5/5 Beyond Beautiful
  by Ana Mardoll (United States)
Tokyo Godfathers / B0001EFTVA

*Spoilers*

When a trio of hopeless homeless 'bums' find an infant child thrown out in the trash on Christmas Eve, they are shocked and eventually angered that anyone would so callously dispose of a child. They decide to take the time, effort, and precious resources to scour the cold and unfeeling city for the mother of the lost infant, so that she can explain how she could throw out her baby. What they don't expect is the journey of pain, discovery, and healing that their journey brings them.

I generally tend to dislike 'journey' movies, because my heart strings can be tugged way too easily, and I leave the movie feeling drained and exhausted. However, I truly loved every second of "Tokyo Godfathers". Beneath all the pain, sorrow, and emotional heartbreak, there is genuine humor and an indomitable human spirit. It is fascinating to see how each of the three homeless have given up all hope in their *own* selves and lives, and yet they can't accept to see their companions give up their own hopes and dreams. This unlikely trio, composed of a young girl, an older man, and a homosexual transsexual, love each other dearly but aren't above heated arguments and disputes.

I would say it is possible that this movie is the most lovingly sensitive movie ever, towards all of its characters. Each character in this movie - and not just the 'main' ones - are fleshed out as real, three-dimensional characters. The homosexual transsexual 'Hana' is feisty and a common source of comic relief, but Hana's humanity is never sacrificed in service to humor. Gin could easily be portrayed in an unflattering light, based on his secret past, and yet he is always treated with quiet dignity. And young Miyuki is realistically portrayed as a confused and frightened young teenager, encased in a tough shell for protection from her own fears. The treatment of the homeless is always lovingly gentle - there is no false suggestion that these three are just 'too lazy' to find work, indeed it is probably more "work" being homeless than not! Instead, they are realistically shown as homeless because their spirit is broken and they no longer have any faith in themselves. It is telling that it takes a truly helpless child for them to find the strength to reenter the world that has hurt them and seek to heal their own hurts.

Seriously, after a single viewing, I am ready to label "Tokyo Godfathers" as one of the best movies ever - the combination of sensitivity, humor, spirit, and real character development is a work of art and a thing of beauty. Never sappy, "Tokyo Godfathers" pulls no punches and doesn't over-dramatize to force our heart-strings - it just tells the tale of a dysfunctional "family" setting out to right a wrong they can't bear to accept.

5/5 Best non-Ghibli anime I've ever seen.
  by Skyclad (Michigan)
One of my favorite things about most of the anime out there is its ability to have heart, be funny and yet show a point of view from an angle not expected by most Americans. Tokyo Godfathers not only does that, but it has actually 4 or 5 distinct viewpoints running throughout it, depending on what character you are focusing on. The character sare all completely selfish, yet care about this baby in their own way. Awesome animation too. A definite must-own.

5/5 Great story telling
  by Michael Johnson (Moberly, MO USA)
As a student of Japanese culture, I found this movie to be a great intro to Japanese culture for Americans that have never been to Japan. The three "bums" are characters that all of us can relate to, even if their are a bit extreme. This movie has adventure, comedy and a hint of romance. There is enough to keep your attention. Definately worth the money. Five stars and two thumbs up!!!

5/5 delightful ...
  by Lynn English
Tokyo Godfathers is a comical and touching story about three homeless friends and their quest to find an abandoned baby's parents during the Christmas holiday. The main characters each have a unique personality, but they interact well and portray a feeling of 'family' between them. The animation is superb and the subtitles are easy to read. Tokyo Godfathers is magical and heartwarming. A truly delightful anime film about friendship, love and miracles ... with a perfect ending.

5/5 Essential Tokyo Godfathers Review
  by J. Alford (Atlanta, GA. United States)
On X-Mas Eve in Tokyo, three homeless people, find an abadonned baby lying in the rubbish. The trio: Gin, an ex-gambler; Miyuki: a runaway teenage girl; Hana: a drag queen, decide to find the child's parents. They name her Kiyoko, and then look through some belongings that were left with the child for clues to her origins. A trip to a family cemetery finds them running across a yakuza boss who they help out from nearly getting run over by his own car. He takes them to a club that they found a business card for with Kiyoko, which turns out is where the dom's daughter is getting hitched that day. Once there, Gin realizes that the groom is the man who caused him to become poor years ago from a jibbed bet, but before he can try to get at him, a hitwoman accidently shoots the groom while trying to kill the dom. Miyuki and the baby are kidnapped by the hitwoman, while Gin and Hana seperate after arguing. Gin runs into an older homeless man, and he gets injured while protecting him from some punks. Hana meets up with Miyuki who escaped with Kiyoko, and they go to an Hana's old bar for drag queens, where they find Gin who was taken into care for his injuries. They later run into a woman who appears to be Kiyoko's actual mother, however she's instead suicidal, and it's up to the homeless trio to save Kiyoko in a great comedy/traumatic fashion.

This movie was directed by Satoshi Kon, who also did the movies Millenium Actress, Perfect Blue, Paprika, and the Adult Swim series, Paranoia Agent. This was a distinct departure from his normal supernatural/surrealistic thrillers. It was partially based on the western movie, 3 Godfathers. For Kon, this was a great piece of storytelling. The characters are very entertaining and believable. His appear to be more realistic looking than most anime characters. Not all the girls are thin with big hooters, and not all the guys look like girls with long spikey hair.

What makes this a great movie for X-Mas is there are so many points in it where you actually believe some of the plot devices or coincidences are genuine "Christmas Miracles". There's so many revelations about the characters lives as the story moves along, and how the all culminate at one of the most satisfying anime movie conclusions ever is really special. The other reason its a great title for the holidays is because its one of the few ones that isn't the special "Christmas episode" of an already existing anime series, and is great to see on its own merit.