Tekkonkinkreet and Poppy Hill on Film4 Tonight/Tomorrow
Film4 will screen two great anime features over July 31st starting late at night and early in the morning. Here are the details:
Tekkonkinkreet will air at 1.25 a.m. during the night. This is the adaptation of Taiyo Matsumoto’s manga series of the same name. He might be a name at the front of anime fan’s collective memory because of the recent adaptation of his manga, Ping Pong.
Synopsis
In Treasure Town, where the moon smiles and young boys can fly, life can be both gentle and brutal. This is never truer than for our heroes, Black and White, two street urchins who watch over the city, doing battle with an array of old-world Yakuza and alien assassins vying to rule the decaying metropolis. Tekkonkinkreet is a dynamic tale of brotherhood that addresses the faults of present day society, true love lost, and the kindness of the human heart.
Poppy Hill will air at the much friendlier time of 11 a.m. in the morning. This is Goro Miyazaki’s second film at Studio Ghibli.
Synopsis
It’s 1963 and Japan is in the midst of swift modernisation, leaving behind the Second World War’s painful memories and focusing on a brighter future, symbolised by the coming year’s Tokyo Olympics. In the city of Yokohama, one of the victims of the rush to the new is an old school clubhouse; it’s currently a gathering place for the school’s slovenly older boys, but its age and shabby appearance have condemned it to be torn down. However, 16-year-old Umi, whose father was killed in the Korean War and whose mother is now living in the United States, is determined to save the historic structure and mounts a campaign to restore it. While doing so, she meets and is mutually attracted to Shun, a student journalist. But something from the teenagers’ muddled past histories will surface to threaten their nascent relationship.
