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

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

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

A delightfully rambunctious holiday fable about the vital importance of family.

| Original Score: B+ | May 4, 2005

One of the most moving, enjoyable and wholly unconventional Christmas stories to come along in a long time.

| Original Score: B+ | Mar 25, 2004

Demonstrates an idiosyncratic human touch. Kon is unafraid of the unseemly and unsightly.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 27, 2004

Gritty yet surprisingly touching story.

Full Review | Feb 6, 2004

As visually accomplished as Tokyo Godfathers is, the story is the most primitive form of drama, one that counts on improbable coincidence to propel the story to its sudden, implausibly symbolic conclusion.

Full Review | Feb 6, 2004

Harrowing and heartwarming.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 30, 2004

Social indifference and injustice plague the protagonists, as well as our own consciences. This may very well be the point of the whole exercise.

| Jan 29, 2004

A spellbinding piece of Japanese anime from one of the form's new masters, director-writer Satoshi Kon.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 29, 2004

Tokyo Godfathers is the kind of old-fashioned, all-ages entertainment Hollywood used to churn out in live-action form before the era of niche marketing, when a good story sold a film.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 27, 2004

A satisfying story that's greater than the sum of its parts.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 23, 2004

Interesting stuff that's plain fun to watch.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jan 23, 2004

Full of charm, grittiness and a solid storyline, the movie deserves an audience far beyond diehard animation fans.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 23, 2004

An ambitious and impressively inventive undertaking.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 16, 2004

A gorgeous animated film that's as avid a tribute to the Japanese capital as Lost in Translation.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 16, 2004