Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

Directors:

Satoshi Kon
Shôgo Furuya (co-director)

Writers:

Satoshi Kon (screenplay)
Satoshi Kon (story)

Release Date:

8 November 2003 (Japan)

Genre:

Adventure | Animation | Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

Meet the ultimate dysfunctional family.

Plot:

Christmas in Tokyo, Japan. Three homeless friends: a young girl, a transvestite, and a middle-aged bum...

Plot Keywords:

Dark Comedy | Dream | Black Comedy | Flashback | Alcoholic

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Toru Emori	...	Gin (voice)
Aya Okamoto	...	Miyuki (voice)
Yoshiaki Umegaki	...	Hana (voice)
Shôzô Îzuka	...	Oota (voice)
Seizô Katô	...	Mother (voice)
Hiroya Ishimaru	...	Yasuo (voice)
Ryûji Saikachi	...	Aged Man (voice)
Yûsaku Yara	...	Miyuki's Father (voice)
Kyôko Terase	...	Sachiko (voice)
Mamiko Noto	...	Kiyoko, Gin's Daughter (voice)
Akio Ôtsuka	...	Doctor (voice)
Rikiya Koyama	...	Bridegroom (voice)
Satomi Koorogi	...	Kiyoko, the Gangster's Daughter (voice)
Mitsuru Ogata	...	Hidenari Ugaki (voice)
Chiyako Shibahara	...	Eriko Kawasaki (voice)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, violent images, language and some sexual material.

Runtime:

USA:92 min | Argentina:93 min | UK:88 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | Spanish | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Sweden:7 | USA:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | UK:12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Spain:13 | Singapore:PG

Company:

Mad House

Trivia:

On the Tokyo Godfathers DVD there is a bonus "making of" featurette. ANN founder, Justin Sevakis can be spotted at the beginning of the featurette which shows the American premiere of Tokyo Godfathers at BAAF (Big Apple Anime Fest).

Quotes:

Gin: [Gin throws a book from the garbage dump at Miyuki and hits her in the face]
Hana: What are you doing to Dostoyevski?

Movie Connections:

References Sennen joyû (2001)

Unconventional Fun

I was able to see "Tôkyô Godfathers" at its premiere in New York. Sadly, the film was not added to the IMDb until months later, so I've had to sit on my comments for some time.

I'm a big fan of director Satoshi Kon. Both of his previous films feature stories and issues not normally seen in animated films. "Godfathers" continues this happy trend and goes even further by covering subjects not normally associated with Japan, period. Homelessness, immigrants, and homosexuality all play key elements in this tale.

Perhaps the biggest difference here is the comedy, something Kon's previous films did not approach. "Perfect Blue" was a dark thriller and "Sennen Joyû" was more of a tearjerker. "Godfathers" is played for laughs, which for me weakened the movie a little bit. Some of the more outrageous moments made the other theatergoers crack up, but I felt it was a little too silly at times.

While I would describe "Tôkyô Godfathers" as the weakest of Kon's three films to date, that's hardly a knock since his first two are among my favorites. "Godfathers" was just missing something, but I still openly recommend it to anyone, regardless of your disposition towards anime.