Though it’s vastly underrated, Michael Arias’ Tekkonkinkreet is an animation enthusiast’s dream. Adapted from the manga of the same name, the film centers on the intricately drawn cityscape of Treasure Town, a desolate cyberpunk downtown inspired in parts by Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Colombo, Sri Lanka. In Treasure Town, all the city’s population of street orphans have is each other — something brothers Black (Kuro) and White (Shiro) know all too well. Black, the older of the pair, has more street smarts, but White’s innocence offers its own kind of wisdom. As they fend off developer-funded yakuza, they navigate the city with surreal acrobatics, clinging to each other and their senses of self in the midst of displacement and violence. To mark the 2006 film’s 20th anniversary, local Regal cinemas will be screening Tekkonkinkreet May 31 and June 1 — with a new 4K remaster courtesy of GKIDS, the distribution company that handles most Studio Ghibli releases, plus Angel’s Egg and Cartoon Saloon hits like The Secret of Kells.
May 31-June 1 at local Regal theaters
