“It must be great to have a tomorrow.” – Purapura from Colorful anime.
***
For a cheery name like that, Colorful anime starts rather dark. Based on the novel Karafuru (Colorful) by Eto Mori, the movie adaptation is directed by Keiichi Hara – one name associated with the widely popular anime – Doraemon.
The story revolves around a teenager – Makoto Kobayashi who is sadly dead at the very beginning of the movie, and this is exactly where Colorful picks on its psychological and supernatural theme.
Makoto’s body gets taken by a soul that is sent back to earth for reformation, and it’s only through the experiences of this soul in Makoto’s body and mind that the story of Makoto Kobayashi gradually unfolds, with Purapura as a supernatural guide beside him.
Colorful anime is slow, like the phases of depression. It touches upon the stark realities of life which are not talked about openly – loneliness, tangled family relations, and issues of dawning adolescence. But it is also a story full of hope, love, and learning.
This anime with its necessary dark theme is both beautiful and subtly inspiring. It reminds what an absolute gift it is to be alive, to be loved and cared for, the value in friendships, the value of family, the peace in acceptance of wanting the joys of a simple life – like a long homestay, and most importantly – the choice of taking a second chance.
At the very core, Colorful is simple but at the same time, it demands great vulnerability of the audience to be understood. It beautifully brings out the colorful spectrum of human nature, and sheds some light on the important aspect – that people are not monochromatic – they are all colorful, made of multiple colors, both beautiful and ugly.
Colorful anime was released in 2010 and yet there aren’t many platforms where it’s legally aired. It was sheer luck that I found an English-dubbed version on YouTube, and you can find it too with a simple query.
I hope that gems like Colorful/Karafuru which come from non-Ghibli studios are also added on popular platforms like Netflix or Amazon, and bring them more audiences.
***
On a personal note, I have developed a longing to read the book. It is originally in Japanese and it has been a struggle so far to find an English-translated copy if at all it exists.
Colorful as a movie is an eye-opener to the fact that non-Ghibli studios and producers hold equally capacity to create inspiring movies. If I were you, I would stop reading any further and just watch it.
Enjoy!
