Makai toshi (Shinjuku)

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.

Demon City Shinjuku (1988) is a Japanese animated movie currently available on Amazon Prime. The storyline follows a man named Rebi Ra who has opened a gate to hell after killing a martial arts expert who tried to stop him. As various demons and beasts emerge from hell the deceased martial artist's son picks up his fathers sacred sword and sets out to stop Rebi Ra and close the gate.

This movie is directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Animatrix) and contains the voices of Hiromi Tsuru (Trigun), Kiyoshi Kobayashi (Lupin the 3rd), Yûsaku Yara (Ninja Scroll), Takeshi Aono (Metal Gear Solid) and Kôji Totani (Wicked City).

I love the animation style which is classic late 80s/early 90s. The narrator could have been better selected but the settings, characters and universe are well portrayed. The characters are fascinating and the dialogue is very good. The final 7 minutes of this film is epic and the concluding battle gives you everything you want to see from this film.

This movie is far from perfect but is a worthwhile viewing. I would score this a 7/10 and recommend seeing it once.

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.

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.