Mitsuboshi Colors

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Katsuwo. The manga was serialized in ASCII Media Works' ''Dengeki Daioh'' magazine from 2014 to 2020. An anime television series adaptation directed by Tomoyuki Kawamura and produced by Silver Link aired between January and March 2018.

Premise

Set in Ueno, the series follows three elementary school girls named Yui, Sat-chan and Kotoha, who form an organization known as "The Colors". Together, they perform various deeds and errands to protect the peace in their town.

Characters

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:The very shy designated leader of the Colors. Her catchphrase is "Trigonometric functions!". She is prone to crying at the slightest provocation.

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:An energetic girl who comes up with crazy ideas. Her catchphrase is "Extra virgin oil!".

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:A relaxed girl who constantly plays video games, despite not being very good at them. Yui often exploits this fact to tease Kotoha. She has sadistic tendencies and often likes to step on anyone she sees on the ground. Her catchphrase is "I've beat this game!".

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:A policeman who watches over the city and constantly comes at odds with the Colors.

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:An old man who runs a general store called Whale Factory and is nicknamed "Pops" by the Colors. He comes up with various devices for the Colors to play with and is always seen wearing a different pair of novelty sunglasses.

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:Sat-chan's mother who runs a fruit store called Kise Fruits.

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:A high schoolgirl who is nicknamed "Nono". She works at her family bakery called Sasaki Bread. While her sister wants to convert the bakery into an onigiri store, she is keen on keeping the bakery alive and has been practicing how to bake and experimenting with different spices.

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:Nonoka's older sister who is nicknamed "Moka". She knows how to make delicious varieties of onigiri and wants to convert the bakery to an onigiri store.

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:Nonoka's classmate who has a lot of part-time jobs. Nonoka often jokingly tells the Colors that her friend might repeat a year in high school because of that.

Media

Manga

The original manga series written by Katsuwo began serialization in ASCII Media Works' ''Dengeki Daioh'' magazine on July 26, 2014. Seven ''tankōbon'' volumes have been released as of October 26, 2019. The series finished after 72 chapters, ending in the August 2020 issue of ''Dengeki Daioh'' which released on June 27, 2020.

Anime

An anime adaptation was announced at the Dengeki Comic Festival 2017 on March 12, 2017, which was later confirmed to be a television series on July 27, 2017. The anime series is being directed by Tomoyuki Kawamura and produced by Silver Link, with series composition by Shogo Yasukawa and character design by Takumi Yokota. The 12-episode series aired in Japan between January 7 and March 25, 2018. The opening and ending themes respectively are and , both performed by Colors☆Slash ( Yūki Takada, Marika Kouno, and Natsumi Hioka). Sentai Filmworks licensed the series in North America and streamed it on Hidive.

Reception

The show received mixed reviews. Paul Jensen of Anime News Network said that the show doesn't "quite translate into anything truly memorable", and said the show's early episodes focus too much on the characters "key personality traits", but said it is "still perfectly watchable in these early scenes". However, he said that by the show's fourth episode, the show has a "comfortable rhythm" that balances humor and jokes, saying it reminded him of ''Non Non Biyori''. He concluded that the show is "entertaining to watch" and relaxing, but is not "genuinely memorable" and criticized the animation and art for being "above average". However, in reviewing the first episode, Rebecca Silverman of the same website described it as a "cute girls show" she can "get behind", Theron Martin called it "charming", and Nick Creamer called it a "a joy from start to finish" while Lynzee Loveridge was more critical.

See also

*'' Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu'' – Another manga series by the same author
* ''Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club'' – Another anime series directed by Tomoyuki Kawamura

Notes

References

External links

Official website

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{{Silver Link

2014 manga
Anime series based on manga
Comedy anime and manga
Dengeki Comics
Kadokawa Corporation franchises
Manga series
Sentai Filmworks
Shōnen manga
Silver Link
Slice of life anime and manga