In 2016, anime director Naoko Yamada released A silent voice – a coming-of-age youth drama that deftly tackles themes of disability, bullying and personal redemption. Yamada’s upcoming film, The colors insidesimilarly explores the complicated world of high school adolescence – only this time it uses music as a central narrative device.
According to Mantan Web, The colors inside (titled Your color in Japan) will be released in Japanese theaters on August 30 (JST). As detailed on Anime News Network, GKIDS, an anime distribution company that also handles North American releases for Studio Ghibli, announced the acquisition of The colors inside at AnimeNYC 2024, with the film officially set to be released in North America in winter 2024. Recently, Mantan Web conducted a lengthy two-part interview in which Yamada explained what elements inspired her during production and what she hopes audiences will take away The colors inside.
“The Colors Within” by Naoko Yamada is published by GKIDS in North America
Anime News Network describes the plot of the film as follows: “The story revolves around Totsuko, a high school student who can ‘see’ the colors of emotions in people’s hearts. She attends a mission school in Nagasaki. To protect her friends and family from dark feelings, she worries, interprets situations, and even lies to smooth things over. In an antique shop at the end of town, she meets Sakunaga Kimi, a woman with an incredibly beautiful complexion, and the music-loving Kagehira Rui, who are trying to put together a band…”
After meeting these two, Totsuko decides to support them in their endeavor and begins a story that Yamada says focuses on contemporary adolescence. “I was very interested in the secondary sexual characteristics that emerge at this age, when people are growing up both mentally and physically and still have a lot of ‘firsts’ to come, so it was a topic that really appealed to me. I think that the people you meet at this age and the things you fall in love with remain important to you even when you’re an adult, so I wanted to etch that into your memory,” Yamada explained.
Yamada already has experience with the concept of high school students forming a band together. In 2011, she directed the first film adaptation of Kyoto Animation’s popular movie. K-ON! Series. In K-ON! the movie (2011) the main characters decide together what dreams and ambitions they want to pursue after graduation. In The colors insideTotsuko, Sakunaga and Kagehira support each other in similar ways. “They’re not the kind of kids that can be described with a few strong words,” Yamada explained. “They just exist in subtle ways. They care about each other, but they also have their own strong will and courage to see things through. It’s like a really mysterious force.”
According to Yamada, the decision to unite three characters over their shared love of music was inspired by his own childhood fascination with the subject. “I’ve always had respect and admiration for music. I grew up in a house where music was constantly playing, but I wasn’t allowed to go to piano lessons (at first), so my admiration only grew… eventually I started learning piano (and) I felt the joy of creating sounds in life.” Eventually, Yamada gave up playing the instrument, but decided to use anime as an alternative way to create music. “I thought, ‘I can’t do this on my own anymore,’ so I started thinking it would be nice if I could create sounds through my art.” In the band performance scenes, Yamada uses soft colors and “simple” pieces of music to create a “comfortable” environment for viewers. “I wanted the scene to be firmly grounded, with sound, color, movement, and the character’s emotions — all layered on top of each other. So I tried to create a balance where the music stands out, but nothing is missing,” said Yamada.
“The Colors Within” aims to protect “the dignity” of its young characters
Towards the end of the interview, Yamada talked about the importance of giving each character “dignity” regardless of context and situation. “One thing is to always protect the characters’ dignity and not be rude. Even if a character has thoughts I don’t understand, I have to be willing to listen to them and understand their reasons, and not arbitrarily control them.” In addition to taking inspiration from modern youth who manage to maintain a “sense of self” – despite having access to social media sites and online games where people often take on other roles – Yamada also focuses on creating mature, responsible characters as positive role models for audiences. “The main theme of the work was that I wanted to portray children who don’t blame others for their circumstances… this applies to adults too.”
Source: Mantan Web’s Naoko Yamada Interview (Parts 1 and 2), Anime News Network