Colorful (Movie)

Being a fan of drama anime, especially ones that exemplify harsh realities of life in a real-world setting, I didn't think twice about giving this one a shot. Like Haibane Renmei (which I liked a lot) it deals with recollecting memories of one's past life and getting a shot at correcting the errors of the past. An unknown soul who commited a grave sin lined up, along with other souls in heaven, to receive his judgment inadvertently wins a lottery that gives him a second chance at life by doing an "internship" trial. A test that takes him back to earth and has to be ... able to remember the grave sin he committed and be able to enjoy and live life again through the body of someone who recently committed suicide, 14-year old Makoto Kobayashi.

Story: 10
The plot's idea of the afterlife and another chance at life is quite amazing. Although it's not so new, it provides a more understandable view of second chances and acceptance of real life circumstances no matter how difficult it is to cope with. The movie doesn't fail to capture reality through the view of a seemingly normal yet troubled family and the eyes of their youngest, melancholic, junior high school son who experiences disasters one after the other pushing himself to do the worst thing. Character development in the movie shows another positive, particularly with the protagonist who has zero knowledge and idea on Makoto's circumstances yet tries to cope with it all despite how unsettling it is to live another person's life and adjust to a new, albeit indifferent and sometimes distasteful, environment. And Makoto, who really fell on hard times, deciding to end it all, whose life the protagonist must pick up where he left off. Being a a film in the drama genre, this movie didn't fail my expectations of one that really digs deep and touches the heart.

Art/Animation: 9
The art for Colorful looked really great and fitting for an anime movie. The CG background was beautifully drawn and given much detail and the characters are drawn well fitting each character's personality. Both Saotome and Shouko were really depicted as goofy and/or eccentric, two people who really get along well with the similarly strange Makoto whose former self is isolated from other people. Makoto's father looks as simple as he is an ordinary low-rank salaryman and his brother who is academically strong but socially indifferent especially to Makoto, fits the four-eyes, tall and brooding character. Makoto's mother really shows the deep and emotional yet motherly figure and Kuwabara, Makoto's crush is really pretty and takes advantage of it. The images of the city landscape were also breathtaking and the places portrayed definitely shows a realistic imagery.

Music: 8
Of course, the best part I liked with regards to the music is the ED theme "Aozora" sung by miwa (who, by the way, has that really clear, beautiful and emotional singing voice). Beautiful song that perfectly fits the story which is about going through and living life no matter the diversity of life's "colors" may put you through. Although most of the movie plays with little or no ambient background music. I can say fitting music is put in the right places where the emotions are most intense.

Enjoyment: 10
Overall, the movie definitely lived up to my expectations of a beautiful drama. Emotions are spot on, at times even, Makoto's character might get on your nerves because of his attitude despite his family's efforts to show their love and support but hey, as they say, everyone is fighting their own battles. Also, even with the fantasy theme of reincarnation it didn't fail to portray reality, its harshness, and the beauty of living life despite the former. Definitely something you can't miss especially if you love drama like me.

This will be the first review I actually write for a movie that I didn't enjoy.

Story:

Okay so the story has a pretty good plot line with a lot of potential, plenty of time to develop it well, some good turns and twists, and overall some good writing. It had enough of a story going that I wanted to know what happened and kept me watching throughout the entire 2 hour film.

However with all the potential that it posessed to keep a viewer interested, I was so bored. I wanted to know how it ended and I wanted to see where the story went, but ... I was counting down the minutes to the end by halfway through. I give the writers props for coming up with a plot that's unique in it's own way and with the potential and the synopsis to get the viewers that it gets, but I couldn't sit through this movie again.


Animation:

The art style in this movie is reminiscent of the style put into more realistically drawn Ghibli films such as Grave of the Fireflies. Its pretty and the movements are smooth and it doesn't fall into the common style of "just change the hair and you have a new character" that a lot of anime in the past 10 years especially fall into.

The backgrounds especially are extremely detailed in mostly a good way. Considering it's movie about an artist you have to expect some of the art to live up to the character's standards and it does. My major problem with the animation would probably be that the real life backgrounds and cut scenes always seemed out of place. That and the opening scene with the terrible CG had me praying that it didn't carry out through the show and luckily it didn't.


Sound:

Music played barely any role in this movie. I could hear the background music but it didn't really dominate a scene which is both good and bad. I don't think that I could remember this movie by any special song and the music is normally something that sticks with a person even if they don't realize it.
There isn't too much that I can say about it either though, it was so slow paced with the same loop of music that I can't complain or comment so that's all I really have to say on the subject.


Characters

Makoto Kobayashi. Okay so here is our protagonist. Yes he's pretty dynamic. He goes from soft spoken, to confused, to nice, to total douche then back to being nice. He doesn't change enough for me to say that the plot really progressed his character though. It more seems like instead of the plot changing him to a different person it's bringing him back to who he was. And he was a very boring guy.

Mother. She has the potential to really carry the storyline to a wonderful climax but instead she just sits there and cries. She doesn't change in any way to help or hender the storyline.

Father. He's the peacekeeper of the show but considering that absolutely noone besides Makoto makes any conflict, and you're really on his side? Nothing you do matters. You're just kind of there to take up space.

Mitsuru. Another character that has the potential to drive the plot, and in certain instances he really does and I like him for that. I wish that the writers had given him more because he only got really 2 good scenes that gave him the depth I feel his character deserved.

Sano. She is extremely static. She is insecure and awkward and even makes the main feel awkward. Sure I feel sorry for her in one scene but if she didn't exist I feel like the plot would have really been almost exactly the same.

Hiroka. This character has such a deep story going for her that should be made into something just for her, but instead the main character gives her some truly beautiful words and then she's gone from the story and nothing more is said.

Purapura. He is one more character that has the potential to be his own story. I want to know more about him! And I never will!

Saotome. I don't know anything about him. He's poor and smiley. Woo.

Overall none of these characters were developed. They are all just there as background art with words. They have maybe one or two scenes where they push Makoto into something but for the most part Makoto pushes the story on his own and they are all useless characters.


Overall

I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone really. I see the wonderful reviews of this movie and I can't see why it deserves it. I was bored, I learned a lot about a character I disliked and nothing about the characters I liked. The music I couldn't even comment on and the art style was the only good thing going for it.

I wish I could put more detail into my review but as long and slow paced as this story was, I barely got anything from it.

Despite a wonderful opening sequence and captivating premise, Colorful turns out to be a mediocre disappointment that doesn't manage to attain much depth despite its attempts to do so.

The film's main failure can be attributed to its lack of focus and scope, choosing to jump between several different characters that were related to the life of the protagonist. Whilst each of these characters and their inner conflicts had the potential to be very interesting upon exploration, the film never delves too deeply into any of them, choosing to take more of a touch and go approach, jumping from character to character, and developing none of ... them fully. It is due to this that it often feels as if there are jumps in characterization - most notably with relation to the crush of the protagonist, who is left forgotten by the film after a chilling and memorable scene, only to be brought back at the very end in what seems to be a very clumsy attempt to tie up loose ends. Much of the film feels that way - Despite it taking 2 hours, it doesn't really feel as if we really got to know the characters.

Beyond that, the film can sometimes come across as preachy - it oftentimes lacks any subtlety at all. The message of the film is simple, about how us humans are often multifaceted and multicolored, how each of us have many different sides, and how each one of us are often suffering under our own burdens under the facades we put up. We are not alone in this world - your depression and sadness is not something that only you feel - but rather something that everyone goes through, and that we must push on and live life to the fullest even through sad times. It's a beautiful message indeed, but I personally don't feel that it is delivered well. Most of it is literally spoken out by the characters to the audience, most notably in the closing scene of the movie. It's a weak way to deliver a message, and it probably would have worked much better if the film found a way to show it more rather than simply preaching it in our faces.

That said, the film does do some things well. For instance, the final twist, as predictable as it might be, works wonderfully for such a film, and would perhaps have been much more effective if the rest of the film had managed to develop a stronger emotional attachment to the protagonist. It's also beautifully animated and wonderfully drawn, making for a great visual experience at times.

Overall, Colorful is a film that is perhaps brought down by the weight of its ambition. It tries to tackle a range of important issues and explore how we humans tick, but it never really delves deep into the characters and at most times only lightly touches on them. Jumps in characterization and relationships are probably the most problematic point within the film, and it simply doesn't make good use of its runtime.