The central theme in Koe no Katachi is that people have a good side to them, no matter how despicable or evil they act.
The main character, Ishida Shouya, having bullied Nishimiya Shouko in elementary school, was back-stabbed by his friends, and faced social ostracization which led to him developing a severe inferiority complex. This is a story of him yearning for redemption, and the side cast plays a major role in this.
Spoilers ahead for Koe no Katachi
In this analysis, I will explore how the three prominent side characters – Ueno Naoka, Kawai Miki, and Sahara Miyoko – have been fleshed out around the story’s theme, and how Shouya interacted with and related to them in different ways.
Ueno Naoka
She was the most actively involved in bullying Shouko alongside Shouya, and even years later, she continually tormented her. According to her, it was Shouko who destroyed Shouya’s earlier friend circle by turning him into the next target for bullying and social ostracization – pretty hypocritic, considering she hung him out to dry herself. In the present, however, she still retains that hatred for Shouko, and keeps trying to reconcile Shouya with his old friends. It is obvious that she really cares about Shouya, and truly believes that Shouko was the reason everything went wrong during their childhood.
“Everything would’ve been fine if it weren’t for Nishimiya, right? If she wasn’t around, things wouldn’t have gotten awkward between me and Sahara, and you and Shimada wouldn’t have fallen apart. I want to go back to how things were before she came along.”
Ueno Naoka
When Shouya was hospitalized, she constantly nursed him, and took care of him. When he talks to her after being discharged, she admits that she had tried to be friendly with Shouko, but her grudges were too strong for her to do so.
“I’m a really awful person. Even in this situation, I couldn’t bring myself to like Nishimiya.”
Ueno Naoka
Shouya realizes how much they had in common – he had been trying to reunite Shouko with her old classmates just like Ueno was trying to fix things between him and his old friends, he had been fixated on the bad sides of people’s personalities similar to how she completely disliked Shouko. He realizes that even despite her hatred of Shouko, she wasn’t a completely bad person like he thought she – and he himself – was. This led him to accept both himself and Ueno for what they were, and the cross on her face falls off.
Kawai Miki
If Ueno is a fanged bitch, Kawai is a venomous one. She was portrayed as a goody-two-shoes class president character, who actually was pretty self-centred and conceited. She passively participated in bullying Shouko, but denied involvement every time. During the scene at the bridge, Ueno calls her out on her behaviour, but she still stubbornly retains her position of being innocent.
“Unlike me, you went out your way to bully Nishimiya-san. Don’t lump me in with you, Nao-chan.”
Kawai Miki
“Yeah, I’m not like you at all. You just laughed and fell in line with whatever I did.”
Ueno Naoka
She is apparently aware of this side of her, though. Despite prioritizing herself every time, she definitely cared for her friends, and was worried about both Shouya and Shouko. She broke down on meeting Shouko, and told her that one doesn’t need to reject their bad sides.
“You have to learn to love even the things you hate about yourself and move forward.”
Kawai Miki
She attempted to fold a thousand origami cranes wishing for Shouya’s recovery. He had realized, by then, that what he had been doing until then was similar to Kawai, he had been drowning in self-satisfaction over being able to interact with and help out Shouko, while conveniently side-stepping the real problems. His understanding of the similarities between his and Kawai’s personalities urged him to face the situations he was involved in head-on.
Sahara Miyoko
Sahara was on friendly terms with Shouko during elementary school, but was cowardly, scared of Ueno and Kawai, and turned a blind eye to all the bullying. She was scared of getting on the bad side of the bullies and getting targeted herself. Even in the present, she admits to not having changed much at all.
“I’m not as strong as you. Even when Ishida wakes up, I wouldn’t know how to face him. I couldn’t change at all, I’m still the same old coward.”
Sahara Miyoko
Shouko, however, tells her that it is fine to not have changed, and that this realization would propel her to improve hereafter. When she apologizes to Shouya for the same, he says that he was in the same boat. He had realized that he hadn’t changed much either, he kept running away from situations, avoiding making efforts to set things right, unable to apologize properly to Shouko, and to overcome the issues he was facing. However, just like her, he intended to work towards fixing everything.
“I’d like us to check out the festival together.”
Ishida Shouya
Conclusion
Shouya’s redemption came not just from inside, but from outside, from the realization that the people around him, despite their flaws and shortcomings, were actually good people in their own ways. This led him to come to terms with his own bad sides, and accept that he wasn’t the completely evil person he had thought he was. This, along with newfound determination and a positive outlook, finally freed Shouya from his shackles.
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