A soul enters the afterlife, where it is told that it has no further to go from there. Whoever this soul was, it was responsible for something bad in their previous life and thus won’t be reborn. But fortunately, the soul is given a second chance by being sent back to earth once more to continue to live the life of Kobayashi Makoto, who has just died by suicide.
Author: 森 絵都（もり えと）
Publisher: 講談社（こうだんしゃ）
Content Warnings: suicide, bullying, underage sugar dating (enjo kōsai)
Length: 275 pages
The soul now has to settle into the life Makoto left behind. There are his family members, who constantly are preoccupied with anything but their own struggling son. And there is the issue of him being a target of bullying in school. While coming to terms with these facts on top of needing to fix Makoto’s falling grades, the soul also has the task of reflecting on the sin it comitted and that got him into this mess.
As becomes clear from the description, this novel deals with numerous issues relevant to teenagers between middle school and high school: It discusses various family issues, issues related to self-image and self-worth, bullying and also deals with the themes of first love and sex/arousal. This is reflected in the way the novel is written, which I found fitting for that very age group.
In my hardcover tankobon version of the book, which I got from the library, the font was printed rather large with an increased use of hiragana spellings. That made the novel rather quick to read for me, so I’d say even early N2 level reader will find this to be a good match for their abilities.
(The reading exerpt from bookwalker on the right is a bunko edition with almost no furigana and a smaller font. Definitely check the publisher before purchasing if those points are important to you.)
You can get the novel カラフル shipped to your country through Amazon Japan, for example. I’m part of their affiliate program and will receive a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through my link.
dokushoclub.com 
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