Margins
Colorful book cover
Colorful
1998
First Published
4.01
Average Rating
232
Number of Pages

A beloved and bestselling classic in Japan, this groundbreaking tale of a dead soul who gets a second chance is now available in English for the very first time. "Congratulations, you've won the lottery!" shouts the angel Prapura to a formless soul. The soul hasn't been kicked out of the cycle of rebirth just yet—he's been given a second chance. He must recall the biggest mistake of his past life while on 'homestay' in the body of fourteen-year-old Makoto Kobayashi, who has just committed suicide. It looks like Makoto doesn't have a single friend, and his family don't seem to care about him at all. But as the soul begins to live Makoto's life on his own terms, he grows closer to the family and the people around him, and sees their true colors more clearly, shedding light on Makoto's misunderstandings. Since its initial release over twenty years ago, Colorful has become a part of the literary canon, not only in Japan—where it has sold over a million copies—but around the world, having been translated into several different languages. Now, Eto Mori's beloved classic is finally available in English.

Avg Rating
4.01
Number of Ratings
3,133
5 STARS
34%
4 STARS
39%
3 STARS
22%
2 STARS
4%
1 STARS
1%
goodreads

Author

Eto Mori
Eto Mori
Author · 8 books
Eto Mori has been a literary star in Japan for over thirty years. She has won numerous major awards in Japan including the Naoki Prize, one of Japan’s most prestigious awards for popular fiction. Colorful has been translated into seven different languages, and adapted into three films. Colorful is her first novel to be translated into English. She lives in Tokyo, Japan.
548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
© 2025 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved