The Shape of Sound is an animated film directed by Naoko Yamada, written by Reiko Yoshida, and produced by Kyoto Animation. Based on manga of the same name by manga artist Yoshinori Oima. The film was released in Japan on September 17, 2016 and was introduced to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mainland China.
The film's box office in Japan is second only to the also phenomenal manga film Your Name. However, because the film involves sensitive topics such as disability and school bullying, it was controversial at the beginning of its release. The film's overly idealistic storyline is unacceptable to many people, but others see the beauty of the world.
Next, let's dissect this film that can be said to be a mixed reputation.
Nishinomiya Glass is a girl with a severe hearing impairment who wants to communicate with her classmates in a new class group.
At the beginning, the teachers and classmates were also full of kindness to Glass and took the initiative to communicate with her. But does it all come to an abrupt end when the glass vocals make uncomfortable sounds in class and the harsh readings in class? The teacher also treated her differently, and the kindness of the classmates slowly turned into disappointment and impatience.
And the male protagonist Ishida will also become the leader of the whole thing, and she will be a prankster of the whole thing. Shout at her and throw away her hearing aids and writing scripts.
Although the other students did not really participate in it, their disregard and indifference also showed the evil in everyone's heart.
Glass's various encounters at school made her mother have to transfer schools for her again.
Ishida's bullying of The Glass gradually spread throughout the campus, and he gradually lost friends and even became the target of bullying.
This experience made Ishida also deeply understand how hateful and unforgivable what he had done to Glass was.
The isolated Ishida will gradually close himself off, unwilling to communicate with others, and even want to commit suicide for a while to relieve himself. Fortunately, I was found by my mother and stopped it in time.
Ishida also wants to get Nitrate's forgiveness, and he begins to work hard to learn sign language, and finds Nitrate to be friends with her.
By chance, Ishida also encountered Glass while learning sign language.
He wanted to apologize for what he had done, but in the beginning, Ishida didn't know what he was going to do to get Glass's forgiveness, so he had to say words that he wanted Glass not to shed tears, and awkwardly accompanied Glass, clumsily giving Glass what he thought was good.
Seeing the person who bullied him before, he suddenly ran and said that he wanted to be friends with himself. Glass seems panicked, but in the company of Shoya Ishida, she gradually experiences the joy of friendship.
Ueno, who had previously clamored to hate the glass and want the glass to disappear, just didn't want Ishida to be hurt again, and finally approved of the glass; obviously it was the contrived green tea Kawai, but it also had real tenderness, and really worried about the glass and Ishida; Ming was the first Shimada who fell into the well, and when Ishida fell into the water and was almost killed, he was the first person to jump into the water to save Ishida.
The end of the story presents a perfect ending that everyone is happy with, but it has become a place that has been criticized, so that many viewers have given low scores and bad reviews.
The reason why the film is not highly evaluated is that the work touches on one of the most hated topics: bullying, and the people who eventually carry out bullying are all forgiven.
This kind of over-ideal plot makes many people uncomfortable, because bullies deserve to be punished in real life. Therefore, when the bully Glass and the bully Ishida walk together at the end, many people can't accept it, so many people will give low scores.
Glass suffers from hearing impairment, she strives to be friends with the people around her, wants to be redeemed, in fact, the real salvation comes from her inner bravery and letting go.
Ishida, as a bully, also wants to ask for the forgiveness of the glass for the mistakes he has committed, so as to achieve free redemption. But after the elementary school bullying was exposed by his classmates, he also got the punishment he deserved.
Wanting to help Glass find her former classmates, making the person who bullied Glass and Glass friends, and struggling to save Glass when She wants to end her life, All let Ishida complete his self-redemption.
Conclusion: The slogan of this film is "Help you live!" "It's not a film about bullying in schools, but it's about waking up in a gentle way to people who are physically handicapped and self-enclosed, who deserve to be treated tenderly by the world."