''Colorful'' (stylized as ''COLORFUL'') is a Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by Torajirō Kishi. It was serialized in

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

Weekly Young Jump is a Japanese manga magazine published by Shueisha. Launched in 1979, it is published under Shueisha's '' Jump'' line of magazines. The chapters of series that run in ''Weekly Young Jump'' are collected and published in volumes under the "Y ...

'' from 1997 to 2000, with its chapters collected in seven ''

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

'' volumes. The manga was adapted into a 16-episode

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series by

Triangle Staff was a Japanese animation studio established in 1987 from former Madhouse staff, producing series such as ''Macross Plus'', '' Serial Experiments Lain'', and '' NieA_7''. The studio ceased operations in 2000, when they were set to do the animat ...

in 1999. The episodes are composed of vignettes typically involving men and teenage boys attempting to catch a glimpse of women's panties and/or look down their blouses. The episodes are fast-paced and short, about seven minutes each. In North America, the anime series was licensed by

ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gr ...

Characters

; : (Hirokawa) : (Itani) :Two freshmen at the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

. They are perverts in their own way. Hirokawa and Itani are seen enjoying the wind blowing girls' skirts up and seeing their attractive English teacher showing them how to pronounce their L's and R's. Hirokawa shares an apartment with three people. ; : :An athletic star. The show features clips of Yamamoto's face in between vignettes, either winking or with her name being printed all over the screen with "Yamamoto!" being said by multiple people in different ways. ; : :An American exchange student majoring in photography and cinematography at the University of Tokyo. He uses his cameras for

voyeuristic Voyeurism is the Sexual attraction, sexual interest in or Human sexual activity, practice of watching other people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, Human sexual activity, sexual activity, or other actions of a private nature. ...

panty shots.
; : :A man with circular sun-glasses who usually steals things from unsuspecting people. ;Shimoi Chino : :Reporter for the TV show ''Psychic Spot'' (''Channel 2 Night Beat'' in the dubbed version) whose main goal is to sit beside

Barbara Walters Barbara Jill Walters (September 25, 1929December 30, 2022) was an American broadcast journalist and television personality. Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, she appeared as a host of numerous television programs, ...

on ''

The View ''The View'' is an American talk show created by broadcast journalist Barbara Walters. , in its 28th season, the show has aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC as part of the network's ABC Daytime, daytime programming block since August ...

''.

Media

Manga

''Colorful'', written and illustrated by Torajirō Kishi, was serialized in

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

'' from 1997 to 2000. Shueisha collected its chapters in seven ''

'' volumes, released from February 20, 1998, to December 15, 2000.

Anime

''Colorful'' was adapted into a 16-episode

television series by

, broadcast on TBS's Wonderful programming block from September 6–30, 1999. The opening theme is , performed by

Yūko Miyamura , also known by her nickname , is a Japanese actress, voice actress, singer and sound director. She played Kazuha Toyama in '' Detective Conan'', Casca in '' Berserk'' and Asuka Langley Soryu in '' Neon Genesis Evangelion''. Personal life Mi ...

. In North America, the series was licensed in English by

. They released the 16-episode in DVD on March 18, 2003. It was later broadcast in the United States on G4's Anime Unleashed anime block in 2005 . The series was launched in Australia and New Zealand by

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, stylized as MADMAN, is an Australian film and television production, distribution, entertainment, and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising ...

on July 12, 2005.

References

External links