Anime is a medium that has the power to touch you and to make you feel things that you didn't know you could feel. Such was the case with this films directors previous film and yet it's something that they do try to replicate in the film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today and it's a film that i've personally been excited to watch as I love A Silent Voice and I thought that the director of that film did a great job and so to hear that they had a new film out of course i'm going to be excited about it and so then join me as I review the film that is all about colors with the film in question being called simply just "The Colors Within" enjoy.
The plot of this film Totsuko a girl who can see people as colors finds herself drawn to the mysterious Kimi but when she tells her that she can play piano the two end up forming a band with Rui and find themselves confronting there own drama. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with this films plot being as strong as it could have been as the setup for the film doesn't really allow for a strong film plot with this films plot feeling like it would be better suited for the plot of an anime TV series then an anime film as the plot is just so wafer thin at best that it is hard to tell just what the main plot of the film is meant to be at times with this being something that does sadly keep the film from being an enjoyable watch as you do spend half the time wondering what the plot of the film is meant to be and the other half working out ways to make the film better and while this films does focus of it's plot on just the three main characters it doesn't take the time to actually makes us care about them with the same thing even being true for the films plot as the film doesn't end in a natural way it just stops which is something that does do a disservice to it's plot as this is a plot that would have worked so much more better if it was the plot of anime TV series and not an anime film with the plot of this film not really being really rather enjoyable and nor is it really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this film is Libby Rue as Totsuko Higurashi and Belle star Kylie McNeill as Kimi Sakunaga. Also starring in this film is Eddy Lee as Rui Kagehira , Pokémon Black & White star Eileen Stevens as Sister Hiyoshiko , Hinano Kuzukawa as Saku Momochi , Eden Harker as Shiho Nanakubo , Maxine Wanderer as Sumika Yatsushika and Burn-Up Excess and The Queen's Corgi star Lani Minella as Shino Sakunaga.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With all of this films actors being really good and even tho this review is being based off of the dubbed version of the film these actors were still really good in the film with them all turning in some fairly solid performances in the film with it being a bold choice to not go with established names for the films cast and instead cast more unknown for little known names for the films lead roles which is something that does pay off as it makes it easier to see the character and not just hear the actor something which the film very easily could have done if it went with bigger named stars for the lead roles with the films best actor being Libby Rue who just brings a certain authenticity to the character of Totsuko and which is something that does help to make this film character unique and stand out on her own and infact this film is perhaps this actors biggest role as her only other big role was the lead role in the Disney Jr show Alice's Wonderland Baker and you can tell that she has a bright future ahead of her as the two characters sound nothing alike and yet she brings the same amount of charm to both of them with the acting that's in this film not really being helped by the fact that the script for this film is just so bad as it gives none of this films actors absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.
Doing the animation for this film is the legends and the really greats that are currently over at Science SARU. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with this film going for a picture book type of look to it as the whole film does look like something that you'd see in a book that you'd read to little kids before bedtime which is in no way a bad thing as the film does have this rather relaxing nature to it something which does come through in the films animation as the film makes great use of having these rather simple designs for all of the characters and by having less detail in the films backgrounds which yes granted does have the adverse effect of making the film look more cheap then what it actually is but it is also something that does add alot of charm to the film as well with the characters having alot of really fluid movements to them which is something that does come alive during the films ending musical number which is were we get to see the film at it's most colorful which is the biggest issue with the film as while A Silent Voice played around with it's animation to great effect this film doesn't really take full advantage of the fact that it's leading character sees people as colors which is something that could have led to some really crazy and creative visuals something which the film sadly doesn't do but in all fairness tho this films animation is still solid with or without that little addition.
As was just mentioned A Silent Voice has fun with it's visuals by having the main male character see all of the other characters with X's all over there face. Yet when this film cuts to the POV of Totsuko they don't do anything like that when given the fact that she sees people as colors it would have made for a more visually interesting film if we got to see what things look like from her perspective like for example whenever a character is feeling cool and relaxed they could appear blue and when there feeling angry or upset they appear red just something like that would have made the film a more visual treat to watch and while yes A Silent Voice was based off of a manga something which wasn't the case for the film that means that the makers of this film could have done whatever they wanted to make the film alot more visually interesting instead of just going with more muted colors alot of the time and heck it could even be argued that by now showing us what things look like from Totsuko's point of view that it makes her appear to be a really dull character as she stays the same character all throughout the film where as if we got to see the world how she sees it and see how lying to her teachers affects how she views the world like maybe the colors co8ld become more muted the more lies that she tells instead of having of keeping it all the same and then when she tells the truth to them more colors start to come back into the world thus showing that she's grown as a character when you have a character that sees the world in a way that allows you to have these more visually interesting scenes then why not take as full advantage of that as you can do as that is something that would only make your film be all the more better in the first place.
In what was a rather odd move for a dubbed anime is that while must anime that gets dubbed and that features the characters singing songs the singing never ever gets dubbed or it very rarely ever gets dubbed. Yet in this film the entire song sequence near the end of the film gets completely dubbed into English which was something that I wasn't expecting to see in the film and while it adds nothing to the film as a whole as the film would have worked just as well in the singing remained in Japanese it is something that does let you know that the makers of this dubbed version of the film were willing to go the extra mile and give us the whole film dubbed where as shows like the entire Love Live franchise for example they never dubbed the songs and singing is a bigger part of that franchise then it is this film with the songs themselves not really being anything special heck it's even quite hard to tell just what it is that the songs are even about in the first place but what did stand out was Kylie McNeill's singing was really good as she does have a great voice and while the lyrics are nothing special the fact that the makers of this film went through the trouble of dubbing the songs in the first place is something truly special to behold but it's let down by the fact that none of the songs are that memorable as they take up a huge portion of the ending of the film with there being three songs sung back to back all just because a character that one member of the band lied to can then come and see them performing together and that's it and that's not really something that requires three songs to do as you could have out the other two songs and just have all three of those characters walk into the concert that the band are having at the same time and it would still play out the exact same way.
The films main friendship between Totsuko and Kimi is one that could be viewed in alot of different ways with some viewers viewing there relationship as that of lovers. Which is a fine and totally valid way to see it as the film does present us with many different ways to view there bond like for example I personally see them as being nothing more then just good friends as all throughout the film we never once get to see them have any kind of romantic scene or a scene that could be viewed as such but what we do get to see is scenes with them becoming good friends and essentially telling each other through there music just how much they mean to each other with Totsuko viewing Kimi as like a cooler older sister type of character but on the other hand there are merits to viewing as something more then friends as well as the characters do get to spend alot of time together and when they are together you do get the feeling that one if not both of them might have romantic feelings for the other but it's the fact that none of them share a romantic scene or even disclose there feelings to each other in that way that does make that something that's hard to buy into especially when there's alot more evidence of them being nothing more then just good friends and heck even when Kimi is about to confess to her Grandma about all the lying that she's done it's Totsuko who asks if she wants her to come with her for emotional support and that doesn't seem like somethin that you'd do if you weren't good friends with someone and given the fact that none of the characters even Rui gets to have any kind of romantic feelings towards the other it does feel like that both Kimi and Totsuko are meant to be nothing more then just good friends and that's really it.
Now then this film has . had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and forty one minuets and fourteen seconds. Which to be fair to this film is a perfectly solid running time for this film to have with the film having more then enough there interms of plot to really cover that amount of running time in the first place and while the film doesn't really use it's running time all that wisely in the first place as it doesn't take the time to fully develop it's plot it really doesn't have to as due to the sheer nature of the film feeling like a loose series of scenes just edited together with the film being more focused on showing all three character bond and become friends then it is in giving us a well developed with this even being something that does effect the films character development as none of the films really go through anything to really earn any character development with this main being due to the fact that the film does feel like it would have been better of a being a TV series then a feature length film as then you could have as long as you need to tell your story which would then allow you to have episodes that do further develop the plot and that do make the characters come across as being more three dimensional and yet due to the fact that with a film you can't really be that long that is something that does mean that things like plot and character development can't done in this film and yet if the film was a TV show then it would have worked out alot more better as things would have alot more room to breathe and develop at a more natural pace then what they do in the film and heck even the films characters would have the chance to be more defined something that just isn't the case in the film but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a drama that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual drama that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual drama that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. As when it wants to this film can have some really good drama that does feel very true to the characters yet at the same time tho the film really doesn't really build up to anything with anything that you think might make a big dramatic moment in the film being something that gets resolved right away which is something that does make it pointless for this film to be a drama as you could have made it a musical or a comedy and the film would play out the exact same way with there not really being a dramatic moment that stands out in the film as the resolves all drama as soon as it starts it as you'd think that there would be a big dramatic blowup when Totsuko tells Kimi that she can't play piano but no the film treats it as if it's nothing with the same thing being true for when both Rui and Kimi's parents find out that they've both been lying to them but again that gets brushed aside with the same thing kind of being true for when it's discovers that Totsuko has been lying to the teachers at her school as while she does get punished for it it's not treated as anything big for her character whereas as this is a drama film there really should have been that big dramatic moment that forces all of the characters to learn and grow from their mistakes with this again being something that could have worked if this was a show and not a film in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall it's been said quite a many a time in this review but this film as good as it is is something that would have worked much more better as a TV show then a film as while the film is still good it would have been alot more better if it was a TV show and not a feature length film in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very fil really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys an girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very film that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very film with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.