Tekkon kinkurîto (2006)

Director:

Michael Arias

Writers:

Taiyo Matsumoto (comic)
Anthony Weintraub (writer)

Release Date:

23 December 2006 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Crime

Plot:

In Treasure Town, life can be both peaceful and violent. This is never truer than for our heroes, Black and White...

Plot Keywords:

Yakuza | City | Minotaur | Based On Comic Book | Surrealism

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Kazunari Ninomiya	...	Kuro / Itachi (voice)
Yû Aoi	...	Shiro (voice)
Yusuke Iseya	...	Kimura (voice)
Kankurô Kudô	...	Sawada (voice)
Min Tanaka	...	Suzuki (voice)
Rokurô Naya	...	Jiccha (voice)
Tomomichi Nishimura	...	Fujimura (voice)
Mugihito	...	Kumicho (voice)
Nao Omori	...	Chocola (voice)
Yoshinori Okada	...	Vanilla (voice)
Kazuko Kurosawa	...	Kozo (voice)
Tomoko Murakami	...	Kozo (voice)
Miyuki Ôshima	...	Kozo (voice)
Yuki Tamaki	...	Asa (voice) (as Yukiko Tamaki)
Mayumi Yamaguchi	...	Yoru (voice)

Also Known As:

Tekkonkinkreet (UK) (USA) (alternative spelling)
Amer béton (France) [fr]
En defensa de la ciudad tesoro (Argentina) (DVD title) [es]
Tekkonkinkreet - Mahites tis siderenias polis (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
Tekkonkinkreet - Soli contro tutti (Italy) [it]

MPAA:

Rated R for some violent and disturbing images, and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIB | France:U | USA:R | Argentina:16 | Netherlands:12 | UK:12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Finland:K-13 | New Zealand:R13 | Singapore:NC-16 | Taiwan:R-12 | Italy:T | Australia:M | Denmark:7

Company:

Aniplex

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Black gives money to "grandpa" the yin-yang symbol changes from white on top, black on top and then again white on top.

Quotes:

[final lines]
Shiro: This is Planet Earth, Agent White. Do you read me, over? Today I kept the peace on this planet. Over? This planet's very peaceful. Over and out.

Movie Connections:

References "Astroboy" (1963)

Everything I could have asked for in an Anime

Eye-watering Japanimation might not have all the spit-shined polish afforded a Miyazaki production, though any excuse offered from the same studio that provided many eclectic animated thrills with the Animatrix compilation could only be explained by admiring their unabashed passion for detail. Nearly every frame of this marvelous, Manga-adapted feature is littered with an unprecedented level of specific illustrations that really aims to set the bar for sheer artistic commitment. It is the city itself that rules the film, and these passionate animators do not disappoint when it comes to delivering scene after scene showcasing an unfathomable detail rendered in these massive, severely inspired cityscapes.

First time Director Michael Arias does stumble a bit at times, making the episodic material feel that way, but we do see a compelling fusion with CGI effects in many of the action scenes that make this visually stimulating feast rise to fluidly spectacular levels. Despite many pratfalls found in the script, sometimes silly voice acting (common in the genre), and some (at times) counter-intuitive pacing, scene-for-scene Tekon kinkurîto (US title is Tekkonkinkreet) will probably remain the most compulsively rewatchable, primarily hand-drawn work of art to be savored by pencil-aficionados until the next driven team of artists desires even more.