A Silent Voice

I am conflicted.

I was informed that this was a very sad manga that deal with some pretty depressing subject matter... and while i did get sad or feel the characters pain.... i never cried.

and for me thats unusual.

I cry at the drop of a hat... if it even tangentially reminds me about something sad i'll cry... but i didn't... and i can't figure out why.

and that bugs me.

The story is about a girl who is deaf and the boy who bullied her when they were young coming together and trying to right the wrongs of the past... or at least replace those sad memories with happy ones.
It's a very well done, though a little short, story that deals with all sorts of subject matter... Death, disabilities, how horrible kids can be, how the past can't be changed, hope, friendship and even love.

I'm pretty sure i liked it... i finished it fairly quickly...
but i'm not sure if i didn't emotionally connect to it because it just never hooked me that way or mentally i wanted to distance myself from the subject matter to avoid certain feelings

Real talk for a moment.
My brother has sever Autism, he is classified as non-verbal (he can speak but he can't communicate) and will probably always need the family to support him, it's part of the reason i still live at home despite my age. On top of that he has has 2nd degree burns all over his face and hands.
People stare
People comment
People are cruel
they see something they can't understand and label it.
Now he doesn't care, he is as happy as can be 90% of the time. (everyone has bad days)
but i have been hearing it all my life.
I have seen people staring and muttering and crossing the street to get away from him.
I have had little kids come up to me and ask "why did you bring that thing here"
I have seen an entire family leave the area worried that they might somehow catch the autism.

People are cruel... until they get to know him
Then they see that he is this incredibly sweet and funny kid who is just a little different.They share stories of all the funny things he's done like Serenade someone or try to cheer them up in his own way.

This manga deals with similar themes... people are cruel until they try to understand... however trying to understand can be just as painful. Self loathing and blame bring nothing but awkwardness and heartache. everyone has their own shit they have to deal with.
Everyone has suffered Heartache or even trauma at some point in there life.
This manga doesn't shy away from it and considering the medium thats really impressive.

I still may not know why it didn't emotionally resonate with me enough to make me cry. It could have just been a bad headspace... it could have just been missing that spark.... but i think it should be read (or watched since apparently it's getting an anime adaptation in the near future)

but yeah... not a light read that's for sure. Really heavy subject matter that will probably tug at your heart strings.

you can see it all for yourself IF you are a premium member on crunchyroll http://www.crunchyroll.com/comics/manga/a-silent-voice-koe-no-katachi/volumes
otherwise i do believe there is a physical version out in North America now.