Cocolors

Incredibly immersive, the entire enclosed spatial feel relies on a techno-dystopian overcast signified by the somber use of darkness. The dingy lighting is constantly shifting due to fluctuating lumen levels, contrasting the natural brightness of the outside world. This difference comprehensively develops a shaded underground civilization because artificial light is unreliably uneven, and diffusing the glow of bulbs or lanterns across a wide area inevitably weakens the candescent output. Director Toshihisa Yokoshima combines cel-shaded 3DCG with the subtle movements of 2D animation, exhibiting mastery of motion mechanics. It's widely known that CGI generally boasts a less believable series of incremental human-like gestures, not a deterrent ... here whatsoever. The animators have compensated for their inability to show expressions since everyone is wearing a weighty mobility suit protecting them from the aboveground dangers. Namely fiery ash ready to melt flesh, a post-apocalyptic survival narrowly avoiding extinction. Creative visual language such as creating outlines in the soot deposits on their helmets parallel emotions, allowing the audience to keenly search for other hints in the frame that substitute for dialogue disconnected from a face, which would dictate our impression had it been used.

Fuyu and Aki vow to travel outside and bask in the glory of creatures of times past, but unbeknownst to them, Earth is in ruins. Aki has the opportunity to discover another reality after a brief time skip when she joins a salvaging team hoping to describe the image of an actual sky to Fuyu. The thematic diversity ranges from optimism underscored by a sense of denial and the legitimate basis for their hesitation, evoking unease when the percussion tracks creep. Aesthetics supplement all of these atmospheres or moods, inky art complementing the grainy backgrounds. Rendering is phenomenal, with colored compositing for distinction, possibly representing specific symbolic imagery rooted in ambiguity, despite the film's final intentions. Cocolors emerges as a flexible metaphor for curiosity, your experience will always vary.

The art style was unique and was a change of pace for once, as well as complementary but not overstepping soundtrack. But don't let those qualities fool you.

The show has aproximately of 45 minutes of runtime, and gives a story to match. Which is to say almost non-existent. The entire premise of the movie is presented in a 60 second OP sort of thing which you HAVE to rewatch to get what is going on.

The art style and sound tracks are pretty good I think. There is use of 3D in this anime and I can see why. As there is little ficial expressions due ... to everyone wearing a helmet.

Characters as not really developed and looking at the run time I don't blame the creators. It's just their motivations and actions are not really explored, which could have really sold the ending sequence in my opinion.

With the aforementioned flaws as well as the grim story and little explanation of the situation, I would say it was as mediocre as it could get. The movie left me with a whole hosts of questions about the world as well as the fact that did not allow me to invest into our main duo of characters emotionally. I would say it wouldn't be mediocre if it was allowed to bloom with a longer runtime or even an acutal show.

TLDR; I liked the art and sound track a fair bit and it had an interesting premise which it explored for about 60 seconds in the opening sequence (wasted opportunity)

I decided to make this review since there are only 2 other reviews, both of which give this short movie an 8/10. There are fundamental flaws present in this work that I strongly consider bar it from such a rating.

These are that the story is dull and the animation is trash.

The story revolves around a mute, sickly boy, bullied by his peers and with only one friend. He is passionate about art in an apocalyptic grey world. You see the problem here? It's like I'm reading out of a checkbook of pity tropes. The main issue is that a fat half of the runtime is ... spent on telling you just this. As a result none of the characters have any depth, even for something of this length. The paper-thin story isn't surprising when you consider it was created by a studio best known for Poputepipikku and goddamn Ninja Batman.

The animation reminds me of Malice@Doll, primarily because both works intentionally structured their character designs to be easier for 3D animation. In Malice@Doll all the characters are lifeless, decrepit sex dolls, matching perfectly with the OVA's horror themes. In Cocolors all the characters are empty-faced cosmonauts, devoid of any emotions, matching perfectly with it's themes of...friendship and perserverance? Doesn't really work the same does it. It seems to me that Kamikaze Douga simply couldn't be bothered with character design, which by the way Malice@Doll does have and it alone is 10 times better than this mess. Did I mention Malice@Doll enough? Here's another fact about it, it was made in 2001. Cocolors is from 2017.

Tl;Dr it's japanese oscar bait don't bother