foxtografo

I was attracted to the wacky screenshots on this website for this anime.

It seemed like it would be a crazy ride, and I gave it a go.

Of course, I don't have the nostalgy factor as I'm just picking this up now, but it just seemed weird in a bad way for me.

Not only the story is very basic, and the writing quite silly and cringe at times.

It also has the two main characters, a 9 year old girl and a 17 year old boy having a romance.. bad vibes, if you ask me.. not interested in seeing anything like that, specially because it doesn't serve the story and it's unnecessary.

If it was within the premise and setting, I might take it differently, but the age difference is weird and quite inappropriate. I wouldn't crucify the whole film because of this, of course, it just seemed very awkward, but the rest of the film wasn't great neither.

There are two characters saying out loud whatever the main character is doing, like the viewer is incapable of figure it out, it was quite annoying.

The action is nothing special, and the character designs are interesting, but not enough to carry such a a lack of a good story.

The story seems to be some sort of a series start, but probably didn't well enough to carry on with it.

I guess the visual aspect is its strongest point, but it isn't anything special.

Plenty of better animes out there to check before this one, from the 80s, 90s and newer.

I feel this film is more about the atmosphere than the story.

Story wise it's nothing complex or new, but it creates with it's visual design and dark theme an intense experience which kept me interested throughout.

Also, I've seen the English dubbed version and it's surprisingly good, something that's not always the case.

The characters are nothing spectacular in terms of design, but their personalities (specially the male main) are well defined The guy reminds me a lot of George Clooney in the times of From Dusk Till Dawn, even though the anime is older.. Specially with the English cheeky way of talking!

The gore is quite heavy, in pretty twisted sexual ways.. The action is really good, as expected from the director.

Overall it's a very dak anime, very particular, definitely one of the classics from the 80s you don't want to miss!

This film is considered some sort of sequel of the 1987 Wicked City anime because of the demons, and the director.

It certainly doesn't have the darkness, sexuality and violence of the former, but it's a decent anime.

The story, I'd even say it holds better than Wicked City, the setting and atmosphere is very interesting and plays a big part, but the character designs are not that interesting, not bad, but not at the level of Vampire Hunter D or Ninja Scroll, from the same director, two of my all time favourite animes.

The first scene and the main villain, I think, shows a lot of influence from Highlander (1986), I really enjoyed it!

The action is also ok, but not as good and intense as the previously mentioned, or as dark and sexual as Wicked City.

The strongest flaw for me was the underwhelming final fight, everything is ready for some badass action and it suddenly ends. Very disappointing!

Still, it has some good moments, even some moving scene involving a "lost child".. Overall I enjoyed the film, I wouldn't recommend it as an introduction to Yoshiaki Kawajiri films, but definitely worth watching if you want more from him.