The main protagonist of A Silent Voice is Shoya Ishida. When he was in middle school, he had a lot of friends in his class, but once he got into trouble for bullying Shoko, they turned their backs on him.

RELATED: Attack On Titan: The 10 Best Friendships In The Series, Ranked

Years later, Shoya would hope to make things right with Shoko and become her friend, not knowing that he'd get close to a lot of other people along the way. And by the end of the series, Shoya was able to accept his past and learn how important making connections with others is.

8 Kazuki And Keisuke Were Shoya's Best Friends In Middle School

A Silent Voice Shoya, Keisuke, and Kazuki

Growing up, Kazuki and Keisuke were Shoya's best friends. They spent most of their time with him and would have a lot of fun together, though some of the things that they did were quite dangerous. However, when Shoya got in trouble for bullying Shoko, they threw him under the bus and cut ties with him.

When they went to high school, they let all of their classmates know that Shoya was a bully and would turn him down when he tried to reach out to them. Though their friendship came to an end, Kazuki and Keisuke saved Shoya's life after he fell from Shoko's balcony.

7 Miyoko Would Become Shoya's Friend Thanks To Shoko

A Silent Voice Miyoko Sahara

Miyoko was another classmate of Shoya's when they were in middle school. However, the two weren't friends back then. Miyoko often got bullied, with Shoko being her only friend, and would eventually leave the school. It wasn't until Shoko had asked Shoya to help her reunite with Miyoko that the two would become friends themselves. They would all spend a lot of their time together, and though Shoya and Miyoko didn't have much of a bond, they did care about each other.

6 Naoka Always Loved Shoya

A Silent Voice Shoya and Naoka

Naoka and Shoya were close friends in middle school, and Naoka was arguably worse of a bully than Shoya was. Though she had romantic feelings for him and wanted to bring their old group of friends together after they went their separate ways, he wanted nothing to do with her as, unlike him, she didn't change.

RELATED: Kingdom Hearts: The 10 Best Friendships In The Series, Ranked

However, when Shoya was in the hospital, Naoka stayed by his side the whole time, taking good care of him. The two were eventually able to become friends again, though things would never be the same as they were in middle school nor did Shoya reciprocate Naoka's feelings.

5 Satoshi Forgave Shoya For Being A Bully

Satoshi mashiba

Satoshi was a classmate of Shoya's in high school who wanted to be his friend after seeing the photo of him jumping into a river. Though they started hanging out a lot, Shoya quickly got worried about their friendship after finding out how much Satoshi hated bullies after being bullied himself.

Thinking of what would happen if Satoshi learned that he had bullied Shoko in middle school, Shoya ended up pushing him away. However, Satoshi was able to understand that Shoya had changed a lot since middle school and proved himself to be a loyal friend by forgiving him.

4 Miki And Shoya Stayed In Touch After Middle School

A Silent Voice Miki

Miki was another classmate of Shoya's from middle school who cut ties with him after he got in trouble for bullying, though she had always turned a blind eye when he did it. The two were in the same class in high school, allowing them to still stay in touch, though they weren't that close for a long time. Out of all of the kids who were friends with Shoya when he was younger, Miki was the one who respected him the most. The two started hanging out with each other again when Shoya allowed more people into his life, expanding his group of friends.

3 Tomohiro Showed Shoya What It Meant To Be A Friend

A Silent Voice Tomohiro

Tomohiro was Shoya's first true friend. As outcasts in their school, the two started spending a lot of time together. Tomohiro grew a strong attachment towards Shoya very quickly and helped him out in many ways.

RELATED: Tokyo Revengers: Takemichi's 11 Closest Friends

However, there were also times when Tomohiro would annoy Shoya as he was afraid of losing him to the other people he became friends with. Regardless, the two always had each other's back and would forgive each other even if they wronged one another.

2 Yuzuru And Shoya Got Off On The Wrong Foot But Became Inseparable

5 Yuzuru Nishimiya

Because Shoya used to bully her sister, Yuzuru didn't have the best first impression of him. Yuzuru wanted Shoya to leave her and Shoko alone and even made him believe that she was Shoko's boyfriend. However, when Shoya proved that he had changed, the two became very close and started spending as much time as they could with each other. By the end of the story, the two were practically inseparable and cared a lot for each other.

1 Shoya And Shoko Gave Each Other A Reason To Live

Shoko And Shoya Silent voice

Despite all the terrible things Shoya put her through when she was a child, Shoko would end up being Shoya's greatest friend. After deciding that he would commit suicide, he brought her old notebook back to her and ended up asking her to be his friend, gaining a reason to not kill himself. Shoya wanted more than anything to make things right with Shoko and dedicated his life to making her happy. He even saved her life when she tried to commit suicide herself. The two of them loved one another and ended up being each other's purpose in life.

NEXT: The World Ends With You: The 10 Best Friendships In The Series, Ranked