Spoiler Alert!

The world of A Silent Voice is a web of themes and relationships that’s underrepresented in the adaptation. So after I finished the movie, I knew I had to read the source material. This manga is an expansive tale that not only examines Shouya’s psyche, but grants the same care to the rest of the cast. Without a runtime to concern, author Yoshitoki renders the characters, themes, and visuals in comprehensive, beautiful fashion.

From the start, Shouya’s mentality during his elementary school years is given much more emphasis. We understand his motivations and relationship with his former friends, and see the full extent of the bullying. But more significantly, there’s more to Shouko as well. After Shouya’s fall, the story practically halts, and the subsequent chapters are spent with each character individually. In one chapter, we embody Shouko’s perspective as she imagines an idyllic childhood that never happened. It’s heartbreaking, and one of the many gems that are sadly excluded from the movie for the sake of efficiency.

As much as it’s great to witness more of the Nishimiya family’s past, there are some misses as well. I found Sahara’s dealings with fashion forced and Kawai’s flawed personality unresolved. Removing these characters entirely would have reduced clutter while still keeping the story true to its message. The whole movie arc is very entertaining but ultimately more of a diversion than anything. Still, witnessing the gang being demolished in pompous movie-critic fashion is a hilarious subversion of expectations. Realistically though, the speaker would’ve been promptly and instantly cancelled by the public, and rightly so.

From start to finish, A Silent Voice is one moving work of art featuring some truly stunning chapters. It’s the cherry on top of an already incredible film adaptation, but the movie and manga are equally good in their own right. As their endings demonstrate, one is trimmed and purposeful, and the other is intricate and complete. Despite these differences, both communicate forgiveness and friendship in a tale that’s incredibly heartfelt and boundlessly optimistic.