Anime Review: Colorful

The afterlife is full of monochrome souls waiting to be judged… at least it is according to Colorful. This is a bit of a supernatural slice-of-life tale about redemption and self-discovery with an interesting premise. I wanted to check it out because the base premise of A Second Chance was the basis of my first-ever light novel series Final Hope. I wanted to see how this film took that premise and made it their own. Did it achieve something interesting?

Let’s Jam!

The Story

A soul arrives in the afterlife and is completely apathetic. A small child, assumed to be an angel, named Purapura tells the soul that today is his lucky day. He was selected by a lottery to be given a second chance at life. Right now on Earth, a boy named Makoto overdosed and is about to die. When he does die, the soul will be transplanted into his body; however, it’s not as simple as getting a second chance. The soul has six months to remember what they did and how they died. They need to come to a revelation to earn their second chance. If they cannot do it within six months, the soul is yanked out of the body and sent to the afterlife once and for all and the body they inhabit dies anyway.

The soul couldn’t care less about any of this but is sent into Makoto’s body anyway. His parents are overjoyed that “Makoto” has come back to life. Now, this soul is met with a challenge… to figure out how they died and to do so while living with all of Makoto’s problems. Those problems are a long laundry list of emotional situations such as his father being taken advantage of at work, his mother having an affair behind his back, his brother who excels in academics and looks down on him because he doesn’t measure up in such a way, thus refusing to speak to him, being bullied at school, and finding out his love interest is the type of girl who will spread her legs for money.

Colorful is a journey to understand why Makoto took his life and for the spirit inside of him to understand what he did wrong, how he died, and why Makoto’s life can serve as a valuable lesson for him.

The Characters

Makoto Kobayashi

It’s weird to talk about this character because the Makoto that died and the “Makoto” in the film are treated as separate characters even though they share the same name. The Makoto that died was pretty meek and timid. He let all of his emotions bottle up inside of him until he eventually took an overdose of his mother’s sleeping pills and committed suicide. We did learn that the Makoto who died was gifted in art and was always painting something. Through “Makoto,” we also learn that Makoto was admired for his art by a couple of characters that we will meet during the film… one of which surprised even me but I’ll let you discover who that is on your own.

As for “Makoto,” he’s outgoing and isn’t afraid to speak up and it’s evident that he’s the polar opposite of the Makoto who died because everyone takes immediate notice of how different he is. Even his teacher is beyond shocked when “Makoto” wants to do better academically (although not much better as he doesn’t particularly care about getting into a really good school.)

Being the main character of the movie, the majority of the focus was on both Makotos. Learning about the dead Makoto’s life while enjoying the new “Makoto” as he lives the old Makoto’s life was an interesting angle to take on this premise but it worked and worked very well.

Purapura

Let’s get it right here. It’s not Puripuri, Parapara, or anything else. it’s Purapura! Got it? Good!

While he looks like a kid, he is no kid. For someone thought to be a guardian angel, he sure is a cocky little brat that you want to smack over and over again. He does give “Makoto” information to help him out but, at some point, he tells him “Well, you’re on your own, good luck” and just becomes an observer. Of course, the whole point of “Makoto’s” second chance is to figure things out on his own so this makes sense but he’s not exactly super sensitive to “Makoto’s” situation. Even when he selected him to inhabit Makoto’s body, he forced him to do it without even listening to his wish to be left alone. “Makoto” didn’t want to go back which makes me wonder why he was chosen, to begin with. Purapura never truly explains this (there is a reason for that which you will discover) but it does make him come off as VERY pushy and uncaring… something that’s unbecoming of an “angel.”

Hiroka Kuwabara

This is the old Makoto’s love interest. Being a completely different person, “Makoto” gets lustful eyes for her and thinks that he can have some fun but discovers the same thing the old Makoto did and becomes a bit turned off. You learn that she’s nothing more than a gold digger with high maintenance… or a “gyaru” in the Japanese slang. Despite this, there are some moments where it seems as if she cares about the old Makoto.. but all of that is turned on its head later in the film. She’s a vile character but not in an evil way but certainly one that you come to despise!

Shouko Sano

Holy weirdness… So, Shouko reminds me of the nerd girl in school that hides behind the classroom plant during recess, only poking her head out to make sure no one is coming over to shake her down for lunch money. She stammers something fierce and has a very hard time getting her feelings across; however, she’s the first to notice the change in “Makoto” and even declares that the Makoto in front of her is not the same, almost like the spirit medium becoming possessed and wailing about an apocalyptic event that’s yet to come via a messenger from the afterlife. In a way, you find her endearing because without even being given a detailed background, just the way she acts, you can tell exactly how school life had been for her and how she and the old Makoto had some sort of thing going on (which we are all led to believe was completely one-sided.) While she was a bit of an oddball character, she had charm. Kudos to Aoi Miyazaki, her seiyuu for doing an INCREDIBLE job bringing this character to life. No lie… some of the finest Japanese voice acting I’ve heard. The character stuck out like a sore thumb for all the right reasons because of her acting skills.

Saotome

Introduced a bit into the film, Saotome is a kind soul who is kind of a magnet for misfits. He looks at students who don’t fit in and does his best to talk to them and befriend them. “Makoto” is on his list and he does his best to become a friend and it works. It works so well that “Makoto” decides to study for high school so he can get into the same school as Saotome. This causes an issue that stirs up a bit of family drama but it’s worth it to “Makoto.” Despite his kind nature, he’s a bum… a lazy, lazy bum who would much rather take “Makoto” on a tour through town to follow an old decommissioned trolly line than study for his high school entrance exams. His lax attitude clicks with “Makoto” and the two become good friends!

Art, Animation, and Sound

Great job by Sunrise!

At first, I thought that this movie was going to be fully CG since the opening scene was rendered as such but we get a full hand-drawn animated film afterward.

What I loved were the character designs. The overall art style gave us some unique designs that look a little more realistic than anime. Even though it’s anime through and through, we don’t get your typical larger-than-life eye… everything is more muted, more subtle, more seinen style. That’s another thing with the movie is that the colors are muted when they need to be vibrant in others. If you pay close attention, you’ll notice that the color palettes swap whenever “Makoto” experiences different emotional situations. It’s bright and sunny when Saotome is leading him on the tour and he’s happy, and it’s gloomy and raining when he’s chasing after Hiroka to discover her lustful gold-digging ways. The times he’s at home and confronts his mother have muted color palettes along with a brilliant use of silence to help drive home the dramatic effects.

The artwork is more than just scenery. Every attention to detail has been paid to tell both upfront and subtle storytelling.

All of the animation, though, is typical of a slice-of-life film. Much like films of this nature, it’s about the same as a TV anime with a very large budget but not over the top like a CoMix Wave film or something out of GoHands. Still, it’s not low enough to say “This is supposed to be a movie?” It is definitely movie quality!

Overall Thoughts

Colorful was a pleasant film… and by that, I don’t mean the premise, the depression, the drama, and the tense situations that happen in it… I mean it was pleasant in the sense that you can feel satisfied from beginning to end. There is a complete story told here, a journey to be had, and the conclusion is a twist that anyone could have probably guessed but even with the ending being a bit predictable, the ride to get there was very enjoyable… especially when you see how “Makoto” changes every so slightly with every scene.

There were a few loose ends that I wish were explored… such as his father never found out about his mother’s affair… the fact that either of those characters was ever assigned proper names… or what became of “Makoto” after the twist happens. The film could have used an epilogue but it wasn’t something that was required. There is enough for you to draw your own conclusions and by doing so, the film didn’t overstay its welcome. It was still an ending anyone could feel complete with.

The only thing that bothered me was when “Makoto” first went home… he shocked his mother and father by eating at the dinner table with them. Then Purapura tells him about his mother’s affair (which was called off and is over and done with as soon as his mother found out about the suicide attempt). He suddenly does a 180 and resents her despite not even knowing her. I will say there is a VERY SUBTLE reason for this happening but it never got a confirmation in the film and because as such, it came off as a very random moment that didn’t make much sense… at first… but if you’re keen, you will come to understand it more… it still bothered me because it was missing that confirmation. This is why I felt like the film could have used an epilogue but it’s a personal thing and, again, not necessary.

Overall, I would highly recommend Colorful. It has great storytelling, great character development, and plenty of memorable moments, despite some of its minor flaws!