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Colorful begins cooler than possibly any anime I have ever seen. A young boy, who is an angel speaks to you, yes, you, the viewer. You, or I, when I watched it, have died and either of us must be placed into another body as a test and show our worth to get a second chance at life. The film is engrossed in gorgeous colors. The flowers on the trees pop and are just as memorable and the unique introduction to the film. The viewer is placed into the body of a young boy who has tried to commit suicide, but this confuses the occupying soul because the life seems wonderful and ideal with no obvious problems, but the suicide hints at an underlying problem. Since the viewer is given a body, the film doesn't take place through our eyes anymore and shifts to a third person where we observe rather than live the character first hand throughout the entire film. Being 100% interactive seems like it would be impossible to accomplish in film anyway... otherwise, it would be a first person video game. We need a plot. The boy that the soul is placed into is named Makoto, and the soul begins to discover himself through Makoto's body and at Makoto's expense, as there are no real consequences for the dead soul and only for the body he occupies. He has a set time though that he must prove himself or else both the boy dies and the soul gets no second chance at life. Nobody understands Makoto, and Makoto, as he exists in this current states sees this, but he is unempathetic to others that are misunderstood, like the "dorky girl" that tries to speak to him, with big dorky glasses. He doesn't know her life and what hardships she's faced, but he seems to be totally self involved and pushes her off, despite her approaching him. The occupant begins to take advantage and changes his appearance and people begin to appreciate him, especially the "cool kids" and "hot girl." With this, he becomes superficial and gets caught up in trivial matters. He likes the "hot girl" based mostly on her looks, as the attention she has shown him thus far been incredibly shallow. He likes her, but she is terrible. She prostitutes herself for money, though nothing states that she must. In fact, she says it's because she wants this nice things that come from it. She isn't faced into it by any pimp or by poverty. Later, he counsels her through her wishing to die, and explains that everybody feels that way at some point or another, as by this point, he does understand, because he sees that Makoto's life was indeed, not so colorful and joyous. His mother cheated on his father, and the occupying soul treats her horribly. He fixes this when, on a fishing trip with his father, his father, without exposing that he knows of the affair, reveals that he has been at fault in somewhat abandoning the family and the mother, working far too often and too long. All of this instills a since of deeper understanding within Makoto, humbling him. He understands that everybody has some self-torment. The girl is very submissive into believing him after he tells her "everybody does that!" with a smile, letting her know that everybody can often feel so gleeful and gay one day, and other just wish nothing more than death. The scene is sort of genetic that she is so much like "okay, you're right, I won't argue with what you say. I'm fine" (this isn't exactly how it goes.) It is undramatic and lame. There has been an unfinished canvas that the original Makoto started throughout the whole film that the occupying soul has not touched, but he suddenly does once this depression and conflict sits in. He has had no reason to touch it, but now, he gets a compulsive spark to seek and create art, as it is therapy. The film comes full circle and it is revealed that the occupying soul was indeed the boy the entire time, and he had to be ignorant to this to make things right. Through his lack of knowledge, he has made a friend, which he never had before, has become more understanding of his parents and siblings, and he is more confident in his future. He decides which school he wants to attend and is respectful of his peers and empathetic.
The movie, if only visually, is worth the watch. Each body of water looks exceptionally realistic and gorgeous. The backdrops are all beautiful and colorful. Maybe the film is called colorful because the boy turns a grey life into one of color, or maybe the film is called colorful because the colors are something to marvel at, and can even distract from the characters themselves and plot. You may need to rewind a bit and pause for ravishing stills.
