I have a love/hate relationship with Anime. There are a few titles that I truly and totally get into. "Cowboy Bebop" is usually the first one that comes to mind. But most of the time I'm hit with some new anime feature, the same thought pops into my brain, "Huh?" Of course I know there are Anime aficionados out there who will immediately pounce on me (which will look really cool cause they'll be frozen in position, with background lines shooting past them), or start yelling at me (with their mouths forming huge sideways figure eights). But you guys really gotta admit, most of the time you really have to be Anime savvy to understand what the heck is going on. Take for example director Hayao Miyazaki, whose films have hit the mainstream thanks to Disney's releasing them on DVD. So far I've watched all of the ones that have been released with my son (who loves them) and only found myself mildly entertained.

Generally my reaction starts out as awe over the incredibly detailed animation but slowly degenerates into wondering what drugs the writers were on. They go into levels of bizarre that even I never imagined. And yikes… throw one of the more adult themed Animes in front of me and they get downright scary.

A couple of weeks ago, I was introduced to a new Anime feature called "Tekkonkinkreet" (which roughly translates as 'really long word that no one can pronounce'). Based on the manga "Black and White", by Taiyo Matsumoto, the film tells the story of two young brothers and their misadventures in a highly futuristic Japanese city of Treasure Town. The brothers, named Black and White (hence the title of the manga… doh!) live with the notion that they run the town, but are forced to come face to face with the Japanese Yakuza who also think they run the town. Those wacky Yakuza have a plan to completely take over by changing old nightclubs into amusement parks for kids. Pretty seedy, don’t ya think?

Black is the tougher of the two brothers and is generally the one who is ready to do battle at any given time. White, on the other hand is the innocent one. He prefers to draw rather than do anything else. It's up to them to 'save the town.'

And there you have it. A pretty straight forward plot. Or so you'd think. Once the movie gets going, and you've gotten over the oohing and ahhing over the animation you send the rest of the time trying to figure out what's going on. There are subplots built into subplots, along with characters and situations that come out of nowhere, only to disappear again. Once I got into the final third of the film, it became so incoherent that I decided to get some aspirin. Still, I hate to completely trash the film. The animation is superb even during parts where it becomes colorfully hallucinatory. I'm sure that those who really get into Anime will get more out of it than I did.

For those who really do like the film, Sony / Columbia Tristar added quite few extra features, including a commentary by the movie's director, Michael Arias, screenwriter Anthony Weintraub, and sound designer Mitch Osias. I cannot say that it was an exciting commentary, but the trio was able to clear up a few of the ideas behind the story. Mostly though, they talked a about what directions they wanted to go with the animation itself. Additionally, there is an interview with the members of the musical group Duo Plaid about their work on the film's soundtrack. Finally there is a lengthy documentary that delves quite deeply into the work that went into not only making the movie, but finishing it on time.

"Tekkonkinkreet" really wasn't my cup of tea, but I cannot entirely fault the film. I'm sure Anime fans will watch it and snub their noses are me (which looks odd under their tightly scrunched cosed eyes that no one understand how they see out of…).

Directed by: Michael Arias
Extras: The Making of Tekkonkinkreet - Director Michael Arias' 300-Day Diary, A Conversation with Director Michael Arias and British Music Duo Plaid, Filmmaker Commentary
Specifications: Widescreen (2.35:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Sony / Columbia Tristar
Release Date: 9/18/2007
Region 1
MPAA Rating: R
Website

We'll give Tekkoninkreet a C.