Shouya Ishida

Ishida Shouya (石田 将也, Ishida Shōya) is a character introduced in Koe no Katachi. He is the main, male protagonist of the series.

Ishida has lived a 'lone wolf' life after being blamed for the sole bullying of Nishimiya Shouko during elementary school. Six years later after meeting Nishimiya again and befriending her, he starts to gather new friends together, along with old ones he had during middle school. Despite the changes in his life, Ishida still struggles to make up for what he did in the past.

Appearance
Ishida has black spiky hair that seems to grow backwards and has small dark-green irises. When in casual clothes, he is always seen in a black shirt with the tag sticking out at the back and six pocket 3/4th pants, or sometimes long pants.

In his school uniform, he wears half of his polo untucked and a loose tie which is loosely knotted when there is no coat. He also has baggy suit clothes that he wears.

Personality
During grade school, Ishida loved to go on self-imposed adventures and played a lot, in what he described as a battle against "boredom". He always played pranks with living things or other kids. After Nishimiya transferred to their class, Ishida became more devious as he always mocked Nishimiya, which resulted in him receiving scoldings from his teachers often.

After he became the scapegoat for the bullying of Nishimiya, Ishida was isolated from everyone and became a very introverted individual. He was deeply filled with regret for all the things he did to Nishimiya, and started to contempt others. He also slowly grew to hate everyone and see them as "pretenders", such as Mashiba (who he thinks brown hair doesn't suit him), or Kawai Miki (calling her a hypocrite though initially it was not a complete lie). Above all, Ishida hated himself for having bad thoughts about everyone else.

After reuniting with Nishimiya in high school, Ishida starts to gain friends, hang out and laugh more. Throughout this time, he has the objective to give Nishimiya back the happiness he once took and helps her find the old friends she once had. Even with these acts of atonement, Ishida still struggles in moving on when he remembers his past mistakes and the isolation that followed.

Despite getting mad at someone, later on, Ishida usually is the first one to apologize with his actions and thinks he doesn't have the right to do so. He admitted to Nagatsuka Tomohiro that he became the way he is now because of Nishimiya.

Grade School
Ishida used to be an adventurous thrill seeking kid. He found life boring and was always looking for something that would kill his boredom. He used to hang out with Shimada and Hirose and do "tests of courage", such as jumping off different bridges or other dangerous things.

One day, after jumping off a bridge, Ishida's shoes were missing. Shimada found a fat kid who wore the shoes similar to Ishida, who also attended in a cram school, and reported to him. They made plans as if they were on a mission and called out the kid with Ueno's help. Ishida punched the kid and cheerfully shouted after defeating him. Going back home, Genki, who is his sister's boyfriend turned out to be the fat kid's older brother and he was given a solar plexus. He ended up beaten but he didn't mind since he believed that he had successfully won over boredom.

As time went by, his friends decided to stop their "test of courage" and think maturely. Alone, he thought he needed to do something to not let himself lose against boredom.

After Nishimiya transferred to their class and Ishida learned of her disability, Ishida thought that she was weird, and found another way to win over his boredom: by picking on Nishimiya.

Ishida thought Nishimiya was a burden to the class as they made extra efforts to keep Nishimiya aware of this. One day, he wrote insults to Nishimiya after the class lost in the choral contest. He erased the writings after showing it to Nishimiya, pretending that he cared. Thinking that she would get mad or cry, she thanked him and his friends instead. Ishida then became curious of Nishimiya's reactions to every prank he did, which quickly turned into bullying.

The Principal later discussed the matter in the class where Nishimiya lost or broke eight of her hearing aids in five months that cost 1.7 million Yen. He made a deal of letting the school handle the matter if someone voluntarily takes the blame or lets the police investigate. As Ishida was going to raise his hand, his teacher pointed him out and asked for the class' idea about him. Even though everyone enjoyed Ishida's pranks, they talked as if they were not involved or tried to stop him from doing it. In the end, he took the blame and he was then the one bullied by everyone in his class instead. His teacher never believed him when he reported the incidents, as he thought he was lying. Instead of helping him, he told Ishida that what he did was returning back to him. Feeling the pain from getting bullied, he wondered how Nishimiya thought about him, wondering if she hated him.

One day, Ishida decided to find out the person behind his missing slippers alone. He first thought Nishimiya was the culprit after seeing her arrive early to school but it turned out that she takes care of the flowers. He sees her wiping a desk full of insults and wondered if she was still being bullied. He returned to his hiding spot and found out that his old friends Shimada and Hirose were responsible for his missing slippers and fought with them. He ended up beaten, left lying on the ground. Nishimiya wiped his face in an effort to help, surprising him. He suddenly exploded and shouted out how he hated her. They fought each other, (Nishimiya showing one of the rare times when she's angry) causing Nishimiya to transfer to a different school.

The next day, Ishida realized Nishimiya was not wiping the insults off of her own desk but instead she was wiping his. From that morning forward, he saw his desk full of insults which lasted until graduation day.

Middle School
At the opening ceremony, Shimada told everyone in his class about Ishida being a bully and how he forced a girl to transfer to a different school during their grade school. Some guys asked Ishida about it, which he replied honestly. He lost his friends, and became hated and isolated.

One day he went to Nagoya alone to buy a limited edition book. He was nervous at first but got his confidence after managing to buy one. He unexpectedly encountered Shimada and his friends and assumed that he could have fun together with them again. But instead, he was ignored and they decided to hate whatever he liked. The insults on his desk seemed to continue during middle school.

High School
During his senior year, he started to see everybody with bad ideas in their mind. He started to distrust everybody and marked their faces with an 'X' as a sign of distrust. Realizing that he would die someday, he decided to pay back everything he did and then kill himself. He teared his calendar off at the 15th, marking it as his last day, and proceeded to sell his possessions such as his bike, futon, reference books, and phone. He then quit his part-time job and pays back the 1.7 million Yen his mother paid for the hearing aids.

With one last task to complete, he decided to meet Shouko. He learned that she was currently in a sign language club, and as he looked around the building, he caught a glimpse of her and called out to her. At first, she ran away but after he tripped while pursuing her, Nishimya approached him and wrote on his palm with her finger "why", wondering why he approached her. He then returned her communication book, telling her that she forgot it with sign language. This surprised her, as she asked Ishida if he knew sign language. He replied that he studied it so that he could tell her one thing. He explained that she suffered a lot because no one could hear her voice, as she flipped through the pages. As Shouko began to cry, Ishida began to express his doubts and felt that his apology was not enough to repent for his sins. He continued to explain to her that his reason of approaching her and giving back her notebook was just an excuse to see her. He told her what she was trying to say to him in grade school, she waited for him and showed him both her hands held together. He finally understood and demonstrated it to Shouko, and asks for friendship. An embarrassed Shouko covered half of her face with the notebook, while blushing. Shouya, thinking he went too far, then rushed on to also tell her that his reason for meeting her was so he could apologize and tell her that he regretted everything he did to her.

Meeting After Six Years
Ishida didn't manage to do his purpose and was interrupted by an old woman who tasked Nishimiya on bread duty. Ishida didn't understand, and is surprised when she took out a plastic bag of bread. They ended up on the bridge, feeding the koi fish. Ishida wondered why she obligated herself to do the job, and Nishimiya answered "It makes me happy when I'm needed". Ishida found her answer to be weird like how he did in grade school. He realized he used to hate Nishimiya and now he was having a normal conversation with her. He recalled that he was supposed to commit suicide that day but it has changed after getting off the topic when talking to her. Nishimiya's mother then came to pick her up. She draged Nishimiya with her after seeing Ishida, but Nishimiya resisted. While her mother was ignoring her, Ishida explained to her that Nishimiya wanted to stay longer because there was bread left. She ignored Ishida and kept her from telling her to go home. She noticed the communication book Ishida gave her, and threw it off the bridge. Nishimiya tried to take it back and jumped off the bridge. Ishida then jumped off the bridge to save her. She turned out to be fine but she continued to stay and look for her communication book. Ishida helped her and they luckily found it again. He asked her why she bothered looking for it, in which she answered that she had given up once, but he picked it up for her. After getting out of the water, Nishimiya turned back at him and did a sign language for "see you later". He then shouted to her mother that he regretted everything he did in the past and then apologized for it. He thought they left but then her mother returned and slapped him hard.

Back at his home, his mother was very happy with the money he earned, not knowing that it was supposed to be the payment for the money he used to pay for the hearing aids. Recalling what Nishimiya said to him, he decided to live on and reattached the calendar he once teared.

After meeting Nishimiya
Ishida's distrust towards others lessened after seeing Nishimiya again. When he was thinking if he had the right to see her again, he wondered how she would approach her or what kind of excuse she could make, but he always saw himself getting slapped again by her mother. Then he saw Nagatsuka, who was also eating alone. He purposely left in case he saw him and thought that they were in the same situation. Then, Ishida heard a noise and sees a student who was forcefully taking his bike. Ishida was thinking about what to do and as he made eye contact with Nagatsuka, he subconsciously suggested to take his bike instead. The guy took it and as he was going home, his bike was missing, thinking the guy had stolen it. But he then saw Nagatsuka in a mess, approaching with his bike. It turned out he looked for it and found it in the field after the guy got through using it. He was the first person Ishida trusted and they then became friends.

Friendship with Nagatsuka
He did not manage to see Nishimiya, but he made a friend instead. They hung out together and he felt that it had been a while since he felt like enjoying days with a friend. He still asked himself what is 'friendship' though. Despite the happiness that he felt, the bad times he had during grade school still appear in his head.

After recalling the old days, he asked Nagatsuka how he would define a friend, since he is uncertain if he had the right to be one or to have one. Nagatsuka answered that it is something that defies words and logic.

When he lost his bike, he decided to walk and coincidentally received a flyer about breads on his way home. The reason he lost his mother's bike was to get a chance to have an excuse to meet Nishimiya by buying bread that would feed the fish on the bridge. He went to the sign language club again but he then met the kid who kept him from meeting Nishimiya. He didn't know Nagatsuka followed him and he was the one who confronted the kid by threatening him. Now that they were making a scene, Ishida became embarrassed and ran away. Nishimiya noticed this and followed him. He frankly told her that he wanted to see her but he does not know if he had the right to do that because of the things he did in the past. He wondered if they were friends and thought about it for the rest of the week, in which Nishimiya replied that she was glad and also thought the same thing. Both of them felt enlightened, and they show each other the bread that they would feed to the fish.

Yuzuru's hatred
The next morning, Ishida was having a good conversation with his mother but suddenly opened up a topic about his suicide. He thought she found out and tried to explain but it turns out she tricked him and put his money he earned on the verge of burning. He apologized and promised not to try to kill himself again. His mother became satisfied with his grovel and happily accepted his apology. The money he earned ended up burning though, but his mother told him she would never be happy in using the money he earned so he could commit suicide with no regrets. He told her he would earn it again, and he thought that this time, he would earn it for living on.

On his way to his school, he saw Nishimiya Yuzuru on the bridge with a net. He observed her as she took a picture of a dead fish she caught in the net. He finds that what she was doing was gross and started to get curious about her until Yuzuru kicked his bike. She told him there's a rule in that area whenever he talked to Shouko she had to kick him. Then she teased him as she let him smell her hair and told him, she and Shouko took a bath together. Ishida didn't seem to mind and stand his bike. But as Yuzuru said to him that she was dating Shouko, he dropped his bike. She reminded him about school and he left after apologizing for approaching Nishimiya. On the road, he had thoughts about it and felt happy for her. As soon as he thought too much about it, he suddenly imagined Shouko and Yuzuru taking a bath together that distracts him and made him hit the pole. He was called to the principal's office after the article about him jumping off the bridge spread on the internet.

During his suspension, his sister asked him to get Maria in a nursery school and when they stopped at the park, his niece called him out to see Yuzuru sleeping inside the play house of the playground. She stood staggering and asked what is Ishida doing in there. He said that he was suspended because of the internet article and then she confessed that she was the one who wrote the article. Ishida didn't get mad and was happy after hearing Yuzuru. She asked why in which he answered that he could understand why she did it. She wondered if he was mad and he replied that he doesn't have the right to get mad, since it was his fault in the first place. She then collapsed, and Ishida brought her to his home and gave her food and spend a night at his house.

In the middle of the night, Yuzuru's mother came to their house, looking for Shouko. Ishida decided to look for her. When he shouts her name, Yuzuru scolded him and said that it was useless since she is deaf and that it was impossible with the heavy rain. He continued to call out her name however, until they heard a metallic sound and found her.

Ishida called his mom on a telephone booth close by, and told her that everything was fine, and that they found Nishimiya. Yuzuru talked to him in sign language and told him to hang out together again. Ishida wondered if it was fine and she replied Shouko will get mad if she doesn't apologize to him. His mother saw him doing sign language and finds him amazing. Shouko's mother approached Ishida and gave him an umbrella. Before they left, she told him that no matter how hard he tries, he will never return the happy grade school days he took from her and he responded agreeing to her statement.

The next day, Nagatsuka came to his house to give him handouts and notes. Later on, Yuzuru came to return the clothes she borrowed and Nagatsuka made a scene about it but everyone ignored him. He forced her to apologize to Ishida and they all eat dinner. While eating, she called her mom telling her whereabouts and told her the truth about the article. Yuzuru seemed shaken about it.

She was then forced to go on a public bath with Nagatsuka and Ishida which she tried to resist about it. She was forced to get in and happened to see naked men and then ran away. On the road, she saw Shouko carrying the clothes she borrowed from Ishida. Nagatsuka and Ishida followed her and happened to see Shouko. She apologized to him and told him the truth about Yuzuru where Ishida got embarrassed. Nagatsuka forcefully asked Yuzuru what she told him when Ishida suddenly got embarrassed. He told him she was a girl and felt embarrassed about it too since they forced her in a public bath and let her see men and both of them naked.

As they left, Ishida noticed how happy Shouko was which he had never seen before. He recalled again the days during grade school and told himself again that he didn't have the right to be happy and that he hated himself. But he admitted that if he saw Shouko happy like that, there might be a time he would forget about what he did someday.