Tekkonkinkreet

Tekkonkinkreet
鉄コン筋クリート (Tekkonkinkreet)
Genre	Adventures, Psychological, Drama
Manga
Written by	Taiyō Matsumoto
Published by	Shogakukan
English publisher	Viz Media
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Big Comic Spirits
Original run	1993 – 1994
Volumes	3 (regular)
Anime film
Directed by	Michael Arias Hiroaki Ando (co-director)
Produced by	Eiko Tanaka Naoki Kitagawa Yasushi Shiina Masao Teshima
Written by	Anthony Weintraub
Music by	Plaid
Studio	Studio 4°C
Licensed by	Sony Pictures
Released	December 22, 2006
Runtime	111 minutes

Tekkonkinkreet (鉄コン筋クリート, Tekkonkinkurīto, a child's mispronunciation of "Tekkin Konkurito" (steel reinforced concrete) is a three-volume seinen manga series by Taiyō Matsumoto, which was originally serialized from 1993 to 1994 in Shogakukan's Big Comic Spirits and first published in English as Tekkonkinkreet: Black & White. It was adapted into a 2006 feature-length Japanese anime film of the same name, directed by Michael Arias and animated by Studio 4°C. The film Tekkonkinkreet premiered in Japan on December 23, 2006.

The story takes place in the fictional city of Takaramachi (Treasure Town) and centers on a pair of orphaned street kids – the tough, canny Kuro (Black) and the childish, innocent Shiro (White), together known as the Cats – as they deal with yakuza attempting to take over Treasure Town.

Plot

The film adaption consists of three plots shown in the manga.

Part 1

The story follows two orphans, Kuro and Shiro, as they attempt to keep control of the streets of the pan-Asian metropolis of Treasure Town. Kuro is a violent streetwise punk who considers Treasure Town to be "his town". Shiro is younger and an innocent dope, out of touch with the world around him and often living in a world of illusions. They call themselves "the Cats".

First they take on thugs with a berserk "Black", as he is known in the film, beating up three yakuza who are menacing a street gangster friend of his.

A corporation called "Kiddy Kastle" conceives plans to tear down and rebuild Treasure Town to fit its own goals.

Part 2

When Black interferes once too often, Yakuza are sent to kill him but fail so the deadly "three assassins" are sent. In order for Black and White to be saved themselves, he has to put gasoline and put the first one on fire. Another encounter when alone and White is seriously injured and nearly dies by the assassin. Part two ends when White is taken into custody by the police "for his own good".

Part 3

Part three starts when White finds himself at the police station, drawing a dolphin. However both are messed up kids and complement each other and without White, Black deteriorates and becomes delusional.

Kimura, who started out as one of the bad yakuza guys and was badly beaten across the face by Black is pushed into murdering, Suzuki/Rat; his boss and mentor, by Snake. Kimura eventually rebels and kills Snake. He tries to escape with his pregnant wife but in revenge is murdered by a drive-by shooter.

Black has released his evil side, the Minotaur, to kill the last two assassins and then he manages to get back to sanity and joins White again, and it ends with them playing in the sea like two innocent kids.

Cast

Character	Japanese Cast	English Cast**
Kuro(Black)/The Minotaur	Kazunari Ninomiya	Scott Menville
Shiro(White)	Yu Aoi	Kamali Minter
Kimura	Yusuke Iseya	Rick Gomez
Sawada	Kankuru Kudo	Tom Kenny
Suzuki	Min Tanaka	David Lodge
Gramps	Rokuro Naya
Fujimura	Tomomichi Nishimura	Maurice LaMarche
The Boss	Mugihito	John DiMaggio
Choco	Nao Omori	Alex Fernandez
Vanilla	Yoshinori Okada	Quinton Flynn
Gamers	Morisanchuu
Dawn	Yukiko Tamaki	Yuri Lowenthal
Dusk	Mayumi Yamaguchi	Phil Lamarr
Akutso*	Harumi Asoi
Yasuda*	Atsushi Imaizuma
Ocohima*	Bryan Burton-Lewis
Snake	Masahiro Motoki	Dwight Schultz
Kimura's Wife*	Marina Inoue	Kate Higgins
The Doctor*	Osamu Kobayashi	Steven Jay Blum
The Three Assassins		Crispin Freeman Dave Wittenberg Matt McKenzie

"*" - Minor Role

"**" - Not credited on the DVD

Media

Manga

Tekkonkinkreet is a three-volume seinen manga series by Taiyō Matsumoto, which was originally serialized in Japan from 1993 to 1994 in Shogakukan's Big Comic Spirits and first published in English as Tekkonkinkreet: Black & White.

Film

All three manga issues was adapted into a 2006 feature-length Japanese anime film of the same name, directed by Michael Arias and Hiroaki Ando and animated by Studio 4°C. The film Tekkonkinkreet premiered in Japan on December 23, 2006.

Reception

Joseph Luster felt that the brotherly bond between the protective Black and the endearing White was the heart of the manga. "While it may not be what anime fans have come to expect for a traditional film, the end result is something that while predictable is surprisingly engaging." — Chris Beveridge, Mania. "Regardless of how much you watch this one, though, this is a film that no serious anime fan should miss." — Chris Johnston, Newtype USA.

Awards

The manga won the 2008 Eisner Award for "Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Japan". Tekkonkinkreet won the prestigious Best Film Award at the 2006 Mainichi Film Awards. It was also named Barbara London's top film of 2006 in the annual "Best of" roundup by the New York Museum of Modern Art's Artforum magazine. In 2008, it received 'best original story' and 'best art direction' from the Tokyo International Anime Fair. It won the 2008 Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year.

Further reading

• Wong, Amos (January 2007). "Tekkon Kinkreet". Newtype USA 6 (1): p. 99. ISSN 1541-4817. 

External links

• (Japanese) Tekkonkinkreet official site
• Tekkonkinkreet official site at Sony Pictures
• Otaku USA interview with Michael Arias
• IONCINEMA.com interview with Michael Arias
• Daily Yomiuri/de-VICE interview with Michael Arias
• Interview with Arias
• Tekkonkinkreet trailer
• Tekkonkinkreet (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Tekon kinkurîto at the Internet Movie Database