The manga series Koe no Kitachi has just wrapped up.Starting off as a one shot that garnered enough focus and praise it converted to a full series. Now that the series is over it has been chosen to become an anime series.

I am not prone to read stories that are angst ridden or tragic, but this one was a bit different.  The pessimistic story always became intertwined with instances of optimism and hope.

The story has a very uncomfortable beginning: a deaf girl was bullied to the point of leaving a school system, and the boy who was the prime instigator was himself bullied as a result. His growth and emerging humanity starts him down a road of seeking forgiveness from the girl, her family, his former classmates and himself.

Most of the side characters have their own issues to define why they react the way they do in situations. The reveals are not used as excuses, merely exposition. In fact, the series goes out of its way to avoid both justification and condemnation.

It was a weekly series that lasted about 62 chapters.

My biggest fear is that the anime will drift into a preachy treatise on bullying and how to treat the handicapped. Everybody deals wit the female MC's deafness in different ways, and that is one of the great elements of the story. If it becomes influenced by an activist  mentality, they will ruin a good story. 

Posted by: topmaker at 08:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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