Tokyo Godfathers

Year: 2003

Grade: B

Country: Japan

Director: Kon

Review

anime that reminded me of grave of the fireflies because of the emotional feel/tone. the film follows three homeless people who find a baby abandoned in the trash on xmas eve. they search tokyo to find the parents of the abandoned baby, each for their own reason. the film is really about fractured family life in modern tokyo. the youngest character is a runaway, the transvestite was abandoned himself and “geezer” was a father who abandoned his daughter because of mounting gambling debts. the story and feelings are universal and the characters are easy to relate to and sympathize with. it may not be as funny, or exciting, as the incredibles, but it’s certainly more poignant and should have done better in the box office. then again, it does have words at the bottom of the screen because it’s a japanese film. so nevermind.