is a 1989 Japanese

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, War film, war, fantasy, or Horror film, horror media featuring such te ...

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

dark fantasy Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes of fantasy. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror or has a gloomy dark tone or a sense of horror and dr ...

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

directed by Takashige Ichise and distributed by Toho Studios. It is an adaptation of the eleventh book (''Great War in the Capital'') of the '' Teito Monogatari'' novel by Hiroshi Aramata. It is the second cinematic adaptation of the '' Teito Monogatari'' series and is a sequel to '' Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis''.

Plot

The sequel begins in 1945, during a period extensive of American firebombing over major Japanese cities. Desperate to end the war quickly, the government concocts a plan to eliminate major key leaders of each country. With the support of the Japanese government, the

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

shaman Kan’nami Kouou ( Tetsuro Tamba) plans to curse the leaders of the Allied forces using magic. Unfortunately, the spirits of those civilians who were horribly killed during the fire bombings culminate together and reincarnate

Yasunori Kato Yasunori is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yasunori can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *安徳, "tranquil, benevolence" *安紀, "tranquil, chronicle" *安典, "tranqu ...

(

Kyūsaku Shimada is a Japanese actor. History Shimada was originally part of the Tokyo Grand Guignol Theater group, formed by artist Norimizu Ameya. He stayed with the group until its dissolution in 1986. One of the productions the group undertook was an adaptat ...

), the demonic Onmyoji who was suppressed 20 years ago. Once again, Kato wants

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

to suffer for its crimes and sets off to stop Kouou’s plan from succeeding so that the war will continue and Tokyo will be destroyed. To challenge Kato, Kouou has hired a young man, Yuko Nakamura (

Masaya Kato is a Japanese actor from Nara in the Kansai region. Life and career He is currently attached to Burning Production. He stands at 183 centimeters. He practices martial arts and performs his own stunts in movies. Filmography Films *1988: ''Shiro ...

), who has incredible psychic abilities. During the course of the story, Nakamura meets and falls in love with Yukiko Tatsumiya ( Kaho Minami), who is now working as a nurse in a War Victims Hospital and still suffering from traumatic memories of abuse as a child by Kato. The young psychic is unable to contend with Kato’s mighty powers and after several battles (the final involving his power being enhanced through artificial means), he is nearly killed. Despite nearing death, Yukiko’s love gives Nakamura enough strength to perform one last trick which successfully destroys Kato’s physical body. Meanwhile, Kouou realizes that Japan is doomed to lose the war. Thus he changes targets, sparing the Allied leaders, and launching a psychic attack against

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

which drives him to

commit suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and subs ...

in his bunker. Yukiko prays to Masakado to seal away Kato’s soul forever.

Production

The box-office success of '' Teito Monogatari'' prompted a sequel to immediately be put into production. The budget was considerably smaller than its predecessor, and the plot adapted only a single book in the series (as opposed to the first film, which had adapted the plot of four books). The only returning actor from the previous film was

, reprising his role as the supernatural villain

Screaming Mad George , known as Screaming Mad George (born October 7, 1956), is a Japanese special effects artist, film director, and former musician. He was born in Osaka, Japan, and emigrated to the United States, where he has become known for his surreal, gory spe ...

special effects unit was commissioned to do

gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitouli ...

effects. The film also marked the directorial debut of Takashige Ichise, a Japanese film producer best known in the west for financing such J-Horror classics as ''

Ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

'', '' Ju-on: The Grudge'', and ''

Dark Water Dark Water may refer to: Books * '' Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil'', 1920 book by American philosopher W.E.B. Du Bois * ''Dark Water'' (book) (仄暗い水の底から; ''Honogurai mizu no soko kara''; literally ''In the Depths of Dark ...

'' as well as their respective Hollywood remakes.

Differences from the novel

The film makes many deviations from the original plot of the novel. In the original book "Great War in the Capital", the target of the spiritual assassination is not Adolf Hitler, but rather

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. In the book, Kato is not magically "resurrected" as depicted in the film. Rather he is engaged in fighting off Japanese occupation in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. When he hears of the project, he returns to Japan to make sure it goes through to completion and systematically kills any political figure that opposes it. The leader of the protesters is Tomasso, an Italian mystic who controls the Japanese

freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

lodges. At the end of the book, Kato kills Tomasso and the project goes to completion. Roosevelt is cursed, suffers from

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

and dies. This clears the way for Harry Truman to step into office, who authorizes the

Hydrogen Bomb A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...

to be used against Japan. Also the mystic hired to curse Roosevelt is Ōtani Kōzui, a famous

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

, instead of Kan’nami Kouou (a completely fictional character).

Home video releases

The film and its sequel were both released in Japan on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

on August 8, 2015 in a Special Edition bundle featuring new cover art by SPFX artist

Shinji Higuchi is a Japanese filmmaker and storyboard artist. He is one of the most successful Japanese filmmakers and the top ''tokusatsu'' film director. Higuchi became known for his work on '' Gamera: Guardian of the Universe'', for which he won the Specia ...

.Amazon Page of Blu-ray release
Retrieved on 2015-9-06.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * *

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0144636

at Toho Kingdom 1989 films 1980s Japanese-language films 1989 fantasy films 1980s Japanese films 1980s dark fantasy films 1980s fantasy adventure films 1980s science fiction horror films Films set in 1945 Japanese dark fantasy films Japanese epic films Films based on Japanese novels Adventure horror films Japanese fantasy adventure films Japanese science fiction horror films Toho films Tokusatsu films Films scored by Kōji Ueno Films set in Tokyo Japanese World War II films Cultural depictions of Adolf Hitler 1989 science fiction films