THE COLORS WITHIN

Totsuko has the unique ability to see people as colors. As a closeted synesthete, her senses overlap and cause her to see 'colors' of bliss, excitement serenity and others over people. Totsuko has never shared the truth of her ability with others for fear of being thought of as weird, however does have a positive outlook on her ability and sees it as a gift. One day she runs into classmate Kimi and is wonderstruck by her beautiful, cobalt blue color. Wanting to learn more about Kimi, Totsuko finds herself starting a band with both Kimi and Rui, a music lover they encounter in a book shop.

Kimi is the honor-student Totsuko becomes fascinated with after seeing her cobalt blue color. Shortly after meeting however, Kimi drops out of school and begins working at a book shop, though she pretends to still attend school to keep her grandmother from worrying. Kimi secretly loves to write music and plays the electric guitar but struggles with following her dreams and meeting her grandmother's expectations.

Rui runs into Totsuko and Kimi in the book shop Kimi works at and strikes up a conversation with them both when he notices Kimi's guitar. An avid music fan, Rui jumps at the chance to form a band with the two. Rui struggles with hiding his music from his mother and her expectations for him to become a doctor. He worries that if he leaves his home town to pursue his dreams, he'd be abandoning his mother to a life of loneliness.

A Silent Voice was Yamada's 2016 international hit that won the Japanese Movie Critics Awards for Best Animated Feature Film. The film follows Shōya Ishida, a former bully who has become an outcast, as he attempts to reconnect and befriend Shōko Nishimiya, the girl he bullied years before. Together they navigate and explore themes of bullying, disability, forgiveness, mental health, and suicide and learn how to trust and depend on one another and their circle of friends.

Yamada's wildly successful anime series K-On! ran from 2007-2012. The series follows four high school girls who join their school's Light Music Club to keep it from disbanding. Despite not knowing how to read music or play instruments, the girls practice and hang out together. They eventually become excellent performers and the club starts to attract new members.

Yamada's 2018 film, Liz and the Blue Bird, follows the relationship between Mizore and Nozomi as they prepare for a concert with their high school's wind band. At the same time, it depicts and follows the fairy tale story from which the musical piece the band is working on is inspired by.