'The Colors Within' Anime Film Review

Director Naoko Yamada has proven herself in the niche of low-key, slice-of-life animation, with decades of experience in the industry and a reputation as both an international sensation. A silent voice Also many entries Sound Euphonium suffrage His works are known for his ability to take simple premises and draw from them emotional explorations of youth and friendship. With his new film Colors insideYamada channels those emotional depths through the visual and palette sensibilities of one of anime's most visually bold studios, Science Saru, whose 2021 series The Heike story She previously worked as a director. The result is a captivating display of music and color, a refreshing celebration of friendship and self-acceptance that is perhaps Yamada's most poetic project to date.

A world of color

The film is built around the experiences of Totsuko, a self-aware Japanese high-schooler who can see the emotional “colors” radiated by others. When Totsuko finds herself inexplicably drawn to the rich blue color of Kimi, a girl who drops out of her private Japanese Catholic school to work in a used bookstore and hide her condition from her grandmother. When Totsuko is also attracted to Rui's cool green color, a boy preparing to leave his insular village to study medicine at college, the three decide to semi-secretly form a band that meets in an abandoned church on Rui's island. Totsuko, reassured by her bandmates as well as the school nun's gentle affirmation, begins to grow in her emotional expression and in turn prompts Kimi and Rui to have honest conversations with their own family lives. The group gets a great opportunity to perform, a chance that finally allows Totsuko to finally see her own colors.

The plotline of Colors inside is relatively light, and it savors its atmospheric appeal in any need for narrative urgency. An obvious thematic follow-up A silent voiceWho is the deaf hero Colors insideTreatment of a hero with visual synesthesia. Elsewhere, the film, through the visual and auditory motifs of the metronome clacking of the ball cradle and the colorful pegs of the Sternhalma game, indirectly convey themes of how Totsuko treats and reacts to those around her. It also has a quiet but clear theme of spirituality; Totsuko is a Christian girl who falls outside the wider net of the film's Catholic school setting, but this is only one part of her character that isn't presented as particularly unique or unusual. Her “secret band” is hardly taboo for her own beliefs or the structure around her, but that doesn't mean she doesn't sneak some mischief over the nuns along the way.

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Sights and sounds

Although the film is tied to everyday realism, the visual framing of Totsuko's emotions through vivid colors and interiors moves the film's tone closer to the light-hearted wheelhouse of other anime writers such as Makoto Shinkai or Keiichi Hara. Yamada's other works. “Bright” is a good way to describe the film's visuals – the abstraction of Totsuko's “colors within” is constantly presented to her mind, then realized in many amusing ways, such as window panes or paper banners fluttering on the beach. the wind Deliberate art choices make it so that even an astronomy lesson taught in a dark classroom is somehow imbued with a sense of lightness, where the imaginative thoughtfulness of the characters and the physical world they inhabit blend stylishly together.

Considering the importance of the bands, voices and music of the characters Colors inside Naturally important. Composer Kensuke Ushio is a veteran of both Saru's previous projects.Devilman Crybaby, The Heike story, Dan Dr Dan) and Yamada (A silent voice, Liz and the Blue Bird), and the resulting approach Colors inside A simple atmospheric listening mix that turns into the light rock of the concert finale. While various other anime films with musical themes prioritize the determination and drive of their protagonists (2023's blue giantof 2024 Trapezium As an obvious example, Colors inside Frames music as a simple act of self-expression, which it needs to be. In this way, Yamada and Ushio “make” the characters' own music, eventually reaching a point where the final performances feel as surprising to the film's audience as they do to the in-film crowd they play to first.

Everyday beauty

While the movie leans heavily on its atmosphere and vibes, the more introspective tone feels somewhat light, especially with the characters of Totsuko's friends Rui and Kimi. The film moves very quickly on them overcoming their own internal reservations about each other, and all of their feelings are resolved through self-assurance rather than solid plot growth, and one or two additional scenes focus on Totsuko's own internal mind rather than filtering it. All of which would have made the character dynamic feel more relevant. That said, for a film that aims to bring out the natural beauty of the everyday, Colors inside Excellent at capturing a snapshot of time and portraying its simple harmony.

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