Tokyo Godfathers

is a 2003 Japanese adult anime Christmas tragicomedy adventure film written and directed by Satoshi Kon. The film stars live-action actors such as Toru Emori, Yoshiaki Umegaki, and Aya Okamoto as the lead voice actors. Kon was inspired by the 1948 American film 3 Godfathers to make the film. Unlike Kon's other films, Tokyo Godfathers contains no fantasy elements nor does it explore themes of the lines between fiction and reality, instead being grounded more in realism. However, as is typical of Kon's work, the film includes devices that are not straightforward, and Kon himself called it a twisted sentimental story. Tokyo Godfathers was released in Japan on November 8, 2003, and in North America on January 16, 2004. It won the Excellence Award at the 2003 Japan Media Arts Festival and Best Animation Film at the 58th Mainichi Film Awards. Plot One Christmas Eve, three homeless people—a middle-aged alcoholic named Gin, a crossdresser named Hana, and a dependent teenage runaway named Miyuki—discover an abandoned newborn while searching through the garbage for presents. On the baby is a note asking the finder to take good care of her and a key, leading to a bag with clues to the parents' identity. The trio sets out to find the parents. Hana names the baby Kiyoko, based on the Japanese translation of "Silent Night" literally meaning "pure child". Outside a cemetery, the group encounters a yakuza boss trapped under his car. That day, his daughter will marry the owner of the club where Kiyoko's mother used to work. At the wedding reception, the groom tells them that the baby's mother is a former bar girl named Sachiko. He gives them Sachiko's address, but the party is interrupted when a Latino hitman attempts to shoot the bride's father. The hitman kidnaps Miyuki and baby Kiyoko, holds them hostage and takes them to his home. There, Miyuki befriends the hitman's wife, and they begin bonding (despite their language barrier). During one of their talks, Miyuki confesses to fleeing her home after stabbing her controlling father when her beloved cat Angel went missing (believing that he had gotten rid of it).