The Colors within ("Kimi no Iro"), a splendid tale of understanding ourselves.
Kimi no Iro is, without a doubt, THE BEST ANIMATED FILM I’VE EVER SEEN.
The review could end here, but if you want to know more, keep reading. There are slight spoilers of what happens, but I’ll tell you there’s no plot to spoil, it's simply the story of the everyday life of a girl named Totsuko (the blonde one on the poster).
Totsuko suffers from color blindness. But Naoko Yamada’s genius is in not making her disability a limitation or something to pity. Totsuko’s color blindness is used by the director to create a character
...
who "sees the color of people." Because of her condition, the girl associates a color with each person she cares about. Totsuko attends an all-girls Catholic high school, complete with a dormitory. Almost by chance, she meets Kimi, a girl with black hair. Kimi is a stunning, seemingly perfect girl. However, the day after Totsuko meets her, Kimi suddenly disappears from school. Totsuko can’t accept this and sets out to find her. Without revealing too much, she eventually tracks her down almost by accident: Kimi, once the most popular girl in school with perfect grades, has left. She now works in a second-hand bookstore and spends her days playing the electric guitar her older brother left her before leaving home. Kimi hasn’t been able to tell her grandmother, the only person she lives with, the truth. Every night when she returns home, she lies, telling her grandmother she’s been at school. Kimi’s grandmother also attended the same school, and Kimi doesn’t want to hurt her by revealing the truth. Totsuko finds Kimi almost by chance at the bookstore, but she doesn’t know what excuse to make, so she picks up the first book she sees and takes it to the cashier, pretending she was looking for it: it’s a basic piano exercise book. Kimi is surprised and asks if she’s learning to play. As they talk, a boy who’s a regular customer at the store joins in, saying he’s always admired Kimi for how she plays. His name is Rui, and he plays a very unusual stringed instrument. Without thinking, Totsuko blurts out that "the two of them are forming a band and were recruiting members."
And so begins the story of the trio.
Rui doesn’t live in the city; his family runs a clinic on an island nearby. He is the heir to the family business, living under the pressure of needing to become a doctor and not make mistakes in order to enter one of the country’s most prestigious universities. Rui has a secret passion for music and a hidden place to practice: an abandoned Catholic church, which he is allowed to use in exchange for cleaning it. Here, he plays his instrument away from the ears of his mother, the island’s doctor. The trio meets at the church every Sunday to practice together.
I don’t think I need to say more; the rest I’d prefer you discover on your own.
Now, let’s talk about the themes:
- The first theme is Catholicism. Surprisingly, given that it’s a Japanese film, it has a deeply Catholic foundation: Totsuko (and Kimi, at first) attends a Catholic school run by nuns. Specifically, Totsuko confides in a teacher/nun named Hiyoko, a young and beautiful woman with unwavering faith. In my favorite scene of the film, Hiyoko, talking to Kimi, reminds her of one of the most beautiful passages from the Bible, Isaiah 43:4: "Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you," reminding the girl that it’s always possible to start over. I won’t lie, when I heard these words I was seriously crying uncontrollably, trying to hold it in.
- The second theme is that lies, even when told with good intentions, always have consequences: Kimi, the beautiful girl with black hair and blue eyes, has lied her whole life. She ran away from home and went to live with her grandmother and older brother. But when her brother leaves for a job, she’s left alone and has to wear the mask of the perfect girl, all while being consumed by depression. When she can no longer maintain her facade, she drops out of school but can’t bring herself to tell her grandmother the truth. She continues to lie to protect her from suffering. Without going into too much detail, lies always catch up with you, even the ones told with good intentions.
- The third and most important point: It’s never too late to start over: no matter the pain you feel or the stage of life you’re in, with the help of others (and God), you can always begin anew (remember Isaiah 43:4).
There’s so much more I could say, but I think this covers the main themes.
Now, I want to wrap up the review by talking about my feelings regarding the film.
I started silently crying from the very beginning: Totsuko’s color blindness isn’t presented as a disability or a condition that hinders her, but as a gift from God that the sweet girl embraces. She’s able to see the color of the souls of the people she loves.
I empathized with all the characters. There are no plot twists, miracles, or anything like that, but at the end of the film, we learn who was the author of a graffiti on Totsuko’s bed. When this small detail is revealed, I lost it and cried like a fountain.
At the start of the film, Totsuko is seen by the nun Hiyoko dancing with her head in the clouds, thrilled to have found friends. By the end of the film, Hiyoko, who reprimanded her at the start, reveals her true feelings and nature. That’s when I broke down.
My final rating for The Colors within is 100/100.
Honestly, I couldn’t find any flaws. I cried from start to finish, rejoiced, and hummed along in silence.
If you have the chance, go see it.
Feb 26, 2025
Kimi no Iro
(Anime)
add
The Colors within ("Kimi no Iro"), a splendid tale of understanding ourselves.
Kimi no Iro is, without a doubt, THE BEST ANIMATED FILM I’VE EVER SEEN. The review could end here, but if you want to know more, keep reading. There are slight spoilers of what happens, but I’ll tell you there’s no plot to spoil, it's simply the story of the everyday life of a girl named Totsuko (the blonde one on the poster). Totsuko suffers from color blindness. But Naoko Yamada’s genius is in not making her disability a limitation or something to pity. Totsuko’s color blindness is used by the director to create a character ... 
Dec 25, 2023
Typically, I wouldn't fault One Piece for including recaps. I've watched all 11 recaps of the Wano arc. This particular recap had the potential to dive into Momonosuke's ascent and his development throughout the entire saga. However, TOEI opted to concentrate solely on the last 10 episodes, specifically on what happens after the final act of the battle between Luffy and Kaido. Moreover, their focus was exclusively on Momonosuke and Wano, overlooking events occurring outside the country. Consequently, almost nothing needed to be recapped, hence this special served no meaningful purpose. I highly suggest you skip this as it adds nothing.
May 15, 2023
I will keep this short: when I learned that this week's episode would have been a recap, my first thoughts were "Wow, a recap? Right after that awesome Sanji episode? It's the worst time to put a recap out!" and well, after watching this, I can say I was wrong.
This recap allowed me to enjoy the battle between Zoro and King much better than the One Piece anime did. Additionally, it highlighted other scenes that I didn't quite get to enjoy during the regular broadcast, like the Sanji phone call. That's all my fault, though: I love One Piece and have a close relationship with ... 
Jan 28, 2022
SPOILER FREE REVIEW
Story: The plot is straightforward and even cliche if you want to call it that, but what makes it unique is the way it is presented: the protagonist of this manga isn't a proud and valiant knight or a skilled adventurer with the desire to explore the world with his party to forge strong bonds. He is an extremely perverted farmer who will do anything to get his hands on the voluptuous legs of the female protagonists in this manga. He has a huge fetish for thighs with kneesocks. As previously anticipated, the plot is not particularly complex at first, but as you continue ... 
Aug 3, 2019
Almost everyone (including myself) picked up this 62-page one-shot because of Murata sensei's artwork.
This is supposed to be the climax of a classic Shounen tournament arc: the opponents facing each other are the champions of their kingdoms, the Science and the Magic. These two realms hold a competition to decide who will face the champion of the other once every three years. This one-shot, which shows how the two champions defeated their final opponent before facing each other, a few traits of their personalities, and then their final fight, should serve as the tournament's climax, as I previously stated. Despite Murata sensei's art, which was ... |
