Sawada: Cats? What cats? Fujimura: Strays. Orphans. Delinquents who rule Treasure Town. They live by the law of the jungle. The city is their playground. Underestimate them and you'll kiss asphalt.
Tekkon Kinkreet (a mispronunciation of Tekkin Konkurito, or "reinforced concrete") is an anime film by Studio 4°C, the animation studio known for creating The Animatrix. It was adapted from a manga called Black and White.The plot centers around two delinquent brothers called Black and White. Black acts as the tough, streetwise leader, while White is the childish and innocent half of the pair. Together they form the gang known as the Cats and rule Treasure Town, a decaying metropolis that is both colorful and dangerous. However, the yakuza known as the Suzuki "the Rat" and his boss move in and their plans to change Treasure Town with negative consequences for the Cats. With the yakuza's appearance come even bigger threats to Black and White, including superhuman aliens charged with hunting them down and a mysterious creature called the Minotaur with a reputation for cruelty.One of the central themes of the film is the duality of the orphaned brothers. White needs Black to help protect him and Black needs the upbeat White to remind him of his humanity. Once separated from White, Black slowly succumbs to his inner darkness and White must bring him back.The film is notable for having an American director, a fellow by the name of Michael Arias, who previously produced The Animatrix.
Ambiguous Disorder: White, definitely. It's made clear early on that he's somehow... different, with his immature and occasionally obsessive behaviour.
Apologetic Attacker: Kimura, when he shoots Sazuki. He loses his composure entirely when Sazuki reminds him to ditch his gun, clothes, etc. (Much like a father seeing his son off to graduation.)
Asexuality: Sawada says right out that he's asexual. He bucks the common stereotypes about asexuals (cold, uncaring, etc.) in that he's the most compassionate character in the movie.
When he mentions it at a strip-show, Suzuki calls it a "sign of the times."
Bathroom Stall Graffiti: The entire film is covered in graffiti, and the bathrooms are no exception.
Battle in the Center of the Mind: Black being consumed by his doppelganger, "the Minotaur", who tempts him into becoming Treasure Town's most lethal criminal.
Beauty Mark: Several characters have one, most noticeably White.
Berserk Button: "I can never forgive anyone who hurts White for any reason", says Black in the manga.
Big Bad: It's complicated. Snake is the most obvious, but he states that he is taking orders from "the ultimate authority" then directly states he means God.
Big Bad Wannabe: Suzuki is established as the main threat in Act 1, but his power quickly starts to wane. Dusk and Dawn are a comedic example.
Bigger Bad: The Minotaur is a good contender, he nearly takes away Black's humanity.
Bizarrchitecture: Treasure Town is a peculiar mix of early 20th century Japanese architecture and absurdly elaborate examples of classic Middle-Eastern, Indian and Chinese architectures.
Blood Knight: Black is very... eager to defend "his town".
One could argue that they are capable of these frightening acts because they are so innocent that they don't fully grasp how horrible they are. White especially is described as a true innocent by one of the secondary characters.
Conspicuous CG: Noticeable still, but mitigated thanks to a blend of traditional graphics with 3D animation, and the appropriate use of cel shading (for vehicles) that goes fairly well with the design of the characters.
Constantly Curious: White. The car he sleeps in is full of interesting stuff he's picked up.
Conveniently an Orphan: Subverted, as while this does give Black and White a lot of freedom, it's also highlighted as the root of virtually all their problems.
Decoy Protagonist: Dusk and Dawn who provide exposition for the Treasure Town and the Cats at the beginning of the film, only to be thoroughly trounced by Black. They reappear later in the film to give the first warning about the Minotaur's approach.
Even Evil Has Standards: Suzuki has nostalgia for the old neighborhood and doesn't want to see it torn down. Fujimura ribs him about this, saying that he's wiftful about his own brothels and gambling houses, but Suzuki believes that his businesses performed a public service.
Friendly Enemy: Suzuki and Fujimura go back a long way. Fujimura mocks the aging gangster's impotence, but quickly shows concern when he wanders alone into gang territory.
Glory Days: Suzuki flashes back to his days as an old-guard yakuza when Treasure Town was in its heyday.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Kimura, whose morality improves after he's scarred, and Black, particularly the one on his hand which symbolises his inner battle with the Minotaur.
Goggles Do Nothing: Black does wear his sometimes, if only to look cool.
Grievous Bottley Harm: Of the yakuza goons, only Kimura has the good sense to take Black seriously — but even he gets creamed by an expensive liquor bottle.
White hits one of the Aliens in the face with a bottle to distract its attention from Black.
Hope Sprouts Eternal: After failing to grow for much of the movie's duration, White's apple seed finally sprouts and blossoms during the end credits, after the brothers are reunited. In the manga, Black finds out about it just before the confrontation with the Minotaur, which leads to him keep his promise to White and refuse the Minotaur's help.
Idiot Savant: White has the mind of a philosopher and understands people far better than they do themselves.
Implacable Men: The Aliens can survive inconceivable blunt force trauma.
Ironic Echo: Kimura taunts a small-time gangster by introducing himself as, "What you wish you were: a real yakuza." Kimura is stunned when Snake later reverses that same statement.
Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club: Treasure Town used to be a yakuza stronghold, a haven of smut and vice. Snake convinces the boss to turn it into a theme park, similar to how the mafia was edged out of Vegas by conglomerates.
Living Emotional Crutch: White "protects" Black in this way, even more than Black protects him physically.
Louis Cypher: Snake is suggested to be a Satanic figure, from the red suits he wears, to the superhuman strength of his lackeys. Possibly inverted; he makes allusions to doing "God's" work.
Made of Evil: The Minotaur is the dark side of the psyche made flesh.
Madness Makeover: Black becomes more and more unkempt and deranged looking after being separated from White.
Madness Mantra: "Be happy, be happy/Don't worry, don't worry."
An Offer You Can't Refuse: Snake decides Kimura isn't fully on his team and requests that he kill his mentor. The alternative is to come home and find his girlfriend's pregnant stomach slit open.
One Last Smoke: Suzuki spits out his cigarette when shot. Black comes across the fallen yakuza boss and sticks it back in his mouth for him.
Production Throwback: Scenes from the "Time Boy" anime from Mind Game, an earlier Studio 4°C production, show up on television in Suzuki's safehouse as he leaves for the last time.
The Promise: Black promised White they would save money to catch a flight and live in a house by the sea one day.
Promotion to Parent: Black to White, although their status as siblings is unclear.
Retro Universe: The aesthetics of the city strongly evokes urban Japan in The Fifties and The Sixties (with a dash of pan-Asian elements mixed in), complete with period everyday items and vehicles.
A minor hint of the years in which the show takes place does surface early on, explaining the aesthetics. Suzuki is depicted reading an astrology book for 1967/Showa 42◊, implying the storyline unfolds between the summers of 1967 and 1968.
However, there's a scene from an arcade that has games that seem to belong to the 1980's.
Room Full of Crazy: The room that is given to White halfway through the movie goes from being full of ordinary drawings to crazy towards the end.
Rule of Symbolism: When White is stabbed through the torso, his blood pools around him into a circle. Snake's jacket sports the same red symbol.
Scars Are Forever: Kimura, after having his ass handed to him by Black. Also, Black has a scar over his left eye and another under his chin, then a third on his hand by the end.
Trippy Finale Syndrome: The journey into Black's deranged mind seems to last about 15 minutes before skipping to a Distant Finale which is wildly different in tone to the rest of the film.
Villainous Rescue: The Minotaur easily defeats the Aliens who were about to kill the depressed and confused Black at the end.
, who previously produced The Animatrix.
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