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Demon City ShinjukuRating:
Release Date: 28 January, 2003 Retail Price: $9.98 OUR Price: $9.98 You SAVE: $0.00! Cast: |
Demon City Shinjuku Reviews
A classic anime film
In exchange for the power to slay his fellow student and rival, Rebi Rah agreed to open a doorway into the demon world.
Years later, the time has come for him to honor his end of the deal. Knowing that his old teacher, Rai, could possibly stop him, he places a spell on the peaceful Federation President; without Master Rai's constant aid, the president will die.
Since he cannot leave the president, Rai asks for Kyoya, the son of Rebi Rah's dead rival, to do so. And with the urging of Sayaka, the president's cute and pure-hearted daughter, Kyoya agrees.
But Kyoya only has rudimentary knowledge of his father's fighting skills. To get to Rah, he must fight his way through the monster-infested streets of Shinjuku, protecting Sayaka along the way. The odds say he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell...
About the only way I could see this movie getting any better is if it was longer.
One of the First I Ever Saw, and Still One of the Best
As I look at my collection of anime, I now realize, with the purchase of Demon City Shinjuku, I've complete my own personal set of anime, and that is the first ones I ever saw. But Demon City Shinjuku was different because it was the first truly uncut anime I had ever seen and I think the second of any anime, cut or no, after Akira. So therefore it still has a special place for me, and watching it now, almost a decade later, I still remember all those amazing moments that happen in this horror anime. And I still wonder why in the world would the main character use a wooden sword to battle demons and sorcerers... (It's symbolic, I now realize, sort of Tolkien-esque.)
The story of Demon City follows the exploits of a young man named Kyoya as he helps the president's (of Japan) daughter in destroying the threat to all mankind that festers in what has become known as "Monster City Shinjuku" by its few human inhabitants. But Kyoya is an unwilling hero in this tale, forced to follow in his warrior father's footsteps and battle an evil sorcerer bent on world destruction named Rebi Rah. First, though, he must learn all the required skills of his sword technique, and during this quick training he battles demon after demon and begins to learn that he might have what it takes to save mankind, as well as winning over the girl he's falling for.
What I like most about this movie was the fact that it followed all those classic storytelling elements. It uses foreshadowing, it throws complications at the characters, and there is enough character development for a viewer to learn to like them. What I didn't like about this, however, was the horrible voice-acting. Well, maybe not horrible; it wasn't melodramatic and there was emotion, but I don't really remember ever hearing anyone in Japan of having a Mexican, Romanian, or Southern accent. It was just a little over the top, and in many cases it ruined the horror of the moment as they were just too comical to believe. Luckily, there is a subbed track, though I still wish that the dubbed track was remade for the newer DVD release.
However, even with the bad voice-acting, I can't help but recommend this anime to any true anime fan. The action is superb, the animation is excellent even to today's standards, and it is one of the classics in anime, directed by one of the best and most well known anime directors around, Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Ninja Scroll, X).
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