Masao MARUYAMA, 6 anime to highlight a 50 years’ career: Tokyo Godfathers
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Japanese animation, Masao MARUYAMA, a major character of the industry and ambassador for Animé 100, is coming back over his career, more than 50 years during which he produced a huge number of anime. For us, he has accepted to recall six anime that punctuated his career and today, he’s telling us about Satoshi KON’s Tokyo Godfathers!
"Among all of Satoshi KON’s works, this [Tokyo Godfathers] is one of the most entertaining and funniest.
All that happens is unforeseeable and it ends up reaching a climax. This is characteristic of [director] Satoshi KON’s extraordinary way of telling stories. I don’t think anyone is as good as he is at developing a plot.
I also think that the three main characters, though odd, are also very endearing. They live on the street in Tokyo, one is a trans woman, another is a young run-away, and the last is a man who’s been kicked out of his home. They have lost all faith in life and have given up, but still are trying to live and raise the child [the three main characters have found a new-born in the garbage]. Satoshi KON’s message, that even a group of homeless people can raise a child lovingly and offer her a better future, pervades the film in a manner as entertaining as intelligent. In this way too, his talent is obvious, in his way of moralizing the story.
This message is at the heart of the film, appearing through tensions and turns of events. I think it is a powerful film as it’s easy to enjoy it, even without being aware of the technique behind the making.
The three main characters are very funny but especially [Hana, the trans woman]. Her body is huge, she’s dressed as a woman but as she has a man’s body, she looks huge! Satoshi KON himself dressed as a woman to show us her gait, her way of wrapping her scarf around her neck, or other aspects of her body language. We’ve worked with photos and videos of Satoshi KON to animate the movements. That’s why this character has remained associated with Satoshi KON’s body in my mind."
Tokyo Godfathers in short
- Japanese title: Tokyo Godfathers
- English title: Tokyo Godfathers
- Release date: 2003 in Japan and in Europe
- Directed by Satoshi KON
- Studio Madhouse
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