From Naoko Yamada, director of the successful anime film A Silent Voice, comes a new coming of age story. Totsuko (Sayu Suzukawa) is a student at a Christian boarding school in the Japanese suburbs, she has the ability to see the colours within people souls which shows the content of their character. During a PE class she's literally swept off her feet by the colours of her fellow student, Kimi (Akari Takaishi).While pursuing a relationship with Kimi, Totsuko also meets Rui (Taisei Kido) a young man who has his own insecurities. Through their shared love of music and creativity they form a band along with a bond for life.
What becomes quite apparent early on in The Colors Within is how irrelevant the title really is to the plot, at least in a literal sense. The metaphorical colours of the world are somewhat explored but Totsuko's actual ability to see people's colours doesn't have much effect on the beat for beat structure of the film's narrative, aside from one or two dialogue scenes. The plot of the film would have you believe that it's a defining trait of her character and Totsuko goes through life judging people on their soul's colour and then learns that people are more than their colour. This could have been an interesting take and maybe a good way of teaching these morals to children, but instead we simply have a very Japanese style coming of age story.
If you're looking for an extremely feel good film about school girls overcoming their religious guilt and accepting their true selves then you're in for a treat. As you may be able to tell, there are somewhat LGBTQ+ undertones to the story which make it all the more heart-warming, but like last year's excellent Look Back (which tackles similar themes in a much more depressing manner), these undertones are very much that and are left to your own interpretation. Which is ok, as the power of friendship is definitely what makes this film as feel good as it is.
Given the title, you'd expect the animation and art on display to be mind blowing. Unfortunately though, it's not quite as beautiful as the images the name evokes. It's not terrible by any stretch and the hand drawn style is always welcome over the almost seemingly AI generated animation styles of the likes of Illumination, but aside from some flair every other scene or so, it's not much different to most anime films. Where The Colors Within does shine though is its music, the non-diegetic score itself is lovely but the true magic comes from the original music composed by the band formed by the main characters. Their music is so electric and uplifting and luckily, without spoiling too much, the finale of the film comprises of what is essentially a concert of their music with no cuts to any form of dialogue. It's an absolute treat and the perfect climax to what is the very definition of a feel good film.
While the titular colours within don't really have much of an effect on the actual story or the way the film is made, The Colors Within is nonetheless a sonically soul warming feel good film in the most Japanese way possible. Through the power of friendship and song you're taken through an eclectic life journey with some excellent music to listen to afterwards to boot.
The Colors Within is released in UK cinemas on January 31st