It was released on January 29, 2003, and debuted at number one on the Oricon charts with 437,903 copies sold in the first week, and became their fifth single to achieve two consecutive weeks at the number one slot, a comparatively rare feat.

Though Kazuaki Kiriya was behind the art direction for the single, he did not take an active part as usual, with the single photography going to Kaoru Izima and the PV directing going to Donald Cameron.

The most recent figures (May 25, 2006) show that the single sold 893,790 units in total.

[1] The song featured heavy ethereal and experimental tones for the first time in Utada's discography.

"Colors" was performed during Utada's two date concert series Wild Life in December 2010.