History Anime / Metropolis

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/metropolis_anime.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:It's a loooooooong way up.]]

->''I can't stop loving you...''

The 2001 Animated film by Tristar Pictures, directed by Rintaro, and animated by Creator/{{Madhouse}}. It did not actually involve Creator/OsamuTezuka and was made after his death. It draws as much from the classic German film ''Film/{{Metropolis}}'' as it does from Tezuka's manga of the same name, and [[BroadStrokes does not attempt]] to be faithful to either. But it was rated on one film site's [[http://movies.ign.com/articles/650/650717p1.html all-time best animated films]] list.

In a {{Zeerust}} future, an elderly Japanese detective and his young nephew arrive in Metropolis, the most advanced and wealthiest city in the world, on the trail of a wanted MadScientist and organ trafficker. Assigned a robot detective as a guide, they track the man down to a lab in the undercity just to see it destroyed by a KnightTemplar with an anti-robot agenda. Out of the wreckage crawls the doctor's greatest achievement, a [[InnocentFanserviceGirl naked and inhumanly beautiful young girl]] with apparently no idea who she is, what she is, how she got there or what clothes are. The nephew and the girl then get separated from his uncle when the floor gives way.

As the film unfolds, the detective attempts to find his nephew, the nephew attempts to find out both the nature of the girl and how to escape from the undercity, the city politics take a turn for the worse, and the city's most powerful man seeks the girl as a prop in a somewhat messianic agenda.
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!! This move provides examples of the following:

* AccidentalPervert: Very noticeably avoided. Tima goes without pants for a fair part of the movie, keeps sitting facing Kenichi, and he doesn't flinch or say anything. Given that he's dressed like a boy scout and seems to be something of a "boy adventurer" in the style of {{Tintin}} and his ilk, his extreme politeness doesn't feel all that weird.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: While still the BigBad, the film's version of Duke Red has some noble aspects as opposed to his manga counterpart.
* AdaptationalVillainy: In the original manga, Dr. Lawton was a respected scientist who was protecting his robotic creation, Michi from Duke Red. In the film however, Lawton is a wanted criminal who Duke Red hired to create a robot version of his deceased daughter, Tima.
* AGodAmI: Or rather, "A Goddess I'll make!" courtesy of Duke Red who despises how humans are ruled by emotions and inferior robots, so he has Tima created as a supreme creation to rule over the world as a computer weapon with Red in charge. Doesn't turn out well.
* AIIsACrapshoot: Both in the usual sense, and in the sense that some robots are obviously sentient while others of the same model aren't.
* AnimationBump: Tima's hair.
* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:Of all the major characters, only Kenichi and his uncle make it to the end credits.]]
* ApocalypseHow: Class 0. [[spoiler:The destruction of the Ziggurat completely wrecks Metropolis, but there's still survivors and they will rebuild. The rest of the world is definitely in a comparatively better shape.]]
* ApocalypseMaiden: If Tima would've gone through with it, the probability of humanity's survival would've been only 30%.
* ApocalypseWow: It's only [[spoiler:some districts of the city including the ziggurat,]] but it looks ''awesome''.
* ArtisticAge
* BigBlackout: Tima's hack into the Ziggurat causes a blackout in the city district they're currently in, after the hack, the [[MacGyvering jerry-rigged steampunk computer]] [[ExplosiveInstrumentation exploded,]] [[RuleOfCool for bonus points]].
* BigNo: As Tima [[spoiler: falls to her death]], Kenichi does this. However, in the original Japanese version, he just yells out her name.
* BittersweetEnding: Played straight and possibly averted, depending on the version you watch. [[spoiler:The Ziggurat falls, Duke Red and Rock are explicitly shown dead, the city is devastated in the fallout, and poor sweet Tima slips from Kenichi's grasp right as her sense of self is returning, falling into the burning abyss. The final scene hints that Tima's parts can be reclaimed, and her spirit is still somehow broadcasting through a radio.]] However, there's also a final image after the credits that [[spoiler: full-on reveals that Kenichi was somehow able to rebuild Tima, and they've opened their own robot company together.]] Unfortunately, despite being in the original Japanese and English theatrical releases, the image was cut from the English DVD release, [[NoExportForYou for whatever stupid reason]]. Luckily, the image is restored in the streamed Hulu version (it was also there in the 2005 Creator/AdultSwim showing).
* BlasphemousBoast: The boasting that the Tower of Babel in the middle of the city will be better than the original one.
* BloodlessCarnage: There quite a few people shown to be shot, but blood is (almost) never seen and often enough they wouldn't even show bullet holes.
* BoomHeadshot:
** How a robot gets finished off by Rock during his EstablishingCharacterMoment and how Fifi is destroyed by him to allow Kenichi and Tima's escape.
** [[spoiler: Pero]] gets it from Atlas.
* CanonImmigrant: Rock wasn't actually in the original manga. His characterization here is largely taken from his appearance in Tezuka's next major sci-fi manga after ''Metropolis'', ''Nextworld''.
* CirclingMonologue: Rock circles Tima before knocking her out.
* CompositeCharacter: Tima is based on both the robot child Michi and Emmy from the original manga.
* ConspicuousCG: Makes extensive use of this for the backgrounds and scenery while keeping the characters traditionally animated.
* CoolButImpractical: The firefighting robot thingies. Of course, given how extremely cramped the streets are, a bunch of slowly-assembling but small, easy-to-transport units may actually be more efficient than an instantly-ready but cumbersome piece of equipment.
* CoolOldGuy: While Kenichi's uncle is mostly presented as source of humor, he proves he's no pushover and even [[spoiler: beats down Rock, even after he was injured.]]
* CosyCatastrophe: After [[spoiler: the Ziggurat explodes]], Metropolitans seem to take their new pile of rubble in stride.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: A colorful, pastel city of equally plush robots who are willing to do your bidding, not to mention trustworthy people in charge. Oooh, and look, someone built a huge tower. Perfect vacation landmark, right? Until you realize what the huge tower is really for, and how corrupt the officials really are. Not to mention the massive degree of discrimination towards lower class workers who are forced to work and live in slums while also hating robots who are similarly discriminated against for taking their jobs.
* CreatorCameo: In the ''score'', oddly enough. There's one bit of music that features a prominent part for bass clarinet; according to the liner notes of the soundtrack, one of the bass clarinetists is Rintaro himself.
* DarkSkinnedBlond: President Mr. Boom.
* DeathByAdaptation: As mentioned elsewhere, [[spoiler: Tima is shown to survive in a scene not in the American version.]]
* {{Determinator}}: Rock.
* DisguisedInDrag: [[spoiler: Rock]] combines this with LatexPerfection in order to sneak into the Ziggurat.
* DieselPunk: With CyberPunk.
* DoomsdayDevice: The Ziggurat is meant as a way for Metropolis to extend its military power, but in the wrong hands...
* TheDragon: Averted. Rock appears to be set up as Duke Red's Dragon and right-hand man for the first two minutes, then they have a chilly conversation and work at cross-purposes for the rest of the movie.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Rock and one of the city officials (portrayed by Hamegg) discover Kenichi and Tima in Zone-3 and Rock starts shooting at them. Hamegg is surprised at him trying to murder children and tries to stop him as gunfire in such a necessary area like Zone-3 could potentially ruin the infrastructure of Metropolis. Rock shoots him for his troubles.
* {{Expy}}: Appropriate considering the characters stem from the designs of Osamu Tezuka, each of the main characters is an expy of those featured in {{Anime/AstroBoy}}:
** Duke Red is a blatant expy of Dr. Umataro Tenma/Dr. Boynton/Dr. Balthus from his views on his robotic ward to control mankind to his birdlike nose.
** Tima is a blatant expy of Astro given her identity as a humanoid robot built in the image of deceased child and destined for grand schemes by the villain.
** Rock is a blatant expy of Rock Holmes and even shares his appearance from the hairstyle and shades to his usage of firearms.
* FamousLastWords: [[spoiler:Who-who am I-I?]]
* FantasticRacism: In Metropolis, robots are popularly discriminated against to the point they must have special clearance to leave their designated work zones or be shot on sight by members of the the anti-robot disciplinary party funded by Duke Red known as The Marduk, like Rock.
* FreezeFrameBonus: When Kenichi, the detective and the robot descend to the lower levels of the city, the come by [https://imgur.com/a/scg6K2m a graffito]] that says "[[FreezeFrameBonus fuck robots!]]"
* GenderFlip: The main robot of the original manga was technically able to be either male or female with the [[GenderBender flip of a switch]] on their neck but spends most of the story as a boy, whereas Tima is 100% female.
* HeroicSacrifice:
** Fifi takes the bullets Rock fires for Kenichi and Tima. [[spoiler: Fifi gets better later.]]
** To ensure Shunsaku's safety, [[spoiler: Pero]] talks him into getting away before Atlas destroys him to begin the riot.
* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: Guess who had no involvement in the production of this film? At all? Of course, he was [[AuthorExistenceFailure dead at the time]], but... if you're gonna put Tezuka's name on the production, it should have more in common with his manga. Then again, [[OldShame seeing how he came to feel]] about his manga...
* KillAllHumans: [[spoiler: Tima goes into this mode when she discovers that she's a robot, especially after she sits on the throne of power.]]
* KnightTemplar: Rock plays his anti-robot agenda to the end. Good thing too. Also a {{Jerkass}} and {{Psychotic Smirk}}er.
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Atlas pays for shooting Pero VERY quickly, after he takes out the robot his rebellion completely flops and is himself killed off with little fanfare.]]
** [[spoiler: Duke Red is ultimately done in by both of this "children" thanks to his negligence and blind ambition: Rock constantly sabotages Duke Red's plans throughout the movie and when Tima goes berserk she obliterates any hope Duke Red had for salvaging his goals]].
** [[spoiler: Rock himself pays for his deplorable actions and desperate attempts at pleasing Duke Red by not only dying himself but, as mentioned above, unintentionally causing the death of his father.]]
* MacGyvering: Shunsaku jerry-rigs an old television set, a rotary phone and some loose wiring. Using Tima, he's able to hack into a government power grid and pinpoint the location of his nephew Kenichi.
* TheMorlocks: Not deformed yet, but things are going badly wrong for the lower-class Metropolitans.
* MrExposition: Pero and Atlas both take this one.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler: Rock is essentially responsible for saving mankind by setting the Ziggurat to self-destruct and essentially frees Tima from her destructive mindset inadvertently]].
* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: It's implied that the coastal region of Windsor, Ontario is the setting of Metropolis. This can be seen in various structures and maps of the area spread throughout the film.
* OhMyGods: Some characters make references to "the gods", implying people in Metropolis follow a polytheistic religion. Averted with Shunsaku, who is implied to be Christian.
* OneWordTitle: Also an example of ThePlace, given it's named after the city that the film takes place in.
* ThePlace: Also an example of OneWordTitle, given it's named after the city that the film takes place in.
* PoisonousFriend: Rock makes some very [[TheMillstone counterproductive]] attempts at protecting Duke Red. He refuses to let a robot have the power which he thinks can only be used by his "father", even it means completely going against his orders.
* PragmaticVillainy: Doctor Lawton doesn't use human organs in his robots, because he claims they don't last very long.
* ReusedCharacterDesign: Tezuka's "actors" reprise their original roles from the manga, while Rock (who wasn't in the original manga) comes in to provide conflict and [[TriggerHappy shoot stuff]].
* RobotBuddy: Fifi and Pero.
* RobotClown: Despite not doing anything harmful unlike the other robots in Metropolis that went berserk during the test of the Ziggurat's solar spots weapon, the Marduk mercilessly gun down a malfunctioning robot clown that was carrying balloons.
* RobotGirl: Tima.
** She also counts as RidiculouslyHumanRobots, seeing as even Rock said you can't tell the difference between her and a human, also, as she thought she WAS human through most of the movie.
* [[RoomFullOfCrazy Room Full of Kenichi]].
* SceneryGorn
* SceneryPorn: In some scenes the characters are just tiny figures at the bottom of the screen, with the backgrounds given pride of place.
** It's not uncommon to find the backgrounds consistently more interesting than the characters and/or plot.
* ShoutOut: The ending sequence is a pretty obvious shout-out to ''Film/DrStrangelove''.
* SlidingScaleOfRobotIntelligence
* SoundtrackDissonance: Music/RayCharles' version of "I Can't Stop Loving You" plays blissfully over the climax.
** Even when there is SoundtrackDissonance, there is not LyricalDissonance: The lyrics fit a number of the characters rather snugly because the song is about a guy who cannot let his lover go, and announces he will reject his sad reality and start living in the beautiful past.
* StockSoundEffects: The Ziggurat weapon winding down sounds the same as the [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack Millennium Falcon failing to make a hyperspace jump]].
* StuffBlowingUp: In a ''very'' impressive sequence, Rock manually activates the Ziggurat superweapon while its still in cool-down (the equivalent of a ICBM exploding while still in its own silo), triggering the destruction of the superstructure and surrounding district. It inadvertently [[spoiler: saves Kenichi from Tima, as she's disconnected from the systems that have taken control of her.]]
* SunglassesAtNight: Rock in most of the film. This is never brought up in the movie. (It makes sense if you know the rest of Tezuka's manga works...)
* SympatheticSentientWeapon: Tima is most definitely this.
* TakeMyHand: [[spoiler: Kenichi to Tima as he's trying to pull her to safety near the end. She doesn't.]]
* TearsFromAStone: Tima starts to cry when she realizes that she's not human.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: The first thing Atlas and his worker rebellion does to fight against city corruption is shoot Pero [[WhatTheHellHero who previously pleads to handle matters peacefully and questions the human tendency to settle disputes with mass violence]] before leading the revolution which leaves Metropolis and the worker class in tatters and ashes. Before his death, Atlas laments the entire revolution was a trap set by Duke Red to get rid of human opposition.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeVilified: Subverted. While it's clear that the government here needs to be toppled, Atlas' [[spoiler: murder of Pero and the subsequent wanton violence by the riot/rebellion]] shows that the "revolution" isn't all that good either and leave the city a complete mess where everyone except the top city officials are left homeless.
* RightForTheWrongReasons: While Rock is certainly a bastard and simply felt a robot didn't deserve to be in power simply due to prejudice, [[spoiler: Tina's actions after sitting upon the throne was a case in point of why it was a bad idea in the first place. Though its justified, since Rock had made an assassination attempt against her seconds before she did]].
* TowerOfBabel: The government spokesman in the intro specifically compares the Ziggurat to the Tower of Babel, stating that while the original was built in defiance of God, this one us built to honour Him instead. [[spoiler: He's lying. It's a SuperWeapon that only Tima can control.]]
* UnwittingPawn: Atlas and President Boone, who are both killed down the line once their usefulness ends.
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Duke Red's motivation. He gets no KickTheDog moments but does some rather nasty things to get on top.
** Also applied to Atlas and his revolutionaries, who kill Pero and tear ass through Metropolis in order to topple Duke Red.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Although Rock is only Duke Red's (sort of) adopted son, his entire motivation for trying to kill Tima is to get him to love him, and only him, as his own, while hating Tima for being an artificial daughter surrogate made in the image of Duke Red's already deceased daughter.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Atlas may be violent and needlessly bigoted against robots over the problems Duke Red caused, but he's justified in wanting to overthrow him and the Marduk Party.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After Skunk has President Boone assassinated, he grins as he imagines the future conflicts that will ensue... and then he is never seen or mentioned again.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Duke Red doesn't even care that his artificial goddess is dressed like a street person. That's a subtle bit. Also the non-protagonists treat the robots as cattle and [[spoiler: all the sentient robots in the film end up dead--unless you count the apparently-recovered Fifi and not-totally-gone Tima]]. The Japanese protagonists (and possibly Atlas, despite viewing harsh treatment of the robots as necessary) are the only people that relate to the robots as sentient entities.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Tima. After getting shot and realizing that she's a robot, she takes control of immeasurably powerful technology and orders the extinction of humanity.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: His psychotic hunt to destroy the young girl-looking Tima aside, Rock doesn't care about Kenichi's safety as he shoots towards him during the chase. Later Kenichi even gets a knee to the stomach from Rock.
* {{Yandere}}: Depending on what you think Tima was trying to do at the very end.
* YouAreACreditToYourRace:
--> "From now on, your name is Pero!"\\
"Wasn't that your dog's name?\\
"So? That was a great dog!"
** Probably unintentional, as this is actually a MythologyGag. The character first appeared in an ''Manga/AstroBoy'' story, where instead of being a straight robot he was a cyborg created from the nervous system of a dog due to his creators wanting an army of killer robots but were unable to get their hands on AI that wasn't ThreeLawsCompliant.
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* GenderFlip: The main robot of the original manga was techinically able to be either male or female with the [[GenderBender flip of a switch]] on their neck but spends most of the story as a boy, whereas Tima is 100% female.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Rock and one of the city officials discover Kenichi and Tima in Zone-3 and Rock starts shooting at them. The official is surprised at him trying to murder children and tries to stop him as gunfire in such a necessary area like Zone-3 could potentially ruin the infrastructure of Metropolis. Rock shoots him for his troubles.

** Duke Red is a blatant expy of Dr. Umataro Tenma/Dr. Boynton/Dr. Balthus from his views on his robotic ward to control mankind to his birdlike nose
** Tima is a blatant expy of Astro given her identity as a humanoid robot built in the image of deceased child and destined for grand schemes by the villain

* OhMyGods: Some characters make references to "the gods," implying people in Metropolis follow a polytheistic religion. Averted with Shunsaku, who is implied to be Christian.

* BloodlessCarnage: There quite a few people shown to be shot, but no blood is seen and often enough they wouldn't even show bullet holes.

** How a robot gets finished off by Rock during his EstablishingCharacterMoment and how Fi-Fi allows itself to be destroyed by him to allow Kenichi and Tima to escape him. [[spoiler: Fi-Fi gets better later.]]
** Pero gets it from Atlas.

* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:Of all the mayor characters, only Kenichi and his uncle make it to the end credits.]]

* AnyoneCanDie
* ApocalypseHow: Class 0.

* UnwittingPawn: Atlas and the President who are both killed down the line once their usefulness ends.

In a {{Zeerust}} future, an elderly Japanese detective and his young nephew arrive in Metropolis, the most advanced and wealthiest city in the world, on the trail of a wanted MadScientist and organ trafficker. Assigned a robot detective as a guide, they track the man down to a lab in the undercity just to see it destroyed by a KnightTemplar with an anti-robot agenda. Out of the wreckage crawls the doctor's greatest achievement, a [[InnocentFanserviceGirl naked and inhumanly beautiful young woman]] with apparently no idea who she is, what she is, how she got there or what clothes are. The nephew and the girl then get separated from his uncle when the floor gives way.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Metropolis_ver_Osamu_Tezuka_9486.jpg]]

* SoundtrackDissonance: Ray Charles. "I Can't Stop Loving You" plays blissfully over the climax.

* FantasticRacism: In Metropolis, robots are popularly discriminated against to the point they must have special clearance to leave their designated work zones or be shot on sight by members of the the anti-robot disciplinary party funded by Duke Red known as The Marduke, like Rock.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Atlas may be violent and needlessly bigoted against robots over the problems Duke Red caused, but he's justified in wanting to overthrow him.

* OhMyGods: Characters make references to "the gods," implying people in Metropolis follow a polytheistic religion.