Colorful is a film, based off of the novel of the same name by Eto Mori, about a troubled soul reincarnated from some sort of afterworld into the body of a boy in his third year of Japanese middle school. He's given a chance at reincarnation if he can complete a test period in the body of Makoto Kobayashi. He must take use his time to figure out why Makoto died and live well himself.
First he gets brought down to Earth, and then he gets introduced to his family of four who he doesn't relate to without Makoto's life experience: the only named family member, his brother Mitsuru, and his mother and father. The film progresses as he gets used to Makoto's family, goes to his school, and generally figures out how to live his life well.
The movie has a very interesting plot that manages to be engaging in spite of, or perhaps partially because of a very drab presentation. The color palette for the background art is very low key and the character designs and expressions are not very original. The voices, while adequate, could have been better, but it's tough to criticize Japanese voices when I don't speak the language. The former can be understood as a stylistic choice but the latter, unfortunately, cannot. The story as it develops is very interesting and is quite different from other supernatural films with similar premises such as Here Comes Mr. Jordan or Chances Are. We get to see how the soul evolves inside of Makoto's body and how he begins to take ownership of his life as he breaks from Makoto's past life. Too much more information will spoil the film which you can watch on YouTube. Suffice it to say that the story is quite inspired and you'll end the movie with a different perspective on the situation than you'd had in the beginning. I give the movie 8 out of 10 and would have ranked it higher if the characters were given more original designs and expressions.
The movie can't be embedded, so here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHs-6QDGdlo
If you watch or have already watched this movie, feel free to leave a comment giving your thoughts.
First he gets brought down to Earth, and then he gets introduced to his family of four who he doesn't relate to without Makoto's life experience: the only named family member, his brother Mitsuru, and his mother and father. The film progresses as he gets used to Makoto's family, goes to his school, and generally figures out how to live his life well.
The movie has a very interesting plot that manages to be engaging in spite of, or perhaps partially because of a very drab presentation. The color palette for the background art is very low key and the character designs and expressions are not very original. The voices, while adequate, could have been better, but it's tough to criticize Japanese voices when I don't speak the language. The former can be understood as a stylistic choice but the latter, unfortunately, cannot. The story as it develops is very interesting and is quite different from other supernatural films with similar premises such as Here Comes Mr. Jordan or Chances Are. We get to see how the soul evolves inside of Makoto's body and how he begins to take ownership of his life as he breaks from Makoto's past life. Too much more information will spoil the film which you can watch on YouTube. Suffice it to say that the story is quite inspired and you'll end the movie with a different perspective on the situation than you'd had in the beginning. I give the movie 8 out of 10 and would have ranked it higher if the characters were given more original designs and expressions.
The movie can't be embedded, so here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHs-6QDGdlo
If you watch or have already watched this movie, feel free to leave a comment giving your thoughts.
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