Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice) Anime Review - My Opinion [Released in 2017]

About:
Ishida Shouya was in the sixth grade and that is when a new transferred student who was known by the name, Nishimiya Shouko, was bullied by Shouya to the point where she was compelled to transfer to a different school. Consequently, he was ostracized by all the students of the school. He later felt the guilt, got bullied by his friends and he lacked confidence in himself completely. 

A brief summary:

Being a fan of anime, I would say, this is one of the best anime movies I have ever seen. 

The movie begins with the main character named Shouya, who was in a high school and decided to commit suicide. He had depression, social anxiety and guilt within himself and he had attempted to commit suicide many times without luck. This section was well explained in the second part of the story.

While Shouya and Shouko were in sixth grade of the same school. Shouko was a transfered student and a deaf. She got bullied especially by Shouya and his friends. This anime portrays the bullying in elementary schools from the perspective of a bully rather than the victim. When she was introducing herself to the other students, they were all surprised hearing that she was a deaf. However, only Shouya over-reacted for her deafness and he, from that time onward, started to hate her as she was a deaf. The teachers asked all the students to befriend her and to treat her well. But she constantly got bullied by Shouya and his friends. She was bullied to a point that she was compelled to transfer to a different school. But for such activities of Shouya, Shouya's mom had to pay back 7 million yen as damage to Shouko's mom. Shouya was shocked seeing the bleeding ear of her mom. It was the trigger of the changing of Shouya as a person which was portrayed well in the second part of the story. The first part of the story make you hate Shouya but you will have different opinion of him in the second part of the story. 

Five years later, when Shouya was in high school, he was bullied by others and he was almost alone because when he was in elementary school friends spread the word about such activities. Consequently, Shouya got detached from all the students and he was suffering from social anxiety to the point where he was unable to look at the eyes of other people. This is the best part of the movie where the people who he did not know were marked Cross "X". The director of the movie has done a great job at that and I personally have never seen it in other anime movies till today.  

Shouya was learning sign language in a sign language learning class and he always wanted to apologize to Shouko for what he had done in the past. While he was attending a sign language class he met her and asked her to be his friend. Shouko was surprised to see him and she realized that he had changed a lot. However, he tried several times to apologize to her but in vain. It is quite obvious that a person can change with time and this movie is the prime example of the one which demonstrates the change in one's personality with time. However, these changes are the result of such experiences. 

However, the story ironically brings both the characters together. But Shouko's mom did not accept the fact that Shouko and her little sister was talking to that guy as she used to hate him from the core of her heart. But her opinion about him soon changed when Shouya saved Shouko's life by putting himself in danger for her. This incident had created a great impact on her family members especially on her mom and her little sister. They also begged for apology from Shouya's mom for this incident when Shouya was in the hospital, still fighting to survive. 

However, the God had given him last chance to make everything right and finally, both of Shouko and Shouya met again. While he was in the hospital, Shouko took a stand to reinstate everything which she had destroyed and she was undoubtedly successful at her mission in the end. 

Finally, Shouya reincarnated into a new person who was no more afraid of looking in people's eyes, openhearted and the crosses fell off everyone's face around him and he no longer felt any kind of social anxiety or guilt thanks to Shouko who was always by his side.

My opinion: This anime movie is undoubtedly one of the best movies I have ever seen which is as good as Kimi no na wa (Your Name) but with more realistic plot. The art style, animations, story are nicely done. It could not have been executed any better than that and I am quite satisfied with the ending. However, this anime does not focus much on the romance between the two characters, Shouko and Shouya but on the moral of the story. It portrays a realistic picture which I have never seen in an anime. All in all, it is a great movie and has a nice back story which is understandable.

Review Score: 10/10

Have you watched this movie? Did you liked it or did not you like it? Share your opinions below.

Is Game Development Business/Career any good for making a living? - My Opinions

Hey, if you are reading this post make sure to check some of the great Gamasutra Articles on this topic which I will link from this post. There are some great resources which you can find every single day, being posted by many experienced developers.

I have been in the game industry for more than 7 years(5 years hobbyist developer + 2 years professional developer). Well, let's get to the main point.

The fact that some people are making a living out of their games is true but that is the lowest percentage of people who are actually successful in this career. It might sound harsh to the new comers to the industry but it is the harsh reality. However, there is nothing to be afraid of. If you love making games you should do that and nobody in this world can stop you. 

There are some facts you need to understand before you consider to make money out of making games. 

1. Read the market thoroughly. Play some games(well not necessarily required but that might be useful for you) and know your limits in terms of skill.

2. Don't try to make a first commercial game which require skill which you currently don't have. Well, you can learn it online or through other means but it is always a safe bet to start with a simple game. I worked on my first commercial game for more than a year and it was a biggest mistake in my life. I currently focus on making small games.

3. Be aware of the assets you use in the game which permits you to use them.

4. Don't be in this industry with the sole intention of making money. You need to make quality products and focus on making great products that consumers want and you will be good to go. 

Now, the question is, " Is the Game Development career any good for making a living?"

"It depends on your financial situation, skills and perseverance"

It depends from one person to another. It depends on your financial situation, skills and perseverance. But I would like to make things simpler for you so that you can choose any one of the following which better suits your life style.

1. If you have enough savings already you can work on your game full time irrespective of the money you make when your game is released on Steam. However, now-a-days, PC market is saturated and it has become harder to get visibility for smaller indie game developers. Average games make $1000 in average in the first month on Steam. Since you have a lot of money you can invest in marketing. You can invest millions of dollars to market your game effectively. If your game is really good, it will sell thousands of units and it might sell millions. Who knows?

2. If you have less money and you are working solo or with a small team on your project it would be hard to make a living considering you don't know how to market your game. Then, you can sell hardly 500 units in average in the first month from a mediocre quality game. But generally speaking, working with teams can give you an exponential return. It is advised that you have a day job or other source of income alongside what you are doing(making games). It would be a safe bet for you as per my opinion.

3. If your game gets viral and becomes so popular that you are making millions of dollars in a year. Well, you can work full time on your game without worries and you will be able to market your product better than most of the developers.

4. For mobile game developers, it is really hard to compete on Google play store as it is flooded with crappy games due to the low barrier to entry. Most of the developers make free to play games and if you want to make some money use IAP(In-App purchases) in Free to play games. Ads are no longer a great way to make money off mobile games. However, in most of the cases the average downloads can be somewhere around 100 units only if you have no marketing budget or luck. 

5. Making games for Consoles might be a costly affair. There are high upfront fees and it might become quite challenging to publish in consoles. I have never ported my games on Console yet but the entry fees are pretty high for me as a solo developer.

6. Now, if you have a Bachelor degree in Computer Science and if you believe you are really good programmer you can apply for jobs in various Game Development studio in your area and you can also approach to Giant companies like Ubisoft. Well, I personally have never done job in any Game Development companies and I have been working on my own Game Development studio for years(Amaxang Games).

In conclusion, it is not an impossible task to make a living out of your indie games. Well, you need to learn to survive in the market for more than decades and in that way, you might become successful. Failure is common in creative fields and you better get used to it because your first, second, third... commercial project is gonna fail no matter what.

Here are some great pieces of advice based on this topic which you should also read.

YouTube: GDC 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmwbYl6f11c&t=369s

Quora post: https://www.quora.com/Is-video-game-programmer-a-good-career-choice

Gamedev: https://www.gamedev.net/forums/topic/627953-game-programming-as-a-viable-career/

Gamasutra: https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MartinNerurkar/20120710/173898/Game_Development_Career_Poster.php

Top 5 New Releases on Steam - 1st January 2018 - Buy New Steam Games

Hey guys,

This is my first post covering top 5 New Steam Game Releases and I will mention those games which can never be heard in major news websites and I have got interested in these games personally and I would like to recommend you to check them out and support the indie game developers who have tried their best to make the best game possible. 

Now-a-days, Steam is full of low quality, asset flip games and I will also point that if I find one and I will post about them in this blog too. It has almost become harder for gamers to find new gems and great new games which are being released on Steam every single day. Moreover, with the change in Steam store algorithm it is ever harder to find new games as it shows only the popular titles which has already been promoted. So, I will cover games which deserve some attention starting from 1st January, 2018. 

Here are 5 top New Releases on Steam mentioned below:

1. Bloodworks (Free to Play)

 Bloodworks is a free top-down survival action game where you fight against an endless waves of monsters. The odds are not in your favor!
 Check this game out on Steam

2.  TileDynasty FPS Arena:

Set in an Apocalyptic World, you play as a renegade with incredible endurance and speed, demolishing enemies with arcade like weapons.
TileDynasty is an FPS Arena, where Players can work together against AI Enemies or go head-to-head accomplishing objectives within each game mode.

Check this game out on Steam[Early Access]

3. Carnage in Space: Ignition:

Use your fighting skill and superior agility to outmaneuver and dismantle foes in a fast-paced, vicious action-platformer! Fight your way through fierce battles and frantic platforming challenges! Earn your place as one of the galaxy's legends - if you can survive to the end!  

Check this game out on Steam

4. Blockship Wars: Roguelike:

BlockShip Wars: Roguelike is an action roguelike/RPG where you build your own ship, explore huge procedural maps, and battle computer controlled enemy ships entirely made out of components that you can salvage and put on your ship.

Check this game out on Steam [Early Access]

5. Christmas Santa Troubles:

Collect all sweets during the game, avoid saws, spikes, icicles and falling to abyss - you will help main character come back all gifts and Christmas will be saved. Santa will prepare his sleigh and move on worldwide giving out presents for all kids on the planet. help Santa, save the Christmas!

Check this game out on Steam  

These are the TOP 5 New Steam Game Releases for 1st January, 2018. Kindly check them out. Thanks! For more Top New Steam releases subscribe to our newsletter!