Wicked City (1987)

Wicked City (1987)

7/10

Starring the voices of

Yūsaku Yara

Toshiko Fujita

Ichirō Nagai

Takeshi Aono

Directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Are you down for a neo-noir flick with some dark fantasy vibes? Well, everything about this movie perfectly fits those genres. The art and plot start off intriguingly deep, but midway through, it veers into some unnecessary erotica. The anime portrays a world where humans and demons coexist, but one of the downsides is the ending—it’s kind of lame and anticlimactic.

What you’ll love about this anime movie are the suspenseful clues it leaves behind as you watch. It’s like the movie wants you to grab a notepad to jot things down or even plan for a re-watch. That way, you can trace all the subtle hints, figure out their purpose, and make sure you didn’t miss anything. The plot is written in a linear style, which makes it easy to follow, and those suspenseful details eventually add up.

That said, it’s worth noting the movie contains a lot of erotica. It also leans heavily into a misogynistic theme that’s far from subtle. Even though the lead’s partner is supposed to be a badass, she isn’t spared from this kind of treatment. For me, those moments felt unnecessary and didn’t add anything meaningful to the story.

The movie begins with the lead, Taki, narrating part of the story. Then it shifts from him narrating to him explaining things as events unfold. Don’t worry—he doesn’t talk too much. Taki is a secret agent in a world where the demon and human realms have agreed on a treaty to coexist peacefully. His job is to monitor rogue demons, which usually involves fighting and killing them.

The treaty is nearing its expiration and needs to be renewed. Taki is tasked with guarding a specific man essential to the treaty’s renewal. To assist him, he’s partnered with a demon girl named Makie. The man they’re protecting turns out to be a pervert, and their mission becomes even tougher as demons relentlessly try to eliminate the trio.

In the end, I’d still call this a good animation, mainly because of the linear way the plot unfolds. However, I didn’t enjoy the persistent misogyny and felt the movie could’ve been much better received without it. The unnecessary erotica didn’t contribute to the story and, honestly, detracted from the overall experience. All that said, it is an amazing movie to see and anyone who hasn’t seen this (please note you have to be a adult to see this) will love it.