Before writer/director Naoko Yamada created The Colors Within (2024), she released Garden of Remembrance, a 2022 short film in which remembrance gives way to healing from grief, the presentation of which involved toying with colors, specifically the way in which flowers in red, blue, and purple are represented. This short, included on the home release edition of The Colors Within released by GKIDS Films, enables fans of the full-length feature to see where Yamada toyed with the use of color and music as significant components of a narrative before making it a catalyst for Colors via central character Totsuko, who’s diagnosed with synesthesia, and which Yamada also uses as a key element in the coming-of-age tale. After a turn on the festival circuit and in select theaters in December of 2024, The Colors Within released wide in January 2025 and is now coming home, accompanied by more than 140 minutes of behind-the-scenes materials to answer all of your artistic questions.
If you’re interested in a spoiler-free exploration of The Colors Within, head over to EoM Founder Douglas Davidson’s initial release review.
Totsuko Higurashi voiced by Sayu Suzukawa in THE COLORS WITHIN. Photo courtesy of GKIDS Films. © 2024 Science SARU INC. / STORY inc. / TOHO CO., LTD. / JR East Marketing & Communications, Inc. / Lawson Entertainment, Inc.
Though Totsuko Higurashi (voiced by Sayu Suzukawa/Libby Rue) can see the colors others exude, she has yet to identify her own. As a result, she tends to marvel at the resplendent greens, pinks, and oranges that accompany her private school roommates or the brilliant blue of classmate Kimi Sakunaga (voiced by Akari Takaishi/Kylie McNeill). When Kimi stops coming to school, Totsuko goes looking for her, discovering that Kimi’s dropped out and is working in a bookstore. Not wanting to pry, Totsuko explains her presence as looking for a piano book, which, through a series of events, results in Tosuko and Kimi being asked by another customer, Rui Kagehira (voiced by Taisei Kido/Eddy Lee), if the duo are in a band and if they need a third, which Tosuko immediately accepts. Suddenly a trio, the three find comradery amongst each other and rescue through the creation of music.
Kimi Sakunaga voiced by Akari Takaishi in THE COLORS WITHIN. Photo courtesy of GKIDS Films. © 2024 Science SARU INC. / STORY inc. / TOHO CO., LTD. / JR East Marketing & Communications, Inc. / Lawson Entertainment, Inc.
With this being a home release review, be advised that unlike some recent GKIDS home releases which had nothing at all (Ghost Cat Anzu) or very little (The First Slam Dunk), The Colors Within is *bursting* with bonus features which will enhance your viewing experience. It’s one thing to enjoy a coming-of-age film for the narrative it provides and the infectious songs that are created for it (I’ve been listening to the three singles since early December 2024), it’s another to view the film with the knowledge of how the film was accomplished and the intent behind it. This reshapes, if not reframes, how one engages with the story as a whole. For instance, in the opening sequence which introduces Totsuko and her condition to us, we are shown several moments in her life, each one presented as if was viewed through an aged home movie, with colors shifting and focus drifting in and out. Yamada explains to us that they achieved this by first drawing the sequence and then putting it through a filter in order to achieve the look of a memory. Similarly, in that same sequence, multiple hand-drawn aspects are included (both the school of fish and the desk of Totsuko’s teacher), which were then given motion later or scanned in to further denote the difference between memory and the present moments. Additionally Yamada talks about the construction of Tostuko as someone who is always looking up and forward, thereby suggesting someone whose optimistic view is what keeps her from feeling as isolated from others who don’t experience synesthesia. This specific character choice makes her later doubts, aspects she shares with trusted teacher Sister Hiyoko (voiced by Yui Aragaki/Eileen Stevens), all the more poignant as it reveals that, even with her head held up, there are things that concern Totsuko enough to have a lapse of faith, even briefly, in herself. (It’s worth noting that the private institution that Tosuko attends is religious in nature, but religion is not a specific factor in the narrative beyond the push-pull of doing the right thing as it brushes up against adolescence.) Understanding Yamada’s directorial choices enables animation and the narrative it brings to life to open up in ways that audiences might miss in a live-action format. Personally, I didn’t notice the ways in which the hues of Totsuko, Rimi, and Rui were incorporated into their appearance until Yamada discussed it, which is a fun treat for those (such as me) who missed it the first time, enabling the audience to be more cognizant of how color plays into the characters’ lives.
Rui Kagehira voiced by Taisei Kido in THE COLORS WITHIN. Photo courtesy of GKIDS Films. © 2024 Science SARU INC. / STORY inc. / TOHO CO., LTD. / JR East Marketing & Communications, Inc. / Lawson Entertainment, Inc.
Among the many bonus features is a near 10-minute featurette, “Starting a Band with Kensuke Ushio,” in which composer ushio (stylized with lowercase letters), frequent collaborator with Yamada, talks about the process of creating the music for the film from the task of incorporating the theremin (as someone who doesn’t play it themselves) to how the use of music is directly connected to the characters themselves and their arcs. For those who caught the needle drop of Underground’s “Born Slippy” in the sequence when Kimi is hiding out in Totsuko’s dorm during the class fieldtrip, ushio discusses how this was conceived and presented by him to Yamada. In the almost 40-minute featurette, “Live Talk & Drawing with Naoko Yamada,” home viewers are invited to observe the October 20th, 2024, event moderated by Johanna Lee of GKIDS Films during Animation is Film Festival 2024 which opens with a Q&A with Yamada and ends with a live drawing of the three leads of Colors. During the Q&A, Yamada answers questions about the film, her view of animation, a typical day working on the film, and great deal more on her personal philosophy regarding art creation and collaboration. For the drawing portion, the view does shift to a closer, more detailed look of Yamada’s drawing via a “live view” screen that’s really just a monitor recording of the tablet Yamada uses that mimics the projector screen that the audience sees. Impressively, while Yamada draws, she continues to answer questions.
L-R: Rui Kagehira voiced by Taisei Kido, Totsuko Higurashi voiced by Sayu Suzukawa, and Kimi Sakunaga voiced by Akari Takaishi in THE COLORS WITHIN. Photo courtesy of GKIDS Films. © 2024 Science SARU INC. / STORY inc. / TOHO CO., LTD. / JR East Marketing & Communications, Inc. / Lawson Entertainment, Inc.
In the brief, three-minute featurette “Crate Digging with Naoko Yamada,” previously made available on Youtube as a promotional tool for the theatrical release, viewers are invited to join Yamada as she goes record shopping at Freakbeat Records and shares a few of her favorite musicians and songs, the emotions they bring out, and more. The seven-minute “Photowalk with Naoko Yamada” focuses on Yamada walking around L.A. and taking photos beginning with the Frank Lloyd Wright Museum. As we watch her walk around and take photos, she talks about the way her mind works in terms of seeing things and the need to see them in a 3D space to understand them; how photography relates to being a director in terms of capturing something in the right frame; and how she approaches animation filmmaking as though she were storyboarding and shooting a live-action story. She discusses the architecture differences between Japan and America. All of this is intercut with moments from the film, trying to create story and scenes that make audiences linger on their thoughts, inspiring them to ponder.
Much like other GKIDS home releases BELLE (2021) and Mars Express (2023), three scene breakdowns, totaling more than 28 minutes, invite audiences to observe Yamada sitting at a monitor and discussing the creation of a portion of the film and its significance to the story. Each of the three scene breakdowns feature Yamada sitting before a monitor screen. The audience view is of her in front of the monitor with cuts moving the view to a full-screen version of the monitor she’s looking at and back to her in front of it. This enables us to listen to her analyze each sequence and what as she marks it up with her stylus. She also talks about a variety of technical and thematic elements of the project from the work of the animators, the photography team, and sound effects produced for the film, as well as the differences between the initial passes and final version. Anything, really, that’s relevant to the development of the scene. With each breakdown complete, then we’re shown the final version of that scene in full.
L-R: Kimi Sakunaga voiced by Akari Takaishi and Totsuko Higurashi voiced by Sayu Suzukawa in THE COLORS WITHIN. Photo courtesy of GKIDS Films. © 2024 Science SARU INC. / STORY inc. / TOHO CO., LTD. / JR East Marketing & Communications, Inc. / Lawson Entertainment, Inc.
The last major section of bonus materials includes four featurettes titled “Color Palettes,” each with their own specific perspective to further learning about the film. These are less improvised than the other featurettes, formally designed and produced with audiences listening to interviews with Yamada, ushio, and the central Japanese voice cast, respectively. Across each one, we observe the creation of the film from their respective experiences, listening to them talk about everything from the animation process to the audition process, the personal philosophies regarding what the film means, and their hopes for what audiences takeaway. Each featurette has interviews crosscut with storyboards and behind-the-scenes moments, like recording in the booths, press events, and premieres. All four run roughly 35 minutes.
Totsuko Higurashi voiced by Sayu Suzukawa in THE COLORS WITHIN. Photo courtesy of GKIDS Films. © 2024 Science SARU INC. / STORY inc. / TOHO CO., LTD. / JR East Marketing & Communications, Inc. / Lawson Entertainment, Inc.
The last piece of included materials are six trailers/teasers in both Japanese and English. These are the most basic of all the materials included within this home release edition.
Though there’s compelling evidence that consumers don’t long for physical media (based on the low or non-existent stock at retailers), there still remains an active contingent of individuals who long for the ability to put their hands on the films they enjoy or love. In a digital age, physical media is a form of rebellion. That one such coming-of-age tale features more than 140 minutes of behind-the-scenes materials which enable audiences to dive deeper into the creation of it is incredibly punk (even if the music is far more pop). Couple this with a narrative that grows richer on a rewatch and you’ve got a home release that’s easy to recommend for viewers who have either already appreciate Yamada’s work or are seeking a place to get started.
The Colors Within Special Features:
- Garden of Remembrance (17:48)
- Starting a Band with Kensuke Ushio (9:39)
- Live Talk & Drawing with Naoko Yamada (38:06)
- Crate Digging with Naoko Yamada (3:37)
- Photowalk with Naoko Yamada (6:37)
- Scene Breakdown – The Candlelit Church Sequence (12:42)
- Scene Breakdown – The Final Performance (7:57)
- Scene Breakdown – Totsuko’s Flashback Sequence (7:20)
- Color Palette #1: Interview with Director Naoko Yamada (9:18)
- Color Palette #2: Interview with Music Creator Kensuke Ushio (8:38)
- Color Palette #3: Interview with the Cast (11:56)
- Color Palette #4: Behind the Scenes with the Cast (6:10)
- Five (5) Teasers and Trailers (6:38)
Available on digital April 1st, 2025.
Available on Blu-ray/DVD combo and limited edition steelbook May 27th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official GKIDS Films The Colors Within webpage.
To purchase, head to the official Shout! Studios The Colors Within webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Recommendation
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