# Colorful (カラフル)
**Colorful** (カラフル) is a 2010 Japanese animated feature film directed by Keiichi Hara, adapted from Eto Mori's novel of the same name, in which the soul of a dead person is given a second chance at life inside the body of a junior high school student who has just committed suicide.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/55171/) It was produced by Sunrise with animation production by Ascension, distributed by Toho, and released in Japan on August 21, 2010.[2](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/2223)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | カラフル (Karafuru)[3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/colorful) |
| Director / source | Keiichi Hara; based on the novel by Eto Mori, published in 1998 by Rironsha[1](https://eiga.com/movie/55171/) • [4](https://asianwiki.com/Colorful) |
| Release | August 21, 2010, distributed by Toho[1](https://eiga.com/movie/55171/) |
| Runtime | 127 minutes (JFDB lists 126 minutes)[1](https://eiga.com/movie/55171/) • [2](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/2223) |
| Production | Fuji Television Network, Sunrise, Dentsu, Aniplex, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), Toho; animation by Ascension[2](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/2223) |
| Principal voice cast | Kazato Tomizawa (Makoto), Aoi Miyazaki (Shoko Sano), Akina Minami (Hiroka Kuwabara), Michael (Purapura), Kumiko Aso and Katsumi Takahashi (Makoto's parents)[1](https://eiga.com/movie/55171/) |
| Box office | US$3.9 million[5](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/movie/colorful) |
| Awards | Mainichi Film Award for Best Animated Film (65th, 2011); Annecy 2011 Audience Award and Special Distinction; 14th Japan Media Arts Festival Animation Division Excellence Award[4](https://asianwiki.com/Colorful) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1677561/awards/) • [7](https://www.bunka.go.jp/j-mediaarts-festival/en/award/single/colorful/index-2.html) |
## Spoilers
### Story
The film opens in the space between heaven and earth, where the soul of a person who has just died is drifting. An angel-like being called Purapura appears and tells him, "Congratulations! You have won the lottery": although his soul is guilty of a grave sin committed before death, he has been given the chance to return to the world and try life again, and he must recall the sin he committed.[8](https://www.sunrise-inc.co.jp/work/detail.php?cid=295) The soul enters the body of Kobayashi Makoto, a third-year junior high school student who has just killed himself, and begins living as Makoto.[8](https://www.sunrise-inc.co.jp/work/detail.php?cid=295)
Living as Makoto, the soul learns why the boy killed himself. Makoto despised his father, who let himself be pushed around at work; his mother had been having an affair until recently; his older brother mocked him and refused to speak to him; and Hiroka Kuwabara, a younger student on whom Makoto had a secret crush, was engaged in compensated dating (teenage girls dating older men for money/gifts), which Purapura identifies as the trigger for the suicide.[8](https://www.sunrise-inc.co.jp/work/detail.php?cid=295) At school Makoto had no friends and the worst grades.[8](https://www.sunrise-inc.co.jp/work/detail.php?cid=295)
Because the soul does not behave the way Makoto did, his relationships with the people around him begin to change little by little. Shoko Sano, a classmate who had always watched Makoto, becomes important to him, as does Saotome, his first true friend.[8](https://www.sunrise-inc.co.jp/work/detail.php?cid=295) The Japan Media Arts Festival's award citation describes the story as "I" learning the reason for Makoto's death, experiencing the same life as Makoto's, and beginning to think about the meaning of this second chance.[7](https://www.bunka.go.jp/j-mediaarts-festival/en/award/single/colorful/index-2.html)
## Source novel and earlier adaptations
The film adapts Eto Mori's novel *Colorful*, first published in Japan in 1998 by Rironsha; the Japan Society notes that the novel has sold over a million copies in Japan and was translated into English by Jocelyne Allen.[4](https://asianwiki.com/Colorful) • [9](https://www.japansociety.org.uk/review?review=779) An earlier live-action film adaptation was released in 2000, and a Thai live-action remake, *Homestay*, followed in 2018.[4](https://asianwiki.com/Colorful) • [10](https://www-archive.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ciras/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/CIRAS_DP82.pdf) A Japanese review site notes that the animated version plays heavier and more raw than the 2000 live-action film directed by Tadahisa Fujimura's predecessor in the property, Shun Nakahara.[11](https://eiga.com/movie/55171/critic/)
## Production and style
Keiichi Hara (born 1959) was known before this film for the *Crayon Shin-chan* theatrical films and for *Summer Days with Coo* (2007).[2](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/2223) The JFDB describes his realistic style as taken one step further in *Colorful*, creating a world whose backdrops look as if they could have been shot live.[2](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/2223) The Japan Media Arts Festival jury wrote that Hara weaves a realistic, tactile sensation into his fantasy world, and that the film builds a story from elements that exist in reality except for the single fantastic premise needed to set it in motion.[7](https://www.bunka.go.jp/j-mediaarts-festival/en/award/single/colorful/index-2.html)
The screenplay was written by Miho Maruo, with character design by Atsushi Yamagata, animation direction by Masahiro Sato, and music by Kow Otani.[2](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/2223) The singer miwa provided the image song and ending theme.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/55171/) A reviewer at Eiga.com credits Maruo's script with rendering the fine psychology of female characters such as the girl engaged in compensated dating and the mother who had an affair, complementing a director better known for writing boys.[11](https://eiga.com/movie/55171/critic/)
## Reception and awards
The film won the Best Animated Film award at the 65th Mainichi Film Awards, announced January 17, 2011.[4](https://asianwiki.com/Colorful) At the 2011 Annecy International Animated Film Festival it won both the Audience Award and a Special Distinction, and it was nominated for the Cristal for Best Feature.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1677561/awards/) It received the Excellence Award in the Animation Division of the 14th Japan Media Arts Festival.[7](https://www.bunka.go.jp/j-mediaarts-festival/en/award/single/colorful/index-2.html) At the 34th Japan Academy Prizes (2011), Eiga.com records a win of the Excellence Animation Award, while IMDb and Filmaffinity list the film as a nominee for Best Animation Film.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/55171/) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1677561/awards/) It was also nominated for Best Animated Film at the 2010 Sitges Film Festival and the Film Festival of Catalonia.[12](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film554702.html) Miho Maruo won Best Screenplay in the Film Category of the 2011 [Tokyo Anime Award](https://www.edgepedia.org/tokyo-anime-award).[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1677561/awards/)
The Vesoul festival archive records that the film had success in Japan among adolescents as well as adults reminded of their own adolescence.[13](https://archives.cinemas-asie.com/en/movies/item/2980-colorful.html) The Japan Times reviewer Mark Schilling, a film critic for that newspaper, wrote that the teenage hero behaves abominably for much of the film with less reason than usual for a chip-on-his-shoulder adolescent, coming close to violating the Hollywood rule that the audience must root for the hero.[14](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2010/08/20/films/film-reviews/colorful/)
## Availability
Streaming availability differs sharply by country. As of the most recent checks, the film is not available on subscription services in the United States, the United Kingdom, or Canada, but it streams on Prime Video in six countries including Austria, Germany, and Italy, and on the Aniverse Amazon Channel in two countries and U-NEXT in one.[15](https://www.flickfinder.net/movie/colorful-2010-64246) In Japan, JustWatch lists it on U-NEXT, the dAnime Amazon Channel, and FOD, with rental options.[16](https://www.justwatch.com/jp/%E6%98%A0%E7%94%BB/karahuru) The Japan Foundation purchased an English-subtitled 35mm print of the film for its overseas programs.[17](https://www.jpf.go.jp/j/about/result/pr/2010/pdf/pr2010.pdf)
## References
1. [カラフル : 作品情報・声優・キャスト・あらすじ - 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/55171/)
2. [JFDB - カラフル (COLORFUL)](https://jfdb.jp/en/title/2223)
3. [Colorful streaming: where to watch movie online? - JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/colorful)
4. [Colorful (2010) - AsianWiki](https://asianwiki.com/Colorful)
5. [Where to Watch Colourful (2010) Online - Plex](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/movie/colorful)
6. [Colorful (2010) - Awards - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1677561/awards/)
7. [Colorful - Japan Media Arts Festival, 14th Animation Division Excellence Award](https://www.bunka.go.jp/j-mediaarts-festival/en/award/single/colorful/index-2.html)
8. [カラフル｜作品紹介｜サンライズ (SUNRISE)](https://www.sunrise-inc.co.jp/work/detail.php?cid=295)
9. [The Japan Society - Colorful review](https://www.japansociety.org.uk/review?review=779)
10. [混成アジア映画研究 82 (CSEAS, Kyoto University): Thai film Homestay and the novel Colorful](https://www-archive.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ciras/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/CIRAS_DP82.pdf)
11. [カラフル : 映画評論・批評 - 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/55171/critic/)
12. [Colorful (2010) - Filmaffinity](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film554702.html)
13. [Colorful - Festival des Cinémas d'Asie de Vesoul](https://archives.cinemas-asie.com/en/movies/item/2980-colorful.html)
14. ['Colorful' - The Japan Times, review by Mark Schilling](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2010/08/20/films/film-reviews/colorful/)
15. [Where to watch Colorful (2010) - FlickFinder](https://www.flickfinder.net/movie/colorful-2010-64246)
16. [カラフル 映画 動画配信 - JustWatch Japan](https://www.justwatch.com/jp/%E6%98%A0%E7%94%BB/karahuru)
17. [The Japan Foundation, FY2010 business report (purchase of English-subtitled 35mm print)](https://www.jpf.go.jp/j/about/result/pr/2010/pdf/pr2010.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Japanese anime features › Released 1999 to 2013*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license