Tekkonkinkreet

"Be happy, be happy."

Welcome to Treasure Town, a city where law is light and there are gangsters aplenty; aside from common street thugs, so-called “Cats” rule the land, otherwise known as orphaned children without a real home. Two such Cats are Black and White, who both couldn’t be any different than the other (hence the contrasting yin-and-yang names). This is their story.

First, I’ll address the elephant in the room: the animation. You know, I never thought it possible that an anime (of all things) could meld 3D and 2D animation so seamlessly. Commonly, any TV-aired Japanese animation attempting to feature CGI fails drastically, so 2006’s Tekkonkinkreet comes as quite the shock. The film is, simply put, drop-dead gorgeous; if there’s one film to screen on a larger than life projector, this is the one.

However, Tekkonkinkreet’s biggest strength relies not in its animation, voice acting, or soundtrack… instead, it resides in the characters, and all of the interactions piled in between. This film is original (stunningly original, in fact), so it comes as no surprise that the original creator behind the initial manga would be none other than Taiyō Matsumoto, also the man behind one of my favorite anime series, Ping Pong: the Animation. The town, the story, and the people: all of it melts and folds so well together: it just feels so real.

Although that isn’t to say Tekkonkinkreet is without its fair share of flaws as well: the pacing starts to drag a bit near the middle portion, sadly abandoning the momentum it had spent the last 30 or so minutes building up to.

And yet, you rarely see films like this being made nowadays: this movie appeals to (somehow) independent film lovers, anime enthusiasts, and the general populous all at the same time.

7/10- Thematically brilliant and visually arresting, Tekkonkinkreet has something to offer for everybody… including a thoughtful story to boot.