Treasure Town is a cityscape like many Asian cityscapes: distinct yet eclectic, isolated yet metropolitan, glowing from the fervor of its restless residents. And like many friendships within such self-sufficient environments, that of Black and White implies a resonance with Japanese urbanites, aging or growing, all bearing witness to the progress of a nation. If Tekkon Kinkreet is thusly the distorted mirror of which Japan finds itself glimpsing into, and the film's characters the occupants of such a Japan, is it possible for a non-Japanese to at all accurately articulate such observations?
Director Michael Arias' life in Japan stretches a decade and a half, inclusive of a wife and two children, and finds Japanese life and culture now a part of his personal life and culture--while, conversely, it can be said that the director's personal life and culture is also now a part of Japan's life and culture. It is possible to argue that while the animation director's socio-cultural adaptation, long and genuine, may prove true; it is also possible to argue that his identity as Japanese is, simply put, impure. Anime was previously explicated as an entity within a medium that exercises on its own given its imbued spirit via a Japan-native. This view comes from the implication and bias of a Japan-born as being the only individual credited with the cultural sensibility definitive and pure enough to develop, design and produce a piece of living art--moving pictures, that is. Henceforth, a non-native cannot help but leave a gray thumbprint upon a distinctly Japanese animation production; whether this contamination is for the sake of creativity and innovation or the sake of mere experimentation, is in this argument, irrelevant.
Tekkon Kinkreet's succinctness and rationality as a believable feature presentation whose reality is slowly getting away from its occupants is credited largely to the feeling of loss, embedded within. In a related matter, the comprehension of the destruction of the familiar remains a consistent theme within the film as well. True nostalgia, after all, is the undeniable pang of emptiness one finds with the sharp absence of something once deeply cherished or revered. Perhaps it is not the type of one's blood that grants him the intellect and/or skill to direct an animated film, but merely the capacity to be on the same emotional wavelength of the film's dynamic characters.
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Another source of debate for Japanese animation enthusiasts picking apart the validity of Tekkon Kinkreet's categorization is the mixed-staffing of key positions in the film's production. In addition to a western director, the screenplay and the music were also scribed and composed by westerners. Anthony Weintraub is credited as having written the script; writer/director Weintraub of which has contributed to a few noted projects, The Animatrix his most recognizable. British electronic music group Plaid (http://www.plaid.co.uk/) composed the original soundtrack to the animated film Tekkon Kinkreet.
Discussions on Tekkon Kinkreet that involve the questioning not of the talent of the director, the writer or the musical composer(s) but of what range of influence these creative personnel have on the film, are thereby of concern to some. This fear of having persons relatively disconnected or inexperienced with the profession of anime, if not just the animation industry overall, runs deep. Rational thought questions, rhetorically, as to whether the contributors are any less concerned over the final product if their nationality differs from the core design and production staff. Inquiring minds however, rhetorically question as to whether the lack of a cultural oneness and lack of an innate Japanese receptivity to Japanese circumstances is reason enough to be concerned over the definition, or is it labeling, of Tekkon Kinkreet as being Japanese animation, proper.
Far from a random collection of foreigners to work on a project as if they were assimilated into the industry as unknowns by unknowns; Mr. Weintraub and the electronic music duo Plaid were, according to a PingMag Online interview with the President of Studio 4°C, hand-picked by director Michael Arias and entrusted with a great deal of confidence by him. Eiko Tanaka, commenting on Arias' confidence in Plaid to create an original soundtrack, said that the director had felt that Plaid was unequivocally "the only band who could do it."
Western composers have long contributed original music to the production of Japanese animated feature presentations as the globalization of the animation industry continues its unabashed ebb and flow. Such an easily defined example rests in musical composition, a language spoken by everyone, arguably. From the mother in earnest, sequel-film Armitage III: Dual Matrix to Shinji Aramaki's CG and mo-cap action-fest Appleseed, western composers have explored the nature of musical accompaniment time and time again, with moderate success. The presence of the British duo Plaid may give cause for concern for those interested in only having an atmosphere and aural environment crafted by those chiefly in tune with the emotional awareness of Japan. Reports of the band staying over in Japan in order to re-write their music however, in order to better match the tone of the animation, may perhaps allow some form of relief then.