With Tekkonkinkreet, based upon the manga Black and White, Studio Four Degrees Celsius once again raises the bar of animation to an unparalleled level. While the art direction is not as experimental as it is in Mindgame, it is none-the-less brimming with grand production values, unique artistry, and emotional energy. Every frame of animation sizzles, pops, and crackles off the screen, all under the watchful eye of a most peculiar director - an American, Michael Arias.
This is the first full-length Japanese produced animated film to be directed by a Westerner, and it benefits from this outsider's perspective. Arias, no greenhorn to the medium, oversaw the production of the Animatrix, and also wrote a piece of software that allows animators to make CGI look like hand drawn, hand painted 2D animation. This software was used on Princess Mononoke, The Prince of Egypt, and others, as well as Tekkonkinkreet.
What Arias and Studio 4DC do here is nothing short of extraordinary. The film possesses a life and energy seldom seen, and the entire production is anchored by strong emotional content. Even when the narrative blasts off into the stratosphere, as the rival gangs fly and fight through the air in animated sequences full of verve and imagination, the film never looses sight of the core struggle: a simple struggle of two young boys, street urchins, named Black and White.
To Black and White, their beloved city of Treasure Town is like a surrogate parent. Raised on, and by, the streets, the two young boys share a karmic bond like no other. At one point, when the two boys are separated, White explains that God made them broken, their hearts have “screws missing.” And in one of the most powerful lines of the film, White emotionally explains that he “gots the screws that Black needs.” Like the duality of their names suggests, Black and White cannot exist with out the other, and the town soon finds out what happens when the two are separated.
While Black and White may think, or wish, that Treasure Town is their town, there are others out to claim it as their own. Some of these forces, like the malevolent Minotaur seen during the film's powerful, bizarre, and dark climax, want to destroy the city, while others, like the uber-fascist Snake, see the city in shades of financial-gain. Others still, like the yakuza boss, called Rat, only desire Treasure Town to remain the same. The yakuza are the old guard, forever slaves to tradition, and shun change at each and every passing. There is a war over Treasure Town, and each combatant wants it for different reasons, but the city's heart is not theirs for the taking, it has a life all of its own.
Even though Tekkonkinkreet and Mindgame share a similar artistic fervor, thematically they are opposites. Mindgame, while exciting, is not action packed, it's eyes are focused on the self-discovery of the main characters and what life means to each of them. Tekkonkinkreet, on the other hand, is brimming with action: hard-hitting, violent, and vibrantly choreographed action. The competing sides pummel the hell out of each other with unearthly ferocity in a twisted series of superhero-like fisticuffs.
The best of these action sequences includes three giant, wicked cyborgs sent by Snake to kill Black. These action set-pieces feature amazing games of cat-and-mouse through the twisted labyrinth-like city streets, as well as violent and nasty exchanges of blows. The outcome of these battles never feels predetermined, and they are staged in a way that strengthens each and every conflict. The action feels dangerous, deadly, and painful, no small feat for an animated film.
This is not to say, however, that the narrative focuses solely on the action. There are frequent moments of quiet solitude, and moments of vibrant character development. And this is where the film excels, the filmmakers expertly balance the intense, energetic moments, with those that are more introspective. While during one scene we may see a yakuza getting the crap beat out of him in gory detail, moments later we see him at home, reacting, maturely, to the news of his girlfriend's pregnancy. We also hear a story of a strip club's role in the rights of passage of Treasure Town's boys, and, in a wonderful break from convention, we are shown a cop who is intelligent, caring, and thoughtful. Although the film is more of an action packed-thriller, the action and thrills are driven by the characters, their desires, and their emotions, and are not there only to serve some juvenile fantasy of vivacious violence.
Studio 4C is able to capture emotion like no other animation studio I know of. Both Mindgame, and Tekkonkinkreet, are overflowing with strong, authentic emotions. Through the power of their drawings, the design of their characters and settings, and to their seemingly inhuman attention to detail, they create worlds that feel alive and vital.
Treasure Town, and its core group of inhabitants, feel real, even though they are overflowing with phantasmal, esoteric design. Black and White are endearing characters, characters who act and react like real boys, even though they posses strange and unearthly powers. Their struggle to protect their city, their emotional connection to one another, and their ferocious, tenacious, never-say-die attitude is the frame on which Arias hangs this epic animated masterpiece.
