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Written by Finger_Of_DOOM
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TOKYO GODFATHERS **** out of *****
 Genres
2003
Directed by Satoshi Kon Shôgo Furuya (co-director) Written by Satoshi Kon (story and screenplay) Keiko Nobumoto (screenplay) Voice Cast Toru Emori....Gin Aya Okamoto....Miyuki Yoshiaki Umegaki....Hana Shôzô Îzuka....Oota Seizô Katô....Mother Hiroya Ishimaru....Yasuo
 Filmmaker Satoshi Kon began his carer as a Manga artist, eventually focusing his talents on animation. Having worked throughout Japan with the many illustrious animation houses as a background artist it wasn’t until 1995 when his talents as a storyteller were noticed. He directed an episode as part of the Memories anthology. The episode, Magnetic Rose, garnered Kon critical and fan praise, which soon allowed him the opportunity to make his own feature-length animated films; 1997’s Perfect Blue and 2001’s Millennium Actress, which both were box office hits in his native Japan, and cult favourites worldwide.
Throughout his career Kon has stayed true to traditional animation processes, and focuses on characters and story arcs throughout his works, these practices have culminated in what many call his finest work to date Tokyo Godfathers.
 Tokyo Godfathers is a modern-day fable that spins a story of adventure, love and redemption with fantastic visuals, endearing characters and movie magic that literally lights up the screen. It’s Christmas Eve in Tokyo and three homeless people, Gin (Aya Okamoto), Miyuki (Yoshiaki Umegaki) and Hana (Yoshiaki Umegaki) whose lives are changed forever when they discover a baby girl in a garbage dump. Banding together to solve the mystery of the abandoned child, the trio set out to learn the fate of her parents. But along the way, these forgotten members of society will confront their own haunted pasts, as they learn to face their future together.
As soon as we are introduced to the main characters we are sent down this journey with them to find the parents, each character’s storyline and background is wonderfully placed through the story and we learn a little more about each one as the night goes on and the trio get into one situation after another. The structure of the story continues to interest the viewer in taking the ride with these three characters and as the story progresses their bond, friendship and loyalties are all put to the test in this wonderfully conceived and animated tale.
 This film features excellently written dialogue, and the performances are a wonderful blend of animation style and voice acting that works so well together you’d swear you were watching real actors. Mix this with a unique and original visual style and you really can’t go wrong, in fact since "Toy Story" there has been a boom in computer generated animation, even the once mighty Disney have dropped their traditional animation departments to make way for the future of CGI, and despite this it’s refreshing to see an animated film the way they used to be done, with hand-drawn characters. The only CG elements you’ll see in this film are background matte shots and wide cityscape shots that would have taken much longer to animate the traditional way. Satoshi Kon has managed to create an engaging, fun and wonderfully realised film.
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