Colorful (Movie)

Being a fan of drama anime, especially ones that exemplify harsh realities of life in a real-world setting, I didn't think twice about giving this one a shot. Like Haibane Renmei (which I liked a lot) it deals with recollecting memories of one's past life and getting a shot at correcting the errors of the past. An unknown soul who commited a grave sin lined up, along with other souls in heaven, to receive his judgment inadvertently wins a lottery that gives him a second chance at life by doing an "internship" trial. A test that takes him back to earth and has to be ... able to remember the grave sin he committed and be able to enjoy and live life again through the body of someone who recently committed suicide, 14-year old Makoto Kobayashi.

Story: 10
The plot's idea of the afterlife and another chance at life is quite amazing. Although it's not so new, it provides a more understandable view of second chances and acceptance of real life circumstances no matter how difficult it is to cope with. The movie doesn't fail to capture reality through the view of a seemingly normal yet troubled family and the eyes of their youngest, melancholic, junior high school son who experiences disasters one after the other pushing himself to do the worst thing. Character development in the movie shows another positive, particularly with the protagonist who has zero knowledge and idea on Makoto's circumstances yet tries to cope with it all despite how unsettling it is to live another person's life and adjust to a new, albeit indifferent and sometimes distasteful, environment. And Makoto, who really fell on hard times, deciding to end it all, whose life the protagonist must pick up where he left off. Being a a film in the drama genre, this movie didn't fail my expectations of one that really digs deep and touches the heart.

Art/Animation: 9
The art for Colorful looked really great and fitting for an anime movie. The CG background was beautifully drawn and given much detail and the characters are drawn well fitting each character's personality. Both Saotome and Shouko were really depicted as goofy and/or eccentric, two people who really get along well with the similarly strange Makoto whose former self is isolated from other people. Makoto's father looks as simple as he is an ordinary low-rank salaryman and his brother who is academically strong but socially indifferent especially to Makoto, fits the four-eyes, tall and brooding character. Makoto's mother really shows the deep and emotional yet motherly figure and Kuwabara, Makoto's crush is really pretty and takes advantage of it. The images of the city landscape were also breathtaking and the places portrayed definitely shows a realistic imagery.

Music: 8
Of course, the best part I liked with regards to the music is the ED theme "Aozora" sung by miwa (who, by the way, has that really clear, beautiful and emotional singing voice). Beautiful song that perfectly fits the story which is about going through and living life no matter the diversity of life's "colors" may put you through. Although most of the movie plays with little or no ambient background music. I can say fitting music is put in the right places where the emotions are most intense.

Enjoyment: 10
Overall, the movie definitely lived up to my expectations of a beautiful drama. Emotions are spot on, at times even, Makoto's character might get on your nerves because of his attitude despite his family's efforts to show their love and support but hey, as they say, everyone is fighting their own battles. Also, even with the fantasy theme of reincarnation it didn't fail to portray reality, its harshness, and the beauty of living life despite the former. Definitely something you can't miss especially if you love drama like me.

I myself have been particularly fond of anime that venture towards conveying an important message rather than predominantly focusing simply on mere entertainment as its driving force. By doing so you not only deliver an intellectual ambiance to your viewers but an inventive one as well. For some this may appear too contemplative or be adding excess perplexity unnecessarily. Rather than enjoying this type of anime for mere amusement or pleasure, one should be prepared to learn a valuable lesson or two. By all means there is no urgent need for concern, since you will feel just as content and ecstatic with the conclusion ... as you indubitably would with any other distinguished anime.

Story: The story has a cleverly mixed assortment of themes that are prevalent throughout the story. You’ll find just as much optimism as you will pessimism, the outcome of events and development are erratic yet with a serene overtone theme.

Straight from the onset our main character is utterly bewildered, he is neither deceased nor living. Believing to be in Nirvana(hope I’m correct on my wording there) he soon arrives face to face with a bizarre outspoken individual he surmises to be an angel. The “angel” instructs him that his soul is to replace that of another temporarily. The state of his new body’s situational status must be amended if he has any hope of returning to his former self. In addition to this, he is informed that the severity of his current results till then are a direct representation of the sin the he himself had committed. So he must amend a person’s life utterly foreign to him while simultaneously delving deep within himself for his own personal reconciliation.

Along the way our protagonist will uncover several shocking revelations as he becomes desperate and resolute to succeed. Though this progress does not go without doubt and uncertainty in the process as he eventually loses confidence with his own capability at some stage. Even when he eventually becomes convinced that he’s now cognizant and in control of this seemingly futile enigma with all the answers to our protagonists abundant issues, he evidently couldn’t have been more mistaken.

Characters: As you steadily learn more about the characters you come to realize that they don’t consist of your typical archetypes. Colorful’s intriguing, exotic, and riveting set of characters are a perfect surreal personification of any commonplace individual in the real world today. We all have our own vile and appalling secrets that could dismantle our lives as we know it if uncovered, and our protagonists in Colorful are no different.

Why certain individuals make the choices or decisions that they do and very often take action upon them, whether deliberately or simply out of blind impulse is a prominent theme in Colorful’s primary cast of characters. As depicted with Koboyashi’s mother and his crush in school, they both committed sins but don’t know how to reconcile them since they either believe it’s justified or are still essential in their lives. Discerning a sin or scar from their past that still prevails or lingers within their minds and personality is already a dreadful experience, but for someone dear to them it’s likely more difficult. As Colorful portrays in a genuine and flawless manner, for a loved one attempting to resolve a situation such as mentioned above, it’s a near incomprehensible conundrum, since you’re aiming to discern another one’s perspective for the solution.

Though there are other characters that reflect and orient on the more optimistic side of Colorful, the endeavor of lasting friendship. Koboyashi had always been a deviant in society even before the soul swapping, and his school life was no different, he was ranked as the second worst of his class academically. The one student who performed worse than he did was Saotome, who was otherwise a very commendable and admirable individual. Eventually they form a bond of unyielding tight friendship and Saotome becomes the predominant for Koboyashis hope and aspiration to go on living.

Art: Simply the art itself it fabulous but is not the reason why it is truly groundbreaking, what is was the style in which it’s portrayed and utilized. The intent and driving force for the varying and noticeable differences in art styles throughout was undoubtedly meant to amplify and magnify the substantial changes in the characters personalities and situational revelations occurring that had lasting effects. It quite simply makes a fantastic epic drama film even more emotionally thrilling to experience.

Music: Though the music might have been more subtle than the art and visual execution was, this certainly doesn’t lessen its value or magnitude that it carried very well.

Overall Enjoyment: Colorful has easily surpassed my disproportionately high expectations, especially for its gallant and comprehensive realistic drama. I felt passionately connected to each and every major character, not despite of, but because of their individual deficiencies and fortitude. This is the essence of what profound and astute drama can become if you truly are striving for it.

Yet another glorious movie that left me thinking about life more seriously than I should be at my age. Words can't express how outstanding this story is.

The description would capture anyone with enough interest, I didn't care if I hated the story I wanted to know the answers to the synopsis - that's how much the storyline had me going. Luckily - there was 0 chance of me disliking this movie because it shed light on every doubt I never had.

MC is strong-minded and arrogant BUT this is not a problem! Don't get me wrong, we want MC to be this way - he ... takes the biggest learning curve anyone could take in a lifetime and pursues it in the most creative way possible.

The story is simple but within its simplistic nature is a complex core and by the end of the movie you will either be feeling super-duper happy and satisfied or super-duper happy and satisfied whilst crying lots.

There may be parts of this film that you question why? But honestly, if you look at it from less of a " This is an anime movie" point of view - it will make sense I guarantee it 100%

If there is only one thing I can press onto it would be the obnoxious and weird classmate of the MC - she can get on the nerves a little just for cramping the mood BUT that is just me trying to find something negative to play upon for the sake of this review.

Colorful is like a secret place of solitude that helps a person recuperate into humanity and society. It is like a living photograph of all the places you go, both inside yourself and in the world beyond, to meditate on what's important and who you are within the fragments of life. Sometimes being given a second chance and a different perspective is all it takes to see the world in a brand new light.

Story:
The story for this anime is engaging and moves along at a fine pace. Slowly we are introduce to the elements that made one persons life ... both rich and miserable and from there we learn what caused Makoto's decision to commit suicide.
What I found most intriguing was the method the anime took to unveiling these reasons and the little details shown to make the audience understand how important life's true connections are. Whether it's painting or being truly understood by someone, we all have something that changes our hearts and gives us a reason to go on. I felt this anime did a particularly good job at describing this to its audience.

Art:
Colorful is vivid and expressive anime, using painting as a medium for survival and contemplation. The still photography used in this anime tells a historical story of the nostalgia for a time that has past, and possibly never lived, but not forgotten. The skillful way it was incorporated is just another detail that made the anime enjoyable to watch and I found myself feeling that nostalgia along with the characters.

Sound:
The sounds were always appropriate to the particular feelings of a scene, and although there is nothing particularly catchy about any of them, what struck me the most was how much I felt that the seiyuu (voice actors) for this movie had a real talent for their characters. I've said often in this review how involved I was in the plot, and this was due mainly to the skill of the seiyuu, who I felt really embodied their characters, and the artists that created this world.

Characters:
The characters are really alive and left me feeling as though I got to know them better. Their personalities show through very well, given the same amounts of detail and you are left with parts of them long after the anime has finished. Each scene with them is beautifully construct to let the viewer in a little more into their lives and who they genuinely are.

Overall:
This anime was so engaging that I often could feel myself having great empathy for whatever a particular character was going through at any given time. I felt happy and introspective and sad and nostalgic right along with the characters and was carried away by their lives. I would definitely recommend this anime!

I have a certain fear of what happens to humans after death. Do we go into a vast oblivion of darkness or do we get a second chance at life and become reincarnated? Since I brood over such trivial matters often, the plot for Colorful really caught my eye and I figured watching it would help me reach an answer. Well, not only did the movie get me closer to a sufficient answer, but it changed certain views of life that I had as well.


Story: 9.8/10
The plot for Colorful was a simple yet broad subject. A second chance of life, how many of us would ... take that? Would it be a good or bad idea? I've seen and read other stories that try to play around this concept, but Colorful's is unique. The journey of a person's discovery of sin in another sinner's body became as interesting as I hoped. While the movie was rather slow and dragged out for the first half of the movie, it created a build up that led to an ending that left a lasting impression. Colorful also explores the lessons of family, priorities, and friendship, all of which tied together well with the main plot. The ending was extremely satisfying and for a while after the movie, it makes you reflect on your own life as well. Philosophical and heart warming, Colorful's plot teaches life lessons that I never thought a movie could.

Art: 9/10
Colorful had some pretty good quality as an anime movie. The animation for each movement was very fluid and each character was drawn clear, tiny details included. The character design was nothing too special (except PuraPura), but they were still drawn well and realistically enough for my liking. Backdrops ranging from train stations to forests and lakes were all beautifully done and lovely to look at.

Sound: 8/10
I gave sound an above average 8 because the soundtrack for Colorful just didn't really stick out to me that much. However, they did fit the story and setting well, so it was still good enough. The voice actor's for each character portrayed their given role and personalities well. No one felt too plain or forced.

Character: 9.4/10
When it comes to character, the one that I'll be focusing mainly on is Makoto. His personality was very interesting and wasn't that of a basic main character. His development throughout the movie was so endearing and I ended up rooting for him more than I thought. His growth was refreshing, eye opening, yet realistic enough to enjoy. The side characters, though not as important, were just as interesting as you get to know them more and more through the movie. Each person has their own secrets and little quirks and its hard to not to hate someone by the end of Colorful.

Overall: 9.7/10
Initially reading Colorful's plot, I had high expectations for the movie, and it was definitely filled. The overall impact and morals can be near life changing as it really turns your perspective on how you may live. Along with high quality animation and characters that could be your next door neighbor, Colorful is a fantastic movie and one that I won't forget.

Story:

The story of Colorful follows a person who finds himself trapped outside the normal endless circle of life and death. Thanks to winning a lottery in the angel world, the protagonist is brought back to inhabit the body of Makoto a 14-year-old boy, who tried to commit suicide.

The Story Shows Makoto's daily life, including family, school and character relationships. Slowly unveiling Makoto's life and his reasons for commiting suicide.

Art:

The art is bright and vibrant, but dims down to suit darker moments. The Still art is extreamly beautiful and mixes well with moving art. Showing a Nice contrast between the two.

... Sound:

The sound is strong and works really well with scenes within the movie. If its a high energetic, or a more slow dramtic scene. The sound supports it giving it an extreamly great viewing experience.

Character:

The characters feel real and 3 dimensional. You can really get connected with alot of them. None of the characters feel annoying or forced and they all have there own part to play.

Overall:

Overall, this movie is an amazing viewing experience. Sunrise did an amazing job with this. Im glad I took the time to watch it. If your looking for something with great drama and characters this is the movie to watch. I definitely recommend this to everyone

The film "Colorful" is quite a deep film. Yet it is filled with depression, if you want a happy film (for most of the way) that makes you feel good, this is not it. Although the ending is quite inspiring.

Sometimes it's the small things in life that cause the most influence.

The story of a middle schooler, Makoto Kobayashi who commit suicide after witnessing some - to him - emotionally crushing events.
Now a random soul in a room of souls, here to basically be banished from the ability to reincarnate, has won "The Lottery" to be reincarnated whether he wants to or not. He will inhabit ... the recently deceased Makoto, and in order to complete "The Trial" he must remember his sin, almost without any help.
His family and a few people along the way try to help him in his life.

This is a strange film. It is almost unbearably depressing, and even more so, because it very realistic.
But, it is a very deep film, with some amazing lines that are hard to miss. Although, I only noticed most of them around the last 30 minutes of the film.
This is most definitely a slice of life film in a realistic, drama filled setting. The type of drama in this picture is extremely passive aggressive, with unaddressed remorse and regret. Being someone who has experienced and been apart of this type of personality, it really hit home and made me feel more depressed while watching.
You can tell I do not like these types of films.

But that is just me, this film is beautiful work.

They took a realistic approach with the art, which made the story even more effective. The animation is mostly fluid, and facial expressions are well done.

The music in this film is your basic Kow Ohtani sound, except higher quality. You could say it's in league with the score of "Haibane Renmei" respectively. Other than a couple of pieces that annoyed me (I've listened to a lot of Kow Ohtani), It fit the production very well. Amazingly he managed to make the film feel even more depressing.
The seiyuu are mostly very well done. Sometimes Makoto sounds like a man doing a high pitch voice though (apparently that is what the Seiyuu is actually doing, go figure). Some scenes with yelling (Not many yelling scenes) could have used a bit more power in the diaphragm in my opinion.

Every character in this show is dysfunctional. Makoto's family is extremely dysfunctional, including Makoto.

PuraPura is an "Angel" who gave the "random" spirit, now in the body of Makoto, a "Second Chance".

Makoto Kobayashi is the character that you learn about in this film, so any development here would spoil the movie. I'll mention that he's confused in the beginning.

Makoto no Haha is Makoto's mother, she has some personal problems.
Makoto no Chichi is Makoto's dad, he has some personal problems.
Mitsuru Kobayashi is Makoto's brother, he also has some personal problems.
They are mostly not addressed, but you can tell on their faces and in the way they speak to each other.

Satome, Hiroka, and Shouko are the "Friends" that help Makoto remember his sin and basically live, all in a very dysfunctional way.

---

This film is a great film, it teaches the importance of being alive, that little things can be important, and you can learn some amazing things at the most unusual times, places, and events, unexpectedly, and even more. This is a very deep film.

I must warn you though, this is a depressing film, and doesn't do anything to change that, and some may not feel better by the end. Luckily, I did.

I do think this film deserves its awards, and praise, but It's not the type of film I would visit often, maybe never again.

Colorful is a profound and emotionally charged drama that tells a compelling story about redemption, self-discovery, and the complexities of human nature.

A masterpiece. This movie had such a profound impact on me that I'm struggling to put it into words. From the very first scene, I was hooked. The story was so cleverly crafted with a mix of themes that were both optimistic and pessimistic, yet had an overall serene overtone that made it all the more captivating. The film explores the theme of sin and redemption in a nuanced and thought-provoking way, and it forced me to confront my own moral and ethical beliefs.

As ... I watched Makoto navigate his new life, I couldn't help but feel invested in his journey filled with challenges and experiences all unique to him while struggling to search for his own being. The characters were so beautifully complex, with their own flaws and secrets that added such depth to the story. Watching them try to reconcile their past mistakes and grapple with their own personal demons was both heartbreaking and inspiring.

One of the standout aspects of this movie is its art and music. The art style was so unique and purposeful, amplifying the character development and story revelations in a way that made the emotional impact even stronger. Colorful is one of those films where the art not only matches the theme of the story but also accentuates the overall sensory impact that it will have on the viewers. The film's score is also exceptional, with its haunting and melancholic melodies perfectly capturing the film's somber and introspective mood.

Colorful is a remarkable film that is both artistically ambitious and thematically rich. It offers a powerful and emotionally resonant experience that is sure to leave a lasting impression on its viewers. It is one of those rare movies that has stayed with me long after the credits rolled. It made me reflect on my own life and the mistakes I've made, and inspired me to strive for personal growth and reconciliation.

Feeling emotional over an anime can differ between people. A type of anime can make a person cry or another laugh. For me, it's a bit hard to cry watching anime, since the characters are cartoons and not realistic. But this movie is actually the first anime I actually cried multiple times during it. How? Well, let's go on with the review then and find out.

The plot of Colorful gets a 10 because on how the story captures you completely emotionally, luring you in some twists and turns to the end, which is pretty surprising and gives you a fulfilled feeling.
The story starts with ... us watching a spirit leaving our world for the afterlife, shown as a bus station. We learn that the spirit was kicked off the cycle of reincarnation because of the sin it committed, but doesn't remember what it was. An angel then comes up to it in a form of a young boy, who tells it that it won a lottery and gets a chance to go back to earth to regain its memory back of its sin and life. With that, it wakes up in the body of Makoto, a 14-year-old boy who committed suicide. We then go through the life of the spirit inside of Makoto and learn about what led up to Makoto's death and learn what is the spirit's sin.

The Art of the movie can be only as described as beautifully made. It really captures the reality of the movie, while giving that supernatural feeling in the mix. You can tell the artists of this movie actually went to lengths to capture the real places of Japan for the movie, so I give it a 10.

The Sound was as expected, giving the mystical parts where it's suppose to be and giving the dramatic parts as well. Not a big music buff, not really my area. But it's good, so a 10.

The Characters are the main part of the story, besides the story. While some anime only give a part of the story with side characters, this was not like that. We know as many characters are we suppose to know and all of them get background, not much but enough to know about them and feel for them and are actually part of the main story and cast. Also the good thing about the characters is the development of all of them, not just Makoto. You really connect with him, including the side characters.
We learn about how Makoto's death was led up, which can pull your heartstrings a bit for all who been bullied. But let me just say, it was the worst day someone can have that led to his death. There is that moment where we learn that you actually say, "THAT'S FUCKED UP! It's like telling the kid, "Fuck you." You know when you start yelling at the screen that you are really connecting with the story and characters. Which is why this part also gets a 10, for well rounded characters and making us really connect with the main cast and the side characters.

So did I enjoy this as a person? I should say yes. Like, I said in the beginning of this review, I never cry for an anime. For this anime, it's a first. I felt really connected with the characters, especially Makoto that at some points of the movie, I cried.
But one thing that made me like this movie is it also gives you a lesson at the end, that you can change your life right now if you want to, not in the way of the story went but if you change your perspective a bit, think a bit more positive, your future and life can turn brighter. So for my overall score I give it a 10. For good story telling, art and character development. So if you want a good drama with some supernatural in the mix, you should watch it!

Ratings:

Story: 10
Art: 10
Sound: 10
Character: 10
Enjoyment: 10

Overall: 10

Story (10)
The story is full of lessons and real life problems. The anime is full of emotion and tragedy. Their are parts where you can laugh but mostly full of tragic events.

Art (10)
The anime is all colorful and full of bright colors in the cover of the movie.

Sound (10)
I have no problem with the dub or sub voices or the music.

Character (10)
... I completely love all the characters, especially the main character. They're personality and point of views change-for the better.

Enjoyment (10)
I enjoyed the anime a lot. I didn't have any problems with it. Its a shame it's just a movie and not a full out anime. Always enjoy to re-watch it though.

Overall (10)
Overall its perfect. I would recommend this to anyone who is going threw suicidal thoughts-This anime taught me a valuable lesson.

Colorful is a wonderful movie, must-watch anime

Colorful abords importance of life and life's little pleasures, from the view of a lonely stray boy.

Makoto, the protagonist, must learn to appreciate life despite the sadness who surround him, he may reembrace the life for 6 months. Despite the simple plot, the movie stages this very well.
The movie is meaningful and touching, I love the way the protagonist faces all the obstacles, I also love the secondary characters, they're realistic and represents to each one a way of seeing things.

To conclude, you should watch this touching movie, the only negative point I found is that the ... movie is badly paced, despite that, It's a beautiful movie whoch can you learn a lot of life lesson

(NB : Shouko Sano does not deserve anything that happened to her, she so precious)

If you haven't seen this yet, I suggest you do. It's a pretty deep thoughtful anime and it's one that probably anyone who has family problems (probably everyone) can relate to.

Story: One thing this OVA has going for it is it's story. I catches from the opening and pretty much never lets go. The drama keeps piling on until the climax and keeps thinking about how it will end. I was very satisfied with the ending.

Art: Very good, there's nothing more to say than that. It has a more realistic approach on the way people look, so it feels a lot more "adult" like ... (no not the XXX version). No big eyes and prominent fangs sticking out in this one. Motion was good, facial expression very nicely done.

Sound: I didn't really pay much attention to be honest, but it did suit the mood well for the situation that occurs on screen, nothing much more to say than that. Voice actors did an excellent job in my honest opinion of conveying the feelings of the particular situations.

Characters: I really liked this the most out of the anime. To the minor characters to the bigger ones, they all seemed very interesting and you wanted to know more about them. Of course the main character had most of the time, but by the end of the movie you get a sense of satisfaction from all the characters.

Enjoyment/Overall: I give it a 10. I think the movie was great at the most important parts the story and characters. While the art and sounds (music) might not appeal to all, it's story will captivate you and the characters will keep you interested. I definitely recommend this one to anyone who likes a good story and great characters.

Colorful - a wonderful movie that keeps your emotions running. This movie follows the story about a soul that has won a lottery, allowing him to return to the normal world to find out the sin that he committed.

Although the movie starts off slow, you will surely love it when it ends. This movie teaches the audience how important life is and why we should cherish everyday as though it is our last.

The art in this movie was done very well. The use of still photo pictures was brilliant to show how life was back in the days. The characters were drawn consistently throughout the ... movie.

The sound and background music that were used were synced to the scene in the movie. The one thing about the sound that I did not go crazy about was the voice actor for Kobayashi Makoto. As readers of this review, you may have different opinions of it but to me, there was not enough emotion into what he was saying. The emotion of the voice was not consistent throughout the movie, other than that, I had no problems with the movie.

The characters of the movie were well-developed. Each supporting character had about the same amount of screen time. The personalities of each and every character were brought up.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie a lot. The producers of the movie did a splendid job in creating this movie. I'm glad I took the time to view this.

Colorful was a very interesting movie. The plot was highly original but it was transparent to see where it was gonna end up. This doesn't take away from the over all experience that is this movie tho.

The art for colorful is a pretty detailed and kinda bland looking but that's cause its supposed to be realistic. It is also that way so we can kinda immerse ourselves in the character more emotionally. I dont feel like the art was outstanding or a masterpiece but its realism is perfect for the atmosphere and subject matter.

The sounds of this movie are alright, i don't really have much ... of a opinion of it. i think it did really well of accenting the atmosphere so much i hardly noticed it, in and of itself. Which is not a bad thing, it means it became part of a greater experience which is a lot better than had i just sat there admiring the music over the rest of the scene. With a movie like this your trying to create a very emotional experience that needs a certain amount of immersion that the music needs to help convey.

The characters were very deep in emotion. The characters kinda come off as boring people but that's the way there meant to be. They all give off this kinda hopeless and dark feeling. I like how every character has there own relationship built with the main character that gets explored and developed upon threw the whole movie and nobody really feels like there just there for the sake of being there.

I enjoy this movie cause it makes me feel, it makes me think and it just gives me a atmosphere i can become part of. Everything in this movie just creates such relatable and immersible emotional scenes, i just couldn't appreciate the that enough. I do wish there had been more of a mystery to how it would end but i can say i'm satisfied with this movie and glad i sat down to watch it. I think if you ever have feelings of powerlessness or just a general depression you can relate to this movie on a personal level that will give you a really good feeling in the end.

I have to say that this is usually my favorite type of anime and I went into this really wanting to love it. I really did.

The side characters in this are amazing, particularly the characterization of the main character's parents. They were beautifully complex and human. The main character, on the other hand, I just didn't find interesting at all. He's a jerk. He changes slightly at the end, but doesn't resolve things with all the characters. The main character he treated like shit the whole movie, his poor mother, he never resolved things with. I was left feeling very unsatisfied because I was ... expecting him forgiving his mother to be the most emotional reunion. This never happens. In fact, the only characters he resolves things with are his friends, the girl he had a crush on, the weird girl, and his guy friend. It never shows him getting along with anyone in his family at all. It's not resolved. The closest it comes to it is when he cries at the dinner table because he doesn't want to leave his only friend. That's it.

Let me get this straight, I'm not good at writing reviews so I apologize in advance if it's not good.
Anyways, Colorful is a really meaningful movie to me but if you're someone that's not patient don't watch it. There aren't a lot of talking and at the beginning you'll be like what's happening? Wed. Thurs. Fri.!! (If you understands what that mean. If you don't just look at the first letter of each word). It's really confusing until the end of the movie and tbh it did get on my nerves cause I had no clue what it's talking about until the last ... part. I'm not gonna spoil anything to you so to briefly explain this an anonymous guy ghost was given another chance to live and he was living in another guys body who apparently committed suicide but failed(sucker!!!, no offence) and stuff happens. The thing that made me like it was this quote,"people are hurting each other because the world is too colorful to distinguish the true color of themselves from others." There's just something so special about it that made me............... forget it I have no idea what I'm talking about. XD

This worthwhile movie explores the importance of valuing ones life despite the hardships one would frequently confront in it. This theme is explored through a lost soul who occupies the body of a teenage boy who took his life through suicide and must figure out the sin that led him to his death as he experiences the boy's life. Colorful delivers enough depth at exploring the life of Makoto and the relationships he had with his family and classmates prior to his death. The movie isn't afraid at pulling its punches with exploring both the good and bad sides of living as we come to ... see Makoto being an outcast at his school and having some serious problems within his family, as well as the soul within him coming to value the bonds he comes to establish with those that care for Makoto despite the shortcomings he had prior. Some have commented on Makoto coming across as unlikeable at points during scenes where he lashed out at others and distanced himself from school and family. Yet considering how miserable his life was before his suicide attempt, his anger towards life in general seemed justified given what he discovers about those close to him. Yet his character does gradually get better when he comes to find a few classmates that care for him and coming to learn that his family still cares for him despite the problems they had prior.

The only element to the movie I found lacking was focus on Purapura's character as he only appears frequently during most moments when Makoto was venting at his family and classmates with the spirit reprimanding him for his actions, as well as not being able to learn very much about his character. Compared to what I seen with Makoto establishing bonds with his family and classmates, I couldn't find myself buying Makoto's connection to Purapura due to this minimal focus.

In terms of presentation, Colorful makes use of subdued color tones in depicting its down-to-earth and realistic look into Makoto's problems. Scenery is highly detailed featuring vast shots of city and forest landscapes. While character designs and animation aren't too impressive quality-wise, characters are drawn in realistic detail and move about at a fluid pace, as well as while in vehicles. The animation highlight for me in the movie was the beginning featuring a first person perspective of the lost soul being in line in the afterlife with its abstract style and lifeless look at lost souls prepared to exit the cycle of reincarnation. The movie's soundtrack is just as subdued in tone featuring piano, stringed and low-key brass music played in both dramatic and joyful moments, which fits perfectly with Colorful's varying moods of tense and happier moments.

Overall, Colorful made quite the impression on me thanks to its meaningful message on valuing life and not being afraid at tackling some shaky social issues that effected Makoto such as bullying, marital affair and compensated dating. Those looking for a worthwhile down-to-earth drama should be willing to give this movie a shot.

I went into Colorful not knowing what to expect. I hadn't watched any previews beforehand, or read any synopsis. The only thing I knew about the film was the front cover, with a boy laying in flowers. Well, the movie that I watched ended up being more interesting than that, but I still feel it has some flaws. Let's discuss.

Story - 6/10 (Concept - 10/10; Setting - 7/10; Structure - 5/10; Pacing - 5/10; Theme - 9/10)

The story has a really interesting setup. A person is revived from what appears to be "purgatory" at the beginning of the film. He then has to fill ... the shoes of a middle-school student who recently committed suicide, all while trying to prove that he's worthy of living in this kid's shoes after what happened to him.
Things start off well, with the plot being rolled out at a good pace, but after the beginning moments of the film, things start to slow down quite a bit, all the way up to the ending. Each scene feels like it overstays it's welcome just a little bit, making the whole middle of the film feel quite slowly-paced.
This isn't helped by the poor structure of the film, where things seem to happen without any cause or reason. Throughout the film, there isn't really an arc to the story. There's no consistent buildup to the climax, it's more like a bunch of peaks & valleys between dramatic moments and casual moments, with a bunch of different story threads intersecting one another, and no clear, concise plotline.
The film ends up redeeming itself by the end by tying all of those various plotlines up into a neat little package, with a good theme as the bow on top. However, despite the film having some interesting moments, getting to the end of it felt like a bit of a chore.

Characters - 8/10

Helping to alleviate some of that slow pacing and messy through-line of the story are the interesting cast of characters. Both the main and supporting cast consists of a bunch of enjoyable characters who are fun to watch on screen, while also having unique and diverse personality traits. There are a few characters who end up having a conflict, and while this is interesting, it also doesn't actually seem to develop them all that much. I thought the characters worked well for the duration of the story, but in the long run aren't very memorable. Still, they work for the moments that they're shown in, and I'd say they're the films second strongest point.

Art - 9/10 (Artstyle - 9/10; Animation - 9/10)

The film's strongest point would be the art. The backgrounds are detailed and gorgeous, and look very realistic. The characters are designed with a lot of realism, but they all still have defining characteristics that make them stand out and easy to tell apart. However, I think the artstyle, while good, isn't my favorite. It works well for the subject matter, but it's lacking a bit of... warmth, I suppose.
The animation is also really well done, with nicely done, subtle, realistic movement throughout. Characters emote nicely, with various expressions that help to make each scene just a bit more captivating. However, while everything was very solid and clearly done by masterful animators, there weren't any jaw-dropping moments with the animation, it was all very consistent, without any one scene or shot standing out, which I suppose may have been a conscious choice by the director.

Sound - 8/10 (Soundtrack - 9/10; Voice Acting - 8/10)

The soundtrack in the film was fantastic! The songs used in different scenes conveyed the tone of the scene perfectly, while also avoiding sounding like a score and instead sounding more like actual music, which made the soundtrack a lot more noticeable. However, it wasn't noticeable enough to distract me from the dialogue in a scene.
That dialogue was spoken by a cast of voice actors that definitely breathed some life into the characters, but perhaps not as much as one would hope. I watched the original Japanese dub, and while the important scenes all had really great performances, I felt like there were some moments in-between where the performances fell a little bit flat. Not flat enough to be jarring, but just enough to make those scenes somewhat more boring than the other ones. Some of the lines also sounded like they were recorded with a fan on in the background... and it's very noticeable in quiet scenes where the only thing being heard is a character's voice and they keep muting the dialogue track in-between each spoken line. That was somewhat distracting, but not too big of an issue.

Enjoyment - 7/10

Overall, Colorful is an interesting film with interesting characters and an interesting story. However, it has a few major flaws that keep it from being perfect. The inconsistent structure of the plotline, and the somewhat slow pacing of many of the scenes are both flaws that seem to bring the rest of the elements of the film down a notch. It's enjoyable, and worth checking out, but I probably wouldn't watch it again.

Overall - 8/10

So this actually confused me as I had watched an anime of this name before and was rather off put by it. For those that didn’t read my review of Colorful (The anime), let me give you a word that described it… Perverted. The whole anime was about guys trying to see women’s bodies and just being complete creeps about it. The artwork was not that great and just made the characters look even creepier with the jagged lines and sort of spots of color. As with that, I thought that the movie was going to be the exact same way. Boy was I wrong; ... in fact this show was absolutely nothing like that anime and is only connected to it by name alone.

Let me set the stage just as the movie started us out with. We start out in the first person perspective of a person walking though a rather hazy looking transit room. It’s gloomy and almost has this strange grunge about the people and walls but there really isn’t anything that stands out. There is nothing to show where we are, who we are, or even why we are in a place like that. There is a strange gray boy standing in front of us and he tells us that we had won a chance to atone for our past discretions. It turns out we are in the land of the dead and if we do not atone for the things we did in our past, we will not be able to be reborn again into the land of the living. We are then forced by this little boy to possess a young boy named Makoto Kobayashi, a young boy who had committed suicide by overdosing on some pills. And here is where we are given a chance to fix things. Once our main character takes over Makoto’s life, we are finally given a third person perspective on all the things he does.

Now, given the way this story started out, you would think they would head more into the supernatural mystery side of the genre, wouldn’t you? Well, strangely enough, you would be wrong in that aspect. What we get is more of a modern day slice of life of a middle school boy who is just trying to get by. The only supernatural thing around him would be the strange ‘angel’ or the gray little boy who goes by the name of Purapura. Purapura tended to be more of an informational character to help us learn more about Makoto’s back story and sometimes ended up being sort of a conscience for the Makoto we follow. The most interesting part about all this is that our main character that was given no name before he was put into Makoto’s body actually seems like he is right at home after a while.

The amazing thing about this show is that it seems to dive into the psychology of a young boy having to go through a lot of tough times. We are given information from Purapura about the problems that Makoto had to go through. Things I would be very surprised a child could deal with on their own. He was bulled, had his crush seen going into a shady hotel with an older man, saw his mother having an affair, had a father who rarely was at home, an older brother who barely spoke to him, and just overall was alone with no friends. Looking at the psychological aspect of his life, it was no wonder he chose a way out. And in this, I guess it might be time to bring out a rather sad story of my own.

You see, I was a lot like this main character growing up. I had problems keeping friends, fought with my mother many times, had a younger brother who seemed to always belittle me as I am very bad when it comes to computers, and my father was always busy with work so I sometimes would rarely see him. I wasn’t exceptionally good at school although I wasn’t the worst one in the class and was always so sensitive about stuff that probably shouldn’t have bothered me. I started to cut myself to feel something different then the pain I felt inside, and even almost killed myself as well. I just felt alone for so long and couldn’t understand why. About a year ago, I was diagnosed with BPD, Borderline Personality Disorder, which helped to explain some of the reasons why I felt so out of touch with the world, but this was when I was 25 years old. For those 25 years before, I had no idea what was wrong with me. I think that because of my experience, I feel a bit more connected to the main character, or at least Makoto himself. In fact, there is a line in this show that might be considered a little bit of a spoiler, but its one that jumped out at me that became very dear to my heart. Our main character says this, ‘…People are not just monochromatic; they all have so many colors to them. It’s fine to have many beautiful colors… for a long time, I didn’t know my true colors and was at a loss.’ For someone with BPD, this stands out a lot as my different personalities feel like those different colors and it was hard for me to believe that it was normal to have them.

The artwork is really simple and mostly on the subtle side. We don’t get splashes of bright colors or the normal anime tropes of huge eyes, girls in small skirts, and even strange colored hair. In that way, I consider it more real life then most anime even if the design of the characters is bland. None of the characters really stand out though and sometimes get lost within the background including our main character. This would probably be a bad thing if the story didn’t seem to make more sense as to why he was lost within the world he seemed to be in himself. Even with this, there is a fine line between the world of the dead and the living as the world of the dead looked even more run down and depressing then the world of the living. The world of the dead looked hazy, with sort of this murky brown while the world of the living did have some sharper looking lines and was a bit cleaner to see.

The dubbed voices are… alright I guess. Again, they don’t stand out just as the characters don’t really stand out that much. I think that the lip sink is fairly good at some parts of the show while in other parts they seemed to lose it. I blame the fact that when the character is overly distort, their mouth tends to move much more freely and seem to express their words fuller. The words they are saying in the movie are actually from the Japanese sound track I believe so it can tend to lose it when it was transferred over to the dub. Still, with all those problems, the dubbed voice actors did a really good job putting Emotion into their characters. I was extremely surprised when I found out that Greg Ayres did the voice of Makoto because he was able to get the right soft of tone for a boy who had not hit puberty yet was not annoying when he got so emotional.

So this show might be a bit boring for those who love fast passed stuff or those that are really into the supernatural aspect, but I still think this is a show that many people should watch at least once. The show has a really beautiful story to it and a very deep meaning that really needs to be explored. In this way, you might actually be able to see why everyone is so colorful and except who you are.

I was a bit skeptical when I was deciding whether to watch this anime or not as the art wasnt brilliant at first look and it was 2 hours long, but after reading the two top convincing reviews I decided to give this anime a shot. And honestly, this was the best decision I've ever made.

The way they explored the concept of afterlife and the philosophy of "rebirth" which was very lightheartedly introduced but at the same time the depth of what they were saying was simply mind blowing and astonishing. It really shows you from perspective how simple things can affect someone and ... how many people change because they realise their true feelings.

Our protagonist, the unknown amnesiac spirit lives through the daily life of makoto and he's given a time period where he has to realise his "sin" and in this movie we see how this spirit--- in the body of kobanyashi makoto--- sees the several variety of emotions and how he deals with them.

STORY - 10
The plot was very well written, in my opinion (and several others) because I personally was in a similar situation a few weeks ago. It really shows you the life of this teenager and for many young teenagers, they'd be able to feel and see the consequences they end up in.
The animators really did drill the message that was intended and to me this was simply breathtakingly peaceful.

ART - 8
The art deserves a special mention since it wasnt the usual "moe"/"quality" effect, but it felt very adequate to the plot and you get over this hurdle pretty much in the first 1/2 minutes of the movie. I loved the art personally as it was aesthetically pleasing.

SOUND - 8
I suppose I could say that the sound just went through me because I was too busy paying attention to the plot--- though the anime ending [Aozora by miwa] was so refreshing.

CHARACTER - 9
Again, the characters were very well justified and I think they did justice to the plot and how we could easily understand each character in a short period of time is also worth mentioning here. Quite realistic as I've myself seen people with characteristics in real life,myself included.

ENJOYMENT - 10
It gives off the melancholic ambience and the sort of just self reflecting moments inbetween the movie .

OVERALL - 10
Fantastic!