Shôko Nishimiya es una chica sorda que después de varios años se reencuentra con Shôya, un antiguo compañero de clase. Su círculo de amistades se expande cuando Sahara, Ueno, Kawai, Mashiba y Nagatsuka entran en escena. Lo que Shôya desconoce es que sus esfuerzos por devolverle la ilusión a Shôko darán un giro inesperado a su propia vida.

So. It's hard to begin with this, but let's see if I can get through the review without crying (I was crying in the middle of the BN as I read this so don't hold your breath).

Bullying. It's a concept that is both underestimated and overused depending on the situation, context and person. People are quick to label things as "bullying", and in a lot of cases they're not wrong in the abstract. However there's a fine line between teasing and bullying that as we emphasize it clouds the issue.

I was bullied in HS. It was physical and I didn't talk about it, but it was a near daily facet of my life. Since then I've read A LOT of stuff about bullying, being a bully, and those who have been bullied. it's odd but bullying is a strong part of manga/anime--whether it's the resident school "Prince's" fan club picking on the heroine or the hero being extorted by hooligans for being "different", it's astounding how large a part and accepted it is.

But rarely do you see the actual effect. Oh the hero rallies or the heroine's friends protect her but there isn't lasting damage. Not like in real life.

So for me A SILENT VOICE was both personally hard to get through and stunning to read. This volume focused on Shoya--his rise to infamy such as it were and his downfall and "karmic justice" as he found out how it felt.

It was hard to read the evolution of Shoko's mistreatment especially as it wasn't completely Shoya's doing. Yes he instigated but the class were just as culpable and indeed the school as well. His classmates may have been more passive--choosing to complain about the problems Shoko posed behind her back with increasing disdain, but they WERE at fault.

Same for the teacher(s), really only one teacher attempted to educate the kids on what it meant to be Shoko and she was slapped down verbally by another teacher in front of the kids. That teacher meanwhile said the "right things", but it was superficial sentiments. ( )

Não sei como descrever em curtas palavras o tamanho dos sentimentos que esse mangá me trouxe.. é excepcional, a arte é fantástica tem lindos traços.. é algo que deve ser lido. O sistema educacional e os professores falharam ambas crianças. ( )

Shoya is the school bully and when Shoko, a girl who can’t hear, transfers to his elementary school, she becomes his latest target. Shoya and his friends torture her together. But when the bullying goes too far and Shoko is forced to leave their school Shoya shoulders all of the blame and is left alone. Six years later, the two meet again.

The beginning of this did throw me off just a little bit, as it jumps right into Shoya finding Shoko again and I thought I honestly may have picked up the wrong volume of the series. But, it does jump back again to the six years before a few pages in. It was one of those things where I read the book and then went right back to the beginning to read the first part again to make sure I caught it.

Overall though, I believe this is a good start to the series. In most of the parts, it really made me hate Shoya and the way he treated Shoko, which is kind of the whole point of his backstory and the redemption arc I’m sure is to come.

This volume also made me feel so bad for Shoko - she not only has everyone bullying her at school, but her own Mom is kind of a jerk too (yes I know she’s trying to “toughen her up” but there are better ways of doing it).

I’ve been interested in reading Deaf characters in stories this year, especially manga or graphic novels, to see how they are written and how they show their communication. There wasn’t any sign language in this novel, so I’m curious to see what becomes of this in the upcoming volumes. I was able to grab the whole series from my library and I plan on reading through them all.

Overall, this is I believe a good start to a series, though I am pretty glad I have the next volumes to read right away as I felt like this one was a bit lacking in the overall story and was only just the set up. ( )

I cried while reading the first volume of this book and I cried 10 times harder while watching a movie. This is a story of forgiveness and redemption between two people who share the pain and the struggle of finding beauty in themselves. ( )