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Color is a fictionalized account of the relationship between Eiki Eiki and Taishi Zaou, although they are pretty coy about how close they are in real life. Takashiro Tsuda sees a painting by Sakae Fujiwara that echoes and compliments his own, giving him the feeling that he has found his soul mate. Expecting a cute girl, he is shocked to learn Fujiwara is the guy he keeps running into—literally. They quickly fall in love, freaking out classmates who accuse them of acting like an old married couple weeks after meeting. Fujiwara seduces Tsuda with his smoothest moves—beer and pornography after a day at Little Elephant Park—and the two are happy for a few years until family pressures threaten to drive them apart.

Color is obviously a labor of love for Eiki and Zaou. The art is gorgeous and there's a sense of playfulness and romance in the early chapters. The book's weakness comes from the time skip that dumps the characters in the middle of three conflicts: Tsuda's sick father, Fujiwara's family obligations, and graduation with its implied separation unless they can attend the same university. Any one of those would have sufficed; all together it seems like a perfect storm of overkill. A yonkoma comic at the end reveals that Eiki insisted on a sex scene in every chapter; if you agree with her, you'll be happy they're there, if you're of Zaou's mindset, they may seem a little forced into the plot.