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Tokyo Godfathers Blu-ray Review

“Tokyo Godfathers” is a classic anime film.

It’s Christmas night and bickering homeless pals Gin (a grizzled man who is prone to lying), Hana (a transgender woman with a tragic past) and Miyuki (a teen girl runaway) are digging through trash. They find something completely unexpected though when they come across a crying baby. While they initially plan to turn the child in to the authorities, they decide to embark on a quest to find the baby’s real parents. What follows is a wild series of adventures in which the trio encounter faces from the past, a baby thief, and more.

2003’s “Tokyo Godfathers” is often regarded as one of the best Japanese anime films and it’s hard to argue that claim. Not only does it show what anime films are truly capable of storytelling wise, but it’s just a flat-out poignant character centric story about humanity, family, honesty, redemption, and regrets. It can be argued that director and writer Satoshi Kon and co-writer Keiko Nobumuto’s script is heavy on coincidences which make it a bit too far fetched, but I think that’s part of the film’s charms. Through their escapades, this unlikely family learn more about themselves and also change for the better along the way. 

The animation may not be eye popping or dazzling in a way that, for instance, Satoshi Kon’s “Millennium Actress” is, but it doesn’t need to be. There’s something impressive in the way the Madhouse animation team makes the film look and feel grounded. 

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 1.85:1 1080p. How does it look? The film has been remastered from a 4K scan and the result is a nice sharp hi-def transfer.

Audio Track: Japanese and English 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it look? The original language Japanese track is the obvious choice, but the English dub is actually worthwhile here. 

Extras:
* Art gallery
* An intro by K.F. Watanabe
* DVD copy
* 2 “Tokyo Godfathers” trailers
* “Making Of Tokyo Godfathers”- 22 minute making of featurette with interviews.
* “The Process Of Animation”- A look at how real life scenes were translated into animation.
* “The Unexpected Tours”- A look at the real Tokyo that inspired all manners of the film.
* An interview with Shakina Nayfack who played Hana in the English version.
* Satoshi Kon’s short animated film “Ohayo” (and a making of featurette on it) about a woman waking up
* “Mixing For Surround Sound”- A featurette on the sound mixing

June 3, 2020 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | animation, Anime Film, Shout! Factory, Tokyo Godfathers Blu-ray Review