible and is ostracize.

Skip forward a few years and Shoya is now in high school, having cut himself off from most of the world. He is a loner with no direction, and even is considering suicide. This is when he is reacquainted with Shoko. Is he hoping to make amends? It does not seem even Shoya knows. But maybe Shoko is the one to break him out of his shell. Maybe Shoya is the one to give Shoko a purpose in life as well. Yes, there is a lot of emotional trauma going around here.

Yes, it’s a pretty poignant story, well told. The animation is more on the TV standard than movie standard, but that is easy to overlook with such a strong plot line. I do recommend watching the English dub if you are not too familiar with Japanese dialects. Shoko's problems with speech are not so apparent to the American ear while watching the Japanese dub.

There is a lot of damage from the past to undo. The Shape of Voice shows us it can be undone. I recommend this one.

[PictureGuy]

I happened to stumble across this. It is the trailer used in Australia and New Zealand.