This work tries to make Nishimiya a character as deeply developed as Shouya but they foist too many roles on an underdeveloped symbol, not even mentioning her role as a character. A show like Monster works this concept excellently because it uses the object of interest (Johan) as more of a symbol. To be affected on, for us to pity, for us to see illness in a 'new light,' to justify against bullying, to see the indomitable human spirit. And that is what Nishimiya is, an object. It's inherently questionable to approach this topic from a romantic perspective because it's hard to sympathize with an object. A personality-less self-insert male character who wants to repent for mistakes he made when he was a child falls in love with the object of his errs. Sadly, the execution is simply sickening. Including deafness or any other handicap into anime is an exciting idea, and I laud the attempt. She is paper thin with her sole character trait being she likes Nishimiya's entire character is her illness. This is clearly troublesome when trying to explain deafness to an able-bodied audience.

She is the textbook definition of a mary-sue as well as a damsel in distress.

It uses a serious problem as a plot device constantly and reduces Nishimiya to one-dimension. This movie certainly does not allow any greater understanding into the mind of deaf people is the point I want to iterate. I'm not going to pretend to know anything about deaf people. Koe no Katachi is dangerous because it is exploitative.

Best anime of 2017 a silent voice