ELEVEN ARTS Anime Studio made the announcement that Kyoto Animation’s A Silent Voice (Koe no Katachi) is returning to U.S. theaters in January 2019. The film originally screened in Japan back in 2016 and has since released on home video across the world in all regions except the United States. The movie originally screened in theaters in the U.S. back in October 2017 and later again in February 2018 as an English dub.
ELEVEN ARTS Anime Studio made this announcement on their official Facebook page over the weekend. VIZ Media’s Europe division has the rights to distribute the film to European nations. Madman Entertainment is currently distributing the film in Australia. It has been said that licensing issues have been the reason as to why the United States hasn’t seen an official home release as of yet leaving many with importing the film from other countries as their only means of obtaining a legal official copy of the film. Hopefully, once this theater run is over, we can get some news about a U.S. home release because it is long overdue for one of 2016’s best anime films.
MyAnimeList.net describes A Silent Voice as follows:
As a wild youth, elementary school student Shouya Ishida sought to beat boredom in the cruelest ways. When the deaf Shouko Nishimiya transfers into his class, Shouya and the rest of his class thoughtlessly bully her for fun. However, when her mother notifies the school, he is singled out and blamed for everything done to her. With Shouko transferring out of the school, Shouya is left at the mercy of his classmates. He is heartlessly ostracized all throughout elementary and middle school, while teachers turn a blind eye.
Now in his third year of high school, Shouya is still plagued by his wrongdoings as a young boy. Sincerely regretting his past actions, he sets out on a journey of redemption: to meet Shouko once more and make amends.
Koe no Katachi tells the heartwarming tale of Shouya’s reunion with Shouko and his honest attempts to redeem himself, all while being continually haunted by the shadows of his past.
A review of A Silent Voice can be found here: https://www.theouterhaven.net/2017/05/97082/
