Among the many themes explored in the movie A Silent Voice, mental health awareness was something that stood out the most. It’s such an important theme because the movie opens and closes with scenes that convey an issue with mental health and how it was resolved.
Depression was something that started at an early age for our main character, Shouya Ishida, who bullied Shouko Nishimiya in elementary school. Though there were others who were involved, Shouya was solely blamed for the bullying. He was continuously avoided throughout his elementary, middle, and part of his high school years. Shouya gained a sense of loneliness, which soon turned into depression because no one was there to help him. The result of this? A failed attempt at suicide.
Shouya also developed a serious case of anxiety, as he was too ashamed of his actions to hear or look other people in the face. He was afraid of other people’s voices, so he placed an ‘X’ on their faces in order to give himself a sense of safety. Not wanting to hear the whispers behind his back, Shouya shuts everyone out of his life up until his highschool years. After a series of heartbreaking events, Shouya finally confronts his fears and listens to them, ending the movie with the ‘X’’s slowly peeling themselves off of people’s faces.
Mental health takes time to heal and treat, and A Silent Voice portrays this very well. There is always someone out there who is having a hard time, so make an attempt to help them before it is too late.
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I watched this movie at the beginning of 2020 and I just remember bawling my eyes out. For people with anxiety, the anime did an amazing job portraying what it’s like (in my opinion). In real life, we all wish to censor out the bad things people say about us (like Shouya creating X’s on people’s faces), what we really need is someone to accept us for who we are, face our true identity, and forgive our past selves.
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