Hello! A lot of things has been occupying my mind lately that I find it difficult to post here on Hive. Like I've mentioned before, I will finish the anime challenge initiated by @kuronokenshi, the "Anime Blogging Challenge". Click the link if you want to participate on the challenge too. :)

Right now I am of the ninth blogging challenge, "Your Favorite Anime Movie" I have only seen very few anime movies so again, my choices are only limited. I am torn between Anthem of the Heart and Silent Voice, I love them both. But after some deliberation in my head, I chose to go with latter.

Anthem of the Heart

Are you the type of person who blurts whatever comes to mind or are you someone who sifts thoughts before opening your mouth?

Anthem of the Heart or "Kokora ga Sakebitagatterunda" or "Kokosake" is a story about a chatterbox girl named Jun Naruse who lost her lively personality after being accused of her parents' divorce. One day, the fairy egg appeared and cursed her to never speak again. Her mother was confused and frustrated of Naruse's situation that she was even despised by her. Whenever she attempts to speak, she gets stomachache. Later on, her class was assigned to present a musical play wherein she was assigned the lead role. She accepted the role because of Sakagami whom she sees as her prince charming like those on fairy tale stories when she was little. She only talks to people through her phone and apparently, singing wasn't included on the curse and it served as a way for her to express herself.

So why do I like this film a lot?

It's kind of a more personal reason, really. Naruse Jun's character is something I could relate to. From being a chatterbox to being silent. Well, I have always been the quiet one but I can be a chatterbox when I choose to. However, various things happened which turned me even more silent. When you realize how impactful words are, you become very careful with it to avoid hurting others. There's a saying which goes,

The tongue is sharper than a sword.

Naruse deeply regretted being a blabbermouth because if it wasn't for her talkativeness, her mother wouldn't know that her father was cheating on her mother and that her family could've avoided such problems.

The egg fairy in the story who constantly watches over her and punishes her when she tries to speak is a metaphor of our thoughts restraining ourselves to speak words to avoid hurting people. The egg fairy is something Naruse have made up in her mind out of regret and trauma.

Aside from relating to a character, another side of the story which I really love were the songs used for their musical play. They used and sang classical songs and even have mash ups of it.

My favorite, however, was Naruse's song, "Watashi no Koe" or "My Voice". I bawled my eyes out as I watched her walk in the middle of the audience, expressing her thoughts by singing. This part also made me realize that quiet people also have ways to express themselves, which for Naruse, is through a song.

I love how Anthem of the Heart teaches us to be aware of the things we say and how powerful words are. That the only person who can get us out of our misery is ourselves. And that fairy tale stories are only fantasies.

Anthem of the Heart was released in 2015 and was nominated during the 39th Japan Academy Prize for the category Animation of the Year. A live action was also released in 2017 which I still haven't watched. I hope it is as good as the anime.

Have you watched Anthem of the Heart?