映画 聲の形Southeast Asian streaming service HOOQ has announced on Sunday that the highly-popular anime film A Silent Voice will be added to their streaming lineup.
The anime film will be available through the service’s subscription platform, which can be availed for as low as PHP15 per day and PHP149 per month in select retailers.
The story revolves around Nishimiya Shoko, a grade school student who has impaired hearing. She transfers into a new school, where she is bullied by her classmates, especially Ishida Shouya. It gets to the point where she transfers to another school and as a result, Shouya is ostracized and bullied himself, with no friends to speak to and no plans for the future. Years later, he sets himself on a path to redemption. (Synopsis from Pioneer Films)
A Silent Voice: The Movie is an anime film based on the seven-chapter manga series by Yoshitoki Oima, which was published in Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine from August 2013 to November 2014.
Naoko Yamada, who worked on anime titles like K-ON! and Sound! Euphonium, directed the anime film, while the scripts was handled by Yowamushi Pedal scriptwriter Reiko Yoshida. Character designs were made by Futoshi Nishiya, which was produced by anime studio Kyoto Animation.
The Japanese voice cast are lead by Miyu Irino as “Shoya Ishida” and Saori Hayami as “Shoko Nishimiya”. Both voice actors previously worked together in the highly-popular drama anime anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day as Jinta “Jintan” Yadomi and Chiriko “Tsuruko” Tsurumi respectively.
A Silent Voice was released in Japanese theaters in September 2016, which earned about JP¥2.3 billion (about PHP1.1 billion) in gross sales.
The film was also recognized by several award-giving bodies in Japan, including Excellent Animation of the Year in the 40th Japan Academy Prize and Grand Prize for Anime of the Year (Film Category) in Tokyo Anime Award Festival.
Philippine film distributor Pioneer Films has released A Silent Voice: The Movie in Philippine cinemas in May 2017, which lasted for about two weeks.
The anime film had its television premiere in Tagalog dubbing on ABS-CBN’s digital terrestrial channel Asianovela Channel in August last year, which was then re-aired on sister channel YeY! last February.
