There is no charming cat, but there is something else.
The modern viewer is accustomed to action and dramatic plot twists in both movies and TV series. However, there is a thriving genre dedicated to the uneventful flow of life – slice of life.
Although examples can be found in many countries, slice is most often associated with Japanese animation – the masters of anime know how to savor the routine like no one else.
The beauty of slice of life, of course, is that it allows you not only to enjoy everyday life, but also to look at it from a different perspective. The main character of Keiichi Hara's film Colorful got the chance to do this in the format of a real experience.
Colorful is a movie that will make you feel a little better, even if Pixar's Soul didn't help.
What Is Colorful About?
The soul of a sinner who does not remember how he ended up in the afterlife is incredibly lucky: soon after his death, he was allowed to inhabit the body of 14-year-old schoolboy Makoto Kobayashi, who survived an attempt to part with his life.
The guardian angel Purapura immediately warns: the soul has six months to repent, to remember and to recognize the mistakes, otherwise it will sink into oblivion and Makoto will die.
Colorful Is Primarily Focused on Everyday Life
Life in Colorful is by no means as attractive as one might expect: the more the soul learns about the student's life, the more it understands why he decided to part with it.
Kobayashi has no friends, his mother is cheating on his father with a dance instructor, and the classmate the boy is in love with is so obsessed with expensive things that she is willing to sleep with older men for them. The boy learns the last two facts literally at the same moment, after which he decides to take a desperate step.
With such a set of topics tied to personal and social problems, Hara does not try to focus on them, taking the action into the wilds of relaxing school days with classes in the drawing club, interaction with friends, and family leisure.
There are scenes of endless eating and even fishing. After all, most examples of slice of life genre, as we know, tend to the format of feel-good movies or series.
The Finale Is Quite Predictable Yet Perfect
And for once, the superficiality works in favor of the idea: the soul is imbued with Makoto's life and remembers past sins. The ending is heartbreaking, but still not oppressive – and is quite predictable in itself.
If we close our eyes to the fact that the ending turns out to be quite banal, it is easy to see that from the point of view of the genre, the twist is quite inventive, making the movie an exemplary example of slice of life.
The viewer, along with Makoto, literally gets to know his life anew and gets a feeling for its value.
Where to Watch Colorful?
Colorful is available to stream on Crunchyroll.