Text Review—Ella Feng

Tokyo Godfathers is a Japanese anime film that came out in 2003, directed by Satoshi Kon. It is a tragicomedy adventure film that describes the story of three homeless people trying to find the parents of an orphan they found on Christmas Eve. They named the baby “Kiyoko,” which means “pure child” in Japanese.

The three homeless characters each have distinct personalities and backgrounds. Gin is a middle-aged alcoholic man. He claims that he was a former bicyclist who can’t afford medical bills and left his sick family to die. But he was the owner of a bicycle shop who couldn’t pay off his debts from gambling and alcohol problems. He felt tremendous guilt because of his irresponsible actions. Hana is a trans woman and a former drag queen who has a caring and motherly personality. Hana used to live and work with her adopted mother who is also a trans woman in a drag bar. After attacking a rude customer who criticized her appearance, Hana then ran away. She was the first one who found the abandoned baby, although she wanted to take the baby as her own daughter because she disliked the fact of giving the baby back to her birth parents who already decided to abandon her. Later, Hana was the leading character trying to find the baby’s birth parents because she believed in a second chance. Miyuki is a young woman who is probably under 18 years ago. She left home because her policeman father was over-controlling but also who didn’t provide the care and love she needed. Miyuki left home with guilt because her anger took over her and stabbed his father with a minor injury.

This film made me relate to the Novel “Things Fall Apart” we read early because every three characters in the film had made some sins before they become homeless but contrary to the Novel, although there are proper excuses they realized their wrongdoings and tried to find redemption by taking care of the baby. The characters in the film were also considered as “the other” because they are homeless who live on the street. There is a scene in the film when many high schoolers beat up Gin without reason. They were just boring before going to a party and want to beat Gin up to have some “fun.”

There is also a beautiful scene about two different races, a black male accidentally “kidnapped” Miyuki and the baby during his mission. He took them home to his wife for their safety. The wife and Miyuki do not speak the same language but Miyuki found peace with the kind wife because she reminds her of her mother.  I can not describe the film fully in limit words. There are many other details in the film that show somewhat social injustice because of their gender and class. The film is a tragicomedy, showing the dark side of society and bringing people hope and enlightenment. I don’t want to spoil the ending because it is really worth the watch and I want to recommend it to everyone, especially when you feel down or upset by the current society full of injustice.