Tekkonkinkreet as a movie is about as weird as “Tekkonkinkreet” is as a title, which translates to “steel reinforced concrete.” I have watched it a handful of times, yet I still see something the next time I watch it that I apparently missed or overlooked the previous time. A Japanese animated film, or anime, it fully embraces the culture of the Land of the Rising Sun. There are more colors here than one could find in any crayon box, and all those colors are used marvelously. Maybe the visual distraction is why I see something new every time.
The film takes place in the fictional Treasure Town, a city beloved as often as hated by its denizens. The vehicles of the story are Black (Scott Menville), known as Kuro in Japanese, and White (Kamali Minter), Shiro in Japanese. Both are known street orphans, together capable of taking care of themselves as well as any adults. Black, the older, is more the brains and the braun of the pair, a rebel to all authority, fearful of nothing. He considers Treasure Town to be “his town,” which he stands behind, when he confronts and fights three yakuza, Japanese gangsters. On other nights, he and White sneak around, pickpocketing oblivious bystanders to make their living.
If Black has the brains and the braun, though, what does that leave White with? He is the heart. Late in the movie he explains his role to another character, saying that God made him broken, without all the screws for his heart. While he lacks his own screws, he says that he has every one of Black's screws to keep him together. He seems to suffer from autism, often speaking in ways to leave one wondering what he is going on about. I looked up a description of autism that reads “a mental condition in which fantasy dominates over reality...” and that is exactly what is conveyed here. Near the very beginning Black, White, and their grandpa are talking, more so Black and their grandpa to each other, while White goes on talking to them but more so to himself, and all of a sudden, he is riding atop a small elephant, which seems to go unnoticed by the other characters. The elephant is not really in the room, just in his fantasy over reality mind.
One thing to love is that the story that has so many facets, factions, and want-to-be factions. There are the orphans, trying to rule the town, the police, Fujimura (Maurice LaMarche) and Sawada (Tom Kenny), trying to keep some form of reins on the town, the Dawn (Yuri Lowenthal) and Dusk (Phil Lamarr) brothers, attempting to make a name for themselves, “The Boss (John DiMaggio),” a businessman, making ventures to thrive in this town, the Boss’s muscle, the yakuza, the Rat (Matt McKenzie) and Kimura (Rick Gomez), an up-and-coming gangster with a baby on the way, Snake (Dwight Schultz), the Boss’s new business partner, etc.
From time to time, Tekkonkinkreet can be confusing, leaving the audience to wonder where the bounds of the film are, if it has any. Some things seem oddly random, even outside of White. Right when you think you have a grasp on what the movie is, aliens show up. Everything is constantly changing and being reinvented right in front of the eyes.
I do not really have any complaints with Tekkonkinkreet. If there was any it would probably be that the person who watches it once will miss so many things that take multiple views to catch. That can also be a strength, though, because it gives so many reasons to re-watch again and again.
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