is a novel by

Hideyuki Kikuchi is a Japanese author known for his horror novels. His most famous works include the ''Vampire Hunter D'' series, ''Darkside Blues'' and ''Wicked City (novel), Wicked City''. Biography Kikuchi was born in Chōshi, Chiba, Chōshi, Japan on Septe ...

that was adapted into an

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

(OVA) in 1988, directed by

Yoshiaki Kawajiri is a writer and director of Japanese animation. He is the creator of titles such as '' Wicked City'', ''Ninja Scroll'', and '' Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust''. Biography Kawajiri was born on November 18, 1950 and grew up in Yokohama, Kanagawa Pr ...

. The title has also been translated as ''Hell City Shinjuku'' and ''Monster City''. It was also released as two manga by ADV Manga in 2003 and 2004. The novel was also released in English in 2011 by

Digital Manga Publishing Digital Manga is a California-based publishing company that licenses and releases Japanese manga, anime, and related merchandise in the English language. Digital Manga also owns and operates eManga, a digital publishing site for manga and l ...

, compiled with its sequel ''Demon Palace Babylon''. The film was released in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Central Park Media Central Park Media, often abbreviated as CPM, was an American multimedia entertainment company based in New York City, New York and was headquartered in the 250 West 57th Street building in Midtown Manhattan (on the corner of Central Park, hence ...

in 1994. Portions of the opening fight scene were featured in the 1995

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyber ...

film ''

Johnny Mnemonic "Johnny Mnemonic" is a science fiction short story by American-Canadian writer William Gibson. It first appeared in '' Omni'' magazine in May 1981, and was subsequently included in ''Burning Chrome'', a 1986 collection of Gibson's short fiction. ...

''.

Plot

''Demon City Shinjuku'' begins with a battle between former friends, the evil Rebi Ra (also pronounced Levi Ra) versus the short-lived hero Genichirou. Rebi Ra has allowed himself to be possessed in order to gain the incredible powers of evil and plans to summon demons to conquer the world. Defeating Genichirou and destroying

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

, a part of Tokyo, with a devastating earthquake, the area becomes a demon-haunted wilderness. The novel doesn't have a fight scene between Genichirou and Rebi Ra. It opens with a quiet time in Shinjuku and then in a sudden change the Demon Quake hits only Shinjuku. Ten years later, the World President, put in place to uphold world peace, is attacked by Rebi Ra with cursed plants indirectly to keep his old master, Aguni Rai, as the protector of the president, occupied. However, Rebi Ra did not know that Genichirou had a son who inherited his powers and more. After an emotional plea from the president's daughter, Sayaka Rama, the unlikely hero Kyoya Izayoi follows her deep into the heart of the evil city, finding new allies and terrifying enemies along the way. In the novel Aguni Rai asks the Information Bureau Japan Section Chief to look for Kyoya as the only one who could stop Rebi Ra. The Section Chief tests Kyoya with a commando cyborg and then relates to Kyoya that the president is in a life-threatening curse and only has three days to defeat Rebi Ra before the president is killed as the ritual sacrifice to bring the Demon Realm to Earth, which he failed to do years prior, causing the Demon Quake. During the course of explanation Aguni Rai uses a doppelganger to communicate to Kyoya from New York in hopes of convincing him to save the world. Sayaka soon enters and pleads with him to do so as well. Kyoya finally decides to help because of Sayaka's pleas.

Cast

Production

The film took two years to produce and had a budget of 130 million yen. It was also additionally screened in movie theaters in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Reception

'' Hyper'' Daniel Wilks criticised the film for having "only vaguely interconnected action scenes punctuated by some rather dull talkiness marred by horrible accents (the heroine is unconvincingly British and the childish sidekick speaks with a mangled Mexican drawl)".

Related works

''Demon Palace Babylon'' is the direct sequel to ''Demon City Shinjuku'' written six years later in 1988 and follows Kyoya, Sayaka, and Mephisto as they battle against King Nebachanezzar and his four knights. This was released in the United States in a complete edition with ''Demon City'' in 2011. It was also released as two manga by ADV Manga back in 2003 and 2004. ''Demon City Hunter'' is a series of 17 manga released in Japan that follows Kyoya, Mephisto, and Sayaka after the events of ''Demon City Shinjuku''. ADV Manga published 2 of these in English but did not finish them. '' Demon City Blues'' is a set of five novels that is based in the Demon City universe and has Mephisto reappearing but with a new hero, Setsura Aki. Setsura is a P.I. specializing in missing persons, but now he and Mephisto must go up against a group of vampires led by "Princess" who plan on making Shinjuku a vampire metropolis. the last novel will be released in English in March. The ''

Demon City Shinjuku Role-Playing Game The ''Demon City Shinjuku Role-Playing Game'' is an anime-inspired supernatural horror role-playing game published by Guardians of Order in 1999 that is based on the Demon City Shinjuku, novel and anime series of the same name. Description Shinj ...

'' was published by

Guardians of Order Guardians of Order was a Canadian company founded in 1996 by Mark C. MacKinnon in Guelph, Ontario. The company's business output consisted of role-playing games (RPGs). Their first game is the anime inspired ''Big Eyes, Small Mouth''. In 2006 Gua ...

in 2000. It uses the

Tri-Stat System Guardians of Order was a Canadian company founded in 1996 by Mark C. MacKinnon in Guelph, Ontario. The company's business output consisted of role-playing games (RPGs). Their first game is the anime inspired '' Big Eyes, Small Mouth''. In 2006 Gu ...

and was written by

David L. Pulver David L. Pulver (born 2 November 1965 in Kingston, Ontario) is a Canadian freelance writer and game designer, author of more than fifty role-playing game rulebooks and supplements, including the award-winning ''Transhuman Space''. Early life and e ...

References

External links

* * {{Madhouse OVAs 1982 Japanese novels 1988 anime OVAs 2002 manga ADV Manga Anime films based on novels Akita Shoten manga Asahi Sonorama manga Central Park Media Dark fantasy anime and manga Digital Manga Publishing titles Discotek Media Japanese horror novels Light novels Madhouse (company) Novels by Hideyuki Kikuchi Novels set in Tokyo Sentai Filmworks