Do you know someone who is impaired yet tries to fit in the society? They were bullied and being outcast-ed by some of us. But instead of drowning in despair, they strive to be able to do what "normal" people do whatever disability they have.
I was able to read a manga entitled "Koe no Katachi" or "The Shape of Voice" in English translation. It was a one-shot manga that reflects the cruel nature of humans as a whole. It made a buzz on the Japanese manga readers. It was issued last February 20, 2013 on Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine.
The story covers a young girl in Japanese middle school named Nishimiya Shouko, who happens to be deaf. She introduces herself to her class, but is met with jeers as she is blamed for bringing the class down because of her disability. Nishimiya is repeatedly bullied to the point where her classmates started to mess with her hearing aids. However, she tries to be polite towards a male classmate named Shouya Ishida, who finds her creepy regardless. It’s all fun and games until the principal tells the class about a complaint from Nishimiya’s parents regarding the broken hearing aids. Ishida becomes the scapegoat, despite everyone being guilty of bullying her in the first place. He then gets bullied and feels depressed. Both Ishida and Nishimiya get into a fight over the latter’s “weak nature”. Nishimiya transfers to another school afterwards. Ishida learns that she has been sticking up for him after he was kicked out by his clique by wiping his desk free of derogatory graffiti written by his former friends. The two would meet 5 years later, where Ishida learned sign language to redeem himself and officially build a friendship with Nishimiya.
koe no Katachi reflects the notion the bullying is a common practice of students whether it is on high school or college or in the case of other countries, in middle school. of course, with these bullying practice, it raises the notion of the people about how a bullied child do to survive the harsh world of being bullied. Despite their weakness and capacity, they always yearn a feeling of acceptance and belonging.
What makes the things worse is that the very teacher that takes care of Nishimiya tolerates what his students do and in a certain point said to himself that Nishimiya was a "Baggage".
I give Kodansha a four thumbs up for making a manga like this and because he had the guts to say “You know what, this story HAS to be told and we need this talent to shine.” On my opinion, the best lesson that you can learn on this story is that we must always respect everyone whatever kind of person you encounter and what are their limits and disabilities. Looking beyond stereotypes and keeping yourself an open minded person and listening on the perspectives of the people around you, you can have a deeper understanding about things that are around you.
The story makes me cry since I absorbed the story and makes me want to cry out every time I remember how the story moves. Maybe because I could relate a little to the characters or it just touched my heart and made me move and want to share the story. I suggest that you read this and Tell me what you think. I hope that this could make you realize something.
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