Makai toshi (Shinjuku)

This is an anime that used to come on the Scifi channel back when it was known as the Scifi channel and not SyFy. It mainly came on when they had anime week and that is when I saw it and a few others. I recently saw an uncut version of this film and there are a few things that were not on the cut version, but for the most part all the scenes were there, just a lot of sex references. I always enjoyed this one, though it seems as if it should have been part of a series or something to explain some of the stuff that is going on, but a lot of anime films are like that; essentially, setting up a world with little explanation and really jumping right into the action.

The story has a man dueling with another. One has been blessed with the powers of the underworld and he soon dispatches the other man. Years later, this man makes his move to open the portal to hell fully and it is up to the son of the man killed to try and stop him. The younger man is a master of an art where he fights with only a kendo stick, but with the help of the president's daughter, a dude on mechanical roller skates and the mysterious Mephisto he just may have a shot at defeating the man the underworld chose as their champion!

I wish I had seen this with subtitles as the dub is not the worst, but there are a couple of characters that were just dubbed poorly. Mainly that small dude on roller skates they for reasons unknown gave a Spanish accent to. The character of Mephisto is cool as you never really ascertain his intentions and it is cool watching evil dispatched with a stick!

The film was good and enjoyable, it could have been a bit longer to allow more character development, but then sometimes that can slow down the pace and the pace of this one is rather good. Our hero must battle a giant spider demon, a strange hairball thing that almost is like a sloth and get by the villain's magic to get by. Totally enjoyable and wish there were more films like this instead of the over saturation of series that is prevalent in anime today.

Monster City (AKA Demon City: Shinjuku)

A young Kendo expert, Kyoya, whose father was killed 10 years before as he tried to stop a corrupted sorcerer from opening a portal to Tokyo from a demonic dimension, is called upon to step into his father's shoes when the sorcerer reappears and to try to close that portal. He's aided on his mission by Sayaka, the daughter of a high-ranking Japanese politician. Directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri just a year after his acclaimed (if controversial) Wicked City, this one has dated far more. The music sounds like it's from a late 80s/early90s video game (think Streets of Rage) and the animation feels rougher than on the earlier film. That said, the art itself is pretty good (the nighttime shots of the ruined/abandoned city in the rain look fantastic). Unlike Wicked City, there's no sexual assault or rape here (although a waitress does get slapped on the ass - which I'm sure will have SOMEONE running for their safespace). The American voice acting is fine. But overall this just feels pretty generic and not that thrilling. Oh, fun fact; the opening sword fight was featured in the 1995 live-action film Johnny Mnemonic. 6/10.

This film is considered some sort of sequel of the 1987 Wicked City anime because of the demons, and the director.

It certainly doesn't have the darkness, sexuality and violence of the former, but it's a decent anime.

The story, I'd even say it holds better than Wicked City, the setting and atmosphere is very interesting and plays a big part, but the character designs are not that interesting, not bad, but not at the level of Vampire Hunter D or Ninja Scroll, from the same director, two of my all time favourite animes.

The first scene and the main villain, I think, shows a lot of influence from Highlander (1986), I really enjoyed it!

The action is also ok, but not as good and intense as the previously mentioned, or as dark and sexual as Wicked City.

The strongest flaw for me was the underwhelming final fight, everything is ready for some badass action and it suddenly ends. Very disappointing!

Still, it has some good moments, even some moving scene involving a "lost child".. Overall I enjoyed the film, I wouldn't recommend it as an introduction to Yoshiaki Kawajiri films, but definitely worth watching if you want more from him.

I watched this a long time ago in the days of VHS and I loved it because it told a great story and the characters were interesting. And this is among the favourites of Yosiaki Kawajiri's works I seen.

Also the music was nothing short of great even fantastic in places.

The animation was top notch as well as the fights and character development in this good piece of old school anime.

Also we had a fearsome antagonist in Levi Rah and a brief explanation of what made him become what he became which always suits any kind of anime or manga.

Also I liked the English dub and Brad Lavelle did a great job in voicing the main character Kyoya Izayoi and Bob Sessions was great in voicing the main villain Levi Rah.

So this is an enjoyable anime made in the late 1980's.

Demon City Shinjuku is just so weird, you have to love it. Sure, it's not the best anime out there, but it's not bad at all either. The character designs are appealing, the story solid, the English dub is awful, however, and the animation is good. It's directed by Kawajiri Yoshiaki, director of Ninja Scroll and the X TV series. In all, it's cool. An 8/10.