Tekkon Kinkreet Review

The Cats of Treasure Town

Tekkon Kinkreet (鉄コン筋クリート) is a psychological action anime movie. It follows Kuro (Black) and Shiro (White) of The Cats, a two-man gang that controls Treasure Town. Well, they control Treasure Town as much as two homeless children can.

Before I go any more into what the movie is about, though, let’s go over the title. What is a “Tekkon Kinkreet?” Like most of you, I had no idea. But, don’t worry, I Googled it for you. Apparently, it’s a mispronunciation of “Tekkin Konkurito,” which is steel-reinforced concrete. I guess that’s referring to the construction of Treasure Town.

Now, back to The Cats. Kuro is 13 years old, and Shiro is 11. And, as I mentioned, Kuro and Shiro are homeless. But, they survive on the streets of Treasure Town by committing small-time crimes. You know, like stealing food and assaulting other kids who trespass on their turf.

As you may have guessed, life isn’t very easy for The Cats. But, as the older of the two, it’s even harder for Kuro. He was forced to grow up fast in order to protect and provide for Shiro. Meanwhile, Shiro is very much still a kid who can’t fend for himself.

Also, it really seems like Shiro has a mental disability of some kind. He doesn’t appear to have the cognitive ability of a normal kid his age. So, that makes caring for him even more difficult for Kuro. But, despite that, Kuro would never abandon Shiro.

A fun fact about Kuro and Shiro is that they sometimes wear shirts with their names written on them in numbers. Kuro wears 96 (ku roku), and Shiro wears 46 (shi roku). Though, I should point out that’s not how you would read the numbers 96 and 46.

A Good Crime Drama

Kuro and Shiro are pretty good characters. But, the better characters are the Yakuza members. In particular, I’d say that Suzuki “Nezumi” (Rat) is the best character of the movie. He’s introduced as a villain. But, he’s more of an anti-hero than anything else.

Nezumi is an older Lieutenant of the organization who returns to Treasure Town at the start of the movie. I believe he’s originally from there. So, he has a certain respect for the city and its people. But, Nezumi’s issue is that he represents the old way of doing things. Treasure Town is changing.

Kimura is the other main Yakuza character. He’s a younger member who works under and respects Nezumi. Later in the movie he even says that he joined the gang specifically because of Nezumi. To Kimura, Nezumi is a sort of father figure.

I actually think Tekkon Kinkreet would be a better movie if it only followed the Yakuza members. That’s not to say the stuff with the kids is bad. It’s still good, for the most part. But the crime drama content with the Yakuza members is the best content in the movie.

Unfortunately, Snake is the character who kind of ruins this aspect of the movie. Sure, there are good things about him. For example, he set in motion the events that led to my favorite scene. But, he also looks weird and isn’t one of the cool Yakuza guys, even though he’s allied with them.

Snake is a shady businessman who’s planning to build an amusement park in the middle of Treasure Town. He partners up with the Yakuza because construction and organized crime go hand in hand. Unlike the Yakuza, Snake has no honor. He has no problem destroying Treasure Town for his own profit.

Aliens, Espers, and the Minotaur

Now, it’s time to go over some of the things I really didn’t like about Tekkon Kinkreet. And to do so, I’ll have to include some major spoilers. There’s your warning. If you don’t want to be spoiled, skip to the end of the review.

So, the worst thing about Snake is his muscle — three giant guys who appear to be aliens or something. I don’t remember exactly what they are or if they had actual names, though. We watched this movie way back in May, and I just forgot to review it until now.

But, anyway, these guys can fly and stuff, which is why I call them aliens. They’re certainly not normal humans. However, they’re also not the only special beings in the movie. Shiro is one, as well. Though, we can be pretty safe in saying he’s human.

What’s up with Shiro? Well, he’s an esper of some sort. Shiro can “feel” the future of the city and he knows things aren’t going to go well for it. When crime and other things that harm the city come in, Shiro knows. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the mental ability to cope with those feelings.

Kuro also doesn’t quite have the capacity to cope with the things he has to deal with. Shiro tends to avoid things he doesn’t like. But, Kuro doesn’t have that luxury. He needs to face the unpleasant side of Treasure Town head first in order to protect Shiro.

And, that results in Kuro bottling up his emotions until he explodes. Enter, the Minotaur. This is Kuro’s alter-ego that he’s not aware of until the end of the movie. The Minotaur is the embodiment of Kuro’s rage and is the strongest being in the city.

Tekkon Kinkrete: 8/10

According to MyAnimeList, I gave Tekkon Kinkreet an 8/10. Looking back on the movie, that seems a little high considering I didn’t like the ending. But, maybe I’m forgetting some of the stuff I liked about it since it’s been so long since I watched it. I’m sticking with that rating, though.

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