Their motives are drawn to plot points not to logic. This work tries to make Nishimiya a character as deeply developed as Shouya but they foist too many roles on an underdeveloped symbol, not even mentioning her role as a character. A show like Monster works this concept excellently because it uses the object of interest (Johan) as more of a symbol. To be affected on, for us to pity, for us to see illness in a 'new light,' to justify against bullying, to see the indomitable human spirit. And that is what Nishimiya is, an object. It's inherently questionable to approach this topic from a romantic perspective because it's hard to sympathize with an object. A personality-less self-insert male character who wants to repent for mistakes he made when he was a child falls in love with the object of his errs. Sadly, the execution is simply sickening. Including deafness or any other handicap into anime is an exciting idea, and I laud the attempt. She is paper thin with her sole character trait being she likes Nishimiya's entire character is her illness. This is clearly troublesome when trying to explain deafness to an able-bodied audience. She is the textbook definition of a mary-sue as well as a damsel in distress. It uses a serious problem as a plot device constantly and reduces Nishimiya to one-dimension.

This movie certainly does not allow any greater understanding into the mind of deaf people is the point I want to iterate. I'm not going to pretend to know anything about deaf people. Now, if you really can't stand subtitles, you can always watch dubs.Koe no Katachi is dangerous because it is exploitative. Translation just always gives up on something. The translated title, A Silent Voice, is an oxymore related to the fact that Shouko is deaf (she can only use silent communication to 'talk'). It also conveys the theme of communication, which is the point of the entire movie. It is a very important metaphore throughout the movie: when you're deaf, you can't use your real voice, so everything you use to communicate (signs, body, texts) becomes the shape of your voice, hence the title. The original title, Koe no Katachi, means Shape of Voice. On the contrary, the overall lack of competence/seriousness of foreign dubs, the loss of many cultural elements due to 'culture adaptation' or other incomprehensible decisions, a dub is generally not as good as the original version.

The VA of a character who barely talks is absolutely not a major point. what, 10 sentences in the entire movie, it's definitely not a game changer. The only pro for Koe no Katachi dub is the fact that Shouko's VA is deaf herself.

Koe no katachi full movie english sub