Japanese anime film ‘The Color Within’, directed by Naoko Yamada, portrays teen with synesthesia and friends’ search for identity through music

“Kimi no Iro” (“The Colors Within”), a new anime film directed by Naoko Yamada, portrays a high school girl with synesthesia and her two friends as they all try to find themselves and unite through their bond. Yamada attracts a lot of attention at home and abroad.

The film, which was released in theaters on August 30, tells the story of Totsuko (voiced by Sayu Suzukawa), a high school student who has the ability to see the “colors” of others – and perceives their personalities and emotions as colors . She forms a bond with Kimi (Akari Takaishi), a girl she met at school, and Rui (Taisei Kido), a music lover. The three, facing their respective challenges, rehearse together in a church on the remote island.

The moving drama is enhanced by the beautiful colors such as the watercolor palette. I asked the director, Yamada, for her thoughts on her film.

Adolescent sensitivity

The main character, Totsuko, can perceive other people’s personalities through colors, but she cannot see her own. Yamada says the character’s delicate sensitivity, combined with the vulnerability of her adolescence, came from her own observations of teenagers close to her.

“I feel like they are trying to communicate with people in a very delicate way, using words in a way that doesn’t hurt others,” Yamada said. “I wanted to portray today’s young people, who are rich in originality, as if you were looking at them under a microscope, instead of lumping them together.”

Atmosphere of a real concert

Totsuko forms a bond with Kimi and Rui, as if he is naturally drawn to their beautiful colors. They face their own challenges, such as trying hard to meet the expectations of those around them and suppressing their desires to do what they want to do. They communicate with each other and express their difficulties and frustrations through music.

Yamada said that although the film is about teenagers, she “focused on universal human emotions” and hopes the film will “inspire viewers to do something new, not just start a band.”

One of the highlights of the film is the first concert of the three main characters, for which Yamada and her team made great efforts to capture the atmosphere and groove of a real concert with the sound design, with the aim of ‘changing the cinema’ . into a live concert hall.”

“I hope you will experience it in the theater,” Yamada said.

Inspired by the colors of the sea

Also striking is the overwhelming beauty of the colors used in the film, which is set in a hilly port town. About the colors, Yamada says that she was inspired by the sea off the coast of Nagasaki, also a port city with many slopes, which she visited in preparation for production. The work is full of delicate glitters that seem to visualize Totsuko’s world in which people are seen in colors.

“These colors are the colors of light,” Yamada said. “The colors of the beautiful seas of Nagasaki and the Goto Islands are unimaginably beautiful. They also form the basis of the work.”

The driving force behind this film was Reiko Yoshida, who wrote the screenplay, and Kensuke Ushio, the music director who also composed the film’s music. The two are indispensable production partners for Yamada. She collaborated with them on “Eiga: Koe no Katachi” (“A Silent Voice: The Movie”) and “Heike Monogatari” (“The Heike Story”). Working together, the three create a synergy that makes each person’s individuality shine brighter. Their relationship is just like that between Totsuko, Kimi and Rui.

The title “Kimi no Iro” has two meanings, Yamada says. One is ‘Kimi no iro’ (Kimi’s colors), because of Kimi, the main character’s friend, and the other is ‘kimi no iro’, which means the colors of you. “I hope the film makes audiences wonder, ‘What are my colors?’” Yamada said.

International recognition

Yamada has a deserved reputation as one of the best female animation directors in Japan. Her reputation is also growing abroad.

“The Colors Within” was selected for the feature film competition of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France, the largest festival in the anime industry. It also won the Best Animated Film Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival.

Although Yamada’s strength lies in ensemble dramas about adolescence, she has also tackled ambitious subjects such as Japanese classical literature. She is currently very interested in ‘magical girls’. “I really want to see their fantastic world,” she said. “My thoughts change every day, from one day doing this to the next day doing that, but right now it’s absolutely magical girls!” she said emphatically.

Naoko Yamada

Yamada is from Kyoto Prefecture. She made her directorial debut in 2009 with the TV series “K-ON!” while working at Kyoto Animation Co. She also directed “K-ON! The Movie” in 2011 and “A Silent Voice: The Movie” in 2016 before becoming independent. Her other works include ‘Liz to Aoi Tori’ (‘Liz and the Blue Bird’) and the TV series ‘The Heike Story’.