Product Description: Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 09/25/2007 Run time: 91 minutes Rating: Pg13
Amazon.com: Satoshi Kon's third feature (following Perfect Blue and Millennium Actress) confirms his status as one of the most interesting directors working in anime. Tokyo Godfathers centers on three homeless people: Hana, a flamboyant ex-drag entertainer; Gin, an alcoholic former bicycle racer; and Miyuki, a sullen teenage runaway. Their tenuous existence becomes more chaotic when they set out to find the parents of an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve. They scream insults as they confront the lies they've told each other--and themselves--about the past. Yet they remain curiously endearing and even noble. All three care passionately about the abandoned infant, and they love each other, although they're loath to admit it. Kon skillfully uses color to suggest the bitter winter cold and the characters' alienation. Tokyo Godfathers shows that battling the inner demons that led these three characters to skid row can be a more daunting challenge than fighting aliens and cyborgs. (Rated PG-13: profanity, violence, tobacco and alcohol use) --Charles Solomon
Great story telling As a student of Japanese culture, I found this movie to be a great intro to Japanese culture for Americans that have never been to Japan. The three "bums" are characters that all of us can relate to, even if their are a bit extreme. This movie has adventure, comedy and a hint of romance. There is enough to keep your attention. Definately worth the money. Five stars and two thumbs up!!!
delightful ... Tokyo Godfathers is a comical and touching story about three homeless friends and their quest to find an abandoned baby's parents during the Christmas holiday. The main characters each have a unique personality, but they interact well and portray a feeling of 'family' between them. The animation is superb and the subtitles are easy to read. Tokyo Godfathers is magical and heartwarming. A truly delightful anime film about friendship, love and miracles ... with a perfect ending.
Essential Tokyo Godfathers Review On X-Mas Eve in Tokyo, three homeless people, find an abadonned baby lying in the rubbish. The trio: Gin, an ex-gambler; Miyuki: a runaway teenage girl; Hana: a drag queen, decide to find the child's parents. They name her Kiyoko, and then look through some belongings that were left with the child for clues to her origins. A trip to a family cemetery finds them running across a yakuza boss who they help out from nearly getting run over by his own car. He takes them to a club that they found a business card for with Kiyoko, which turns out is where the dom's daughter is getting hitched that day. Once there, Gin realizes that the groom is the man who caused him to become poor years ago from a jibbed bet, but before he can try to get at him, a hitwoman accidently shoots the groom while trying to kill the dom. Miyuki and the baby are kidnapped by the hitwoman, while Gin and Hana seperate after arguing. Gin runs into an older homeless man, and he gets injured while protecting him from some punks. Hana meets up with Miyuki who escaped with Kiyoko, and they go to an Hana's old bar for drag queens, where they find Gin who was taken into care for his injuries. They later run into a woman who appears to be Kiyoko's actual mother, however she's instead suicidal, and it's up to the homeless trio to save Kiyoko in a great comedy/traumatic fashion.
This movie was directed by Satoshi Kon, who also did the movies Millenium Actress, Perfect Blue, Paprika, and the Adult Swim series, Paranoia Agent. This was a distinct departure from his normal supernatural/surrealistic thrillers. It was partially based on the western movie, 3 Godfathers. For Kon, this was a great piece of storytelling. The characters are very entertaining and believable. His appear to be more realistic looking than most anime characters. Not all the girls are thin with big hooters, and not all the guys look like girls with long spikey hair.
What makes this a great movie for X-Mas is there are so many points in it where you actually believe some of the plot devices or coincidences are genuine "Christmas Miracles". There's so many revelations about the characters lives as the story moves along, and how the all culminate at one of the most satisfying anime movie conclusions ever is really special. The other reason its a great title for the holidays is because its one of the few ones that isn't the special "Christmas episode" of an already existing anime series, and is great to see on its own merit.
A Christmas Miracle type of movie. OK, a few people thought that this movie was wonderful, but didn't like the divine intervention bits in it. Isn't that what Christmas movies are about, though? You really forget that you're watching an animated movie and the story is as heartfelt and sentamental as it gets. FIVE STARS TEN TIMES OVER!!!!
Very Enjoyable Film I have to admit that this movie had a slow start for me. I tried watching it twice and tired out both times. But then on one sleepless night I gave it a third time and was completely engaged until the very end. I have to confess that my attention span has been conditioned by Hollywood, where plot takes off within a few minutes. With Tokyo Godfathers, traditional storytelling takes the stage, and important character development stacks up at the beginning, making for a very fun, very eventful second half to the movie. The combination of the three characters becomes a circus as half-truths from everyone involved suddenly starts to clash. The comedy is very sophisticated, even when it is slapstick, and exceeds the standards of most hollywood humor. The ending is absolutely flawless. I'm so glad I didn't give up on this movie.
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