is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshitoki Ōima. The series was originally published as a one-shot in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine and was later serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from August 2013 to November 2014. Its chapters were collected in seven volumes. The manga was digitally released in English by Crunchyroll Manga and was licensed by Kodansha USA in North America. An anime theatrical film adaptation produced by Kyoto Animation was released in September 2016.
Plot In sixth grade, Shoya Ishida leads the class in bullying Shouko Nishimiya, a prelingually deaf classmate who is new to the school. When Shoya's actions are finally condemned by the principal, all of his friends and teachers turn against him, socially isolating him well into high school to the point that he eventually considers suicide, which he believes would absolve him of his bad deeds. He was going to kill himself on April 15 but stopped since he swore not to. Shoya tried to end it all to make himself feel better thinking it wouldn't affect the people around him. To make amends, he reunites with Shouko, who is still lonely due to her shyness. Realizing that both are suffering due to his past sins, Shoya sets out on a path of redemption by trying to reconnect Shouko with their old classmates that Shouko never had the chance to befriend back then, including Shoya's former comrade, Naoka Ueno, who holds a grudge against Shouko for "causing" Shoya's isolation; Miki Kawai, their narcissistic former class president; and Miyoko Sahara, a kind girl who was the only one attempting to befriend Shouko years before. They also make new friends in Tomohiro Nagatsuka, a similarly friendless fat boy who owes Shoya; and Satoshi Mashiba, Miki's crush.
The seven begin to work together when Tomohiro's plan to create a film for a competition, which he plans to only include Shoya and himself, attracts the attention of Naoka, Miki, Tomohiro, and Satoshi, with Shoya additionally inviting Shouko to join the project. Throughout the filming, the seven face their personal challenges and conflicts. Shouko eventually tries to confess her love to Shoya, but it does not get through to him and ends up in a misunderstanding. The group also has a falling out when Shoya tries to isolate himself again by insulting the crew, leading to Shouko feeling sorry for him. As she believes she is the sole reason for the parting of the group, Shouko attempts to kill herself and is rescued by Shoya, who gets badly hurt in the process, falling into a coma. This impacts the other six of the group as they start to resolve their problems while suspending the project until Shoya awakens. Once he recovers, Shoya reconciles with his film crew and finally completes the film, which, while a failure, has greatly helped him and his friends.
A year after their high school graduation and their subsequent parting ways, the seven reunite for the Coming of Age Day. By then, Shoya has stopped ignoring the people around him and now has a lot of friends. At the end of the Age Day, Shoya and Shouko are seen going into their elementary school reunion together holding hands so that Shouko will feel less nervous.
Characters
The main character and narrator. In elementary school, he leads his class in bullying Shouko. When the bullying gets the attention of higher school authorities, the class turns Shoya into a scapegoat so they will not have to also take responsibility. As a result, he becomes ostracized and bullied by his former friends. Shoya starts to ignore those around him (imagining them with a large X across their face). Upon meeting her in high school, he eventually apologizes to Shouko, becoming fluent in sign language specifically to do so, and begins to spend time with her. Shoya feels like he has not been punished enough for bullying Shouko and often wishes he could stop his younger self. He also feels resigned to the fact that he will never be able to have friends again. As the series progresses, Shoya and Shouko reconnect with their former classmates, in the process making amends with them and facing the lingering effects from their pasts. Shoya is suicidal when he is in highschool and has crumbling depression.
The other main character, Shouko is a deaf girl who is bullied by Shoya in elementary school to the point of needing to transfer away. Years later, Shoya searches for her to apologize. Although Shouko holds a bit of resentment towards him, she accepts his apology and starts to spend time with him. She almost never gets angry with her attackers and even smiles at them; though some characters, in particular Ueno, get very annoyed by this and accuse her of faking them. She often blames herself for being bullied or thinks she is a burden to others, leading to depressive or suicidal mindsets, and struggles with forgiving herself. After a while, Shouko falls in love with Shoya and, at one point, tries to declare this, but due to her speech impediment, he fails to understand her. At the end of the series, after having studied in Tokyo for a while, Shouko returns to her hometown and reunites with Shoya for the Coming of Age Day.
A girl from Shoya and Shouko's elementary school who helps bully Shouko. She continues to be friends with many of their classmates after they separate themselves from Shoya. Ueno watches Shoya becoming a loner throughought middle school and believes their sadness, from her having to cut off contact with Shoya to him hating everyone, including her, has all been because of Shouko. She runs into Shoya years later and tries to reintroduce him to past classmates. Ueno has a crush on Shoya since they were kids, which cause her to become jealous and resentful towards Shouko. Despite being within the group of friends, Shoya still does not trust her until after his release from the hospital, when she finally apologizes to him for all she did wrong. After graduation, Ueno is dragged by Sahara to become her assistant as a model. By the epilogue, it is shown that her time in Tokyo has somewhat diminished her mean personality, though it still exists.
Nicknamed "Kawaiichi", Kawai is the school representative at Shoya's elementary school. She is popular and normally takes charge of situations. She has a kind facade, but is secretly a narcissist, believing that everyone should love her, and wants to be the victim in every problem she faces. Though she does not directly bully Shouko, Kawai does nothing to intervene and even laughs alongside her friends. She leads the class in scapegoating Shoya after Shouko's transfer, leading to his isolation. In high school, Kawai joins Shoya's friend group, bringing Mashiba, whom she has a crush on, along. Instead of facing that she contributed to Shouko's bullying, she once again uses Shoya as a scapegoat and plays the victim, leading to him falling out of his new friend group. This time, however, the consequences fall back on her when her classmates become disgusted and bully her after she suggests they make paper cranes as a wish of recovery for Shoya, who is hospitalized after saving Shouko. Having experienced getting bullied for the first time, Kawai resolves to become more empathetic with others. Near the end of the series, she decides to follow Mashiba to take up teaching classes.
A kind girl from Shoya and Shouko's elementary school. She is the only student willing to make an effort to learn sign language and befriend Shouko; however, this singles her out for bullying too, causing her to take the rest of her classes in the nurse's office. Shoya finds Sahara several years later so she can reconnect with Shouko and become her friend again. Sahara has grown very tall and, due to her high heel boots, appears even taller. After Shoya, Sahara spends the most time with the Nishimiya family; however, their relationship is briefly strained when Shoya decides to cut ties with his friends by insulting them, claiming that Sahara is always the first to run away from a problem. Sahara later texts Shoya asking how he could prove that he has grown up, if he cut ties with his friends for no reason. Fed up of Ueno always blaming Shouko for everything, she chooses to take Shouko's side and defends her from being attacked by Ueno during Shoya's hospitalization. After graduating from high school, Sahara goes to Tokyo to become a runway model, bringing Ueno with her.
Shouko's protective younger sister who is currently a middle school student. When her mother attempted to cut a young Shouko's hair short to look like a boy and appear tougher, Yuzuru started portraying herself as a boy on Shouko's behalf to defend her, and initially introduces herself to Shoya as Shouko's boyfriend. Yuzuru is extremely protective of her big sister and has a deep hatred of all the people who ever bullied her, such as Shoya. However, upon learning that Shoya has changed, she mellows down and helps him reunite with his old classmates. Yuzuru often ditches school and runs away from home to take photos of dead animals and insects, putting strain between her relationship with her mother. It is revealed that she only took these photos to show her sister how horrible death is and not try to kill herself. This is proven to be a futile effort, however, as Shouko attempts to commit suicide anyway, though she is rescued by Shoya in the last minute. Yuzuru later pursues photography and wins a photo contest.
A short, fat and lonely boy at Shoya's high school. When someone tries to steal his bike, Shoya offers his to be taken instead. Nagatsuka sees this act of kindness as an unbreakable act of friendship and proclaims himself Shoya's best friend. He is shown to be quite obsessive and protective of Shoya, and sometimes dislikes him befriending other people. However, Nagatsuka is also supportive of Shoya and often offers advice. He and Yuzuru try to encourage Shoya and Shouko to go out with each other, and are often disappointed by Shoya's repulsion towards romance. He has plans to become a millionaire, so he is willing to hand out money to friends, and is keen to become a film director, entering himself and Shoya into a film competition. Though his film proves to be a failure, this only makes Nagatsuka resolve to take up film studies as his college degree.
A boy who is interested in and joins Shoya's group of friends upon learning they are making a movie. Mashiba was lonely as a child and the other children took him for granted and bullied him. Now, he is completely intolerant of bullies in any form and, while generally calm and level headed, reacts violently to any random act of bullying he sees. He is blatantly ignoring Kawai's crush on him even when Shoya points it out. After finding out about Shoya's bullying history, he calmly punches Shoya in the face. It is later revealed that Mashiba befriended Shoya because of his social awkwardness and never being able to fit in at school despite trying to; by hanging out with Shoya, whom he believed is even stranger than he is, he would appear normal. However, this only makes him feel that he should be the least important amongst the group. Mashiba is the first to reconcile with Shoya upon his release from hospital and later studies to become a teacher after graduation.