Story: A young warrior must finish what his father started by battling his way through a city of demons and defeat a diabolical psychic who has opened a portal to hell.
I fell down the rabbit hole that is anime a few years ago, after so many pleas from my boyfriend to watch them. I really didn't know what I was getting into, my previous knowledge of anime was scarce, to say the least, but I quickly took to it once I started watching. Don't worry though, I still shower daily, and I don't talk in badly pronounced Japanese phrases, but I do love the medium for what it is: a great way to show an otherwise difficult story in a simple way.
My anime folder is… varied to say the least, from 90s classics like Trigun and Cowboy Bebop to 2000's Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and Kill la Kill (shut up, it's very good), but I know there's a lot for me yet to see. When the pandemic rolled around I found myself with some extra time on my hands and decided to go find weird and different things to watch, and so one day I stumbled upon a youtube video about anime that was banned for being too violent in its time. One of the recommended movies was called Demon City Shinjuku and from what little was shown it captured my imagination, and so I decided to watch it and see if it really is a hidden gem or something to be left to fade through time.
Before I go and give you my opinion on the movie, I’d like to first give you guys a brief summary. So, we start with an epic battle between good and evil. Levi Ra is trying to open a portal so that demons can come to earth and conquer it, but Genichirou is there on that rooftop to stop him. But fate was on Levi Ra’s side that time, as he summoned an earthquake that separated Shinjuku from the rest of Tokyo and slayed the hero. Years later, the time has come to finish his task, but what he didn’t know was that Genichirou had a son, a teenager now who is training in martial arts. Sayaka is the only one that can defeat him, but he doesn’t know that yet.
I'm a big believer in the saying "show, don't tell", and this movie follows this mantra faithfully. The whole opening sequence is beautifully done, the play with shadows and light, the action is clean and keeps you glued to the screen the whole time. As a matter of fact, all of the fight scenes are great and all serve to further the plot, something most action movies fail to do. Character-wise, they're pretty generic for the most part. You have your teenage, ultra buff, naturally talented, protagonist; there's also your love interest named Sayaka, she convinces Kiyoka to fight Levi Ra and save the world, but sadly her character isn't explored more past the whole "damsel in distress".
This is by no means the perfect movie, but it's still entertaining and action-packed. Speaking of action, I particularly liked the fact that they show blood. This era of anime was known for breaking many barriers both technically and storywise, also they weren't afraid of showing violence or explicit scenes. And there are quite a few violent scenes throughout the movie, including the attempted rape of Kiyoka when they go into the city. So, if you don't like content like this, you will spend watching most of the movie through your fingers.
In general, I give this movie a 6.5/10. It has a generic but engaging story, great visuals, good music, and solid action scenes. If you like stories about the heroes' journey towards his destiny, good conquering evil, then this movie's for you.
Watch the trailer:
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