Yôjû toshi

Kawajiri outdid himself in this "retold" story of Demon City Shinjuku. Personally I am not clear on which came first, but I was exposed to Supernatural Beast City first. And let me tell you, exposed it the word for this film. It is a film filled with government agents, otherworldly beings, incredible gore, and incredible sex. If any anime other than Urotsukidoji deserves being called "Hentai" it's this film. If you are one with a strong stomach for violence and mayhem, watch this film. I personally enjoyed watching this thoroughly but I would not make it a date feature... unless you really wanted to scare her away. Note: last I checked, only the dubbed version was available through Orion - no subbed version was ever marketed here in the U.S.

This film is one of the more interesting Japanese animated films I've seen recently, though not necessarily in either a good or bad way. The setting and overall tone is very much along in line with the likes of Ghost in the Shell or Akira. It takes place in a dark, dystopian Japan far into the future.

The film follows a secret agent of sorts. He is recruited for a mission pertaining to a peace accord in Tokyo between Earth and a different realm. He is partnered with a humanoid female agent from the different realm. Their job is to safely escort an important ambassador (who turns out to be a perverted old man) to the peace accord so that the two realms can negotiate a treaty. However, there are beings from the other realm not too keen on making peace who set out to prevent the old man from making it to the accord. Adventure ensues.

This movie contains mild amounts of nudity and violence, so it is NSFW by all accounts, although nothing too outrageous is shown. Despite the dark atmosphere, it manages not to take itself too seriously. The perverted old man, while a cliché in Japanese anime and manga, is a likable enough character.

However, both the male and female leads are rather boring characters. Their inevitable romance feels cliché and forced. There really is no build-up for their relationship. The whole Romeo-and-Juliet "forbidden love" component here kind of falls flat. It has been done way too many times and comes off as uninspired and unoriginal.

That all being said, this movie does have some pretty badass animation, which is its saving grace. If you are watching this movie for a great storyline, you will more than likely walk away disappointed. If you are into dark, gory Japanese manga and animation, this may be right up your alley. I wouldn't write this film off, but I wouldn't necessarily want to watch it again. It wasn't particularly memorable either.

And the best part is the gun was before Men in Black and the Noisy cricket!!!! Eat that America!!!!! This is an awesome anime full of a rich plot, action,nudity, and an awesome gun!!!! Personally it had a little bit to much nudity and sexual situations for me but that gun made up for it. Seriously, it is a great anime worthy of being added to any anime collection. It kinda reminded me of BioHunter + The X-Files + Some other stuff. I got this DVD at a pawn shop for a few bucks maybe $5 but even at $20 it would be a bargain. This gun in the movie had to be fired backed against a wall because of the force of the blast, and even then it would crack a concrete wall.

Wicked City is a strange Japanese film that follows many of the same tropes of a standard issue biopunk anime. However, it's warped, graphic and unapologetically sexual, almost crossing the line into hentai territory. Many of the characters are contrived and stereotypical anime archetypes and the story is hardly memorable but the film itself has enough clever animation and action to make it watchable.

It was definitely a good time killer, especially since I knew nothing about it beforehand. If you've seen Akira and want something in that vain, you'll find this digestible. If you don't like things like that, stay far away.

B-

Wicked City is one of my favorite anime movies of all time, and here's why: if this movie didn't have a solid plot, it'd be hentai. As it is, it's borderline hentai. But what makes it so radically different is that the adult content is weaved in with the plot - there's only one scene of sex that has no pertinence to the story. This movie was ingeniously done. Solid story, great eye candy.