Interview with Naoko Yamada, director of “The Colors Within”

For director Naoko Yamada, creating a project from scratch to Interior colors represented a great challenge but also the realization of a lifelong dream. “I love music and have always wanted to form a band,” Yamada says. “This way I was able to form a band and present it to the world and that makes me really happy. My dream came true.

Interior colors follows Totsuko (Sayu Suzukawa), a young girl who can see the color of someone’s heart. After becoming fascinated by the colors she sees in her new friends Kimi (Akari Takaishi) and Rui (Taisei Kido), the three decide to start a group. Yamada’s choice of colors for the three main characters was based on the primary colors that make up light – Totsuko for red, Kimi for blue, and Rui for green.

DEADLINE: Where did the idea of ​​having this connection between color and music come from?

NAOKO YAMADA: The fact that Totsuko is able to sense other people’s colors is something that isn’t tangible, and I think it was really a connection to the way people perceive music. It’s not tangible, but they might feel emotions about it. So from the way Totsuko feels other people’s colors, and then the way the audience can feel the music and the sound of the film, I really thought there was a deep connection.

DEADLINE: The animation is truly magnificent; How did you arrive at this style for the story?

YAMADA: I wanted the audience to feel calm, kindness and happiness, so that influenced the colors and atmosphere of the characters. But I really wanted to express light through color. The way Totsuko sees color, she sees Kimi as blue and Rui as green, then she later finds out that she is red. These are the primary colors of light, and when they overlap, they turn into white. In this color of whiteness, I really thought it expressed in a beautiful way the possibilities and the future of these characters.

DEADLINE: Why did you make the story set in a Catholic school?

YAMADA: When I first thought of Totsuko’s character, I really wanted her to have a strong sense of conviction. I thought that if she had a strong sense of belief, she would continue to believe until the end. I think that’s why I defined it as Catholic, but in Japan, the Christian or Catholic religion only makes up maybe 1% of the Japanese population. Surprisingly, there are a lot of Catholic schools in Japan, but even within the school, I think the students who believe in this religion are only about 10%. So it’s a really interesting dynamic in a certain place where people come together, there are people with different beliefs. They may be Buddhist, they may believe in Shintoism, they may be atheists, but they are able to not only coexist, but also accept and respect each other’s culture and religion. This feeling of coexistence in a respectful place truly represents Japan in its essence.