Demon City Shinjuku Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: It has been ten years since a gateway to hell was opened in Shinjuku, Japan and now only one man can stop the completetion of the ritual.

Review: As far as anime goes, this is a much more tame romp into action/horror. Basically, the world is going to be destroyed in three days unless the main character, Kyoya, can kill some sorcerer called Rebi Ra. Kyoya has been trained in a kind supernatural form of fighting known as "nempo" by his father (who looks a lot like wolverine with those sideburns) who fought Rebi Ra those ten years ago. At the same time, the world has become super peaceful thanks to some diplomat which Rebi Ra is poisoning slowly; they claim that this death will activate a ritual that will unleash all the demons from hell. The daughter of this diplomat, Sayaka, tries to get Kyoya to stop being a little bitch and fight his way through Shinjuku and save the world...of course he does! There was, once again, a lot of wasted opportunities here. The demons Kyoya fights are uninspired and too few and far between. There are pointless character thrown in to even things out which one had to be, of course, the "cool Japanese guy" cliche. I really hate this style of character: tough for no reason, always calm and collect when borderline dying, hands in his pockets, supposed to be a pretty boy...ugh it goes on! It didn't even make any sense because if this guy, named Mephisto, is so powerful, why isn't he trying to save the world? And how the fuck is he so powerful?! Most everything else is just decent or slightly above average. Overall, this film does it's job as a mildly entertaining, but could have been a classic with more intense action. It's also of note that many of these '80s animes took a lot of risks back then, but this one played it too safe which is probably the main reason it feels so inferior when put next to its peers like "Akira" or even an over the top comedy/action like "Project A-ko." It's worth a view and has a satisfying ending to make it all feel worth it.

Notable Moment: Toward the end when Kyoya finds his father's nempo sword and their powers combine to defeat Rebi Ra.

Final Rating: 6/10