Monster City

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.

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.

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.

Not Bad. Actually better than a lot of anime's out there. Usual storyline. Demons trying to take over tokyo thus the world. Father tries to stop the villain but fails, 10 years later comes the prodigal son and wham-bam blah blah & so on....Good action, english dubbing is Ok. Needed a little bit more insight on the storyline and the characters lacked some depth. If you follow Kawajiri's work you can c glimpses of his genious. But fans who r looking for Kawajiri's mastery wont find a lot of it in this one.

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.