Demon City Shinjuku (1988)

Absolutely the worst movie.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Yoshiaki Kawajiri has made his reputation for eye-popping fright visuals and this is his masterpiece of terror. Shinjuku, in Tokyo's business district, has become a portal through which shape-shifting denizens of the demon realm are seeking to invade earth. Humanity is threatened with enslavement by creatures who can appear human but who are terrifyingly inhuman when they reveal their true form. But a plucky girl and jaded street samurai are on hand to foil their plans. What follows is a fast moving, action nightmare highlighted by nightmarish visions of seemingly ordinary people and objects morphing into their terrifying demon forms. Genuinely scary stuff.

Demon City Shinjuku is just so weird, you have to love it. Sure, it's not the best anime out there, but it's not bad at all either. The character designs are appealing, the story solid, the English dub is awful, however, and the animation is good. It's directed by Kawajiri Yoshiaki, director of Ninja Scroll and the X TV series. In all, it's cool. An 8/10.

*note: this review is based on the subtitled version*For an anime thats duration is a little under an hour, "Demon City: Shinjuku" is definately up there with some of my all-time favorites. Since it was created by some of the same dudes who made the HUGE hit "Ninja Scroll", "Demon City" is very often compared to it, and is therefore, looked down upon for being nothing like "Scroll" (just look at some of the other comments on this film made by other IMDB users). That's probably why I love it so much.I HATED "Ninja Scroll". Sorry, but I thought it was worthless. So really, I had no real big expectations, other than the fact that it *could* be a bomb, being released on U.S. MANGA, who are known for some really mish-mash anime releases. However, "Demon City" blew me away with it's clean animation, in-depth storyline, amazing character design, and an ending that's just cheesy enough to still be cool.The best thing about "Demon City: Skinjuku" is it's evil side. The demons, the big bad guy, and the cursed city of Shinjuku itself, all well though out and beautifully designed. Each battle scene is very different from the next, my favorite being the one in which our heroine confronts a wall of fire conceived from the pain, hatred, and sorrow of the dead.My only complaint about "Demon City: Shinjuku" is the ending. It's a good cheese, so it's not what the ending IS that bothers me, but just how abrupt it ends. Our hero saves the day, kisses the girl, roll credits.Using my grading system that seems to p*ss so many off, I'd give "Demon City: Shinjuku" a B+. I love it. I don't really know why, because it's quite different from what I usually enjoy in anime titles, but I love it nonetheless.

Not Bad. Actually better than a lot of anime's out there. Usual storyline. Demons trying to take over tokyo thus the world. Father tries to stop the villain but fails, 10 years later comes the prodigal son and wham-bam blah blah & so on....Good action, english dubbing is Ok. Needed a little bit more insight on the storyline and the characters lacked some depth. If you follow Kawajiri's work you can c glimpses of his genious. But fans who r looking for Kawajiri's mastery wont find a lot of it in this one.