Movie: Colorful

Colorful

“Upon reaching the train station to death, a dejected soul is informed that he is ‘lucky’ and will have another chance at life. He is placed in the body of a 14-year-old boy named Makoto Kobayashi, who has just committed suicide. Watched over by a neutral spirit named Purapura, the soul must figure out what his greatest sin and mistake in his former life was before his time limit in Makoto’s body runs out. He also has a number of other lesser duties he must complete, such as understanding what led Makoto to commit suicide in the first place and learning how to enjoy his second chance at life.” – ANN

Mimi: I have been waiting to see Colorful since last year, and it does not disappoint! It is truly an impressive, heavy yet touching movie in regards to the theme and background art (which look like paintings).

The story begins with three mysteries that immediately captured my interest—what is the sin that this soul committed, what kind of boy was Makoto, and who exactly is Purapura? Particularly the second mystery kept me wondering as the revived Makoto seemed to be like a completely different person to his parents and classmates. It becomes entertaining to see him try to live this boy’s life without knowing his personality or family members. Purapura, such a cute and feisty spirit, guides Makoto by providing some background information on his family and showing him the way to school, but other than that, he is pretty much left alone to make his own choices and figure things out. If he should fail to appreciate this life and not remember his sin before the time limit, Makoto will really die, and he will not be reincarnated either.

Colorful is a fascinating character study and well-crafted drama. Makoto’s family suffers from awkward, poor communication, as his father often works overtime, his mother has an affair, and his older brother only cares about his academic work. Other heavy issues include Makoto getting bullied, having a friend who is involved in prostitution, and obviously suicide. Overall, the characters look fairly realistic, and much effort went into animating their body movements in great detail. I’m not sure that they top the look & feel of the characters in Takahata’s slice-of-life film, Only Yesterday (1991), but they’re still very impressive here.

This 2-hour long, slow-paced film won’t be for everyone, but I personally found it to be a great pleasure to watch and hope that you guys enjoy it too!

Mimi’s Score: 9 Meeps out of 10 (Great)