Popular reviews

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  Review by theriverjordan ★★★½ 33

  “Tekkonkinkreet” renders the bursting emotional expression of youth through the vivid violence of a surreal cityscape. 

  Similar to how its district of Treasure Town stacks architecture from across time and space to form a modern Babylon, so too is “Tekkonkinkreet” a movie of many influences. 

  Directed by an American, Michael Arias, but derived from a manga series - the work renders aspects of Japanese philosophy and history through the Westernized lens of youth street culture.

  The film’s unwieldy name comes from a mispronunciation of the Japanese word for reinforced concrete. The material is one of many that makes up a ramshackle fantasy of a metropolis inhabited by two delinquent brothers; Black and White. 

  Needless to say - the theme of…

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  Review by Chris 🦑 ★★★★★ 5

  "Don't worry, Shiro. Nobody will ever break us apart."

  don't let the poster fool you this is actually really dark and i cried at least 5 times but it is a masterpiece nonetheless and i love my gay children Shiro and Kuro

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  Review by Michael Offerosky ★★★★

  Dang, I need to watch more anime features. TEKKONKINKREET is based on a manga called BLACK AND WHITE named after the two main characters. Black is about 13 or 14 and is a tough and White is 11 and goofy. Both Black and White will do whatever to protect their city Treasure Town from yakuza, unfriendly businessmen (who want to rip off kids and families by turning the city into a Kiddie Kastle), and aliens. This film is a trip narratively with lots of psychological angst especially towards the end. Visually, the animation is a mix between traditional and CG. Where CG tends to bother viewers (including myself) in live action features, it works well in the animated realm. Anime and adult animation fans will eat this up. As far as the casual audience goes, I would personally be wary of recommending it to anyone but the more adventurous and curious.

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  Review by Jason Alley🏳️‍🌈🐻 ★★★ 2

  While I cannot say that TEKKONKINKREET held my interest on a story level, taken purely as a visual experience it's one of the most staggering films I've seen. Nearly every single frame is stunning in some way. It creates a fascinating world that feels completely imagined and then lets us explore it with the characters.

  There was a time, albeit a short time, that I was really into anime and probably would have given this 5 stars purely for the visuals and ideas. Nowadays, however, I need a more solid narrative to hold onto, and this one just kinda lost its thread in the second half.

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  Review by 🌻 lindsay 🌻 ★★★

  This movie isn’t that long but I really felt like it dragged. There were large elements of the story that I just didn’t care about at all. I did love everything surrounding Black and White though because I’m a sucker for movies about siblings bonds. The animation style was really cool and trippy.

  I would have liked this better if the plot hadn’t felt so convoluted and confusing and instead focused on character development.

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  Review by Bob Hovey ★★★½

  A visually spectacular anime that follows two orphaned boys who protect a corrupt future city from warring criminal organizations. Sharing a brotherly and at times even mystical bond, "White" and "Black" hold their own well enough until "Snake," a new corporate-backed criminal, arrives with an entourage of powerful henchmen to take the city for himself. Most of the characters are fairly sympathetic and multifaceted, even the vicious Yakuza are shown to have a human side that adds some emotional depth to the story. The real attraction here would be the visuals... this future city blends international elements from Japan, China, Indonesia, Tibet and the Philippines in a fantastic riot of color and form. This is an environment that's easy to get lost in, there's a texturally-rich atmosphere that invites close examination and tends to leave its vivid imagery lingering in one's mind.

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  Review by Julian (The Film Seeker) ★★★½

  For all intents and purposes, Tekkonkinkreet presents us with a dystopian world in Treasure Town. The sun may shine bright, and the violence may not impact everybody, but if the premise is to present this city as its own character, then that character is dealing with the most unavoidable case of mental collapse. Even the children inhabiting Treasure Town, who see it as their own perverse playground, realize that this playground is built over a minefield. In this volatile habitat desperate for balance, we find the story of Black & White.

  The importance of balance is pretty obvious in Tekkonkinkreet. Black and White, our primary duo lost without each other, can easily represent a sort of harmony akin to yin and…

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  Review by Mike Apps🍿 ★★★★½ 6

  I remember 2005 - 2007 being a truly amazing time in the animation industry in Tokyo. At that time anything felt possible at both Madhouse and Studio 4. You had Redline, Black Lagoon, Paradise Kiss, Paranoia Agent, Paprika, Highlander and so on. Many of the films made failed to make enough profit, but have aged like fine wine regardless.

  
  Tekkonkinkreet is a gem hidden within that time capsule. It is an amazing triumph on not just animation or storytelling, but movie making in general. The film is so jam packed with symbolism that every time I watch it, I catch something new that I didn't see before. I saw this movie by complete chance, and I was so enchanted by…

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  Review by karamashi ★★½ 1

  The animation in this is so good. But holy fuck, plot wise, it's a mess. I understand the approach they went for and having to fit in a graphic novel into a feature length film forces you to creatively snip/rearrange. I don't agree at all with how they handled the character development or progressed the story by jumping everywhere at once. Having come off of the astoundingly good Ping Pong: The Animation, it's clear that you have to give material such as Taiyo Mastumodo's work air to breathe. It's a jumbled and frustrating film, made even more frustrating for how kinetic a lot of the animation is. It brilliantly melds 3-D and 2-D, plus they nailed the energy of Treasure Town well. It's just not a good way to experience the story, and I highly, highly recommend the actual manga version.

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  Review by TheCultureShocker ★★★★

  Pretty good film until the final act. Then it becomes a GREAT film.

  The animation in this is so unique and strange, the characters are all very memorable and it captures the loss of childhood innocence better than most films do.

  Extremely underrated movie.

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  Review by oppie ★★★★½

  isn't treasure town just like cities and towns everywhere? even in real world? yes it's a mess, a hell-hole, and the people living there can be so evil and mean. but that doesn't mean that its not beautiful. a beautiful disaster, as what most people say.
  that's the entirety of this movie. a beautiful disaster.

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  Review by richiewoods ★★★★½ 1

  all the missing pieces every last one