A Silent Voice Volume 1 Review *No Spoilers
I read all volumes of this manga long ago when Crunchyroll offered it for free. Since the manga app seems to have been wonky lately, and Kodansha Comics withdrew Crunchyroll’s rights (to a certain degree) I decided to purchase a physical copy.
I wanted to relive this wonderful tome that mixes slice-of-life, disability advocacy, bullying, and semi-subconscious human motives.
Difficult Themes Explored with Humanity
A Silent Voice was released in about 2013, and its themes of bullying in school and the intricacies of the interactions between both victim and attacker still stands the test of time.
Bullying could be a sticky subject to explore in itself, but the victim also happens to be deaf and is being bullied due to her disability. Yoshitoki Oima expertly humanizes the perhaps hard-to-relate to victim, and makes it easy for readers to cheer for her as she faces her challenges with grace.
Making the Bully Accountable
As hinted by the back cover Shoya definitely gets his dues. The beginnings of this are apparent here in volume 1, so readers don’t have long to wait to see him knocked off of his pedestal.
Yoshitoki Oima did a fantastic job of explaining WHY Shoya is being a bully. Many times in books bullies of various walks of life are simply there to give the protagonist a challenge to overcome or to show how superior the protagonist is when pressed.
Not here. Shoya is the primary voice in volume 1, so even though readers don’t agree with his actions and behavior they will be forced to understand his perspective and explore his thought patterns. It makes the entire volume more easy to relate to and gives it depth since Shoya is not here just to be “the evil one.”
Final Thoughts
All in all, volume 1 of this series is perfect because even though it is an introduction it manages to capture the essence of the series. I heartily recommend this series on the whole, and encourage manga readers or people interested in disability topics or bullying to give this series a try.
Disclaimer; I am never paid for my reviews and I do not have ownership in any of the materials presented here. Thank you for reading!
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