A Silent Voice (film)

Japanese teenager Shoya Ishida intends to commit suicide. Changing his mind at the last minute, he recalls his days in elementary school and the events that have led him here. A new student named Shoko Nishimiya informs the class that she is deaf. She tries to integrate with the class but ends up annoying Shoya and his friends, so they start to bully her. When word of the bullying reaches the principal, Shoya is singled out as the culprit. Soon, the class's bullying is directed toward him, subjecting him to the same treatment he gave Shoko. Shoya blames Shoko, and the two get into a physical altercation. She is subsequently transferred to another school. He later finds Shoko's notebook, which she left behind, and keeps it.

Now in high school, Shoya is a social reject. He blocks out the faces of those around him, unable to look them in the eye. Tomohiro Nagatsuka, another loner, befriends Shoya after Shoya helps him with a bully. Shoya visits the sign language center, returns Shoko's notebook to her in the hopes of making amends and reveals he has learned sign language. The two begin meeting at a bridge to feed bread to Koi fish.

One day, Shoya and Shoko accidentally drop Shoko's notebook into a river, and they jump in to retrieve it, which is prohibited. Yuzuru Nishimiya, Shoko's younger sister, secretly takes a photo of Shoya jumping in and posts it online. Shoya is suspended.

Shoya finds Yuzuru, who ran away from home, and brings her to stay at his house. When she leaves in the middle of the night, Shoya follows and tells her that he is remorseful for the way he treated Shoko; she decides to go home. The sisters' mother, Yaeko Nishimiya, slaps Shoya in the face before bringing Yuzuru inside.

Shoya and Shoko reunite with Miyoko Sahara, a classmate from elementary school who was friendly to Shoko. Shoko gives Shoya a gift and confesses her feelings for him, but because she tries to speak her affections rather than signing them out, Shoya does not understand her.

Shoya invites her to an amusement park with Tomohiro, Miyoko, Miki Kawai (another classmate from elementary school) and Satoshi Mashiba (Miki's friend). There, they meet another classmate from elementary school, Naoka Ueno, who drags Shoko into a ferris wheel. Naoka voices her feelings of hatred for Shoko, whom Naoka blames for creating a rift between her and Shoya. At school, desperate to remain blameless for her part in bullying Shoko, Miki exposes Shoya's past to the students who were oblivious to it. Later, the group has a heated confrontation.

Shoya goes back to the bridge to meet Shoko but ends up seeing Yuzuru, whose grandmother had just died recently. To cheer Shoko up, Shoya takes her to the countryside, where he begins to understand how much she blames herself for everything that has happened to him. Desperate to change her mindset, Shoya contrives to regularly meet with the sisters.

During the fireworks festival, Shoko goes home under the guise of finishing some schoolwork. Shoya follows when Yuzuru asks him to get her camera. When he arrives, he finds Shoko standing on the balcony, about to commit suicide. Shoya succeeds in grabbing her and pulls her back up, but he falls into the river below. He is rescued but slips into a coma.

One night, Shoko dreams about receiving a farewell visit from Shoya. Horrified, she runs to the bridge and collapses in tears. Shoya, awakening from his coma, stumbles to the bridge and finds her there. He apologizes for the way he treated her. He asks her to stop blaming herself and admits that, while he once considered ending his own life, he has since decided against it. Shoya then asks her to help him continue to live.

When Shoya goes to the school festival with Shoko, he finds out how much his new friends still care for him, and they reconcile. During the festival, Shoya is finally able to look at other people's faces again. He looks around at his family and all the new friends he has made, and he cries.

Shoya Ishida (石田 将也, Ishida Shōya)

Voiced by: Miyu Irino,[4] Mayu Matsuoka (child)[5] (Japanese); Robbie Daymond,[6] Ryan Shanahan (child) (English)

A high school boy who bullied Shoko Nishimiya, a deaf girl, in elementary school. He becomes the victim of bullying when the principal finds out. Now a social outcast, he strives to make amends with Shoko.

Shoko Nishimiya (西宮 硝子, Nishimiya Shōko)

Voiced by: Saori Hayami[4] (Japanese); Lexi Cowden[6] (English)

A deaf girl who transferred to Shoya's elementary school where she was the victim of constant harassment by Shoya and his friends, forcing her to transfer again.

Yuzuru Nishimiya (西宮 結絃, Nishimiya Yuzuru)

Voiced by: Aoi Yūki[5] (Japanese); Kristen Sullivan[6] (English)

Shoko's younger sister who is opposed to Shoya being around Shoko.

Tomohiro Nagatsuka (永束 友宏, Nagatsuka Tomohiro)

Voiced by: Kenshō Ono[5] (Japanese); Graham Halstead[6] (English)

A rotund high school boy who befriends Shoya.

Naoka Ueno (植野 直花, Ueno Naoka)

Voiced by: Yūki Kaneko[5] (Japanese); Kira Buckland, Gia Grace (child)[6] (English)

Shoya's elementary school classmate who joined him in bullying Shoko.

Miyoko Sahara (佐原 みよこ, Sahara Miyoko)

Voiced by: Yui Ishikawa[5] (Japanese); Melissa Hope, Catie Harvey (child)[6] (English)

One of the few classmates in Shoko's elementary school who was friendly to her.

Miki Kawai (川井 みき, Kawai Miki)

Voiced by: Megumi Han[5] (Japanese); Amber Lee Connors, Annabelle Corigliano (child)[6] (English)

A classmate of Shoya's from elementary to high school.

Satoshi Mashiba (真柴 智, Mashiba Satoshi)

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Toyonaga[5] (Japanese); Max Mittelman[6] (English)

Miki's friend, a high school boy who befriends Shoya.

Kazuki Shimada (島田 一旗, Shimada Kazuki)

Voiced by: Ryo Nishitani, Sachiko Kojima (child) (Japanese); Michael Sinterniklaas, Spencer Rosen (child)[6] (English)

Shoya's elementary school friend and accomplice in bullying Shoko. When the principal finds out, he starts to bully Shoya.

Keisuke Hirose (広瀬 啓祐, Hirose Keisuke)

Voiced by: Takuya Masumoto, Hana Takeda (child) (Japanese); Brian Beckerle (child)[6] (English)

One of Shoya's friends in elementary school who later starts bullying him alongside Kazuki.

Takeuchi (竹内, Takeuchi)

Voiced by: Fuminori Komatsu (Japanese); Marc Diraison[6] (English)

Shoya's teacher in elementary school.

Miyako Ishida (石田 美也子, Ishida Miyako)

Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino (Japanese); Sara Cravens[6] (English)

Shoya's mother.

Yaeko Nishimiya (西宮 八重子, Nishimiya Yaeko)

Voiced by: Akiko Hiramatsu (Japanese); Lipica Shah[6] (English)

Shoko and Yuzuru's mother who disapproves of her daughters being around Shoya.

Shoya's Older Sister (将也の姉, Shōya no Ane)

Voiced by: Ayano Hamaguchi (Japanese); Stephanie Sheh[6] (English)

Maria's mother and Pedro's wife.

Maria (マリア, Maria)

Voiced by: Erena Kamata (Japanese); AnnaBelle Deaner[6] (English)

Shoya's niece and the daughter of his older sister and Pedro.

Ito Nishimiya (西宮 いと, Nishimiya Ito)

Voiced by: Ikuko Tani (Japanese); Barbara Goodson[6] (English)

Shoko and Yuzuru's grandmother.

Pedro (ペドロ, Pedoro)

Voiced by: Ryunosuke Watanuki (Japanese); Chris Jai Alex[6] (English)

Maria's father, the husband of Shoya's older sister and Shoya's brother-in-law.

The anime adaptation of the manga was announced in the manga's final chapter that released on November 19, 2014,[7] later specifying that the adaptation will be an anime theatrical film on December 17, 2014.[8] In the Weekly Shōnen Magazine's 46th issue of 2015 that released on October 14, 2015, Kyoto Animation and Naoko Yamada were announced to be the animation studio and director of the film adaptation, respectively.[9] The film's distributor, Shochiku, listed the adaptation releasing in Q4 2016.[10] On April 8, 2016, the film adaptation's official website opened, announcing that Reiko Yoshida would write the script for the film, Futoshi Nishiya would designed the characters and the film was scheduled for release in Japanese theaters on September 17, 2016.[11] Kensuke Ushio and Pony Canyon composed and produced the music, respectively.[4] The film's theme song, titled "Koi wo Shita no wa" (恋をしたのは), was performed by Aiko, while "My Generation" by The Who was used during the opening credit.[12][13]

For the English dub, deaf actress Lexi Cowden was cast as Shoko.[14]

The film premiered in 120 theaters across Japan on September 17, 2016.[11][15] It was screened at the 2016 Scotland Loves Animation festival on October 22, 2016,[16] and at the ICA in London on February 5, 2017.[17] Anime Limited distributed and released the film in the United Kingdom and Ireland on March 15, 2017.[18] Purple Plan released the film in Singapore and Malaysia on March 9, 2017.[19] Madman Entertainment released the film for a limited duration in Australia and New Zealand from April 9, 2017, and April 16, 2017, respectively.[20] Viz Media Europe acquired the film for distribution in Europe (excluding the UK and Ireland), Russia, Turkey, and French-speaking Africa in 2017.[21] In 2017, Konnichiwa Festival released the movie in theaters in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and Peru for a limited time in May, while in countries like Argentina and Uruguay, Anifest had a theatrical release in June.[22] Pioneer Films released the movie in the Philippines on May 10, 2017.[23] Eleven Arts screened the film at Anime Expo on July 3, 2017, with a limited theatrical release in the U.S. on October 20, 2017,[24][25] and a second screening in January 2019.[26]

• List of films featuring the deaf and hard of hearing

• Official website (in Japanese)
• A Silent Voice (film) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• A Silent Voice on IMDb
• A Silent Voice at Rotten Tomatoes