Hi everybody! Well, Connecticon 2013 was an absolute blast! Met some great people, went to some awesome panels, and picked up some nice swag (In particular, I bought the Tenchi In Tokyo & Tenchi Movie Collection, not to mention the Ah My Goddess: Flights of Fancy collection from Funimation’s S.A.V.E. program)! Since it’s Tuesday, I’m rested up (I’m using the word loosely) enough to put up a review today. With that said, let’s take a look at Demon City Shinjuku, and see if it falls into shlockdom, or rises to the level of classic masterpiece.
Story/Setup
Taken from Them Anime Reviews:
“Levih Rah had made a pact with the demon world, giving him nearly unlimited destructive power. Using this power, Levih Rah destroyed and took over the Tokyo district Shinjuku, transforming it into a pit of demons, evil, and crime. Ten years later, he kidnaps an important international dignitary (don't ask me why), and his daughter Sayaka enlists the help of a young man named Kyoya, whose father was killed by Levih Rah while trying to stop him from taking Shinjuku.
Like his father, Kyoya is a student of ninpo, the deadly art of making wooden swords glow blue, and the only power that can destroy Levih Rah. Together, Sayaka and Kyoya venture into the Demon City, hoping to destroy Levih Rah before he completes his ten-year plan to destroy the world. ”
It’s not the strongest movie story. In fact, it’s rather thin & weak, and filled with plotholes. The only good thing I’ll say is that the premise is interesting, and nothing more.
Setting
I’m rather disappointed by the setting. With a name like Demon City Shinjuku, you’d expect to see something, well, demonic. Instead, the whole environment looks more apocalyptic than demonic, apart from some certain scenes (These are few & far between, however). The one moment in the setting that does add some variability is towards the end: As Kyoya & Sayaka are heading through a portion of the city, one of the demons creates an illusion, bringing back to life a portion of the city. During the illusion, the two interact with images of children that died before the demonic takeover. It’s actually quite surreal, as it feels quite separate from the rest of the movie. As they complete the illusion, it fades way to a desolate park, with Sayaka holding a child’s skull, and releasing some tears. Props to you movie!
Characters
Bland is a word that fits everybody in Demon City Shinjuku. All of the characters in this movie fit the assigned role they were given: Levih Rah is the villain who wants to destroy the city (Then the world), Kyoya is the reluctant hero that’s sort of an asshole, Sayaka is the heroine/Mary Sue of the movie, etc. There’s practically no character development in the film, nor is there anything that makes the characters feel significant. Again, we’ve got bland characters people.
Animation
I’m actually gonna give Demon City Shinjuku some credit in this department. Unlike the other one-shot anime movies I’ve reviewed so far, this one relies on dark scenes far less than in other movies. When it does use them, it seems to be at the appropriate moment (Like when the characters are underground, for example). Also, despite being a grim show, it knows how to use color more effectively than in most OVAs of this style. It’s not exactly perfect (There’s moments when some colors are used more than others), but hey, I’ll take what I can get.
The downside to this is how the people look. Everybody has a very flat feel to their faces, with only the most extreme of moments bring out even a sliver of individuality. I wouldn’t call the various characters ugly, but they ain’t the greatest looking individuals around.
Voice Acting
Ugg. That would be the word to describe the voice acting in this movie!
Like my review for Baoh, the voice acting in this movie is downright boring. Whereas the other movies I’ve reviewed so far that have had boring voice acting with some variability, Demon City Shinjuku’s voice acting is just flat-out boring! Nobody seems to try and put some emotion into the characters (Even with the female lead, she just sounds weak), and any emotion that somehow does crop up is almost drowned out by how flat everybody else is. If you want to avoid hearing the dub, then I suggest you watch this movie with the subs on.
Episodes & Episode Length
Once again, this is a movie I’m reviewing (The last was Crimson Wolf, which was earlier this month). Clocking in at over an hour (1 hour, 17 minutes, and 39 seconds), this is a movie that has some substance to it in terms of running time. As for when to watch it, I’d say watch it at night. It’s not quite as bloodthirsty as some of the other films I’ve watched/reviewed so far, but there’s enough blood & skin in the film that it would make some people queezy, and it’s scary/suspenseful elements would be ruined by a daytime viewing.
Availability & Pricing
Despite being an old title, Demon City Shinjuku is readily available, especially on Amazon. Although the older edition is difficult (But not necessarily impossible) to find, it was recently re-released back in 2011, and thus can be readily bought on the site. Pricing happens to be easy on the wallet: starting prices for a new copy go for 14 dollars. There are currently only 2 used copies available to buy, so I wouldn’t go for those.
Extras/Other
Since I downloaded this, I don’t know what the extras are.
I should point out that this movie was from the director that did Wicked City and Ninja Scroll, two classic anime films from the 90s that paved the way for modern anime to flourish (In fact, Wicked City will eventually get reviewed in the coming months). It’s very evident that Demon City Shinjuku is related to these two movies by the animation style, as they all have a similar look & feel.
Another thing I’ll point out are the covers for both the original & re-released editions. The link below shows off the original version:
http://www.amazon.com/Demon-City-Shinjuku-Teresa-Gallagher/dp/B00007K019/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1374013657&sr=1-2&keywords=demon+city+shinjuku
It’s an okay cover. You see the two main characters standing together, with grim looks on their faces. The city in the background looks like it’s seen better days, and eyes/face of the main villain staring right out at you. It definitely gives off some of the dark feel of the movie, but not quite as much as this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Demon-City-Shinjuku-Hideyuki-Hori/dp/B005CVFZ16/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1374013657&sr=1-1&keywords=demon+city+shinjuku
With this one, we actually see the main villain (Along with some bats for some reason), the city getting annihilated/transformed by the demonic energies, the main female looking quite distressed, and the lead male holding a wooden sword (Looking somewhat badass, might I add), staring out at the viewer. From my understanding, this cover is more closely similar to the movie poster, and thus feels more epic than the older one.
General Impression & Rating
Is Demon City Shinjuku a bland movie? Not necessarily. Is it a good movie? Oh hell no!
Just by watching the first few minutes of the film, you can tell that there’s potential for a decent horror movie, complete with a interesting story & visuals. It definitely succeeds on the visuals, but fails on just about everything else. If there was even a hint of effort put into everything, this might have been an alright movie. Instead, Demon City Shinjuku is just a slightly above average flick with pretty visuals.
Demon City Shinjuku gets a 5.9 to 6.1 out of 10.
See you all later this week, when we’ll look at our first anime that wasn’t released in this country. Until then, stay Otaku!
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