Common Name: Mitsuboshi Colors
Score: 7/10, 5/5
Length: 12 Episodes
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy
Summary: Sworn to protect the peace in their hometown of Ueno, three young girls have joined to become the heroes known as "Colors." Color coordination, a secret base, an adorable mascot, and the energy to see things through, these girls have everything they need to succeed. Since Ueno is a generally peaceful, town though, the Colors actually spend most of their time hanging out and playing games that usually involve dragging the rest of the town into their antics. Cute, funny, and a little precocious, these girls have a way of making every day interesting.
Review: Depicting the perspective children in a realistic fashion is, without a doubt, one of the hardest things to do when writing fiction. It's just kind of difficult to accurately capture that highly mercurial point in a person's life once we reach the age when we might be able to write something halfway decent, aka the point at which we've likely forgotten what it's like to be a kid. So, let's consider for a moment how hard it might be to write and then draw a story in which a child is the viewpoint character. Not only does the author need to capture the essence of a child's personality in this case but they also need to actually make the children look convincing too. Given how many child characters there are out there that end up looking or acting like tiny adults, or worse, like brainless nothings, I find it to be nothing short of a miracle when someone/something manages to get it right. So, I have to say, right out the gate, that I'm over the moon that we got another great child-centered anime this past season with the adaptation of Mitsuboshi Colors.
Whether or not this show is child-appropriate, however, is a different matter entirely. At least there isn't any doubt that it's topical, for whatever that's worth.
To give you an idea of what I mean I say this is a good "child-centered" show, as opposed to a show "for children," allow me to elaborate on this show usually operates. Centered on a group of three young girls who have formed a "peace protecting" gang, Mitsuboshi Colors main appeal is that we get to watch a trio of dumb, silly kids do dumb, silly things because they've been given carte blanche to run wild while their parents are working. Crazy and irresponsible as that might sound, these girls rarely get into any real trouble. Most of the time they just find or are given ways of occupying themselves to stave off boredom. Each and every episode is just a look into they happen to occupy themselves each day. What makes it funny and interesting, however, goes beyond them just doing a thing. A lot of the show's humor is built on the fact that they possess an incomplete understanding of the world they live in. Rather than simply not knowing something, they do what kids actually do and they use their imagination to craft an interpretation of the world based on what they have to work with. Sometimes they'll get the correct answer, other times they'll end up coming up with something that would sound absolutely insane to a knowledgeable person but makes total sense to them.
If you ever have prolonged exposure to kids, you'll see and hear stuff like this ALL THE TIME.
As if to drive that point home even further, there are actually a good number knowledge gaps forced on this show's audience as well. For example, the story of how these girls met and came to form their infamous gang of peacekeepers remains an unknown throughout the entire series. No child is going to turn to their friend and ask, "How did we become friends again?" because, unless that child suffers from short-term memory loss, they already know the answer. Unless the manga covers that story at some point, we are left to piece together how three girls, one of whom goes to a different school than the others, met and became friends in the first place. At the end of the day, though, the hows and whys don't matter to this show. What really matters is determined by what matters to these girls in each moment. So, in a broader sense, all that matters in this show is the fun these girls have together because, to them, there's nothing more important than their time together. Long story short, rather than sweating the details, Mitsuboshi Colors just kinda jumps into the thick of what a child's mind is like as it lets the laughs roll as these kids start acting like kids.
Albeit, a really messed up bunch of kids.
Now that's out of the way, on to the actual meat of this show. Unfortunately, there really isn't much to talk about a character comedy outside of said characters and how they interact. Whether or not you will like this show will depend a great deal on how much you like or, at the very least, can tolerate the show's main cast of characters. So, first and foremost, you will need an affinity/tolerance for the members of Colors. Sacchan, the most emotional and energetic of the trio, is the show's main source of idiotic humor and gag comedy. Like most children her age, she has a rather disturbing obsession with poop and other gross things. Beyond the bad jokes and the tomboyish attitude, though, it can be said that she's a pretty good kid with an unwavering love for her beautiful and frequently constipated mother. Kotoha, the intellectual of the group, tends toward a more antagonistic brand of humor. Slapstick, deceptions, and outright offensive actions are her forte so long as she can be bothered to care since she can usually be seen with her head buried in a video game. Lastly, Yui, the appointed leader of the group, is the incompetent straight man of the group. More often than not, she is the target of the other's two's jokes but doesn't usually let it get to her. Out of the whole group, she's the only one who could reasonably be considered "normal" and is generally known to be a good kid.
Too bad she's an ideal case study in how being good friends with bad kids
encourages similarly bad behavior in good kids.
Outside of the Colors, the rest of the cast perform very similar roles either as a means of entertaining the girls or antagonizing them. In the latter category, we only really have one character to consider--the resident police officer, Saitou. Most of the time, Saitou is basically just a symbol of authority the Colors refuse to respect, seeing how his laziness is likely what sparked their perceived need to be the peacekeepers their city deserves. On average, Saitou antagonizes the girls simply because they regularly annoy him for their own amusement but, from time to time, he seems to actually enjoy playing with them when his own boredom gets the better of him. Regardless of where he stands, though, he is certainly one of the main reasons the Colors team exists at all.
Every hero needs a villain, after all.
In the latter category of side characters, there is a far wider selection of characters to choose from. First and foremost, there is Sacchan's mother (the only named parent we see in the show) who actively supports her daughter and her friends. Usually, this "support" is just a clever means of getting the girls to do something for her but her schemes. While this might be seen as manipulative, her interactions with the girls do always end favorably and are likely meant to teach a lesson of the give and take that is expected in society, which is obviously an important lesson for kids their age. Alongside her, there are the Sasaki sisters who run a bread shop in the same shopping district Sacchan's mother sells fruit in. Important as a means of perspective, these sisters are expressions of how people change as they grow older. The younger sister, Nonoka, shares a lot in common with the girls as a high schooler but has lost a lot of her imagination in exchange for the knowledge that comes with age. Still, she's willing to play games with and pranks on the girls for a laugh. The elder sister, Momoka, by comparison, is far more rational in nature and fills a role closer to that of Sacchan's mom. Since she is still not quite matured enough to know how to handle kids yet, though, she occasionally falls prey to the Colors more aggressive schemes. Lastly, there is "Old Man" Kujiraoka Daigorou, who runs a knickknack shop in the shopping district. Unlike the rest of the show's adults, he is easily the most selfless and active supporter of the Colors in that he often makes or gives things away to the girls to play with. With all his toys and puzzles for them to solve, the old man encourages them to think critically and solve problems while having fun. He is, in essence, both a cunning teacher for the girls, getting them to voluntarily do homework, and a childish playmate who derives just as much joy in making games as the girls do playing them.
Whether or not the lessons he teaches are wholly good, though, is a question for another day.
In a way, this show reminds me a great deal of a more innocent Mitsudomoe. Rather than being an objectively perverse and offensive title that built its humor by having kids acting just as messed up as depraved adults, though, this one achieves a kind of vaguely offensive humor by more natural means. For example, Kotoha's brand of humor often derives from her taking pleasure in other people's pain--typically expressed through her stepping on people to assume a dominant role. In another instance, Sacchan tries to distract Saitou at one point by listing her dress a little and showing some leg. To the show's credit, these kinds moments are few and far between, likely to discourage the thought that these girls are themselves perverse, but you easily get that these inappropriate behaviors are learned. In all likelihood, Kotoha learned her dominant behavior from a kids' anime or game where the villain acts in a similar manner. Though she claims she's always been this way, this sentiment doesn't clash with the idea that she's always enjoyed dominating others but has finally been given the means to try out a pose she's seen time and again. Sacchan's actions were likely similarly inspired by either a show she watched, given her love for using her "signature attack," or maybe it was simply learned from watching the various adults that frequent the shopping district. Either way, this show does a great job of making the offensive seem natural and innocent, unlike Mitsudomoe where that trio's actions are blatantly perverse in nature.
Again, I won't lie that these kinds of actions make me worry for these girls' future though.
To bring this back to a more wholesome note, I'll also say that this show reminds me of some great titles like Yotsuba&! (I've said it once, I'll say it again: Why has this not gotten a show yet?!) and even a bit of Non Non Biyori, two titles that handle their childish characters pretty darn well. Though the girls are a bit more precocious than these comparisons, they share a similar kind of humor and respect for their youthful characters. At no point in this show did I grow tired of their antics and saw a lot of truth in the stories this had to tell. The honesty and accuracy in which the lives of these girls is outlined is probably the main reason why I'm so fond of it. I can't say I know any kids who are just like any of the three girls, but I never doubted for a moment that there are kids out there who goof around and act like these three. I know for a fact, however, that there are people out in the real world just like the adults of this show, since my job is basically just to be a more professional version of "Old Man" Daigorou. Whether or not you believe it, though, this show is highly entertaining in its own right. I understand that it might not be for everyone, but feel like I can recommend it regardless since there's nothing to be lost from sitting back, relaxing, and watching a nice, childish comedy.