Review of Tekkonkinkreet

Introduction

It`s unusual for a gaijin - Japanese slang for a foreigner - to lead a Japan-based animation studio and embark on an anime project, but that`s exactly what Michael Arias has done, with the help of Studio 4°C, in creating `Tekkonkinkreet` (or `Tekkon Kinkreet` in other territories). But then Arias isn`t exactly your average gaijin. A former special effects nerd in Hollywood, Arias moved to Japan in the early nineties where he developed computer software, and developing a technique to translate cel-shading effects to computer animation would prove to be his open door into the anime industry. A fluent speaker of the native tongue and quite clearly a massive Asiaphile, Arias cut his anime teeth, again with 4°C, during his role as a producer on one of the better `The Animatrix` segments titled `Beyond`. That`s the one with the kiddies and the haunted house.

Arias takes on the mantle of director for `Tekkonkinkreet`, a gig that`s been something of a pet project of his since the late-nineties. Based on a manga by Taiyō Matsumoto, it tells the story of a pair of street urchins named Black and White, known locally as The Cats, and their lives in a quaint city district named Treasure Town. Spending their days pickpocketing and fighting rival kids, and their nights camped out in the abandoned car they call home, the last thing they`re ready for is the change that comes when the Yakuza show interest in their part of town. Working with a mysterious stranger named Mr Snake, the local mob are looking to turn Treasure Town into a giant theme park. But Black and White have other ideas, and as they cause Snake no end of hassle, things start to fall apart as they run the risk of being separated by the cops, hunted down by a trio of deadly assassins, and for Black, the older and tougher of the two, forced to tackle personal demons that manifest in the most terrifying form.

Video

Studio 4°C were responsible for the gorgeous `Otomo Katsuhiro`s Memories` - which just happens to be one of my favourite anime features - and `Beyond` was no slouch in the animation department, so you know going in that `Tekkonkinkreet` is going to look the biz. And it does. Heavy detail and a washed-out palette accompany the striking backgrounds, while the characters and foreground objects adopt a simplistic and rudimentary, heavily stylized `flat` design style. The whole look manages to convey both minimalism and detail, and looks superb in all its peculiarly-angled glory. The Blu-ray transfer does a great job or representing it. Presented in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, it`s bright and rich with great resolution depth and solid colours. While anime is generally the hardest medium to appreciate the jump between SD and HD seeing as even a decent DVD transfer looks damn good anyway, the large storage capacity and the 1080p transfer means that `TK` on BD is free from artefacting and digital buzzing of any kind, with everything looking pin-sharp.

* Viewed on a 32" 1366 x 768 panel at 720p

* The screenshots featured here are for illustrative purposes only. They were not taken from the Blu-ray source, and as such, the images are not representative of the quality of the disc.

Audio

One of the more generous Blu-ray discs from Sony as far as soundtracks go, the BD features Japanese PCM 5.1, as well as Japanese, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish soundtracks in the form of Dolby Digital 5.1. All the 5.1 tracks are identical bar the regional voice-acting dub. As usual, I`m not in a position to review uncompressed multichannel, so I stuck with the Japanese 5.1. It`s a solid mix, with good ambience from the sublimely hazy score provided by Brit instrumentalists Plaid, clear dialogue and good use of the directional soundstage in orchestrating spot effects. I spot checked the English dub during a few scenes, and it didn`t sound half bad, at least when the kids are onscreen. When it comes to the turn of the adults, they all seem to fall foul of the number one voice-acting pitfall - overdoing it.

There`s the usual plethora of European subs on offer that often grace the Sony BD selection, but enjoying the native track with English captions I spotted one or two duffers (maybe three or four) in the translation. "I dunno know"? Even in Japan, they`re too cool to say that.

Features

The main extra is the commentary from Arias, where he`s joined by the screenwriter and sound design engineer in what proves to be a yappy, but somewhat vacuous yak-track. While the contributors blether away, interrupted only by plenty of "erms" and "uhs", everyone tends to get too caught up in having a friendly reminisce about the production as a whole, often irrelevant to what`s actually onscreen. This is particularly jarring during one of the film`s most ambiguous scenes, where instead of perhaps enlightening the audience with a little insight into the themes, allusions and what they were trying to achieve, they discuss something far less interesting.

There`s a pair of featurettes on the disc too, the first being a short `discussion` with Arias and Plaid about how they came together on the project. The participants look a little uncomfortable, as if they`ve never actually met, and it`s basically fluffy back-slapping stuff. In English with garish Japanese script subtitles.

The second, much more interesting, piece is the `300 Day Diary` of Michael Arias, which covers various aspects of creating `Tekkonkinkreet`. Running at over 40-minutes, it`s a fairly self-explanatory feature that gives an insight into the long, hard graft that goes into making an anime feature. It`s in Japanese with English subtitles.

Conclusion

`Tekkonkinkreet` has had its fair share of the bad rap in review circles, although I honestly can`t see why. I loved it. It`s both complex and subtle in the same breath, its colourful milieu belying the fact that it embraces the mature themes of friendship, responsibility and alienation, and does something meaningful with them. It`s one of those rare occurrences in anime where a film rises above the medium, and much like `Jin-Roh` or `Grave of the Fireflies`, everything about it, from the design, to the story and the attention to detail in the wonderfully imagined world borders on art. That said, the plot itself proves to be almost perfect for anime, its mixture of drama and action meaning there`s always something going on to drive the story onwards. I love anime, but I know its foibles, and aside from the obligatory ambiguousness towards the end, it neatly avoids all of them.

There`s something `Of Mice and Men`-ish about the relationship between Black and White. Black, the older of the pair, looks out for White, the younger and certainly more childish. But it`s a co-dependant relationship, something the film explores in great detail, and it`s touching to watch it unfold. Arias` eye rarely drifts too far from the pair or for too long, giving us the opportunity to really embrace the characters, two little boys with no-one but each other. And if that sounds too touchy-feely, you`ll be glad to hear that `Tekkonkinkreet` features some dazzling action set-pieces, many of them surprisingly violent, but always nothing short of exciting. And what the film`s design lacks in typical anime razzmatazz, it makes up for in the very organic nature of the animation, a fluidity in human interaction and characterisation.

`Tekkonkinkreet` has been long-listed for Best Animated Feature Oscar, and looking at the competition, it`s almost a shoe-in for nomination. But if it doesn`t win, I`ll be doing my best disgruntled US postal worker impression at the Academy offices on the morning after. But that`s not to say it`s perfect. The film exists within its own rules, and as such, some may be put off by the fact that characters display the ability to fly on a whim with no explanation, or that it, as mentioned, walks a typically equivocal line as it races towards its climax. It could also be argued that it introduces several superfluous characters, who, with little resolution to their own arcs, prove to serve little purpose other than slowing things down. But just don`t argue these points to my face.