Super-talented director Noriko Yuasa has a project on Kickstarter for an independent film she has worked on called Coming Back Sunny. The film is a love story about a colour-blind schoolgirl named Shiori (Riria Kojima) who is suddenly able to see the world around her just in time for fate to draw her on a journey where she will fall in love with someone.
Here is the trailer on Kickstarter:
Noriko Yuasa has been directing films for over 20 years and she has made an impact on the festival circuit. This film is her latest one and was originally part of the omnibus movie Seisyun Kaleidoscope which was released in Japan in August of last year and it is now being developed into a feature. Here is my write up original omnibus film.
Seisyun Kaleidoscope 
青春カレイドスコープ 「Seishun Kareidosuko-pu」
Release Date: August 24th, 2019
Duration: 128 mins.
Director: Noriko Yuasa, Tomoyuki Kamimura, Yuuji Abe,
Writer: Noriko Yuasa, Tomoyuki Kamimura, Yuuji Abe, Kijin Nishi (Script),
Starring: Okaeri Kakko: Riria Kojima, Honoka Yoneyama; Ashita Kitto Motto: Miori, Mirei Tanaka, Yu Miyazawa, Masako Wakui; Natsuiro no Mafura-: Suzuka Chinzei, Haruka Momokawa,
Synopsis: An omnibus movie composed of youth stories played out by young actresses and written/directed by up-and-coming directors. “Okaeri Kakko” (director: Noriko Yuasa – Ordinary Everyday, Girl, Wavering) who has issues with her vision and seeing red/green which causes her world to have vivid colours. “Ashita Kitto Motto” ( Tomoyuki Kamimura) is about a girl who dreams of being a voice actor. She works with a colleague who likes cosplay and they draw characters. Natsuiro no Mafura (Yuuji Abe) depicts friendships and first loves.
The reason for the Kickstarter is that Yuasa will use the funds for the cost of post-production expenses (like DCP creation), for promotional fees, for festival submissions and also to fund travel and accommodation expenses for here crew so they can network at different festivals. This will help to make sure her film reaches audiences all over the world in the best condition possible and boost the profile of independent Japanese film makers. There is also the hope that the funds will be able to allow Yuasa and her team to continue working on future projects which are already in production.
So, regular readers of this blog will probably know that I am a big fan of Noriko Yuasa and I have reviewed Looking for my Lost Sunflowers (2014), Girl, Wavering (2015) and Ordinary Everyday (2017), which I absolutely loved. My concluding paragraph of the review states,
“Noriko Yuasa’s ability to dive into a strange story and her inventive use of sound and visual design makes this a fun film to watch and shows her to be a talent capable of mastering the narrative form and someone with a career audiences should start tracking.”
I loved the film so much, it was one of my favourites of the last decade. With these thoughts in mind and discovering that this is a film based on the use of colours, I am super-excited! Yuasa truly uses cinema to tell a story. She is an artist.
Yuasa explains about what she wanted to do on Kickstarter page:
I took a method of using color to visualize the very moment the main character encounters love. The main character, Shiori, is a high school girl with color blindness, and I wanted her to recognize the feeling of love through color. This is a film depicted with vivid colors and modern music, which portrays her emotions when she discovers this rush for the first time. I hope this emotion and sentiment can transpire to all audiences.
There are various levels of support people can pledge including a thank you video from the director and producer as well as digital access to two of Yuasa’s short films, and the chance to have your name in the credits.
If you want to support the project or find out more, please visit the film’s Kickstarter page where you can see the opening five minutes of the short.
The deadline for Coming Back Sunny is April 19th and while it has already reached its goal, there’s still time to get involved and help support a talented indie filmmaker.