Demon City Shinjuku

Anime can fall flat without meaningful characters that we come to love. When we first met protagonists like Makie (Wicked City) and D (Vampire Hunter D), they had instant appeal and offered backgrounds of intrigue or mystery. Our hero of Shinjuku is Kyoya, a swordsman charged with protecting the president's daughter and preventing Hell on Earth. I generally like him as "a good guy," but I'm not nearly as invested or interested in him as I was the aforementioned heroes. I'm not hating here--just identifying my single negative criticism of this movie. Everything else was great.Director Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust) sure knows how to make an awesome contemporary dark fantasy. First, an evil swordsman opens a gate to Hell after some sort of Highlander (1986) duel with Kyoya's father--who fights down to his last limbs like the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). 10 years later, evil demon tentacles thrash from a bouquet of flowers and kidnap the president! That's what the world has come to…evil thrashing tentacles abound.The demons in this movie are pretty cool. Following in his father's footsteps practicing the way of the sword, Kyoya must defend the president's daughter from their attempts at her life.Much as Wicked City (1987) had its Black World dimension, many of the monsters of Shinjuku possess gifts of interdimensional travel through shadows, teleportation or dreams.A bit of a throwback to the lady spider demon from Wicked City (1987), one of them is a sort of spider-centaur with a giant hermit crab claw and a toothed maw on his stomach! As if this fiend wasn't powerful enough, it teleports through the shadows. Kyoya is also pulled into an underwater dimension to battle what I can only describe as a three-eyed demonic sloth hag. And perhaps influenced by Vampire Hunter D (1985), the mysterious Mephisto battles a constricting succubus composed of tentacles.Throw in all manner of lashing tentacles (at one point randomly and most amusingly dismembering a stray cat) and a villain reminiscent of Vampire Hunter D's (1985) Count Dracula complete with white hair and telekinesis, and we have a damn good time. It may not be terribly original, but it's highly entertaining.

I would like to tell your Australian customers that this dvd has a different title here, which is "Monster City".It is about a city called Tokyo and a suburb of Shinjuku which has been taken over by a nut called Rebi Rah. Rah has turned Shinjuku into a city of demons, and in three days he intends to turn the whole world into a wasteland with the help of an army of demons from the pits of Hell.It is the job of Sayaka Rama (who is trying to find her father) and Kyoyo (who is trying to revenge the death of his father) to fight their way through the demons to get to Rah.On the way two other companions help in their way, but most of the story is centered on Sayaka and Kyoyo and his wooden sword. Kyoyo's father was a master swordsman and could not defeat Rah, so how is Kyoyo expected to do the impossible.He has a secret weapon that he does not even know he has, and it serves him well in the end. Sayaka is captured by Rah and is waiting to be used as a sacrifice to the devils of Hell, but Kyoyo finds his father's sword and the secret weapon moments before Rah could open the gates of Hell. I thought the fight between Rah and Kyoyo was a bit short, although there is no other out-come when the sword and the secret weapon are used as one.There is action a plenty, demons that manga fans are used to by now, and the over-the-top torture that the human body could possiblly endure, but we all LOVE it for what it is.This dvd gets five stars and I would recommend this dvd to anyone who is interested in the manga genre, because it has all the elements in it. If you come from another country be careful what you buy, as the American manga has different titles.

Eastern Star delivers again with an excellent picture quality release of Demon City Shinjuku.If you are a fan of Yoshiaki Kawajiri's art style, you will enjoy this movie. It has his trademark "look." Familiar to Ninja Scroll and Wicked City.The story is easy to follow and the movie isn't too long. There is enough cool monsters and adventure to merit the watch.Movie itself is 3/5 but the DVD release is a full 5/5

I remember watching this back when the channel was known as Sci Fi and loving it. There is nothing like the 80's japanese anime with it's sleek, dark, diabolical style. Great addition to any collection! Masterpiece!!

Another masterpiece

I remember watching this movie as a youth, and it was better in my memory. The actual film.is just so so.

Love anime!

If you want to get into anime this is a good starters movie. But you also remember this was made some time ago. The plots are good. Glad its on DVD, Great job and great price.

Classic From The Golden Age Of Anime. Animation By The Great Madhouse "Ninja Scroll" Studio Of Japan, I originally saw this on VHS Cassette released by Manga Video in The mid 90's As Monster City, It has both Sub and Original Manga Video Dub, It's like the 90's all over again!, Well The Good Parts Anyway!! "Oh Happy Days!"Highly Recommend!

Lo primero que me llamó la atención fue el estilo de la animación parecido a Ninja Scroll o Wicked City, en este DVD se hizo un buen trabajo de restauración, por otra parte la película no es nada del otro mundo, esta bien a secas, definitivamente por el precio y el esfuerzo que esta haciendo Discotek media por publicar estos titulos, vale la pena dar una revisada

Bettter Transfer then the previous Vhs, Also includes some Special Features.......

1988年にOVA化された『魔界都市 新宿』の北米版DVDです。商品パッケージには《リージョン1-NTSC-》の印のみですが、一般的な国内プレイヤーで再生出来ましたので（私の再生環境は2015～のSONYの最廉価プレイヤー『BDP-S1500』）、リージョン2も含まれる商品という事なのでしょう。タイトル（LANGUAGE SELECT）では《日本語音声（2.0版/5.1版/DTS版）/英語字幕》の３種類と、《英語音声》しか選択できませんが、本編が始まってからリモコンで字幕を《切》にすれば、普通に字幕無しで鑑賞する事が出来ます。映像特典（EXTRA FEATURES）は、『CREDETS』『STORYBOARDS』『ORIGINAL TRAILER』の3種類。『STORYBOARDS』に関しては、25分37秒のボリュームです（字幕はリモコンで-切-に出来ます）。国内でブルーレイ版が出るだろうと待ちわびていたら、まさかの一桁上の金額での販売にがっくりきてしまいました。だからと言って、中古で4000～6000円する国内版DVDを購入するのも馬鹿らしかったので、お財布に優しい北米版を購入しました。音声3種類＋1（英語）に、映像特典もしっかり入っていて、画質も普通に良い感じなので（あくまでDVD画質ですが）、お値段以上の満足感は得られます。80年代アニメ＆オカルトアクション系が好きな方ならば、普通に楽めるアニメですが、私的にはラストがさっぱりし過ぎているのが画竜点睛に欠くように感じます。お値段の変動が最近激しい北米版ですが、送料込みで2500円未満で手に入れられれば、自信を持って「有りっ!」と言える商品です（…それ以上の値段ならば国内版中古でも良いと思います）。