Four Calling Birds
Okay, now here we go. I”m gonna have to do the next installment cold. I don’t have time to watch this one. I’ve slipped up. I do know that I should’ve already written a post or two on Tokyo Godfathers. If not, then tonight I’ll make up for it.
The story takes place during Christmas and centers around three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo. One is a runaway school girl who fled her home after an argument with her father over a cat. Another is a drag queen. The final hobo is an ex-keirin racer and bicycle shop owner acting as a bum because of a gambling problem. They find an abandoned baby who they vow to reunite with its mother. Adventures ensue. Hmm. I guess you have to watch it to understand.
Anyhow, you wouldn’t expect a Japanese anime to have anything to do with Christmas, but they make an anime about everything and anything. You’ll see later on as I hit up some anime in later posts.
Today’s Christmas theme is how universal the tidings of joy and goodwill to all men are. Christmas shows up in a film in a most non-Christian of nations, and the film celebrates redemption through the birth of a child. Each of the three Tokyo godfathers experiences redemption in some form. Christmas brings some of that to us with the birth of our savior. It doesn’t matter if you’re some Japanese homeless person. Joy and peace are universal truths and it takes a Japanese anime to remind us.
I do miss Satoshi Kon. I wonder what more he would’ve brought to us. I hope you search out his films and realize he was a master storyteller. And I hope you add Tokyo Godfathers to your holiday movie list.
