Tekkonkinkreet

Celebrating its 10-year anniversary, Michael Arias’s adaptation of Taiyo Matsumoto’s Tekkonkinkreet manga is an exquisitely animated action film. Deep in Treasure Town, the tough, violent Black and the far more innocent White are orphans who soar through the twisted streets like pint-sized superheroes. Black decides that he needs to rule Treasure Town and protect White and starts going after the yakuza trying to raze the place and turn it into an amusement park. Snake, the yakuza boss, is angry at Black’s victories over his men and decides to hire three almost superhuman hit men to take him out. Soon it is up to White to save Black, and perhaps all of Treasure Town, from Black’s own dark nature. Filled with surreal flourishes, Tekkonkinkreet is a masterpiece of animation and a brutal, beautiful tale of love and friendship in the face of urban and human decay.