Wicked City could be described simplistically, an exploitation of blood, guts, tentacles, a perverted old man, and the occasional supple pair of breasts. Well, maybe not occasional. Regardless of its slightly 'typical' exterior, Wicked City is worth a peek or two, and hopefully I'll convince you as to why this is so.

It starts off plain enough. Two worlds co-exist. One of our own, Earth, and one of demons and otherwise. The two live peacefully on account of a treaty signed generation after generation, and the time has come for the treaty to be renewed. Well as can be expected, there are those of the demon world who don't wish to peacefully co-exist with us humans, and we're pretty much ready for them. As the plot begins, it seems that a representative of the demon world makes his way to Earth for protection. Here we're introduced to two of what is basically a group of three main characters. Taki, the human who doubles as an operative for the Black Guard (a CIA or otherwise for the both worlds), and the old pervert (with a rather long and hard to pronounce name). The old perv is needed to sign the peace treaty, thus the establishment of protecting him at all times. Soon enough, the third character is introduced, a female member of the demon world who is also part of the Black Guard. Quite a beauty too (as she's a woman and not some rompy little jailbait). Anyways, the plot itself begins from that point, there is something of importance before it (which I would rather not spoil for you), the three of them doing what they can to survive until the next day.

Wicked City itself is special on two counts. One, because it was based on the novel written by Hideyuki Kikuchi, and two because it was more or less Yoshiaki Kawajiri's full directorial debut (Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Ninja Scroll). I couldn't accurately find/pull out any references other then the original novel, but truthfully that's a good thing. It holds originality on account of that. Anyways, besides the originality, there's the issue of voice acting. First off (hopefully it wasn't just my television or dvd player) the Japanese voice acting was good, but the voice overs themselves were soft. As in I had to turn up the volume considerably high to actually hear what was being said. The English dub didn't have this problem, and it was just as good as the Japanese VA's. Old man pervert and Taki had some noteworthy English performances as well (the voices matched nicely). Unfortunately the music is nothing to write to grandma about, just your usual synthesized accompaniment.

Ah, my most favorable part of the review. My thoughts. At first, I took it with a grain of salt. The monster designs were cool (for the lack of a better term), but it seemed to be nothing but sex and violence. To be quite frank, I don't have a problem with that, as I certainly have a side that very much appeals to. I was in for a surprise though, as the story did progress I found myself paying closer attention, a bit of anxiety and curiosity brewing about me with each passing minute. It was rather crazy how it went from bloody puddle-ridden cutting action sequences, to tentacle throat raping torture, to, well you'll see. The twist is what really makes the film in my eyes, and it made me enjoy it much more then I had expected I would. Still, I won't spoil a thing for you. Let's just say there's a somewhat graceful end to it all. That's all I'm saying, you won't get anything else out of me.

Thankfully, the animation is just as excellent as the plot. Fluid and clear, even during the many action sequences in the film. I suppose that's a necessity for any tentacle baring happenings, no? Can't go violating those orifices without the means of animation to display, now can we? No sir.

This leaves us with the extras of the disc, of which there isn't much. The film's sound track has been digitally mastered for DD 5.1, whilst there also three character biographies, original theatrical trailers, and a link to a certain webpage (which I couldn't access for lack of a connection). What was an extra worth mentioning was that of the interview with Yoshiaka Kawajiri. He describes his enthusiasm for the film at the time he was directing, and the perils that popped up here or there. For example, the film was originally slated to be 35 minutes long (starting at the airport sequence) but Kawajiri was asked to lengthen it to 80 minutes if at all possible. Looks like it was. Kawajiri also mentions the then not fully developed New Vampire Hunter D film he was to direct.

All in all, horror/thriller anime might not be for everyone, but this film should be viewed once for the 'twist' alone. Excellent plot, cool monster designs, great fluid animation, and a perverted old man. Go on, don't be scared. Check it out. Watch out for those stray tentacles though, they're money grubbers.

For more information, please visit Urban Vision Entertainment.