Poignancy gives way to self-conscious sitcom shtick, which morphs into violent tension. It’s a balance so deft the movie elides subgenre altogether and just picks “a holiday classic to those who know.”

| Jan 22, 2025

Grotty, unpolished, but lovable humanity.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 28, 2022

Tokyo Godfathers is a wonderfully emotional animated feature that manages to deliver so much with so little.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Nov 11, 2022

While perhaps unorthodox both for the genre it belongs to and the filmmaker it comes from, there is no denying that overall Tokyo Godfathers is a success.

| Original Score: B | Aug 28, 2022

A modern animé classic fit for rediscovery by both adults and kids-not to mention a stirring celebration of inclusivity that remains ahead of its time.

| Feb 2, 2021

Tokyo Godfathers stands as an excellent anime film and a really fun Christmas movie.

| Original Score: A | Dec 28, 2020

Tokyo Godfathers is a beautiful, hilarious movie and one that cemented Satoshi Kon as a visionary and narrative master.

| Sep 2, 2020

Less fanciful in plot and style than Kon's other movies, yet it compensates with its deep humanism.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 7, 2020

Unique anime has mature themes, drinking, cursing.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 27, 2020

There are a lot of reasons why this film works, but I think at the heart is an emotional resonance we connect with

| Original Score: 9/10 | Jan 3, 2020

It's not a perfect film, but it excites, makes you laugh and reconciles one with the human race and that's a rare thing. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Nov 6, 2019

A film which shows the limitless potential of animation, Tokyo Godfathers is an alternative Christmas classic that's full of unexpected twists, turns and miracles. A festive bonanza which will put plenty of smiles on many faces.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Oct 8, 2018

With peerless animation, plenty of laughs and just as much heart, Tokyo Godfathers is an absolute joy. It should appear high on your list of alternative Christmas movies.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Nov 10, 2017

Hana tends to swoon into stereotype, her theatricality and campiness infecting the other non-hetero characters here, with so many of them wailing or sobbing. The story's comedy and pathos can be similarly overwrought, too.

| Feb 9, 2016

In one sense the plot involves returning stolen goods to a thief, but Tokyo Godfathers is really about longing -- for family, for children, for parents and for the lost past.

Full Review | Dec 9, 2013

A likeably larky Yuletide yarn.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 9, 2013

Tokyo Godfathers becomes a clever and well-written parody of Christ's nativity.

| Dec 9, 2013

No amount of shoehorned-in razzle-dazzle can keep this forced fable from feeling like a shadow of Kon's early work.

| Dec 9, 2013

Japanese animator Satoshi Kon has a striking sense of composition, but I'm more impressed by his storytelling skills.

| Feb 17, 2012

Takes anime to a whole new level.

| Sep 7, 2008