A lot of detractors of anime either have entirely legitimate reasons for their dislike of the genre or none at all. Some people just can’t stand anime art, or at least what they perceive is anime art.

That’s a legitimate reason for not wanting to see, or even expose yourself to it. Others complain that “it’s all the same,” and those people are either not watching enough variety of anime, or all they know of it come from Dragonball Z and Yu-Gi-Oh reruns. Sadly, trying to get through to someone that has no real interest that anime is not all card throwing, power leveling and monster collecting is roughly as difficult as trying to coax a cow to a slaughterhouse by whispering in its ear what a delicious steak it would make. Chances are it ain’t happening. 

But you know something? I enjoy anime quite a bit but more and more I find myself looking at the “it’s all the same” argument and finding truths in it. Does every adventure need to have some grander scope? Does every sci-fi film have to examine what separates an android from humanity, or if cyborgs in fact lose theirs? Does every 14 year old Japanese boy have to have a libido that causes him to flail his arms around, his eyes to squint, his jaws to drop and make high pitched uncontrolled screams every time a girl walks by? That’s the type of shit that gets old pretty quick and turn people off of a genre, and while I’m not willing to write off anime altogether, upon the first viewing, Tekkonkinkreet didn’t impress me all that much. 

Based on the manga Black & White, this new anime Tekkonkinkreet follows two street kids as they live a petty-crime filled life in Treasure Town. They unfortunately have no parents to speak of, but are fortunate enough to have each other. Black is a brooder. He is the more reserved of the two and he goes out and does whatever he has to do to get money so they can simply exist. White is more vibrant. He always maintains a positive outlook and isn’t one to fight unless he feels Black is threatened or he’s pushed too far. There is definitely a brotherly love between the two of them as they both rely on each other as motivation to survive and are both frustrated at each other frequently. The naming of the characters Black and White, suggesting a symbiotic reliance on each other even though they are opposites is no hidden script nuance. The dichotomy is so straightforward that I’m surprised they didn’t give the two characters connectable “broken heart” or yin-yang necklaces.  

The fictional setting of Treasure Town is host to any number of would-be enemies to the boys, from rival gangs to brutal Yakuza to aliens, the rogues gallery of the Cats, as Black and White’s gang calls themselves (because they’re strays – get it?), like a horrible Batman sequel have far too many villains in it to make any one of them particularly interesting. There are some great sub stories going on with some of the police force actually respecting the Cats for protecting the city from the greater criminal element, but that becomes secondary when aliens decide that they want to run Treasure Town by throwing out anything they feel is undesirable and rebuilding the city into something different. The yakuza, the Cats, the more troublesome police and anything else that could be a threat needs to go, so alien assassins descend on the city to crush their competition. It’s up to Black and White to stop them and preserve the relative old-world timelessness of the town – if they can stay together, that is. 

There are a great deal of notable things about Tekkonkinkreet aside from it giving my “k” key a workout like it has never seen before. Most interestingly, this is the first Japanese anime film that was directed by an American. Director Michael Arias left the States for Japan years ago when he got laid off, and has since grown attached to the country and its culture. This is surprising when you look at the film, because it is so obviously Japanese from the plot to the animation style that you probably wouldn’t expect an American did so much as some of the craft services while the film was being made.  

About that art style, the particular way that Tekkonkinkreet illustrates the 2-D art is one that I’m not a fan of. Although I admit that it is refreshing to see an anime which has characters that actually look Asian. The art style though, using 3-D rendering for the cities many buildings and locales, is incredible and the mixture of the two come off to form a great effect. At times, Tekkonkinkreet feels like a video game and while that might upset some people, I play video games, so I say it as a complement. What is great about this 3-D style is that every “surface” has traditional 2-D illustrations rendered on to the surface. This makes everything, even cylindrical structures, have a very flat look that I found quite engaging to look at. Your mileage may vary. I find that the score is also very well done. The electronic music by the duo Plaid is comfortably hypnotic and kind of exemplifies the mood of Treasure Town. The score is worth picking up if you can find it. Any music that takes me to a world where children can fly and battle nearly omnipotent beings is music worth listening to. 

I may come across as a little harsh on Tekkonkinkreet, but it really isn’t a bad film. The overall style is beautiful and worthy of immersing yourself in. I just found the plot going in too many interesting directions but not reaching a comfortable resolution. At least, it reaches a resolution that satisfies. I’m a big fan of action anime and the existentialism that comes with it, but Tekkonkinkreet doesn’t balance the elements as well as I had hoped. It’s still worth watching if you’re an anime fan, and if you’re new to it this would be a fine place to start.  

The DVD Presentation
This is far and away one of the best presented DVDs that I have seen in a very long time. The film itself is in anamorphic OAR as expected, and the transfer is nothing less than beautiful. Watching this I was actually making a game out of spotting flaws. I gave up on this game pretty quick and I couldn’t find a single issue. Which I’m kind of surprised about in a way, because with FOUR 5.1 Surround tracks on the disc, I expected to see some serious compression but alas – none. Speaking of those audio tracks, I only listened to the Japanese track, which the disc thankfully defaults to. I did spot check the English dub, and it wasn’t half bad. If you happen to be Portuguese or Spanish, there is a surround mix for you too. Subtitles are available in all of the above languages (save for Japanese) and in French as well. Tekkonkinkreet is a great disc all around with a flawless transfer, and a great mix. 

And the Extras Are?

Filmmaker’s Commentary
Michael Arias, scriptwriter Anthony Weintraub, and sound designer Mitch Osias contribute into this commentary. This is a really great commentary that fans of the film and its source material will probably enjoy. Director Michael Arias is very passionate about Black and White, so he has a lot to say about it and his inspiration for making the film (this is a 10-year labor of love for him). I found it rewarding and helped sell me on picking up the manga which I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of as you read this. 

A Conversation with director Michael Arias and British rock duo Plaid – (11:37)
Plaid (Andy Turner & Ed Handley) are the masterminds behind the soundtrack to Tekkonkinkreet. If the boys choose to continue on with film scoring (this is their first feature) I’m sure it’ll be in interesting turn in their careers (known primarily for their remix work with other artists like Goldfrapp & Björk. The music is very chill-out style but very much fits in with the themes of this film. More interesting is how much of the film was scored without the animation even being submitted to them. If you’re interested in scores, you will probably find this feature more than enjoyable. 

The Making of Tekkonkinkreet – Director Michael Arias’ 300-Day Diary – (43:19)
This Japanese language feature is a fantastic documentation of every step in Tekkonkinkreet’s evolution. I found the examination of the way the 2-D hand drawn imagery was used in the CGI 3-D models. The feature also goes into details the many ways that the creative team tried to add realism through to the animations. Certain sets were based off of real areas and sound effects were recorded from actual events. For example, for a kickboxing scene, actual sounds of a fight were used, from the bell to the crowd to the impact blows of the punches and kicks. It becomes increasingly obvious as we follow the diary just how emotionally involved Arias is with the source manga.  

Previews
Sony knows how to pimp themselves out, so along with a promo for upcoming Blu-Ray releases, we’re also treated to various trailers for anime features. Included here are Paprika, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Memories, Osamu Tezuka’s Metropolis, Tokyo Godfathers, Steamboy and Storm Hawks. I’ve seen several of these, but Paprika looks ridiculously fucking awesome. 

The Bottom Line
A beautiful film both artistically and thematically, Tekkonkinkreet is worth watching. However, I still walked away from the experience with a feeling of déjà vu. This type of ground has been covered before in anime, only in different settings. I hate to dock it points for this, because I have this nagging feeling that I will regret it later, coming to love the film after another viewing or so. But regardless, the animation is absolutely stunning so fans of anime, or animation in general, are going to find time with Tekkonkinkreet, time well spent. Similarly, with the awesome presentation and extras, money will feel well spent too.