Movie Poster

God must be busy at this time of year.

# Review

This is a Christmas movie, filled with the typical Christmas movie clichés such as miracles and coincidences. Unlike typical Christmas movies, however, this film is steeped in societal realism, in particular, regarding the realities of being in Tokyo’s underbelly. The film follows Gin (Tôru Emori), an alcoholic, Hana (Yoshiaki Umegaki), a transgender woman, and Miyuki (Aya Okamoto), a teenage runaway. The trio discover an abandoned baby and embark on a journey to find the baby’s parents.

The story takes some very wild twists and turns and the characters, especially the three protagonists, are very multidimensional. The characters all have their individual struggles and ways they deal with their struggles. My favourite character is probably Hana, who despite her situation, never fails to provides uplifting banter and comedic relief. The animation is very polished and the artstyle, with its prominent colour scheme and dramatic facial expressions, is very engaging. The dialogue is crude and unpolished but feels authentic.

# Conclusion

A realist Christmas anime.

# Overall rating: 8.0

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