Metropolis is an anime film based on the manga of the same name by legendary manga author Osamu Tezuka. In the film, while helping his detective uncle search for a dangerous criminal, Kenichi gets lost in the plutocratic city of Metropolis with a mysterious girl named Tima, and both are quickly caught up in the political strife that threatens to destroy not only Metropolis, but the world, as a whole.

Metropolis is one of the films to feature in Anime Expo Cinema Nights’ 2024 lineup, the first time it’s run in American theaters since its Western release in 2002. It will be screened on November 4, November 7, and November 10. The film is well over 20 years old, but between its gorgeous visuals, stellar direction, and appropriately dark storytelling, Metropolis is an incredible film on all fronts and one of the best adaptations of an Osamu Tezuka story to date. Metropolis will only be back in theaters for a limited time, so anyone who hasn’t seen it before would be remiss to up such an incredible film.

Metropolis' Direction Does A Perfect Job Of Bringing Tezuka's World To Life

A Gorgeous Film From Start To Finish

The first thing to stand out about Metropolis is its gorgeous animation and overall direction. Courtesy of being a Studio Madhouse anime production, even directed by its co-founder, Rintaro, Metropolis is filled with gorgeous and creative visuals from start to finish, as the brilliant artwork is perfectly complemented by its clever camerawork and scene transitions at every turn. Madhouse has always been known for the cinematic flare of its productions, and as an actual film, Metropolis more than lives up to that reputation.

Going right along with Metropolis’ direction is its phenomenal score. Film composer Toshiyuki Honda’s soundtrack always does a great job of highlighting the mood of each scene, whether it’s with an upbeat jazz track or a somber orchestral piece, and it especially shines in the rare moments of licensed tracks, most notably in how Metropolis had a breathtaking climax scored to Ray Charles’ “I Can’t Stop Loving You” that perfectly captured the mood with its tonal dissonance. Metropolis was Honda’s first anime project, but his decades of experience before then helped give it a phenomenal score from start to finish.

What best sold Metropolis’ direction, of course, was its character designs. While anime like Dororo or Pluto updated Tezuka’s work with more realistic or otherwise modern designs, Metropolis retains Tezuka’s signature art style, and not only does it work with the retro aesthetic of the setting, but Osamu Tezuka’s art style allows for everyone and everything in Metropolis to move with an incredible amount of fluidity in every scene. The cartoonish art style also served as a great contrast to the story’s darker elements, and all in all, it was another great decision for the film’s spectacular direction.

Metropolis' Story Is As Beautifully Dark As A Tezuka Story Could Be

The Haunting Narrative Of Metropolis Explained

From the very start, Metropolis makes no illusions about how it combines Osamu Tezuka’s story with the themes and aesthetics of Fritz Lang’s iconic Metropolis film, and as such, Metropolis tells a story of class struggles, humanity, and revolution that never hesitates to show how terrible Metropolis’ society is, with the ruling parties very explicitly never caring about the people they govern or having any problems killing the people who would oppose them. Detective Shunsaku even explicitly calls the ruling Marduk Party fascist at one point, so the seriousness and maturity of its writing is never once up for debate.

The dark aspects of Metropolis’ writing are brilliantly complemented by the few bright spots it’s afforded. As dark as Metropolis’ story tends to get, there’s always a degree of idealism through Kenichi and Tima’s relationship and how far Kenichi is willing to go to help her, and not only does the film end on something of a hopeful note with Metropolis set to rebuild, but the final shot of Metropolis implies that Kenichi somehow brought Tima back to life and started a life with her, so despite everything, the film finds a way to end on a well-deserved, bittersweet note.

Metropolis’ writing, of course, is perfectly in line with Osamu Tezuka’s style. Tezuka’s works were never afraid to tackle heavy subject matter like politics and poverty, nor did they shy away from violence when it was needed to prove a point, so despite its numerous divergences from the source material, Metropolis’ dark, yet hopeful writing is a perfect encapsulation of what made Osamu Tezuka’s work such an iconic part of manga’s history. Katsuhiro Otomo of Akira fame was the head writer of the film, and overall, he did a nigh-flawless job of bringing Tezuka’s writing to life.

The Few Stumbling Blocks That Keep Metropolis From Being Perfect

What Was Holding Metropolis Back From Perfection?

As good a film as Metropolis might be, however, a few notable elements are holding it back. For starters, as well as the animation has held up, numerous moments in Metropolis’ runtime feature some notably lackluster 3D visuals, a scene with an animatronic sign at the beginning of the film being a notable example of those types of visuals. Moments like that are fortunately rare, but as is often the case, they’re very distracting whenever they appear and only serve to bring down an otherwise gorgeous film.

A much bigger issue stems from the political elements of Metropolis, specifically the narrative involving the robots. While much of the narrative revolves around the citizens of Metropolis hating and abusing robots for taking their jobs, the film doesn’t show enough of that to truly sell the conflict, and because of that, Tima willingly entering the Ziggurat out of hatred for the abuse of her fellow robots doesn’t have enough development to truly land. The sincerity of the writing helps it all come together in the end, but it still keeps the narrative from being as strong as should be.

Is Metropolis The Best Osamu Tezuka Anime To Watch?

How Good Is Metropolis?

With how old many anime adaptations of Tezuka’s works are, Metropolis has the edge over many of them in of writing and overall narrative, but for more modern works, anime like Dororo, Pluto, and 2003’s Astro Boy do a better job of maintaining consistent animation and handling complex themes, especially when robots are used allegorically. They all had the benefit of being TV shows with more time to work with, but even so, Metropolis does fall short of other modern Osamu Tezuka anime in of overall quality.

None of that means Metropolis isn’t worth watching, of course. Between its incredible animation and direction, engaging cast of characters, and thought-provoking narrative about class struggles and humanity, Metropolis does an incredible job of elevating Osamu Tezuka’s original narrative into a gorgeous story in its own right that even those unfamiliar with his work can enjoy. There are few films with as much thought and care put into their craft as Metropolis, and any anime fan should try and give it a watch.