Wicked City (1987)

[妖獣都市]

Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Starring: Yusaku Yara, Toshiko Fujita, Ichiro Nagai

Synopsis:
A human agent of the secretive Black Guard and his demonic counterpart must protect a dignitary who will negotiate a treaty between the human world and the demon world.

Impressions:
Yoshiaki Kawajiri's movies had a lot of play in burgeoning anime boom of the late 90s. They provided the sex and violence Americans weren't used to seeing in animated form and are no small reason for a lot of anime's rather infamous reputation among the uninitiated. Expect plenty of trashy, exploitative monster sex and gory ultraviolence. It's not technically considered hentai, but it dances mighty close to the line. I like the core concept of a human and demon working together as their two worlds negotiate peace while being plagued by demons who don't want peace to happen. However, unless you're a misogynistic sadist, the stuff they put Makie through is going to really rub you the wrong way. And let's not even get started on Mayart, a withered, perverted Happousai before there was Happousai (voiced by Ichiro Nagai, no less). This isn't nearly as solid a film as Kawajiri's later Ninja Scroll. Taki is a fairly boring lead, the enemies aren't all that colorful, and the exploitative nature of most of the sex scenes are entirely contemptible. Animated by Madhouse, it's fairly solid on a technical level and some of the visuals are rather memorable, but much like Demon City Shinjuku, it's a fairly shallow experience. Unless you're a big Kawajiri fan or you're researching some of the anime that made a splash when it was still mostly an underground thing, don't bother with this one.

Rating:
Avoid It