Tekkon Kinkreet (Blu-ray Disc, 2007)

If you like Akira (Special Edition) or Ghost in the Shell, and thought they were true masterpieces despite their ambiguous style of storytelling, then you'll love Tekkon Kinkreet. It's as true an anime as there ever was: it follows its own style of storytelling, it has interesting, even endearing characters, and the art is just beautiful. It sits comfortably next to some of the best anime ever to come to the States.

Tekkon Kinkreet follows two young boys, known around the city as the Cats, but to each other they are Black and White. Black is a brooding, violent youngster with a gift for taking pain and dishing it out. White is, simply, special; he's empathic, enjoys life, and has a deep sense of when things aren't right. He also seems to be magically gifted. That gift, however, has left White an innocent boy, incapable of growing up and acting his age; that's why Black feels obligated to protect the young boy, and the that means eliminating any possible threat to him and White, as well as the city in which they live. Thus, these two have a few enemies, including the Yakuza, some strange and powerful alien assassins, and a mysterious creature known by the youth in the city as the "Minotaur." All the while, the two are continually robbing and mugging those within their city so that they can achieve White's dream of living in a house on a beach....

Yeah, interesting, I know. But what makes the story of Tekkon Kinkreet that much better is the surreality of the whole thing. It doesn't try to explain much; it doesn't have to. White and Black can run at tremendous speeds and leap ten feet into the air; aliens exist; and a boy has the power to link himself mentally to his best friend. Why? Because they do.... And all the while, it's as fantastically believable as a well told fantasy novel.

Outside of that, the art and characters of Tekkon Kinkreet helps to drive the story along. The settings contains so much detail that it's impossible to find anything. If this was a "Where's Waldo" drawing, you'd never find him. The character art is also beautiful, reminiscent of the short sequence in Kill Bill, Volume 1.

Now, for the one drawback (which many older anime fans wouldn't even consider as a drawback): this will be a very difficult anime for a new-comer to get into. The story isn't difficult to follow, but it can be confusing and the ending leaves a lot unanswered, as is the wont of anime. Still, though, if you have some experience with anime, then you won't be disappointed. The art is beautiful, the story is engaging, and the characters are endearing. I'd rate it higher if it were possible. Tekkon Kinkreet is definitely one of the best anime ever.

Tekkonkinkreet, on the surface, is a film concerning various criminal and underworld factions for control over the fictitious city of Treasure Town. The story centers on two street urchins/orphans named Black and White. Throughout the film various characters, from organized crime members, to a nefarious outsider and his caché of goon squad assassins to street punks all battle each other for claim to what they all refer to as "their town." As the film progresses, Black and White come to the fore as the two figures with the highest degree of characterization and the themes of the film are seen through their thoughts, fantasies, actions and emotions.

Thematically, in an immediate sense, this is a multi-layered story of place in one's surroundings, our relationship to the ever changing space around us, both from a aesthetic and emotional standpoint, the physical and psychological turbulence of living in such a shape shifting, dense urban environment as Treasure Town. The town, according to the director Michael Arias, (on the excellent Director's Diary extra on the DVD) was his vision constructed through his travels throughout Asia and is an amalgamation of ideas, structures, sights, sounds and space.

Through Black and White both struggle with these ideas, especially Black, the older and more conflicted of the two, wrestling with internal demons concerning how he should feel in such an environment, his darkness and light, as the film posits. White, the younger and more effervescent in personality, seems to literally feel Black's endeavours, pain and internal torture. Some of the minor characters, particularly an aging gangster exhibit similar characteristics which gives the story a rounded feel, but it is Black and White's film primarily.

Technically, this film is amazing. The creation of Treasure Town is simply a sight to behold and marvel at. Granted i'm an ingénue to the world of animé, but I was blown away by the amount of intricate detail and attention to detail that went into its creation. Once I watched the aforementioned documentary I had a newfound appreciation for what a painstaking process and labour of love it is. The sights, sounds and feel, even perhaps overlooked ideas concerning structural density and physical regeneration and reconstruction, are all touched on here.

Indeed this is a major part of the theme, the ever changing physical landscape and our interaction and level of comfort with it. Michael Arias is an American who has spent the past 12 years in Japan and a lot of the film's ideas, that he adapted from the source Manga, are infused with his own personal reflections on Japan and are a real emotional driving force in the film. The film's music, by the British band Plaid fits in so seamlessly I hardly gave it a thought because it never juts out or interrupts the mood but blends with the story and images wonderfully.

All in all it's a film I appreciated more once I watched the documentary, as there is so much to take in visually. All of the themes and ideas escaped me a bit, admittedly, but I gained a new sense of appreciation for what it's trying to convey by hearing and seeing the director and his teams thoughts on it as they worked to bring it to the screen. So it's a film I feel that will reward with further viewings. A great introduction to anime for this viewer and a film people of all ages can take something away from.