Kimi no Iro Episode 1 Discussion

An anime about Christian rock wasn't among the things I expected to see one day. Nice movie, but not really outstanding; compared to recent anime movies about music, I'd rank it a bit above Belle and a bit below Inu-Ou.

I love the songs though, I even rated the Sui Kin Chi Ka Moku Dotten Amen SP Dance PV three points higher than the movie itself.

@RobertBobert there's nothing wrong with that, but it is a matter of how we define "good writing".

"synesthesia is the premise but it's just a little quirk to make the MC seem a bit more unique, it's not going to matter at the end"
is inherently easier to write than
"synesthesia is the premise, and it's going to tie in to the plot and be an integral part of the climax"
and by definition good writing is something hard to do

For example, what makes Dungeon Meshi so good is the fact that the "cooking & eating monsters" isn't just a gimmick to hook viewers in, pretending to be different from the rest and then thrown away, but it will be a crucial aspect of the story's climax.

@Nirinbo I did not watch the film, so I can’t tell you anything in this matter. But in general, although Yamada really loves deep things, she often makes them too ambiguous because of her love for homoerotics, so sometimes you really need to think about the classic “What the author wanted to say” after watching her anime.

@RobertBobert maybe there's some underlying meaning that flew over my head, but unless someone convinces me otherwise I'd say that the synesthesia was just a plot device to get the main characters together.

Naoko Yamada is an absolute star. Her highly dynamic storyboarding and incredibly engaging character animation has raised the standards in anime for a while now, and this film certainly doesn't disappoint in these technical regards. In fact, it's mind-blowing stuff, in both the visual and audio department.

It's actually the lack of drama that almost derailed this grounded coming-of-age tale. It made the pacing of the film nigh unbearable at times. Why are we watching these kids form a band anyway? Somehow the barebones plot and slice-of-life pacing didn't mesh as well as it could have, which made the film quite tough to get through at times.

It isn't until the final act until everything finally clicks, both narratively and thematically. These kids are fighting against authority, desperately wanting to express themselves in ways that their environments would surely disapprove of. This expression culminates in a memorable rock band performance (featuring banger tunes by the highly talented Kensuke Ushio) that'll definitely wow audience members that manage to stick around, and confidently solidifies our main trio's character arcs in a highly satisfying way.

Yamada proves once again she's a force to be reckoned with, creating a simultaneously challenging and easy watch for both animation and coming-of-age enthusiasts, and keeps being one of the leading creative voices in the Japanese animation industry.