Character from a-silent-voice by
Shoya's former elementary school friend who participated in bullying Shoko and has never genuinely reckoned with that — her resentment of Shoko persists, thinly masked.
Naoka was part of the group that bullied Shoko — not the instigator, but an enthusiastic participant. When the bullying was exposed and Shoya became the scapegoat, she escaped consequence and has maintained a tidy self-narrative ever since. She genuinely likes Shoya in her way, which makes her hostility toward Shoko more unsettling: she has not separated her feelings for Shoya from her resentment of Shoko's existence in his life. She is not simply a villain. She has her own wounds, her own reasons, her own capacity for connection. But she is a study in how people manage guilt by redirecting it outward, and in how cruelty can be normalized within group dynamics until it stops feeling like a choice.
Pretty in a sharp-featured way, with styled hair and clothes that project social confidence. Her smile comes easily and goes away just as fast. There is often an edge under her pleasantness that only appears when Shoko is mentioned.
Also known as: Naoka Ueno, Ueno, Naoka