Tekkon Kinkreet
 

really great animation. cel/toon shading has been around for awhile, but this is the first full-length feature directed by the same guy who created the 3D plugin (the making of feature is really cool...especially where they show how they mapped hundreds of hand drawn background illustrations onto a 3D model of the whole city)

this is based on a manga by Taiyo Matsumoto. the only other adaptation of his work that i've seen is the live action Ping Pong movie. and both have similar treatments to the main characters' bond with each other (i guess you'd have to see both Ping Pong and tekkon kinkreet to see it....without spoiling it, it's the part where one of the characters "talks" to the other character through their situation.)

also has an excellent score/soundtrack by Plaid especially the music playing at the end credits.

Re: Tekkon Kinkreet
 

yeah, i love this film. knowing it was directed by Michael Arias though, i couldn't help but see all the camera shake and weird perspectives as perhaps more arty than anime really needed. will have to watch some more.

the manga is possibly even better...!

Re: Tekkon Kinkreet
 

i had reservations about it too. after watching the whole film though, it never felt like it had anything "american" about it. which makes watching the interviews etc on the disc feel weird, cuz if you closed your eyes and listen to Arias speak you'd have a hard time guessing he's american.

Re: Tekkon Kinkreet
 

does he speak Japanese?

also, i really want to watch Ping Pong now (the anime series, not the film).

Re: Tekkon Kinkreet
 

actually he does (he's been living in japan for the past 17 years? and has a japanese wife). the making of/diary featurette on the dvd is entirely in japanese. i've never seen the R2 dvd but i'm assuming the "making of" is just directly lifted off of that...kanji subtitles show up when he's speaking english with his college friend who was brought in as a sound engineer.

the interview with him and the Plaid duo (also on the dvd) is boring cuz you dont really learn anything from the interview.