Originally written 2017
I had outlandish expectations for this movie going into it. It was a stacked lineup for me to begin with. You put movie budget Kyoto Animation (my favourite studio known for their excellent visuals), Yamada Naoko (one of my favourite directors who did one of my top 3 anime Tamako Love Story) and a critically acclaimed, universally praised manga together and it’s a surefire recipe for success. Add the solid year that I’d been actively waiting for this film with bated breath, and boy I was hyped. And I’ll tell you what, it managed to meet my expectations in spades. I went in predicting a 10/10 movie and I walked out with something that was even better than I imagined it would be. Heck man I went back and saw it twice.
The art and animation was fantastic as you’d expect from Kyoto Animation. The characters and backgrounds were all drawn really well, with lots of charm and expression in their movements that really helped to bring the characters to life, Shoko screwing up her face when Yuzuru asked about her ponytail was one of my favourites. The character designs were great – Shoko was adorable! I just wish someone had the common sense to tell Ishida his shirt tags were sticking up.
The directing was incredibly solid with lots of nice cinematography. Yamada Naoko is famous for using legs to frame shots and express emotion, and that was felt all throughout this film with examples like when it showed kid Shoko’s legs playing alone on the fence to express her loneliness (also potentially foreshadowing her suicide attempt since they almost disappear up the top of the frame and then plummet back down and being a direct visual link to the shot of her legs as she climbs the balcony in her suicide attempt).
Or when it showed Ishida’s mothers legs mischievously fidgeting around when she asked Shoya to go pick up Maria despite the fact he was on suspension. I think Yamada Naoko’s reason for doing that might be that by hiding their face you have to look at their body language, so instead of reading their expression you’re reading a more raw and unrefined form of emotion that they express throughout the entire body.
One little thing I liked was Ishida’s mother watching him from the doorframe before talking to him the night after she confronts him about his suicide attempt. It really illustrates KyoAni’s skill and understanding; she didn’t just go in and immediately start talking to him, she waited and just watched him to make sure everything was okay as she reassured herself and built up the confidence she needed to face him.
Ishida was a top tier protagonist. He was deep, interesting and likable. I thought it was good that he didn’t just do a 180 in character; even after he promises to stop trying to kill himself you can see in everything from the meek way he talks to the apologetic way he carries himself around others that he’s truly struggling with the feeling that he shouldn’t be alive. All of the characters were great though. Shoko was endearing, Yuzuru was lovable and Nagatsuka was downright hilarious.
It was a huge tearjerker. I think it portrayed suicide very well in the way that despite their outward appearances, both characters were hiding their pain inside their hearts. I really thought Shoko was happy so seeing her go off on her own and attempt suicide was pretty shocking and heartbreaking. Shoko’s unfiltered wailing as she cried broke my heart. She couldn’t hear herself cry so she wasn’t holding back. Every time she spoke it was to great effect.
Her line at the end of the first act at grade school where she screams at Ishida that “I’m doing my best”, as well as Shoko grovelling at Ishida’s mother’s feet (also featuring another Yamada Naoko leg shot as she crawls along the ground in sorrow) crying out “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” after he gets into hospital saving her from her fall absolutely broke me.
However, seeing Ishida and Shoko come together through their suffering was really heartwarming. I would have liked a romantic conclusion between them but that’s just me. Koe no Katachi was a drama first and foremost, not a romance, so I can forgive it for not having a romance ending.
Expounding upon that, I think Ishida misunderstanding Shoko’s confession didn’t quite fall into trope territory. Because of the different nature of their communication and Shoko’s less than heavenly voice, he was already in the mindset to be overthinking and trying to decode the things she said to him. His insane amount of guilt and self-hatred towards Shoko would have led him to not even consider her falling in love with him a possibility, so I can see how he would misunderstand that.
The soundtrack mostly consisted of these lucid and ethereal yet soothing sounds that really made you empathise with the world of lights, colour and distant, muffled sounds that Shoko lived in. It was an outstanding soundtrack that interacted with the themes and settings of the film brilliantly and became an active, engaging part of the experience rather than just background noise.
The opening theme was a nice touch too with the stuttering in the english song that served to naturally reinforce both the message and setting of the film. It matched with the vintage feel of the opening sequence while also introducing the idea of the communication struggles that would become so central to the film.
Near the end there’s a part where Shoko dreams that Ishida is going away, and she runs around panicked, eventually settling at their bridge. That moment gave me major flashbacks to Tamako Love Story. The songs were similar too, ‘slt’ vs ‘Kaze no Fuku Saki’.
One small detail I loved was how in that final scene on the bridge Shoko’s tears were drawn pink instead of blue/clear It made sense in terms of lighting/colour and looked great. I just keep thinking back to that moment and how beautiful those tears were, it was mesmerising and enchanting. I’m not saying there was any symbolism in that choice, but that as a stylistic decision it was breathtaking. You could say that they symbolised her change of heart as her tears were no longer icy cold but a warm pink, but honestly I think it was just a really nice visual thing.
If I had one teensy complaint it’s that the ending was a bit abrupt/inconclusive, but I think it made sense in the context of the film and the story, and I do like the way it ended. What I mean by saying it makes sense in the context of the film is that it had already established that instead of one continuous time period it was doing lots of littler segments/snapshots, so to cut it off like that felt natural to the order it had already created.
Storywise there wasn’t any need to go past that ending either, Ishida and Shoko had already decided that they would help each other to live, and Ishida had started on his journey towards forgiving himself (shown by the crosses falling off everyone’s faces). I think the final scene on the bridge is the story’s end, and the festival scene is the epilogue where we get to see how the bridge scene affects his outlook on life.
skapbadoa 
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