Three homeless people, a drunk, a drag queen and a runaway teenager, find an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve. Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, doesn’t it? But actually it is the premise of one of director Satoshi Kon’s most popular works, Tokyo Godfathers.

It’s been ten years since Kon’s death from cancer at the age of 37. His resume is wide ranging, from the psycho drama Perfect Blue, to the poignant Millennium Actress, to the mind bending series Paranoia Agent. If he had not died so young, one wonders what classics his mind would have given us.

Tokyo Godfathers does not stand up to other anime movies as far as the animation goes, but it is a good study on how to simply tell a story with drama, comedy, and pathos. We get three clearly defined characters, none of which are really all that bright, and none which really fits in with the other two. They find themselves on a desperate search for the baby’s missing mother.

Watching this film again after a few years, I see slight elements recognizable from some of Kon’s later work. Most notably, the scene with gossipy neighbors will appear again in an episode of Paranoia Agent. I think some may actually be the same characters.

Many of you have probably seen Tokyo Godfathers before. Watch it again.