How to read A Silent Voice in English: where to start

What A Silent Voice is about

A Silent Voice is a manga by Yoshitoki Ooima. It began in Japan in 2013. The genres are drama, romance and slice of life. Its themes are rehabilitation, language barrier, bullying and coming of age.

Shoya Ishida is a sixth grader. He hates being bored and will do anything to avoid it. Then a deaf girl named Shoko Nishimiya transfers into his class. Shoya picks on her every day. The rest of the class soon joins in. It goes far enough that the principal steps in. Shoya's friends make sure he takes all the blame. After that he has no friends left. Years later he is a lonely high school student. He goes looking for Shoko so he can apologize.

This is a story about guilt and forgiveness. It is also about how hard it is to truly talk to another person. Sign language gets real attention here. So does life with a hearing disability. Bullying and loneliness are handled with weight. That makes it hard to read at times. Pick it up if you want a serious school story. The characters are flawed. The answers are never easy.

How far it is in Japan and in English

As of October 2026 the series is finished in Japan. It ran from 2013 and ended in 2014. The full story fills 7 volumes.

English readers are in the same place. All 7 volumes are out in English from Kodansha. Volume 1 arrived in 2015. Volume 7 also came out in 2015. So the whole story is already on the shelf. You will not be stuck waiting for an ending.

Ways to start

The place to begin is Volume 1. Here is the starting point we have on record:

• Volume 1: Vol. 1 from Kodansha, released in 2015.

Our facts list no omnibus or other edition for this series. Single volumes are the way in. Start with Volume 1 and read on in order. With only 7 books the run is short. You can follow Shoya and Shoko from the first chapter to the last without any gaps.

What comes next in English

Nothing new is on the way. There is no next English volume to wait for. The story is complete in Japan. Every volume is already out in English. Once you close Volume 7 you have read the whole thing.

Quick answers

• How many volumes does A Silent Voice have? It has 7 volumes in Japan. The story is complete.
• Is A Silent Voice finished? Yes. It ended in Japan in 2014. Every volume is out in English too.
• How many volumes are out in English? All 7 are out. Volume 7 came out in 2015. Kodansha publishes the series in English.

Every volume in one place

Want the full list? Our A Silent Voice series page shows every English volume with its release date. Use it to find Volume 1 and keep track of the rest as you read.