Tokyo Godfathers is an anime film released in 2003 by Madhouse. Shogo Furuya and Satoshi Kon directed the film. Director Kon has worked on other films such as Perfect Blue and Paprika. While Director Shogo Furuya has worked on anime films such as Spirited Away and From Up on Poppy Hill.
Synopsis
Three homeless people– a trans woman, a young girl and a middle-aged man found a baby in a garbage dump. After some disagreements they decide to find her parents, but not without some adventure.
My Thoughts on Tokyo Godfathers
This is the first time I’ve seen Tokyo Godfathers. I decided to watch it since I was looking for some Christmas anime films. Anime fans consider this a Christmas anime film since it takes place during the Christmas season.
However, I wouldn’t call it family-friendly. There are a lot of dark and adult jokes throughout the movie. Additionally there are words that were ‘okay’ to use in 2003, that would not pass in today’s world.
Tokyo Godfathers would not have been approved in today’s world. But the fact that it was released over 20 years ago, I think you can give it a pass. The film is hilarious, even with a dark introduction to the story with an abandoned baby.
The three main characters are all homeless because of their own reasons. They have been living in a tent area for homeless people. My favorite character would be the middle-aged man, Gin.
Gin is a level-headed person throughout the film. In the beginning he didn’t want to take care of the child, and he suggested giving the baby over to the police. However, after finding out more information on the baby he decided to take care of it alongside the two others.
For an animated film released over 20 years ago, the animation is so smooth. I say this all the time about older anime, but there’s something about the older anime that looks better than modern anime. Of course that doesn’t apply to everything.
This is a great Christmas anime to watch with mature people. If you’re looking for another Christmas anime, Golden Time is an anime I’ve re-watched a lot during the holiday season. The Golden Time anime is a romcom if you’re into that.
Fun Fact: I saw that according to IMDB the numbers 12-25, the date of Christmas, can be seen throughout the film. Whether it be on receipts, time on a clock and more. I can’t confirm or deny it, as I wasn’t really paying attention to it.
