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Tokyo Godfathers is an underappreciated anime film directed by Satoshi Kon, the same man behind Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, and Paprika. The movie came out in 2003 and was a major failure at the box office, costing two and a half million dollars to make and only making eight hundred thousand dollars back. However, the film is an absolute hidden gem both in the realm of Christmas and anime movies and won awards such as the Excellence Award at the Japan Media Arts Festival and the Best Animated Film award at the Mainchi Film Awards.
The movie is about three homeless people finding a baby in the garbage on Christmas Eve. The three main characters include a transgender woman named Hana, a middle-aged alcoholic named Gin, and a teenage runaway named Miyuki. In terms of genre, the movie is a tragic comedy adventure. The director himself calls it a "twisted sentimental story" and it certainly is unconventional when it comes to holiday stories, but in the best way possible.
Themes In Tokyo Godfathers
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Like any holiday movie, family is a major theme in Tokyo Godfathers. What makes it so endearing and unique, though, is the found family between the three protagonists. The movie highlights depictions of how these characters had issues with their traditional families and found strength and community with each other to get through hard times. The found family between these three is radical and unconventional in comparison to typical holiday films, and it is a total breath of fresh air. One could even argue the movie was ahead of its time in its untraditional lens into what family means.
The second major theme of the movie is coincidence and miracles. During the journey to find the baby's mom, Gin, Hana, and Miyuki come across many miraculous coincidences, ranging from winning the lottery to reuniting with old family members. This theme is somewhat tied to director Kon's other films, as he loved to mix fiction with reality. On a press sheet, the director wrote that the movie shows miracles are part of the otherworld, one not based on logic and science, but meaningful coincidence. Tokyo Godfathers has its own sort of animism, with the metropolis of Tokyo seeming to watch over and take care of the main characters. At certain moments of the film, the landscapes even look like faces, as though the gods of the city are always watching.
Why The Movie Was A Box Office Failure
To begin its unfortunate box office filature, Tokyo Godfathers had a disastrous premiere. There is an article on Anime News Network that tells the full story, but in summary, the premiere of the movie had technical difficulties with the movie visuals going on and off a bunch and without the ability to rewind. While it won some awards, it did fail in its attempt to get a nomination Academy Award in Best Animated Feature. However, the movie was showered with positive reviews by those who watched it.
The box office failure was obviously not due to the movie's quality, but due to the fact that many people did not go see it. This was not due to competition either, as no big-name anime or animated movie came out in 2003 at the same time to suck up all the attention away from Tokyo Godfathers. Basically, the box office failure is a big mystery. Kon's other films such as Paprika and Perfect Blue made more back as well, but all of Kon's movies can be considered hidden gems with competition like Studio Ghibli taking up much more space in the public consciousness.
A cynical theory is that the characters simply were not attractive, so they did not draw the attention of typical anime viewers. Kon's other movies had beautiful women as their main characters while Tokyo Godfathers depicted two older people with a girl wearing what looks like three coats. True to their homeless background, they are not meant to be eye-catching, but a realistic depiction of people who don't come from the best circumstances. The inclusion of and compassionate depiction of the transgender character Hana, in particular, was well ahead of its time.
Why Tokyo Godfathers Is The Perfect Holiday Movie
The holiday times are about compassion, family, and the joy of entering an otherworld where fiction can meet reality. Tokyo Godfathers understands this and approaches it in unconventional splendor, with its protagonists being the ones who need compassion and family most during the cold months. The movie also does not take a religious stance, which is not surprising since Japan's Christian population is at about one percent. Instead, the movie is just purely holiday spirit, making it not alienate anyone from other religions.
Today, it is easy to find holiday movie clones with little to nothing new to say. Many make fun of the popular Hallmark Christmas movies for their unrealistic rose-colored depictions of love and society. What many don't know is that Tokyo Godfathers has been around now for nearly 20 years, and is a holiday movie with just the right balance of hardship and cheer.