News

Pioneer Films to Screen Kyoto Animation's A Silent Voice Film in Philippines

Philippine film distributor Pioneer Films announced on Friday that it will screen Naoko Yamada and Kyoto Animation's A Silent Voice (Koe no Katachi) anime film in the Philippines. The company hasn't yet announced an opening date for the film.

Pioneer Films is streaming an English-subtitled trailer for the film.

The film's official website revealed last week that the movie will screen in 30 countries around the world. In East and Southeast Asian territories besides the Philippines, the film will get screenings in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei.

The film is based on Yoshitoki Ōima's manga of the same name. The story centers on two protagonists: Shoya Ishida and Shoko Nishimiya. Shoko is a deaf transfer student who is bullied by her classmates, with Shoya leading the bullying. Eventually, when the class is forced to take responsibility for bullying Shoko, the class turns to bullying Shoya to shift the blame. Years later, both Shoko and Shoya reunite.

The film earned 2.3 billion yen in Japan, and was the 19th highest-grossing film released in Japan in 2016. The film surpassed the box office earnings of Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie Part 3: Rebellion, which earned a total of 2.08 billion yen during its theatrical run in Japan when it opened in October 2013. A Silent Voice also surpassed the earnings of the K-ON! anime film, similarly animated by Kyoto Animation and directed by Naoko Yamada, which earned 1.9 billion yen at the box office in 2011.

The film opened in Japan in September on 120 screens and ranked #2 at box offices in Japan in its opening weekend.

The film earned 283,000,000 yen (about US$2.8 million) and sold 200,000 tickets in its first two days. In comparison, Kyoto Animation's 2011 K-ON! film earned 316,310,000 yen in its first two days on 137 screens.

The film's cast includes:

Miyu Irino as Shōya Ishida
Saori Hayami as Shōko Nishimiya
Aoi Yūki as Yuzuru Nishiya
Kenshō Ono as Tomohiro Nagatsu
Yuki Kaneko as Naoka Ueno
Yui Ishikawa as Miyoko Sahara
Megumi Han as Miki Kawai
Toshiyuki Toyonaga as Toshi Mashibasa
Mayu Matsuoka as Shōya Ishida as an elementary school student

Naoko Yamada (Tamako Market, Tamako Love Story, K-ON!'s two anime seasons and anime film) directed the film at Kyoto Animation. Reiko Yoshida (Non Non Biyori, K-ON!, Yowamushi Pedal) wrote the script, and Futoshi Nishiya (Free!, Hyōka, Nichijō) designed the characters for animation. kensuke ushio (Space Dandy, Ping Pong) composed the music at Pony Canyon. aiko performed the film's theme song "Ai wo Shita no wa" (Loving Is). Shochiku distributed the film.