Reddit mentions of A Silent Voice Vol. 1

I may be remembering wrongly, so take what I say with loads of salt.

Shouko was bullied, yes, but blames herself for being deaf, and so is sorry for existing and being a bother to her family, society etc for having to accommodate her and so on, so much so that she had wished she'd be dead in her younger years, which was what made the younger sister want to protect her from others and picking up death photography to dissuade her from the idea of death.

As for the male lead, I'd say he eventually won her heart for being one of the firsts from her past encounters to come out, apologise, willing to hang out of her, and even bringing friends she never knew she had, with varying degrees of success of course. He was the boy she eventually lashed out at for all the bullying, but she was more... (Mad? Sad?) for being deaf, for being different.

I'm sorry, not good at these discussions like those r/manga or r/anime discussions. I'd really recommend reading the original source though, you can either read the english licensed ones from e.g. Amazon, Kobo, Bookdepository, Google Play Books, or borrow from Overdrive if you are in the right region or check if your local library/ comic seller has them. Or read the scanlated version or ahem pirate it.

Oh, and here's a translated special chapter that came with the release of the movie in Japan, just a little side story. Read the panels from right to left, just like any other manga.