History Anime / TokyoGodfathers

Three [[HomelessHero homeless people]] -- Gin (an [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]]), Hana (a UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} woman) and Miyuki (a [[TheRunaway teenage runaway]]) -- find an [[DoorstopBaby abandoned baby]] while digging through trash and spend [[DoTheyKnowItsChristmasTime Christmas Eve]] looking for its [[ParentalAbandonment missing parents]].

%% Doesn't explain what the reaction is. * Berserk Button: You can call Hana "Shitty", but never call her an "old man".

* BerserkButton: You can call Hana "Shitty", but never call her an "old man".

* MyGreatestFailure: For Gin, it's getting banned from bike racing due to cheating and thus not being able to pay his [[IllGirl daughter's]] medical bills. [[spoiler:Or so he says. In actual fact, it's running up a massive amount of gambling debt and getting loan sharks on his family's tail.]]

* IllGirl: Gin's biological daughter, who passed away after [[MyGreatestFailure he failed to raise enough money to pay her medical bills.]] [[spoiler:This is later revealed to be a big fat lie - not only is his daughter alive and kicking, but she ''works as a nurse.'']]

* CueTheSun: At the end, Hana catches a glimpse of the sunrise in the climax as she [[spoiler: descends with the baby, holding onto a banner that a gust of wind leaves them gently floating down to the ground]]

* LighterAndSofter: The film can still be very dark and brutally realistic but it is noticeably more light-hearted and comedic than Creator/SatoshiKon's more serious and surreal works.

* LighterAndSofter: The film can still be very dark and brutally realistic but it is noticeably more light-hearted and comedic than Creator/SatoshiKon's more serious and surreal films.

* LighterAndSofter: The film can still be very dark and brutally realistic but it noticably more light-hearted and comedic when compared to Creator/SatoshiKon's more serious and surreal films.

* LighterAndSofter: A bit subverted. The film can still be dark and brutally realistic but it is a lot more light-hearted and comedic when compared to Creator/SatoshiKon's more serious and surreal films.

* LighterAndSofter: While the film can still be dark, it is a lot more light-hearted and comedic when compared to Creator/SatoshiKon's more serious and surreal works.

* GodIsGood: An overarching theme and discussed by various characters. Many events in the movie can easily be interpreted as God guiding and even directly helping the protagonists. Noticeably, despite thinking God have her the wrong sex, Hana is a firm believer of this.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Are the three being guided by some divine intervention? Are they just really lucky with all the {{Contrived Coincidence}}s guiding the story? When the deranged woman sees [[spoiler:the baby talk to her]] is it genuine, or just a hallucination on her end? It's all left a deal ambiguous and up for the viewer to decide.

* LighterAndSofter: While the film can still be dark, it is a lot more light-hearted and comedic when compared to [[Creator/SatoshiKon Satoshi Kon's]] more serious and surreal works.

* AdultFear:
** Miyuki's father doesn't care that [[spoiler:she stabbed him in a fit of anger while her mother was praying.]] He just wants to find her and make sure that she's all right and has been searching for her frantically.
** [[spoiler: Sachiko kidnaps a baby from a maternity ward after losing her own baby, then abandons it while the real parents are frantically looking for their newborn.]]

* ChristmasMiracle: Hana outright calls Hiyoko a Christmas miracle and blessed by God. Over the course of the film the trio encounters so many miraculous coincidences that it's kind of hard to argue against the entire film being a long string of them.

* RecycledInSPACE: Most likely not intentional, but the movie can feel a lot like ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'' ''IN TOKYO''.
** Intentional example: The movie is a remake of ''Film/ThreeGodfathers'' ''IN TOKYO''.

* MasculineFeminineAndrogyneTrio: Gin is a gruff, hairy, alcoholic man, Miyuki is a teenage girl, and Hana is a transgender woman with very feminine mannerisms but a masculine physique.

''Tokyo Godfathers'' is a 2003 {{Anime}} movie directed by Creator/SatoshiKon; the film is heavily based on 1913 novel ''The Three Godfathers'', which is about a trio of bandits who discover a foundling. This dramatic comedy is a stark departure from Kon's more [[MindScrew mind-bending]] works, but it still contains his atmospheric touch, keen social commentary, and insight on the human condition.

* ArcSymbol: Angels. Miyuki is first seen in front of a billboard showing a model dressed like an angel, the neon sign in front of the club Hana used to sing at is the Tokyo Tower with angel wings and the lamp on top of the taxi that Hana hijacks to chase after Sachiko is an 'A' with wings. And at one point Hana declares the baby to be a "messenger of God", the traditional function of angels in the Bible, and in a dream Miyuki imagines that the baby has wings on her back. Also, Miyuki's cat is named "Angel".

* BilingualDialogue: Miyuki and the South American man from the wedding, and again when [[spoiler: he takes her to his home and leaves her with his wife]]. The man speaks only Spanish to Miyuki, but she doesn't understand him. Later, when [[spoiler: she is in the room with the wife]], she attempts to speak Spanish with Miyuki, but switches over to English briefly, which Miyuki ''does'' understand. She is very supportive, even if it seems she doesn’t understand what a big mess Miyuki got herself into.

** While he tells Miyuki and Hana how he became homeless, he mentions he was a professional bike racer. [[spoiler:While it turned out Gin was actually the owner of a bike shop that has since gone out of business, he ends up using a bicycle for real in the climatic chase.]]

* ChristmasMiracle: Hana outright calls Hiyoko a Christmas miracle and blessed by God. Over the course of the film the trio encounter so many miraculous coincidences that it's kind of hard to argue against the entire film being a long string of them.

* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler:Miyuki stabs her father over her lost cat (which she assumes he either threw away or killed), but it’s pretty clear that was just the final straw and that there are plenty of other underlying issues there.]]

* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: When Miyuki calls Hana a "shitty old man", Hana says, "'Shitty' I can take, but 'old man' I won't!" and nearly assaults her. After Gin breaks them up, Miyuki corrects herself and calls her a ‘shitty... uh... hag.’ A flashback reveals that Hana once lashed out at a visitor at the bar she worked at who made the same mistake.

* RobbingTheDead: The trio regularly raid food offerings left by graves to keep themselves fed. After they take in Kiyoko they also find a formula for her this way.

** At first Hana and Miyuki seem to blithely pass by [[spoiler: Sachiko, who's about to throw herself off a bridge]], only for them to visibly double take and rush to try and stop her.

* {{Yakuza}}: The trio rescue a middle-aged man who's been trapped under his car. When he recovers and offers to repay them for their kindness, Gin immediately notices [[{{Yubitsume}} his missing pinky finger]] and tries to bail out. It turns out the man owns the hostess club the trio were looking for, and brings them to meet the manager who happens to be marrying his daughter on that very night.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: [[spoiler:"Kiyoko wants to see her mom and dad, why don't you get that?!" It's how Miyuki manages to snap Sachiko out of kidnaping the baby for herself]].

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: [[spoiler:"Kiyoko wants to see her mom and dad, why don't you get that?!" It's how Miyuki snaps Sachiko out of jumping off a rooftop with the baby]].

%%* {{Yakuza}}

* ChristmasMiracle

** Intentional example: The movie is a remake of ''Film/TheThreeGodfathers'' ''IN TOKYO''.

* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler:Sachiko is stopped from committing suicide twice.]]

* MasculineFeminineAndrogyneTrio: Gin is a gruff, hairy, alcoholic man, Miyuki is a teenage girl, and Hana is a transgender woman with very feminine mannerism but masculine physique.

* HeroStoleMyBike: Sachiko steals a truck and Gin goes into pursue with a stolen bicycle.