Koe no Katachi (2016)
The one shot manga got rather popular on social media some years back, and I did read it at that time. Its definitely a powerful story of a deaf girl who got bullied at school, and the boy who was her biggest bully. When I heard it was getting a movie, I knew that it was going to make me cry and emotional like the manga did. Even though Kyoani is animating it, I knew they were going to do a good job with it that I will definitely cry. They're good at doing emotional scenes. I finally did end up seeing it when I feel like I need something to cry about. This is definitely a good movie for that. Its a great story of friendship and redemption that I feel anyone can relate to even if you never had experiences with bullying.
The one shot apparently had a continuation which I haven't read yet. The movie is rather long for an animated movie. Its 2 hours and 10 minutes long! Definitely went way beyond what the one shot had. Since I didn't read the continuation I don't know if it covered everything, but I have heard its a bit different. The pacing throughout is great as well. The only nitpick I have is probably the ending since it felt a little abrupt for me.
I did cry quite a bit watching this movie. Not to make it seem the movie is sad, its not really that sad but it is emotional. The characters do go through some personal struggles. The initial bullying happens when they're in grade school. The movie does mostly take place a bit further into the future when they're in high school. I think they balanced the ugliness and the goodness of people well. The characters do feel somewhat realistic. I was really surprised that there was a comic relief character. Hearing Ono Kensho voicing this entertaining weird green haired guy did help give me a break from all the crying. He is a good character though so I am really thankful there is at least one kid who isn't an emotional wreck. Definitely highly recommend it if this interests you.
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