Anime: Tokyo Godfathers

This is a gem of a movie that nobody talks of much, and thats a shame.

Animation:
Its neither artsy nor the crisp kind. Its not too elaborate like studio Ghibli either, but there is lots of detail all around. Most of the story takes place in the not well to do places in Tokyo, so it not exactly pretty. But its Christmas and its snowing, and there is also a lot of action. Its good, really good. It felt real, a lot like a real movie (but they were not trying to make things look real either). The facial expressions were really good. :-).

Sound:
Above average. Fits the story well.

Story:
This is where this movie shines. They have put in a lot of story into a very short time. There is enough story for atleast 12 episodes! And its a beautiful and touching story woven into a lot of silly comedy and action.

In Anime there are too many school animes (almost fed up), too many ring fighting kinds, etc. This is one of the few animes that have a different story and I truly appreciate the variety.

Character:
Its just like with the story. They were able to do a lot of character development for many characters in a very short time-frame. I think its a very sharply edited anime, but it never feels so while watching. The flow was perfect. And you really fall in love with them so quickly.

Value and Enjoyment:
Very high. This is a true christmas movie, along the line of "Its a Wonderful Life". It just touches your heart, bring tears to your eyes and the you remember the movie for days. Love is indeed the primary reason for life.

Highly recommended. Whatever kind of anime it is that you like, you would love this.

SPOILERS ALERT! All my reviews have spoilers!

First I need to say – You’ve been mocked by Kon!
And it doesn’t matter if you’re a western or a eastern; a Christian or a Buddhist; if you think this is about religion of family – the real truth is YOU’VE BEEN MOCKED!
This movie was released in 2003 under the direction of Satoshi Kon and Shougo Furuya, and was also co-written by Kon and Keiko Nobumo (Wolf’s Rain).
The story begins in Christmas Eve, in Tokyo, where a trio of homeless people discovers an abandoned newborn dumped in the trash, and they’ll pass by a lot of ups and downs to deliver this baby to her real parents.
It’s very interesting to see how the westerns always try to see this movie by their perspective when they forget that the Japanese view is completely different! And Kon deliberately grabs this multicultural factor and puts it in this movie, and you know Kon, he’s very good with ironies!
There are some facts you need to understand before you try to judge this animation, and I’m going to try to explain them by conjugating the western and the Japanese view to establish the contrasts and make you see where the mockery resides.
Let’s begin with the title: for a western the title has a deep related mean with the Christian idea of protection – a godfather is a person who’s left in charge of a child when the parents die; for Japanese a godfather is a high ranked yakuza! So they look at this title and say «These homelessness must be some bad asses!»…
Other important aspect about the title is that despite the plot being based in the 1948 “The Three Godfathers” there’s a point why this title is different! In a title like (3) Godfathers, there’s a conception of individuality, but this movie points out to a society (Tokyo) and Japan’s society has his basic unit in the family concept rather than the individual. The influence of the western globalization brought this conception of individuality that wasn’t present in the Japanese’s traditional bound society and a lot of psychosocial issues began to appear – the globalization blurred the traditional foundations. So the title has a special emphasis on the society!
In the beginning of the movie it’s also establish the main theme when the father is preaching - If you watch closely he’s talking about a very important thing: Home! This whole movie is about identity! The multicultural factor can make societies lose their identity, and identity is what defines you, is what takes you home!
And despite the lot of resemblances you’ll make with Christians ideas, Kon puts a very special reminder of a Japanese cultural tradition when Hana recites Haiku’s along the movie!
If you thought about religion, and nativity, when watching this movie, you’re not completely wrong! But our Kiyoko, the “pure child” it’s actually an allegory to Buddha! Which is emphasized by her mark in her forehead (no, it’s not there just for the design!). So, Kon deliberately mocks your concept of nativity putting a “Buddha” in the trio arms!
Other thing that is laughable is the inter-mixed generated for these two religions in a character – Hana. She’s the one that is always defending that every circumstance is a miracle from God, when the Christian religion does not approve homosexuals! And this is an aspect that you don’t have in Japan – Buddhism, Shintoism or Confusionism, any of them disapproved homosexuals! So, again, Kon is mocking with this fact!
The application of “miracles” here seems very ambiguous - despite Hana keep saying that everything is a miracle from the Providence; they are all in fact coincidences. There’s only one moment that we could say it’s a miracle: when the Old Man (possibly God, by the light shades) leaves this red bag with a winning lottery; other moment that you might find to be a miracle is when Hana is falling with the baby, but the baby stops crying, she’s at peace (that can be associated with a Buddhist concept too, again the intermixed). In fact, the way the two religions see miracles are completely diverge: Christians believe that God gives/make miracles; the Buddhism believes that a miracle can happen within you when you understand how to get rid of suffer, and Kiyoko actually works as a guide for this trio to understand that they don’t have reasons to be suffering.
I don’t think Kon is forcing a Christian view here; he actually mocks the angels putting a hostess as one, and despite the characters going to the Christian ceremony, they do the offerings in the year-end Buddhist temple (which is a tradition) so, you shouldn’t look at this movie by just one side when this is about mockery!
Only 1% of the Japanese are Christians so they don’t have the notions you have about this theme. Christmas Eve is a day when you eat chicken and a Japanese Christmas cake, and take a walk with your love, or give her/him a present. In fact, is more like you’re Valentine’s Day! And the Years-End… yes, can be more like your Christmas but with no nativity associations…
Each character seems to be related to certain typo social: Hana is the open minded one (in all aspects!), she accepts spirituality very widely. She’s a cross-dresser, and you’ll see a lot of cross-dressers in Tokyo (which doesn’t imply that they are homo!); she’s very kind and lovable and she’s one of the coolest homo portraits I’ve seen in animation!
Gin is really the type of homeless you’ll see more in the major cities of Japan – man in his 40’s, with alcoholic issues, that was a failure at business and began gathering debts. They feel too much ashamed to face their families so they exile in homelessness communities.
Homelessness in Japan are a bit different from what I’ve seen in other technological countries, they are organized, and do not ask you for money – they live by the trash disposals. It’s true that people pretend that they don’t exist, but most of them are a reflection of the precarious work that began with the 90’s rescession. One important fact is that our three characters are on the streets because they chosed to be there – Hana can go back to the club; Gin can go back home; and Miyuki can go back to her parents – they weren’t the ones’ that got abandoned (well unless Hana when born…), they all left because they felt they should do it instead of facing their problems!
Muyiki represents the teens, rebellious, attracted to the kawaii culture to repress their feelings (that’s why she loves cats), only having a shadow of her father because he overworks, obese by the consumerism culture…
This movie is actually just a pulling string of something that is going to be much more explored in “Paranoia Agent” – the victimhood culture; the society bounds breaking; and that’s why he even mocks the traditional idea of family putting these three acting like one!
Tokyo is, itself, a character too in here. You have the darkest sides of an industrialized, overpopulated, and technologic city where you have clubs, illegal immigrants, shady deals, dirty alleys, Yakuzas, gangs, homelessness and oversized trash. And let me tell you, trash is really a big issue in Tokyo and Osaka! The consumerism brought a high rate of disposable trash, and it’s common to see people almost sunk in their own trash at home! There’s actually a scene in the movie that shows that, is when Gin goes to Sachiko’s husband place and there’s a pile of trash everywhere! Why does this happen? Well in Japan you pay fees for garbage collections which means if you consume a lot this week you probably can’t dump all in this week (unless you want to pay!), there are 6 types of trash and there’s a collector schedule to dispose each type of trash in a certain day of the week. So, if today was cans and you forgot it, it’s gone! You need to wait for the next week. Many people accumulate trash in the big city, and it’s funny that we almost could say that is like living as a homeless with the trash surrounding you…
The characters feel very realistic, and the animation helps a lot with this factor putting excessive expressive faces, emphasizing the comedian side, and I always laugh when Hana is discussing with Gin at the hospital!
The visuals work well; the tones of the city are well represented, and some background can be impressive.
The use of Bethoven’s Symphony no. 9 “Ode to Joy” (or freedom) it’s a traditional classic song played every year in Japan's Years-End!
Let’s look at the issues: the coincidences are indeed a lot, to the point where any credibility gets excluded. It’s a comedy movie but the plot turns very weak with this issue!
I do love Tokyo Godfathers for the ironies and the exposure of social problems, and is very interesting to understand how the globalization and multicultural concept has is pros and cons and can affect a society to the point of losing his identity and traditions.
Despite the main plot not being the greatest, that’s not a reason for you to put this title aside!

The Highlights
Plot development: Highlights Kon Satoshi's sheer story telling power.
Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9": Symbolic, powerful, and used brilliantly.
God: Makes an appearance in the movie.
Characters: "Real" is the best way to describe them.
Visuals: Same as above.

Review

Although not as abstruse as most of his other works, Tokyo Godfathers once again shows us Kon Satoshi's utter brilliance and his understanding of humanity. For the many who have complained about the unrealistically convenient progression of events, it should be pointed out that the story takes place during Christmas; miracles are expected. The way Kon uses these miracles and joins the entire story together, from the start to the very final second of the movie, does not sell short of genius.

The story carries several powerful themes, delivered ever so superbly. There are two, however, that predominantly resonate throughout the work. One of them is the dissonant structure of society, highlighted by the kindness and compassion of three homeless outcasts who go through countless difficulties to return a baby to its parents; and the injustice and disrespect with which they are treated by most around them. This is not to say that Kon unrealistically delivers three perfect angels as the homeless protagonists. They are all replete with problems of their own, which carries us into the second predominant theme of this movie: the power of will. All three protagonists have something to learn, and eventually it will lead to the realization that they are responsible for their lives and how they live them. As the doctor at one point says... "I can try to cure disease. Lifestyle is something you have to fix."

In a masterpiece in which every area is covered quite well, the characters still manage to stand out as the genial factor of this work. Few anime can claim such realistic and powerful characters as this one offers. Through the minds and lives of three tragic figures, Kon essentially shows us... "humanity". He emphasizes the light that unites us all despite our imperfections. The protagonists' mistakes and sins, mixed together with their compassion and spirit, is truly a marvelous contrast and a highpoint in anime characterization.

In a work of Kon Satoshi, one usually expects an abundance of symbols. Tokyo Godfathers is no exception to this rule. The repetitive usage of Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9", a piece which highlights hope and the brotherhood of all humanity, is quite significant. The time of year in which the story takes place is also crucial. After all, what time is more spiritual and mystical than Christmas? What better time for atoning for our mistakes and becoming new people than the start of a new year?

Tokyo Godfathers is essentially Kon's way of asking us to take a hard, honest look at humanity and ourselves. It is a movie which is not only thoroughly enjoyable and touching, but also holds an immense amount of moral value. It takes Kon a mere infant, hardly aware of its misfortunes, and three homeless outcasts, very much aware of theirs', to emit a warm light of hope on any viewer who ventures into watching this masterpiece.

Animation: The animation for this film is absolutely spectacular. The artists for this film not only made the characters very believable, but also made them look noticeably Japanese, something that few animes actually do. The emotional representations of each character are some of the best I have ever seen, if not the best. One qualm I have with it is that the animation in some parts is composed of too few drawn frames in an attempt at representing motion (that may have not made any sense, but basically some parts look like they are at a low framerate [and no, it's not my computer]). This doesn't take away from the overall effect, but it does keep this from receiving a 10.

Sound: Nothing much to say here. It does it's job very well, isn't intrusive, and overall holds everything together effectively. I haven't heard any English dubs of this but the Japanese voice actors play their parts almost perfectly. While watching though, nothing really stood out to me audio-wise, so even though it did what it did perfectly, I don't think I can rate the audio above an 8.

Story: The plot moves forward through a series of unlikely occurrences, but I think that this adds to the "holiday magic" that seems to envelop the film from start to finish. However, in my book this kind of plot isn't a "real" plot and so I wouldn't feel right giving it a 10. For it's style of plotline though, I doubt there's anything that can top this movie.

Character: This is this movie's forte by far. One can relate to each and every one of the characters. Like I mentioned earlier, the animation lends a certain reality to the characters that is rare and spectacular. By the end of the movie, I was absolutely engrossed by the character depth and felt as though I could watch entire movies about each character's life.

Value: The central "holiday magic" of this movie encompasses a certain value that could be ascribed to it. It loses a lot of it's magic if watched any more than once a month at least, I would say, but it's worth burning to a DVD (or buying) to watch at least once a year around the holidays. It's definitely the best holiday anime I have ever seen. This isn't one of those animes which afterward you are absolutely blown away and feel like looking for an even better version to have in your collection, but I don't doubt that many people would treasure this for it's heartwarming story.

Enjoyment: By the end of this movie, I couldn't help but feel bursting with happiness and sheer surprise at everything that the characters had been through and how they came out of it. There are really no dull parts that I can remember thinking "move on please". I am convinced that it is impossible to not watch this movie and enjoy nearly every second of it. This fact makes Tokyo Godfathers deserving of a 10 for enjoyment.

(Writers note: If you read this review, RATE this review. Authors thrive on feedback, whether it be a simple happy face, or an in-depth critique.)

Summary/Outline: Gin, an alcoholic who broke his family. Miyuki, a young runaway. Hana, a transvestite with a penchant for tears. Three homeless bums, friends by hapinstance, who stumble upon a young baby in the trash while gleaning for their dinner. Thus begins an amazing adventure through the bowels of Tokyo, as they attempt to piece together whose baby it is, and why they would want to throw such a precious thing away.

Let me start by saying that this movie was made by Satoshi Kon, a "Miyazaki" level animator and director. His characters have occasionally outlandish features unique to his style, making every movement, every gesture, fun and interesting to watch. It's hard enough making a transvestite tolerable to watch, much less to make one that can draw laughs by her (his?) mere presence on screen.

What little music there is was enjoyable to hear, and the audio fit perfectly into the movie. No goofs. Voice acting was near perfect as well, especially from Hana, the transvestite, balancing the line between overacting and sheer hilarity.

The plot revolves around their adventures in trying to return the baby to it's mother and father, whoever they may be. While many live-action films use coincidences and Deus Ex Machina to advance the plot, Tokyo Godfathers, amazingly, uses these same devices to illicit laughter and sheer amazement. Every contrivance, such as Miyuki's father happening to notice her from the window of a train next to hers, that both happened to stop for "technical trouble" at the same moment going in opposite directions, illicite a "Wow..." followed by cackling laughter. In a lesser film, I would have rolled my eyes and whispered dire criticisms to my friend sitting next to me. However, I can see that Kon has a plan here, and it works. I know this partly because of his other work, including Perfect Blue, Paranoia Agent, and, unseen by me, Millenium Actress. All have either a touch, or a healthy serving of dementia. Tokyo Godfathers uses such a device stealthly, cunningly, and subtly, so as to almost escape notice. I don't want to give away too much, suffice to say, don't expect the baby to come to any harm.

Like Spirited Away and Ghost In The Shell, this is one of those movies in which you find yourself going to great lengths to get it seen by everyone, just so you can sneak peaks at their expressions as they watch it. Funny, breathtaking, moving, tearful, joyful, heartbreaking, and hopeful, all at once. Truly one of the great films of the this decade.

I'm not sure I made enough mention of this: This movie is hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. I laughed quite a bit. If you want a good anime comedy for smart people, look no further than Tokyo Godfathers.

This year at the Stockholm film festival three anime films were shown, appleseed, ghost in the shell 2: innocence and Tokyo Godfathers, I have since then had the pleasure to watch all three of them. Of the three Tokyo Godfathers is the in my opinion by far best.
It tells us the story of three homeless people who stumble upon an abandoned baby and take it upon themselves to find the parents. The premise is simple and the plot stays down to earth throughout which really gives the film an earthy feel.

Animation:
The animation is top notch from start to finish. The most significant thing I noted concerning the animation was how real it all felt. The characters had realistic expressions and proportions. The enviroments they were surrounded by also perfectly matched this style. There were also many nice touches like Miyuki's (more on her in the character section) change in apperance caused by the months during which she was homeless. Little touches like these are littered throughout the movie if you look for them and they really make the movie shine. Things like this lift the score from an 8 to a well deserved nine.

Sound:
I for one tend to not pay much attention to the music whilst watching a series, and I'm not really a big fan of Christmas tunes, so I won't really put a grade on the music. Suffice to say it sets the mood and never disturbes. Which is pretty much all I expect. The voice actors on the other hand are excellent, each actor portrays their character extremely well. I was especially pleased with Miyuki's voice actor Aya Okamoto who managed to pull of a sixteen year old female voice that didn't bug me in the least. Now I'm telling you, that is no small feat. Also no actor ever stands out as being less than satisfactory.

Story:
The story is as I pointed out simple. Three homeless people, one baby, one goal, and a bunch of crazy antics getting there. The goal of the movie seems to make a person feel satisfied, such a goal does however considerably limit the scope of the story, Satashi Kon's two previous films millenium actress and perfect blue both have plots that are much more interesting. But the simplicity which Tokyo Godfathers strives for does in fact make it more satisfying than both his previous movies. The simplicity makes it heartwarming. The main failing of the plot is that it lacks plausibility, the problem is that the main driving points of the plot become a series of unlikely coincidences, these are entertaining and add a feeling of christmas miracle to the whole spectacle, the volume of these kinds of event do however feel like a cheap way of moving the plot forward, by the end they also start getting predictable. The final ending was expected but very satisfying and left a feeling of warmth.

Character:
The main cast consists of three homeless people, gin, miyuki and uncle bag (a crossdressing homosexual whoes name escapes me for the moment). Each of them has a distinct personality. And when watching I was genuinely interested in what they were going to get up to next. The relationships and backgrounds of each character also gave an added depth that made the characters feel a whole lot more genuine. The one criticism I have is that uncle bag at times feels a bit inconsistent and at times simply plays the part of "gay guy who's good for laughts". This does on the whole however not detract much from the trio.

Value:
I will rewatch this, although mainly because I will feel like showing it to friends who I think might enjoy it. It's also the kind of film I may watch again in a year or two. It does however not merit multiple watchings in short succession. But then again films that merit multiple watchings tend to be overly complicated, something which Tokyo Godfathers thankfully isn't.

Enjoyment:
If you've got this far you know it allready, It's wonderful, the film is satisfaction, enjoyment and content. I dislike the concept of christmas spirit, to me it's often synonomous with overly jolly people and really corny plots with enough cliches to drown a horse, Tokyo Godfathers however delivers, and it delivers big time.

So get out there and watch it.