I actually wanna ask the audiences and globally, "Why is it that A Silent Voice appeals to you so much?" So, yeah, I don’t know. Thanks to Naoko Yamada for taking the time to talk about The ...

Film director Naoko Yamada has helmed many iconic animated works over the years, including the K-ON! series, Liz and the Blue Bird and A Silent Voice. While Yamada is an avid anime fan herself ...

The story revolves around Shôko Nishimiya, a grade school student who has impaired hearing. She transfers into a new school, where she is bullied by her classmates, especially Shôya Ishida.

Are they songs? Or hymns? Either way, in the climactic concert, Naoko, the filmmaker of 2016’s “A Silent Voice,” allows all the dialogue to subside and let their music do the talking.

It is directed by Naoko Yamada, whose work in anime series (“K-On!”) and films (“A Silent Voice,” “Liz and the Blue Bird”) has established her as one of the medium’s most distinctive ...