It was more to illustrate a very specific type of bullying aimed at the disabled in a very conformist, collectivist society. It worked well enough as a one-shot, but stretched into a series the stark characterisation became glaring.
Stories don't tell us monsters exist; we knew that already. They show us that monsters can be trademarked and milked for years.
The oneshot worked decently enough, certainly. It was short, but I wasn't sure how genuine Shouya's attempt at patching things up was in the oneshot. There's just a time skip and he says sorry.
Though turning it into a series really backfired. Aside from the fact that the 'first' chapter is basically a rehash of the oneshot (which is dumb to do, if the volume includes said oneshot, why redo the first chapter? Just let the second chapter pick up where it left off), it ups the drama so, so much.
This is beyond the darkness induced audience apathy. This includes the eight deadly words, to the point that I'm wondering what the point of the series was. Bullying is wrong? The power of friendship heals old wounds? I highly doubt that, since Shouko's mother rightfully points out that it doesn't matter how nice people are to her now, it won't change how things went down in elementary school. (Though, why would you care what happened to you in elementary school when you're in your late teens or close to graduating?)
Also, the several instances of wanting to commit suicide 'over something like this' just made me call them all drama queens.
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Cast Of Unlikeables
Short and to the point, I hate everyone in this series. They are all unlikeable - protagonist Shouya for his stupid bullying, Nishimiya for never 'speaking up', even with the help of her notebook, the teacher for also laughing at her being bullied and all the classmates.
I didn't care when, years later, the bullies all got yelled at for their actions, nor that Shouya attempted to change. They were all unlikeable from the get-go.
And, honestly, perhaps it's because I was bullied differently but these Stock Shoujo Bullying Tactics just seem weak to me. Especially writing bad things on one's desk. How is that horrible? That's nothing. That's something you laugh at. Destroying hearing aids, yes, that's bad as it's destruction of property and has major consequences, because of their cost.
If the manga's intention was for me to hate every character in it, it succeeded. If the manga wanted to show that Bullying Is Wrong, it needed to lay off the major drama and try to make me feel sorry for 'bully-turned-bullied' Shouya.