The Colors Within

The friendship depicted in Yamada Naoko's works always shines with purity and beauty. With its fresh and healing visual style, expressive cinematography, and spiritually resonant premise, Your Colors locks in its position as an extraordinarily unique creation that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with her previous masterpieces. The three songs performed by the "Shironekodo" band during the film's climax poignantly correspond to "the radiant moments shared by the trio," "the melancholy of adolescence," and "the vibrant hues of Sakunaga Kimi that Higure Shiyo yearns for." Ultimately, every deception transforms into heartfelt confessions, every conflict resolves into reconciliation, leaving audiences bathed in sunlight and tenderness.

The subtle narrative thread involving teacher Hiyoshiko-sensei, who secretly supports the three protagonists, emerges as the story's most moving undercurrent. Though she couldn't pursue her own rock band dreams, she becomes an umbrella sheltering the youths' musical aspirations. Her nun-like costume design poignantly hints at both her constrained nature and life circumstances beyond her control.

The film unfolds with deliberate pacing, employing artful use of negative space that invites viewers to wander through imaginative possibilities. Certain sequences demand patient contemplation to fully absorb and comprehend. While it serves as a cerebral spa treatment in our fast-paced world, audiences should adjust expectations accordingly-this isn't a plot-driven anime feature with dramatic character arcs, but rather a meditative canvas where emotions flow like watercolors.

From what I've seen, this is a faith-themed anime film that explores a wondrous story of finding one's purpose through music and experiencing friendship along the way. From director Naoko Yamada of A Silent Voice comes the tale of a teen at an all-girls religious school. Totsuko Higurashi is able to see colors in people, which is a scientific phenomenon she can't explain, giving off an aural effect that best reflects their personalities. She befriends a fellow student named Kimi Sakunaga with an uncertain future herself, but has a passion for guitar. They together then meet a cram school student named Rui, whose ambitions are also music rather than medicine as his family tradition suggests. The three bond and learn about each other's daily lives and personalities, while forming a music band to express themselves in song.

From a religious standpoint, weaving the Catholic faith into this film creates a sense of wisdom, belonging, and a connection. But most importantly symbolizes how it points out the Lord works in mysterious ways. Guides these characters to show they're not alone and have each other with a sense of warmth and comfort, even in their most troubling of times.

I've watched both the Japanese original and the English dub and regardless of the language, the thematic elements convey an emotional response. Totsuko sees colors in people, feels conflicted of pursuing her music passion, and keeping it a secret from her school's nuns by telling white lies. It goes against her beliefs in the church, but she does so out of fear. The songs are also notable standouts. Voice actors Akari Takaishi and Kylie McNeill gave great singing performances as character Kimi in both languages. The latter VA known for the English dub of Mamoru Hosoda's 2021 film Belle still gives a pleasant musical performance that I tend to bob my head to the beat.

While there was some lagging on some scenes that made me not entirely understand what was happening and that the entire movie was not as emotionally impactful as Yamada's 2017 film A Silent Voice, I'm still reeling from the experience. The Colors Within's exploration of real-world situations through friendship and platonic love is so impactful that there's nothing romantic going on and that's okay. The themes of forgiveness and acceptance really resonated with me. Can't wait to see where the filmmakers will go next!

I'll believe that anyone who watches this film will leave happy, maybe even crying at the beauty of it.

This film although without much external conflict is able to capture what makes people people. It does this with beautiful music and incredible characters. I don't see why anyone wouldn't like this.

The inner conflict is what drives the story, each character having their own conflict within themselves related to the stress of approaching adulthood, and not meeting the expectations of those around us, it is a story that is about people finding their own path in life, about choosing their own story.

This film is a masterpiece. Everybody should see this.

This is a beautifully animated film about self-discovery, connection, and creativity through music. The characters are super expressive, and the animation is colourful and vibrant in all the right ways. The relationships are a joy to watch, especially between our two main girls: Totsuko and Kimi. The music is great too, with a strong score and a fantastic performance at the end.

What keeps it from being truly amazing is that it tries to juggle too many storylines without giving them enough time. Totsuko's Synesthesia feels like it's just there rather than something meaningful to her character. Kimi hiding the fact that she dropped out of school from her grandmother never really pays off, even though it builds a lot of tension. Rui, the third member of the trio, is the least developed, he barely gets screen time compared to the girls, and his conflict between music and inheriting the family clinic isn't explored much at all. The Catholic school setting brings up an interesting angle of religion versus creativity, but the film doesn't really dive into it. There are even some pretty clear lesbian undertones in certain scenes, but they stop short of moving into romance.

Because of all this, the film ends up feeling more like a solid, serviceable story rather than something special. But honestly, it's still really enjoyable. It's well put together, the music is excellent, and it's just nice seeing a couple of teens dealing with relatively normal problems while still creating something beautiful together.

I loved this movie. It had a certain warmth to it-the warmth that Totsuko brought through her honest appreciations, the warmth that rests in newfound friendships, the warmth of forgiveness and acceptance, the warmth of spending time with the ones you love away from the disturbances of life, and the warmth of creating art.

I think about the prayer Totsuko recited: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."

Life is hard, and perhaps it is for the best that, just like the color-viewing free spirit of Totsuko, we too somehow find within us the serenity, courage, and wisdom to go through it.