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What did you think of this episode?
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Jul 30, 2010 9:06 AM
#1
THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE. ---------------------------------------- One word: Entertaining. I usually don't watch this stuff, but sometimes I just go and watch some common horror/supernatural entertainment, it's healthy. Ok music and pretty good animation. |
Feb 1, 2015 8:08 PM
#2
Yeah, I agree, it was entertaining. Didn't blow me away or anything. I'm on the other side of the coin, I tend to watch a lot of this stuff (classic OVAs, that is), and this one, while it had good directing and was animated nicely, it also had a pretty average story and a pretty average script on top of that, which kept it from being as good as it could be. |
::End of Transmission:: What have I been watching? Click here and find out on my viewing blog, "Vigorous Viewing" |
Apr 5, 2015 4:18 AM
#3
this was average in every way. not a single character was memorable, and mephisto did not serve any purpose - why was he even there? what was his back story? all in all, this was a very pale version of wicked city. |
Dec 3, 2015 5:35 PM
#4
sdb68 said: this was average in every way. not a single character was memorable, and mephisto did not serve any purpose - why was he even there? what was his back story? all in all, this was a very pale version of wicked city. +1 I couldn't have said it better myself . |
Mar 27, 2016 7:34 PM
#5
This and Wicked City are 10/10 in style (love that red/blue), but while less "adult" I find this one more enjoyable. I like how the main character never had any great skill, even at the end 8) |
Apr 13, 2016 8:42 PM
#6
It was a PG-13 version of Wicked City. It was enjoyable, but not great. Glad to own it on DVD since I grew up with it on TV. |
Jun 14, 2017 1:21 PM
#8
Had some memorable imagery, detailed artwork and a haunting atmosphere but the characters weren't memorable in the slightest, the exposition was subpar and the ending was far too sappy to fit with the rest of the film. Makes for a nice tone piece, but it's pretty mediocre regardless. |
Take care of yourself |
Jul 31, 2017 3:33 AM
#9
The impression of fastforwarding through the beginning of the OAV (post-prologue) was strong. I followed bits of action following each other, not even correctly linked together. The novel is surely better in that regard, even with this average story. The best part is when you realize that the action sequences are very uninteresting while they seem to be the only reason for this videotape to exist. I don't like to use this word but it was BORING. As boring as watching noseless girls doing aimless things. At least, it has its overall design (apocalyptic Shinjuku, Kawajiri's charadesign), drawings and animation going for it. Nice to have Hiromi Tsuru, but her role was.. underwhelming (funny thing: the end made the girl sound like a saviour). It was hilarious to see the OAV trying so hard to sell Mephisto as the ultra-cool character. Enjoyment: 3/5 Score: 4/10 1. Is this really Kawajiri's doing? 2. I read critics comparing it to Escape from New York. A shame for the movie. 3. How did this end on ANN's "Other 100 best movies" ? XD I wonder if the english edition of the novel and its sequel are still available. @CodeBlazeFate Still looking for stupidly bad things? Look no further. |
Rei_IIIAug 29, 2017 11:30 AM
May 1, 2018 3:44 AM
#10
If it wasn't for the flash animation fights this would have been easy 10/10. Beautiful background art, nice music and overall an easy story to follow. One of the best OVAs I've seen so far. |
Jan 26, 2019 6:05 PM
#11
Great art style, fun music, and lack luster story. I watched the dub version of this which was rather terrible, but it wasn't too distracting to what was going on. The ending was rather strange (one shot kill?!?), but it was entertaining overall. It was a nice action OVA that didn't require much thought :). 7/10. |
May 19, 2019 2:04 PM
#12
Not the best ova, that's for sure. Even for its time. But that was the first title that I saw. I was very little and watched this on a tv cable channel in early 90s. The only two moments I remember from the childhood were falling from the rails into something and fight with weird and dangerous girl. And now after all this years I finally can re-watch the anime. Wow. Just wow. So I am not rate this by its quality, but as a first memory, as a wonderful gift from the past. Anyway nowadays I understand how bad it is. But I like it. |
May 23, 2019 1:08 PM
#13
AllenVonStein said: +2 this, it was really average 6/10sdb68 said: this was average in every way. not a single character was memorable, and mephisto did not serve any purpose - why was he even there? what was his back story? all in all, this was a very pale version of wicked city. +1 I couldn't have said it better myself . |
Aug 9, 2019 5:46 PM
#14
I really like the animation style Demon City & Wicked City have, too bad we don't really see it anymore (to my knowledge). I enjoyed this, but I admit the story and the characters were pretty... forgettable and generic, but they didn't really act too stupid either. Also, this one didn't have the hentai scenes Wicked City had. The dark world setting and animation carried this. |
Oct 22, 2019 3:25 PM
#15
Pretty wack compared to Wicked City. |
Jun 30, 2020 12:53 PM
#16
I love the directional works of Yoshiaki Kawajiri. His style is incredibly entertaining to me but the first time I watched Demon City Shinjuku I wasn't that into it. I had watched Wicked City mere days before and this film just didn't seem as action packed and was quite slow in comparison. Returning to this film via the newly released Discotek Blu Ray I have to say that my opinion has changed quite alot. The film is still somewhat slow in pace but it's absolutely drenched in atmosphere. I just fell into this film so much more and the clarity of blu ray, seeing this art in a whole new light really just made me appreciate this film so much more. Most of this film is absolutely stunning in terms of art. I could list endless scenes but just take the Chuuoh Park sequence for example, the pink, violets and blues just leap off the screen, so vivid for something that could have been so dark and grey. It's beautiful. As is the moment at the end of that sequence where all the souls return to rest and the little girl. An opinion that didn't change too much since my first viewing is that of the blandness of the characters. Well at least the main two and the villian. They are fine but there isn't really much there. But this time Mephisto really stood out to me, very cool character and his fight scene with that Snake Demon Lady in the Bar is one of the highlights of the whole film for sure. I'm so happy to own this film on Blu Ray and I'm so happy to have a new found liking of the film after that first initial disappointment. Definitely something I want to return to again. I gave it a 6 last time but this time I've bumped it up to a 7. Demon City Shinjuku isn't amazing by any means but it's a good film that at only 80 minutes doesn't out stay its welcome and looks stunning throughout thanks to the HD remaster. |
Sep 13, 2020 10:18 AM
#17
80s dark fantasy at its finest! Quite digged this alot until the last act which was bit uninteresting and predictable compare how good the rest were. I guess there was plot changed or cut from the original towards end. Still the shorter film runtime made it overall didn't hamper my enjoyment enough to watch it again. While this came year later after wicked city (which I had very lukewarm experience), I think what does this better is the world felt more realized and the designs looked more appealing. the characterization was pretty decent too especially the VA really make it really standout. I also really appreciated lack of r-rated stuff which was overdid on the other film tbh. |
removed-userSep 13, 2020 10:21 AM
Nov 5, 2020 11:10 AM
#18
Fuck this was boring. Plot is as basic and as underwhelming as it gets. 1/10 |
:3 |
Feb 9, 2021 1:48 PM
#19
This feels like a student film. The comment about fucking her brains out and random 'fucks' did the film no favors. Good animation though. |
May 5, 2021 7:04 PM
#20
Raizel said: AllenVonStein said: +2 this, it was really average 6/10sdb68 said: this was average in every way. not a single character was memorable, and mephisto did not serve any purpose - why was he even there? what was his back story? all in all, this was a very pale version of wicked city. +1 I couldn't have said it better myself . +3 Epicly Average, but i loved it for being the epitome of 80/90s anime such a cliche action flick - terrible and forgettable characters and a story that doesn't really amount to anything with a quick rash ending and some other things you can shit talk on. But overall I still gave it a 6/10 - just because it was a bit of a storyline and a bit above average - that and i found the sterotypes it was rifed with as somewhat comical and funny as heck lmao |
Jun 3, 2021 12:29 AM
#21
So the last fight only lasted like a minute? He managed to kill the guy off so easily when the villain was supposed to be strong as fuck. Anyway, what's up with the dub lmao |
"he has it big as a cactus but he won't let go of my head and I puke on his cock bitch" - Boy by Fishball |
Dec 23, 2021 11:28 PM
#22
I was surprised to see the rather low ratings for this here. I think Sci-Fi Channel used to air this in the late 90s in their early Saturday morning 6 AM anime block. I'm fairly certain I must've caught it at least once then but didn't remember anything about it until watching it again tonight. Loved the look of it, the atmosphere of the decaying city, and the characters' designs. A lot higher quality animation than in my memory where I thought it used a lot of rough sketchy lines and was just a bunch of gore. Must have it confused with something else, but I'm not sure what. The story is pretty by the books and the last battle was anti-climactic but it was sure a pleasure to watch throughout. I agree with what someone said above, the animation carried it, but it carried it well. I see the Wicked City comparisons, but it also reminded me a lot of Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust in terms of how the characters looked, like in their eyes. Not surprising I guess, it has Madhouse listed as the makers of both. |
Shrimp_TailDec 24, 2021 12:13 AM
May 9, 2022 5:54 AM
#23
My favorite thing about this movie was the girl. She was not totally useless like the damsel in distress tends to be. Although she messed up and put her life in danger A LOT, she did have a lot of courage and pushed the mc forward. The moral at the end was kind of cute. My least favorite part was the final fight scene. I had to rewind because it ended so fast that I missed it. How is someone with barely any training able to beat someone who was trained by a master for years and sold his soul to a demon? Even after a His father, another man who trained with the master for years, was defeated? Maybe after the dead dad put all his energy in a stick it just needed a little power from the son and push it over the edge to win. If that were the case though, I feel like the bad guy should have been much closer to death in the first battle or the fight with the son should have taken longer and been more difficult. I also dislike the old teacher guy. I feel like his reason for not fighting was stupid. He wanted to save the president and guard him instead of fighting the demons because without him the world would fall into chaos either way when they saw what happened to him. But the world already thought he was dead from the bouquet and were doing just fine? Seemed stupid to me. And then the way that he tried to get the mc to join him by berating him the whole time was awful. I can see why his two pupils didn't end up being the strongest until one sold his soul to demons. That teacher sucked. If it were me I would have changed the end. He could have defeated the bad guy and then it turned out the boring long-haired dude who turned out to be a "casual observer" could have been the demon that gave the other guy the powers. Then there would be a super-hard second boss battle. Just an idea. Also, that dub??? Why did they give them all random accents? And that amount of cursing was unnecessary. It was very jarring. |
Nov 26, 2022 5:32 PM
#24
Like 0 progression and the Rabi Ra talk throughout didn't made an impact of the film at all. There was a sad moment that made me cry. Pretty much it. Pretty boring. |
Jul 15, 2023 6:46 AM
#25
- The story is straight-forward and has nothing special going for it. - Characters are bland and very generic. - Animation & colours are good. The voice acting is just average. |
Aug 27, 2023 8:44 AM
#26
god damn those effects blinded me, overall a good entertaining ova just don't expect the logic. |
Nov 3, 2023 3:30 PM
#27
Plot is bare minimum, the intense flashing was quite annoying, and the action choreography is non-existent too, yet the movie was really cool to watch. The dark shadows, the haunting atmosphere, the neon lighting, Kawajiri's style heals my soul. The art direction is unbelievable too. |
Jan 16, 5:23 PM
#28
wicked city for kids i guess, at least i can watch this with my father so he'll be aware for the anime i like (weird / retro / cool / artistic stuff) because probably he thinks that i watch things like SAO or Highschool DxD. |
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