Makai toshi (Shinjuku)

Yoshiaki Kawajiri has made his reputation for eye-popping fright visuals and this is his masterpiece of terror. Shinjuku, in Tokyo's business district, has become a portal through which shape-shifting denizens of the demon realm are seeking to invade earth. Humanity is threatened with enslavement by creatures who can appear human but who are terrifyingly inhuman when they reveal their true form. But a plucky girl and jaded street samurai are on hand to foil their plans.

What follows is a fast moving, action nightmare highlighted by nightmarish visions of seemingly ordinary people and objects morphing into their terrifying demon forms.

Genuinely scary stuff.

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.

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.

The son of a Nempo master must stop a sorcerer from raising hell. This is a Bruce Willis meets anime type of film. There isn't much character development at all. What's good about the film is that although the plot line is common in anime, it still entertains. See this if you're fond of lots of action and could care less about emotion.

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.