Koe no Katachi aka The Shape of Voice

Not out in theaters yet since it doesn't have a NA licencor yet, but it has surfaced online.

My quick thoughts on the movie since I saw it last night:

So I read the manga in its entirety a few months ago in preparation for this movie. I still find it strange that it didn't just get a 12-episode anime instead but I'm glad to say I actually quite enjoyed this adaptation. It feels more like a greatest hit of the manga, getting majority of the essential plot elements to tell the story accurately and cutting out the fat.

The movie does a good job exploring "repairing" relationship between Shouya and Shouko, even though they toned down the romance. The film really did capture the themes of isolation and depression really well, and pulled at my heart-strings.

The portion of the story that I'm disappointed that got cut in this adaptation is a lot of Shouko's mother's side story, and it's very unfortunate. A lot of her remaining resentment towards Shouya really emphasize the lasting consequences of his actions, and in the manga it was a slowburn for her to finally start forgiving him. In the manga, the flashbacks of Shouko's homelife during her time in elementary was the biggest gut punch for me, so I'm sad it was not included here in the movie.

Overall though, I think KyoAni told the story pretty faithfully considering the constraints they needed to work with.

Basically.

Kyoani condensed as best they could but the way the movie is shot in terms of cinematography I actually feel superior at times to Your Name.

They excised the movie subplot and ended it with the Xs falling off climax.

But seeing certain scenes animated and acted is just woah

It is vey good

After watching this, your name and kono sekai no katasumi ni, i can say last year was a good year for anime film overall

Where can I legally watch this? Haven't found a place.

Cinemas. It hasn't even had a home video release in Japan yet as far as I'm aware

Oh. I just heard of this movie for the first time a few hours ago when I heard some buddies were watching it. I somehow assumed they were watching it streaming somewhere or something. So I guess they're watching it in a theater. Not sure why I didn't just ask them, heh

Wait, is it even in US theaters yet?

edited 2nd Jul '17 4:05:35 PM by ArbitraryValues

Soon I think. Australia seems to be doing well these days since Madman Entertainment and our major cinema chains have started being willing to do limited sub-only runs so we get them early rather than waiting for a dub.

I'd go see a state side release.

That said, sub sites are your only option now.

We're getting an October release in the US

The German dub will air in cinemas at September 26th.

edited 21st Aug '17 12:00:11 AM by Kiefen

I keep on seeing AM Vs for the anime popping up in my rec feed on Youtube. I feel a little rotten for being peeved that it's more popular than the manga, but anime do tend to be.

My only issue with the film from what I've seen is just Shouko's hair. Pinkish red looks garish and unusual. They should have gone with the dark brown colour instead.

We do have some previews though, and boy does this dub sound good.

Saw the film last week where I live (Italy), as part of a brief promotion.

I went in almost blind (no pun intended), without having read the manga and watching almost any trailers or advertisements of sorts. Visually and aurally it was pretty great, but I can't say I enjoyed the story in the same way. Found the second half somewhat forced and melodramatic. I understand they had to cram several chapters of a story in little more than two hours, but then again they could have removed some characters that served no purpose (MC's sister's husband and his daughter) and subplots that weren't explained (the little girl photographing dead animals) because these just came out of nowhere. Also I disliked the ending for being too abrupt and open-ended. Several characters were pretty flat too.

Of the three anime films I saw with this promotion (your name. and In this Corner of the World) this is the one I liked the least. But maybe I'm just an insensitive jerk, who knows.

I'd say cramming it into a movie does it a bit of a disservice. There's a lot more that goes on in the manga, and the way the stories are interwoven together does make it somewhat tough to decide what to cut and how.

edited 1st Nov '17 3:36:56 PM by danime91

That they still managed to get a coherent narrative with their edits is good.

Movie is out in my state on the 7th

Got a pamphlet that is new stuff by mangaka

It's in Japanese only and I think is about Shoko's mom and grandmother

Dub in theaters is out on April 9 and 10

Saw the film twice recently, first in Japanese then in French (which is why I unearthed my Shouko-fu avatar).

I think this was the best possible adaptation in this format − sure, some storylines were cut, but what they did keep works in a perfectly cohesive way. Pefect animation, perfect sound design… the only thing I'm not too sure about is the final scene. One part of me finds it beautiful, maybe even better than in the manga, but another part wishes it focused on both Shouko and Shouya instead of just the latter.

The French dub was okay overall. It had some issues with what I call "translation padding" − adding a bunch of words to fill in some blanks, sometimes awkwardly −, but outside of maybe Shouya's overly subdued acting, the performances were pretty solid in general. And Shouko's actress was actually deaf too.

So yeah, this might have been even better as a 13 episode anime but as a 2-hour film it's excellent. I might want to rewatch it more than I do Your Name actually.

Edited by Lyendith on Aug 30th 2018 at 11:37:52 AM

I really wanted to like this more than I did. The manga and the movie are fine, though I wouldn't call them masterpieces. I hate that nobody bothers to tell Shouko that all the bullying she endured wasn't her fault, and Ueno gets little to no punishment for all the shit she pulls on her. I mean, sure, tell a suicidal girl who's literally at the lowest point in her life that everything bad that happened is her fault! That certainly won't traumatize her more than she already is! Dear God, the shit Ueno puts the girl though...and she gets off scott-free! If someone was treating me the way she treated Shouko, my parents would have called the police on her ass and sent her to juvie! Plus, one part of the finale that I absolutely LOATHE is the fact that the authoress decided to have Shouko, Miyoko, and Ueno go to fashion college together, where Shouko will very likely inevitably wind up being Ueno's personal punching bag yet again. Just...why?

Edited by TwilightPegasus on Jun 18th 2019 at 12:58:58 PM

I don't think Shouko goes to the same school? She's becoming a beautician like Shouya's mom?

I think its fine to feel that way because yeah, I feel too it could have used more reassurance for Shouko and more backlash against Ueno at her most unpleasant.

To be fair, Naoka has probably grown out of her "school bully" phase by the epilogue, so I doubt she would keep doing horrible shit to Shouko. Which doesn't mean she has become nice necessarily, but still slightly less of an asshole.

Yeah that’s true.

But Shouko’s mom throwing hands at her was way overdue

It’s kind of fascinating that Ueno is a self aware asshole while Kawai is pathologically narcissistic

Read the manga a few years ago and I feel the frustration is Deliberate Values Dissonance at work, because what happens is a very accurate depiction of how bullying is treated in Japan, to an almost uncomfortable degree.

Its such a conservative country and generally speaking any action that rocks the boat so to speak, is looked down upon. Victims are discouraged from speaking out as it would "cause problems". Its a very unpleasant picture.

I still haven't seen the film...mainly because the means of watching it have been very scarce for me.

Oh, I'm sure it's findable on Perfectly Legal© sites.

But well, the film is basically the manga minus the amateur film plotline, which means the supporting cast gets less development. The ending is also slightly different I think?

Ending ends on Shouya crying during a very beautiful sequence where the main theme plays while it goes from each character to end with him and Shouko at the festival.

I think it's now available on Netflix