Colorful: A thorough look at the colorful stories and characters

"Colorful": Renewal of the soul and a colorful second chance at life

■ Public Information

"Colorful" is an animated film that was released in theaters on August 21, 2010. It was distributed by Toho and produced by Sunrise. It is a 127-minute film with one episode, based on the novel of the same name by Mori Eto. It was directed by Hara Keiichi, one of Japan's leading animation directors.

■ Story

"Congratulations! You've won the lottery." The story of "Colorful" begins with this sentence and is told from the perspective of "I," a dead soul drifting between the heavens and the earth. "I" is considered a sinful soul who died after making a big mistake, and is given a chance to return to the earth from the wanderings of an angel(?) and try again. The condition is that "I" remember the sin he committed. And so, his soul enters the body of Kobayashi Makoto, a third-year middle school student who had just committed suicide, and begins to live as him.

The family surrounding the revived "Makoto" appears happy, but in reality they had many problems, including contempt for their father, their mother's infidelity, and their brother's coldness. Furthermore, when "Makoto" found out that his junior colleague Kuwabara Hiroka, whom he secretly had feelings for, was engaging in compensated dating, he committed suicide. "Makoto" had no friends at school and his grades were the worst, but as "I" acted as "Makoto," his relationships with those around him began to change little by little. After meeting Sano Shoko, Saotome, and Hiroka, something began to change in "I"'s world as "Makoto."

■Explanation

Director Keiichi Hara has worked on many masterpieces, including "Crayon Shinchan: Storm Called: Bodacious! The Adult Empire Strikes Back" (2001), "Crayon Shinchan: Storm Called: Appare! Sengoku Daigassen" (2002), and "Summer Days with Coo" (2007). His latest work is "Colorful." The original is a novel of the same name by Mori Eto, who won the 135th Naoki Prize for "Wind-Fluttering Vinyl Sheet." The story conveys a positive message about living, and has stirred up refreshing emotions not only for junior high and high school students of the same generation as the protagonist, but also for adults who were once junior high school students. Keiichi Hara's emotional direction has transformed this moving work into a masterpiece of cinematic beauty.

■Cast

・Kobayashi Makoto: Fuuto Tomizawa・Sano Shoko: Aoi Miyazaki・Kuwabara Hiroka: Akina Minami・Purapura: Maikeru・Saotome: Jinji Irie・Mumei: Keiji Fujiwara・Makoto's brother: Akiyoshi Nakao・Makoto's mother: Kumiko Asou・Makoto's father: Katsumi Takahashi

■ Main staff

・Director: Keiichi Hara ・Producers: Chihiro Kameyama, Kenji Uchida, Atsushi Terada, Koichiro Natsume, Naoki Kitagawa, Yoshinari Shimatani ・Original story: Eto Mori (Rironsha, Bunshun Bunko)
Scriptwriter: Miho Maruo; Character Designer: Atsushi Yamagata; Animation Director: Masahiro Sato; Art Director: Takashi Nakamura; Color Designer: Hiromi Imaizumi; Director of Photography: Koichi Yanai; Editor: Toshihiko Kojima; Sound Director: Akira Okuma; Music: Yuki Otani; Assistant Supervisors: Atsushi Yamagata, Tomohisa Shimoyama, Atsushi Uemura, Takayuki Urakami, Takuya Saito, Shigeto Tsuji; Key Animation: Shigeto Tsuji, Yuichiro Sueyoshi, Tomohisa Shimoyama, Takayuki Urakami, Takuya Saito, Atsushi Uemura, Norio Matsumoto, Hiroyuki Nishimura, Hiroyuki Ishihara, Tetsuya Kawa, Tetsuya Hasegawa, Akiko Yamaguchi, Nobutaka Ito, Hideo Hariganeya, Hiroshi Shimizu, Hiroyuki Yamashita, Ryotaro Makihara, Kohei Yanagida, Tetsuo Hirakawa, Masayuki Yoshida, Yuko Yazaki, Koichiro Ueda, Daizo Iwanaga, Masahiro Sato, Atsushi Yamagata・Second key animation: Kinuko Izumi, Kazuyuki Maeda, Mitsuaki Tobisawa・Assistant director: Minoru Yamaoka・Animation inspection: Hiromi Sakurazawa, Yukari Kaku, Yasuhiro Sekine・Animation: Jungle Gym, Studio Kuma, MUSES, Anihouse Sun
- Video inspection: Li [Fire + Hyun] Jeong, Oh Production, MarBean Animation
・Video inspection: Hee Hyeng Jun, Studio Pineapple, Triple A, Studio 4℃, Kyoko Fujino, Hiromiko Taguchi, Masako Terada, Yurika Tosaka, Aika Sakuramoto, Maiko Matsumura ・Finishing: Trace Studio M, Lightfoot ・Finishing management: Takahiro Miyake ・Cell inspection: Kyoko Shibata, Studio Robin, Rocket Vision, Studio Taj ・Background: Studio Uni, studio SEY, Atelier Roke 07, Studio Loft・True Art: Musashino Art University, Goto Kaori・Production Cooperation: Morphing Inc.・Book Design: Yamada Shinya・Character Concept Cooperation: Sato Takuya・Photography: Lightfoot・Photography Management: Kato Yuichi・CG Production: Sim Image・CG Producer: Shima Yoshinobu・CG Director: Sota Saori・CG Technical Director: Ando Emi・VFX Director: Hayashi Shigeki・Editing: Okayasu Promotion・Editing Assistant: Fujimoto Riko・Development: Tokyo Development Lab・HD Editing: Kanazawa Yoshiaki, Nomoto Kenichi, Yamamoto Yohei・Timing: Ide Yoshio・Film Recording: Masuda Etsushi・Lab Coordination: Toshida Asami・Lab Management: Inoue Junichi・Sound Production: AUDIO PLANNNING U
・Recording studio: APU MEGURO STUDIO
Mixer: Takaaki Uchiyama Assistant Mixer: Nobutaka Taguchi Sound Effects: Soundbox Effects: Shizuo Kurahashi Effects Assistants: Akiko Muto, Sachiko Nishi Music Production: IMAGINE
Recording Engineer: Toshiyuki Yoshida Music Producers: Yuji Saito, Masaru Dolby Film Consultants: Tsutomu Kawahigashi, Mikio Mori, Continental Far East Co., Ltd.
Digital Optical Sound Recording: Noboru Nishio Animation Production: Ascension Production Producer: Hitoshi Mogi Production Desk: Yoshishi Chonan Production Assistants: Kenta Takahashi, Takafumi Tsuchida, Kohei Ueda Production Administration: Mika Takenouchi Production: Sunrise

■ Main Characters

- Kobayashi Makoto A third-year junior high school student who was troubled by various things and committed suicide. However, the soul of the protagonist "I" borrows his body and comes back to life, surprising those around him. Before his suicide, Kobayashi Makoto was an introverted boy. He was not good at studying, but he belonged to the art club and was good at drawing.
Hiroka Kuwahara is a second-year junior high school student. She is the girl Makoto admires, and she talks to him casually, even though he doesn't have many friends. However, there are rumors that she engages in compensated dating.
A classmate of Makoto. She is a member of the art club. She has noticed that Makoto's behavior has changed recently, and has started following him around.
・A classmate of Saotome Makoto. Although he is not the type to stand out, he has a friendly personality and is affable to everyone.
・A high school senior who is the older brother of Mitsumasa Kobayashi. He has excellent grades, but he makes fun of his younger brother who is not very good at school. Because of this, the relationship between the brothers is not good, and now they hardly talk to each other.
Makoto's mother Makoto's mother was caring and anxious. She was a good mother, good at housework and cooking, but before Makoto's suicide, she was having an affair with her flamenco instructor.
- Makoto's father is an ordinary office worker whose only good point is that he is a "good person," but he has a weak presence in the family and is truly despised.
・Plapla An angel(?) who guides "me" on his second challenge in life. He looks like a boy, but he speaks and acts like an adult. Basically, normal humans cannot see him.

■ Theme songs and music

・IM1
・For Me to Be Me・Lyrics: Yutaka Ozaki・Music: Yutaka Ozaki・Arrangement: Akihisa Matzura
・Singer: miwa

・ED1
・Blue Sky ・Lyrics: Masatoshi Mashima ・Composition: Masatoshi Mashima ・Arrangement: Akihisa Matzura
・Singer: miwa

■ Review

"Colorful" is a moving film about the rebirth of the soul and a second chance at life. Director Keiichi Hara has brilliantly adapted the original novel by Eto Mori into a film that deeply touches audiences. The relationship between "I" and Kobayashi Makoto, which is at the center of the story, gives us an opportunity to reexamine ourselves. The surrounding characters also have their own problems, but they are also depicted as growing, which resonates with the audience.

Particularly impressive is the colorful world depicted through the paintings of Kobayashi Makoto, a member of the art club. Makoto's paintings reflect his inner thoughts, and the way the colors change as the story progresses leaves a strong impression on the audience. The presence of an angel (?) named Purapura also adds a fantasy element to the story while also conveying a deep message.

The cast is also excellent, especially Fuuto Tomizawa's performance as Makoto Kobayashi, who realistically portrays the transformation from an introverted boy into a young man. Aoi Miyazaki as Shoko Sano and Akina Minami as Hiroka Kuwahara also bring out the charm of their respective characters. As for the music, the beautiful melodies of Sachi Otani add excitement to the story, and the theme song sung by miwa is also memorable.

■Recommendation

"Colorful" is a film that makes you think about the meaning and value of life, and is highly recommended especially for young people and their parents. It will give you an opportunity to reexamine your own meaning of existence and your relationships with those around you. In addition, this film is filled with beautiful images and music, as well as deep messages, making it a film you will want to watch over and over again. Please be sure to watch it in the theater or on DVD.