Of all of the phrases that could begin a light-hearted animated film, the Serenity Prayer popularized by Alcoholics Anonymous is surely among the least likely. But “The Colors Within,” which opens with that plea for God to grant “the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,” is no ordinary animated film. It is directed by Naoko Yamada, whose work in anime series (“K-On!”) and films (“A Silent Voice,” “Liz and the Blue Bird”) has established her as one of the medium’s most distinctive current voices. Fitting snugly into her oeuvre’s focus on youthful hopes and desires, the film follows a trio of teenagers as they form an ad hoc rock band, delving into their personal lives with a refreshingly low-key and compassionate touch.
The prayer mentioned is recited by Totsuko (played by Sayu Suzukawa), a student enrolled in an all-girls Catholic high school in Japan. Ever since she was a child, Totsuko has experienced a unique type of synesthesia where she associates people with specific colors. This is visually depicted by Yamada using a watercolor style in the movie. One day, Totsuko notices the vivid blue aura surrounding her classmate Kimi (portrayed by Akari Takaishi), who later disappears from school. Their paths cross again at a secondhand bookstore where Kimi now works, and they meet Rui (played by Taisei Kido), a young man passionate about music, whose intense green radiance motivates Totsuko to impulsively start a band with her new friends.
Despite Kimi being a novice guitarist and Totsuko having limited piano skills, the three friends regularly gather at an abandoned church on the island where Rui resides. They have gathered a vast array of musical instruments, enhancing their music with Rui’s remarkable talent for playing the theremin. Alongside their musical pursuits, they also navigate personal challenges: Kimi struggles with confessing to her grandmother about leaving school, and Rui faces pressure from his mother to follow in the family’s medical footsteps.
In a different film, particularly one from this director, these story elements would likely dominate a significant portion of the plot. Yamada, who initially worked as an animator for Kyoto Animation, gained recognition internationally for her 2016 film “A Silent Voice.” This movie delved into a young man’s journey of redemption from a history of bullying, exploring themes of pain and emotional turmoil that resonated throughout the ensemble cast of troubled teenagers. Even in “Liz and the Blue Bird” from 2018, considered her most visually stunning work to date, Yamada maintained a subdued yet powerful atmosphere that delved deep into the emotional complexities of the central ambiguous relationship.
“The Colors Within” is Yamada’s first feature film for Science SARU, the anime studio known for the films of Masaaki Yuasa (“Inu-Oh,” “The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl”) and its contributions to the series “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.” While there are certain differences in animation style from Yamada’s KyoAni days — softer edges, paler colors — perhaps the most significant difference comes in her general approach to tone and character. The tumult of her past work is replaced with something more sanguine, a tendency epitomized by the consistent emphasis on Totsuko’s viewpoint. Though it would be inaccurate to say that she lacks development as a character, her shifts in personality and self-understanding are much less external than those of her friends. Part of the balancing act of “The Colors Within” lies in its adherence to Totsuko’s perspective even as the concerns of others takes center stage.
This perhaps comes through most clearly in the film’s surprisingly considerate treatment of religion, especially in a scholastic environment. Catholic school clichés are largely absent, and Totsuko is frequently counseled by Sister Hiyoshiko (Yui Aragaki), a sympathetic teacher whose presence highlights the generative, rather than stereotypically repressive, atmosphere of the school. Her own, peripheral quest for serenity mirrors that of Totsuko’s, and by extension Kimi and Rui’s. Though “The Colors Within” doesn’t aim for the psychological depth of Yamada’s past work — notably, the nature of Totsuko’s fascination with/attraction to Kimi in particular recedes as the film goes along — its alignment with its characters’ emotional currents is cemented by some of Yamada’s flourishes: frequent close-ups that draw attention to the expressivity of the characters’ bodies, a slightly bouncing “camera” that moves in and out of focus as if the image is pulsing with life, cutaways in the middle of a conversation to end a scene on an unexpected note.
All of these little touches coalesce in an extraordinary, uninterrupted 10-minute concert, where “The Colors Within” makes clear that musical proficiency was never the main goal, especially for Totsuko. While the three songs performed are catchy and moving in their own ways, and Kimi’s lead vocals are especially heartfelt, more remarkable is the pure embodiment of each character’s relationship to the music and to one another, a melding of spirits that still retain their individual temperaments. The film ends with an unexpected yet perfect acknowledgement of all of the emotions present in their interactions, registering as an open door with a bright future in plain sight.
