In modern-day Tokyo, three homeless people’s lives are changed forever when they discover a baby girl at a garbage dump on Christmas Eve. An anime film by Satoshi Kon.

On Christmas Eve, three homeless people rummage through the garbage looking for something useful when a middle-aged alcoholic named Gin gets into a quarrel with a teenage runaway named Miyuki. Their argument quickly escalates into a fight, and a transgender woman named Hana tries to intervene but is unable to stop them.

Suddenly, they hear a baby crying from a pile of garbage. Following the sound, they discover an abandoned baby along with a locker key and a handwritten note asking whoever finds her to take care of the child. Gin and Miyuki agree that it would be best for the baby if they take her to the police. However, Hana believes the baby is a Christmas gift sent from God and insists on keeping her. Hana names the baby Kiyoko and takes her back to their cardboard shelter, despite Gin and Miyuki’s disapproval.

Gin tells Hana that he was once married and had a daughter. When he was a bicycle racer, his daughter fell ill and died because he couldn’t afford her medical bills. Hana promises to take the baby to the police the next day. However, the following morning, Hana takes off with the baby. Gin and Miyuki follow Hana’s footsteps and find her sitting in the snow. Hana reveals that she doesn’t want the baby to experience being sent from one foster home to another, like she used to. Determined to find the baby’s mother and ask her why she abandoned her own child, Hana refuses to take the baby to the police.

Using the locker key found with the baby on a locker that matches the number on the key, they discover two bags inside, each filled with personal belongings and a couple of photographs showing a man and a woman standing in front of a house with twin towers under construction in the background. The man and woman are presumably the baby’s parents. Miyuki finds several Club SWIRL business cards with the name みどり (Midori) printed on them. Gin calls the club, but nobody answers. Hana suggests that the hostess club is unlikely to be open during the daytime.

They decide to take a train to visit the club. However, the train stops midway due to heavy snowfall. When another train pulls up next to theirs, Miyuki is startled to see a man on the other train. It seems that the man notices Miyuki as well and tries to communicate with her. In a sudden decision, Miyuki jumps out of the train through a window and starts fleeing along the tracks. Gin and Hana have no choice but to follow her on foot.

Miyuki accidentally drops a can of milk powder when she jumps off the train. The group decides to stop by a local cemetery to scavenge the offerings for something for the baby. As they continue on their way to the club, they rescue a middle-aged man who is trapped under his own car. It turns out that the man is a yakuza boss, and his daughter is getting married today to the owner of Club SWIRL. He invites them all to accompany him to his daughter’s wedding so he can introduce them to the owner of the club.

At the wedding, Hana learns that Midori’s real name is Sachiko and that she quit the club after becoming pregnant. Gin becomes infuriated when he realizes that the groom is the same person who lured him into a get-rich-quick scheme, causing him to lose everything and abandon his wife and daughter. As Gin is about to attack the groom, a hitman disguised as a waitress pulls out a gun and starts shooting at the yakuza boss. However, the groom uses his own body to shield his father-in-law. Holding Miyuki and the baby hostage, the hitman flees the scene in a taxi.

Hana and Gin must find a way to track down the hitman and rescue Miyuki and the baby. Gin insists they go to the police, while Hana has contacted the taxi company using the license plate she remembered. They quickly split up. The taxi driver takes Hana to the location where he dropped Miyuki and the baby. Meanwhile, Gin discovers that the twin towers in the background of the photo are the same as those on the poster inside the cardboard shelter. Unfortunately, before he can tell Hana, Gin is assaulted by a group of teenagers and sustains grave injuries.

Directed by Satoshi Kon, who co-wrote the screenplay with Keiko Nobumoto based on an original story by Kon, TOKYO GODFATHERS is a heartfelt Christmas tragicomedy that centers around three homeless people embarking on an adventure to find the parents of an abandoned baby girl they discovered at the garbage dump.

TOKYO GODFATHERS draws inspiration from several sources, most notably from the 1948 John Ford western film Three Godfathers. The two films share a similar premise involving three outcast protagonists caring for a baby.

Unlike other Satoshi Kon films, which often feature fantastical and psychological elements, TOKYO GODFATHERS is mostly grounded in reality. The story follows a group of protagonists, each with ambiguous and somewhat questionable pasts that unfold as the narrative progresses through a series of unbelievable coincidences and strokes of luck, each one bringing them a bit closer to their destination.

I love the character designs, which feel genuinely lifelike with compelling and relatable backstories despite their cartoonish, exaggerated expressions. The gags are always on point, helping to lighten the atmosphere whenever the scene feels a bit too dark. TOKYO GODFATHERS is a Christmas miracle.

TOKYO GODFATHERS was theatrically released in Japan on 8 November 2003. The film grossed ¥70 million yen against the production budget of ¥300 million yen.

TOKYO GODFATHERS 4K UHD Blu-ray was released on 16 December 2022, featuring a newly remastered 4K transfer from the original film. This edition comes with four movie art postcards, special slipcase, and 63 minutes of special features including making-of and trailers.