About “A Silent Voice: Koe no Katachi” in a few words:

A Silent Voice: Koe no Katachi is a Japanese animated film that tells the story of a young boy named Shoya Ishida who bullied his deaf classmate, Shoko Nishimiya, in elementary school. Years later, Shoya seeks redemption and tries to make amends for his past actions. The movie explores themes of bullying, disability, social isolation, and the power of empathy and forgiveness.

Meet the characters from A Silent Voice: Koe no Katachi

Shoya Ishida

Shoya is a chaotic ball of guilt-and-good-intentions who probably thinks apologizing is a sport — loud, impulsive, and oddly self-aware in bursts. He starts off petulant and callous (yeah, he was awful, don’t forget) but the way he wrestles with his mistakes and tries to rebuild himself is the whole messy heart of his arc. He’s the kind of person who’ll be fiercely brave one minute and avoid eye contact like a guilty kid the next, which is both frustrating and painfully real. He doodles in the margins of notebooks, snaps pencils when he’s nervous, and somehow becomes the person everyone grudgingly leans on.

Shouko Nishimiya

Shouko is the soft, gentle center that everything else orbits around — sweet, forgiving, and impossibly patient, but not a doormat (please don’t make that mistake). She communicates in gestures and smiles and has a way of making small moments huge, like she notices the exact way sunlight hits a classroom desk and remembers it forever. There’s this fragile vibe, sure, but she’s quietly stubborn too — she won’t give up on people even when it’s kind of a disaster for her. Also she collects silly stickers and loves pudding, which is adorable and also makes her unexpectedly fierce when someone messes with dessert.

Naoka Ueno

Ueno is all volcanic emotions and sharp edges, the one who yells first and thinks later — jealous, possessive, and heartbreakingly complicated. She’s the friend who’ll shout at you, throw a tantrum, and then bake you something bitterly apologetic (bad cookies but sincere). Under the bluster is this aching fear of being invisible, which explains the sabotage and the clinginess; she’s fiercely loyal in her own very messy way. She cries at romcoms when no one’s watching and keeps a ridiculous number of hair ties in her pocket like a tiny-hoarding fidget habit.

Miki Kawai

Miki is the “perfect” class rep persona: tidy, image-conscious, and sometimes painfully pragmatic — she wants things to look right even when they aren’t. She can come off shallow or calculating (gossip wielded like a scalpel), but she’s not all bad; she’s just desperately trying to protect herself from looking weak. There’s a performative friendliness to her that occasionally slips into something real, and when it does it’s oddly grounding. She keeps a planner with color-coded erasable pens and still manages to forget the one thing that matters most, which is kind of hilariously human.

Miyoko Sahara

Sahara is like the calming grown-up friend who somehow remembers everyone’s birthdays and will physically drag you out of your funk with zero drama. Warm, practical, and steady, she’s the person who listens and then actually does something useful instead of giving speeches. She has a quiet backbone — soft-spoken but ready to call people out when needed — and she gives the best late-night ramen advice ever. Also she bites her lip when she’s worried and has a secret stash of travel postcards she never sends, which makes her seem simultaneously maternal and a tiny bit mysterious.

Yuzuru Nishimiya

Yuzuru is sharp, protective, and a little impatient — the older-sister energy dialed up to honest comments and brutal practicality. She shields Shouko with a low-key fierceness and speaks facts like weapons, but she’s secretly fluffier than she lets on (will absolutely make weird paper cranes at midnight). She can be blunt to the point of discomfort, yet she’s the kind of person who notices the things other people miss and shows up in the small ways that actually matter. She keeps a tidy desk, collects pens with ridiculous seriousness, and will roll her eyes so hard you can hear it — in the best possible way.