.gif)
Wicked City (film)
Encyclopedia
is an animated
horror
neo-noir
directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri
, based on Hideyuki Kikuchi
's novel of the same name
.
The story takes place towards the end of the 20th century and explores the idea that the human world secretly coexists with the demon
world with a secret police force known as the Black Guard protecting the boundary.
The film was released in Japan on April 19, 1987 by Japan Home Video
(JHV) and received a western release dubbed by Streamline Pictures
under the name Wicked City on August 20, 1993. After Streamline Pictures lost the distribution rights, it was licensed and distributed by Urban Vision
. A censored version of the film was distributed by Manga Entertainment
in the UK with a different dub. Both the Streamline
and Manga UK
dubs were released in Australia, with the Manga UK dub being released on VHS in 1994. In 1995, Manga Video released in Australia a bundle VHS consisting of Wicked City and Monster City
, this version containing the Streamline dub. In 1997 when Madman Entertainment
was named distributor for Manga in Australia, the Streamline dub was released on a single tape, and the Manga UK version was phased out.
Two agents of the Black Guards are charged with insuring the success of the treaty: The human Taki Renzaburo is an electronics salesman by day, and a Black Guard agent when needed; his partner Makie, who masquerades as a model, is a beautiful and skilled woman from the Black World. Their mission is to protect Giuseppi Mayart, a two hundred year-old man possessed of fantastic spiritual power, whose presence at the peace treaty signing is critical. The Radicals wish to kill Mayart to upset the peace between both worlds.
Attacks on Makie, Taki and Mayart begin even before the three meet, and the situation does not improve, despite taking shelter in a hotel that supposedly has strong spiritual barriers to keep people of the Black World away; on top of this, Mayart sneaks out after a skirmish at the hotel. Makie and Taki find him at a massage parlor in the grip of a Black World woman who has sapped his health, prompting a frantic trip to a spiritual hospital under Black Guard protection.
Halfway there, Makie is taken prisoner to be punished for her "crimes" against the Black World by being repeatedly raped, and Taki is forced to leave her behind, but as soon as he knows Mayart is safe in the hospital, he rushes to where his partner is being held, despite all warnings and the threat that he will be thrown out of the Black Guard.
Taki is led to a dilapidated building far from the hospital, where he finds Makie, naked and helpless, being gang-raped. While Taki is successful in freeing Makie, they are relieved of their Black Guard duties and are captured by a spider-like woman Taki has encountered before; both are knocked unconscious, but they wake up alone in a church (as the Spider Woman was killed), and seek comfort in each other's bodies.
One last attack by the Radicals comes and is partially deflected by a surprisingly healthy Mayart, who reveals he was protecting his bodyguards, not the other way around as they had been led to believe. Mayart and Taki almost succeed in defeating the Radical threatening them, but the final blow comes from Makie, who suddenly displays an overwhelming power, a gift from her joining with Taki. Mayart explains the two of them are meant to be part of the new peace treaty.
The movie ends with Taki reinstated in the Black Guard, uncertain about his feelings for Makie and what is expected of them, but feeling optimistic about the future he will help protect.
(1987) and was asked to direct a 35 minute short on Hideyuki Kikuchis novel. Kawajiri completed the short and after Japan Home Video saw a screening of it, they wished him to make it feature length. The producers Kenji Kurata and Makoto Seya expressed their opinion that the director shouldn’t extend it unless he wanted to. Kawajiri was such a fan of the world, he saw it as an opportunity to explore more characterization and created more animation for the start, the middle and the end. The project was completed in under a year.
. The film portrays demons as beings that can walk in human form and seduce their prey much like a Siren
, instilling castration anxiety
in the viewer through use of demons with vagina dentata
.
Ltd. The film was directed by Tai Kit Mak, produced by Hark Tsui and starred Jacky Cheung
, Leon Lai
, Yuen Woo-ping
, Roy Cheung
, and Michelle Reis
.
The story takes place in Hong Kong in a conflict between worlds of Humans and "Rapters". Special police in the city are investigating a mysterious drug named "happiness". Taki, one of the police, meets his old lover Windy, who is a rapter and now mistress of a powerful old rapter named Daishu. Taki and other special police track down and fight Daishu, but later find that he hopes to coexist with human. The son of Daishu, Shudo, is the mastermind. In the end Shudo is defeated, but Daishu and Taki's friends die too. Windy leaves alone.
" in April 2006 mentioned that there will be a live action Wicked City is in creation by a German production company called Stallion Film. Directed and co-produced by Mark A.Z. Dippé
, (director of Spawn
: The Movie), he with the help of Johnny Hartmann will be doing this movie project. Its budget is between $50 to $60 million but no cast has been announced.
comic book
creator Todd McFarlane
has often cited many designs in his famed comic book Spawn
have been inspired by the film.
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
neo-noir
Neo-noir
Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.-History:The term Film Noir was coined by...
directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Yoshiaki Kawajiri
is a critically acclaimed writer and director of Japanese animation. He is the creator of titles such as Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.-Career:...
, based on Hideyuki Kikuchi
Hideyuki Kikuchi
is a Japanese author famous for his horror novels. His most famous works including the Vampire Hunter D series, Darkside Blues and Wicked City. He has been compared to both Stephen King and H. P. Lovecraft.-Biography:...
's novel of the same name
Wicked City (novel)
Wicked City is a series of novels written by Hideyuki Kikuchi and published by Tor/Seven Seas. The first book served as the basis for an anime film and live-action film of the same name.-External links:*...
.
The story takes place towards the end of the 20th century and explores the idea that the human world secretly coexists with the demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
world with a secret police force known as the Black Guard protecting the boundary.
The film was released in Japan on April 19, 1987 by Japan Home Video
Japan Home Video
is a Japanese media corporation which produces and distributes film and video products and is also involved in TV programming and game software. It uses the label for its adult video production.-Company history and finances:...
(JHV) and received a western release dubbed by Streamline Pictures
Streamline Pictures
Streamline Pictures was an American media company that was best known for its distribution of English dubbed Japanese animation. -Founding:Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1988, Streamline Pictures was one of the first North American companies that was created primarily for the intention of...
under the name Wicked City on August 20, 1993. After Streamline Pictures lost the distribution rights, it was licensed and distributed by Urban Vision
Urban Vision
Urban Vision Entertainment Inc., an American based production/distribution company created in Los Angeles, California formed in July, 1996 by Mataichiro Yamamoto to help introduce the alternative animation genre known as anime or Japanimation to mainstream media....
. A censored version of the film was distributed by Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment is a producer, licensor and distributor of Japanese animation in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia and New Zealand...
in the UK with a different dub. Both the Streamline
Streamline Pictures
Streamline Pictures was an American media company that was best known for its distribution of English dubbed Japanese animation. -Founding:Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1988, Streamline Pictures was one of the first North American companies that was created primarily for the intention of...
and Manga UK
Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment is a producer, licensor and distributor of Japanese animation in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia and New Zealand...
dubs were released in Australia, with the Manga UK dub being released on VHS in 1994. In 1995, Manga Video released in Australia a bundle VHS consisting of Wicked City and Monster City
Demon City Shinjuku
is a novel by Hideyuki Kikuchi that was adapted into an original animated video in 1988, directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri. The title has also been translated as Hell City Shinjuku and Monster City....
, this version containing the Streamline dub. In 1997 when Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...
was named distributor for Manga in Australia, the Streamline dub was released on a single tape, and the Manga UK version was phased out.
Plot
The existence of the "Black World" is known to very few people. For centuries, a pact between the two has been observed to maintain peace, and terms must be negotiated and renewed every few hundred years to continue relative harmony. This time around, there is a militant faction called The Radicals that will stop at nothing to prevent the signing of a new treaty.Two agents of the Black Guards are charged with insuring the success of the treaty: The human Taki Renzaburo is an electronics salesman by day, and a Black Guard agent when needed; his partner Makie, who masquerades as a model, is a beautiful and skilled woman from the Black World. Their mission is to protect Giuseppi Mayart, a two hundred year-old man possessed of fantastic spiritual power, whose presence at the peace treaty signing is critical. The Radicals wish to kill Mayart to upset the peace between both worlds.
Attacks on Makie, Taki and Mayart begin even before the three meet, and the situation does not improve, despite taking shelter in a hotel that supposedly has strong spiritual barriers to keep people of the Black World away; on top of this, Mayart sneaks out after a skirmish at the hotel. Makie and Taki find him at a massage parlor in the grip of a Black World woman who has sapped his health, prompting a frantic trip to a spiritual hospital under Black Guard protection.
Halfway there, Makie is taken prisoner to be punished for her "crimes" against the Black World by being repeatedly raped, and Taki is forced to leave her behind, but as soon as he knows Mayart is safe in the hospital, he rushes to where his partner is being held, despite all warnings and the threat that he will be thrown out of the Black Guard.
Taki is led to a dilapidated building far from the hospital, where he finds Makie, naked and helpless, being gang-raped. While Taki is successful in freeing Makie, they are relieved of their Black Guard duties and are captured by a spider-like woman Taki has encountered before; both are knocked unconscious, but they wake up alone in a church (as the Spider Woman was killed), and seek comfort in each other's bodies.
One last attack by the Radicals comes and is partially deflected by a surprisingly healthy Mayart, who reveals he was protecting his bodyguards, not the other way around as they had been led to believe. Mayart and Taki almost succeed in defeating the Radical threatening them, but the final blow comes from Makie, who suddenly displays an overwhelming power, a gift from her joining with Taki. Mayart explains the two of them are meant to be part of the new peace treaty.
The movie ends with Taki reinstated in the Black Guard, uncertain about his feelings for Makie and what is expected of them, but feeling optimistic about the future he will help protect.
Cast
| Character | Japanese | English (Streamline) | English (Manga UK) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taki | Yūsaku Yara Yusaku Yara is a Japanese actor and voice actor from Tokyo. He is currently affiliated with Vi-Vo. His real name is ', and his former stage name was .He is best known for his roles in Chibi Maruko-chan as Hiroshi Sakura, Kiteretsu Daihyakka as Kiteretsu's Papa, the 1989 version of Sally, the Witch as Sally's... |
Gregory Snegoff Gregory Snegoff Gregory Snegoff is an American voice actor, writer and dialogue director who frequently works on English anime-dubs, known for providing the voice of Scott Bernard in Robotech, Taki Renzaburo in Wicked City and Master Roshi in Dragon Ball . He is also known by the names Greg Snegoff, Gregory Snow,... |
Stuart Miller |
| Giuseppi Mayart | Ichirō Nagai Ichiro Nagai is a male seiyū from Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture. He was formerly represented by Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society, but is now represented by Aoni Production.-Television animation:*Akuma-kun *Bikkuriman... |
Mike Reynolds | George Littlewood |
| Makie | Toshiko Fujita Toshiko Fujita is a Japanese seiyū. She currently works at Aoni Production.-Roles:*Bonobono in the first Bonobono film*Cross in Ginga Nagareboshi Gin*Corazón Muto in Allison & Lillia... |
Alexandra Kenworthy Alexandra Kenworthy Alexandra Kenworthy is an American voice actress. She is married to fellow voice actor Marc Snegoff and have two sons Her son, voice actor Gregory Snegoff and stuntman Tony Snegoff.-Filmography:*3×3 Eyes - Pai*Lensman - Lens... |
Tammy Holloway |
| Spider Woman | Mari Yokoo | Edie Mirman Edie Mirman Edith S. "Edie" Mirman is an American voice actress best known for the voice of Fujiko Mine from Tales of the Wolf, and also for both Miriya Parina Sterling and Nova Satori from Robotech. She is also the voice of Teryx in Dinosaucers and Gatomon and Angewomon in the Digimon series. She is credited... |
Lisa Robinson |
| Mr. Shadow | Takeshi Aono Takeshi Aono is a Japanese voice actor and actor from Asahikawa, Hokkaidō affiliated with Aoni Production. He graduated from Hokkaidō Asahikawa Higashi High School.... |
Jeff Winkless Jeff Winkless Jeffrey Alan Winkless was an American film and voice actor and music composer. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. Two of his younger brothers, Terence H. Winkless and Daniel Owen Winkless, worked with him on The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. He was also credited as Jeffrey Brock... |
unknown |
| Jin | Kōji Totani Koji Totani was a veteran seiyū born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Totani worked at Aoni Production. His nickname was "Totani-chan". On February 6, 2006, at the age of 57, he died from acute heart failure... |
Steve Kramer Steve Kramer (actor) Steven M. Kramer is an American voice actor for many anime titles. He has also done voice acting for various Power Rangers series in the past, with the best-known of those roles being the voice of Darkonda in Power Rangers in Space. His wife, Melora Harte, is a voice actress... |
unknown |
| Hotel Manager | Tamio Ōki Tamio Oki is a Japanese voice actor and narrator from Tokyo. He is currently attached to Mausu Promotion.-Television animation:*Appleseed *Astro Boy *Cat's Eye *El-Hazard is a Japanese voice actor and narrator from Tokyo. He is currently attached to Mausu Promotion.-Television animation:*Appleseed... |
David Povall David Povall David Povall is an American voice actor.- Live-action :*The Arrival - Additional voices*Counting Days - Reverend John Santos*The Ring - Girl's father-Anime:*The Castle of Cagliostro - Inspector Koichi Zenigata... |
Bill Richards |
| Soap Girl | Arisa Andou | Melora Harte Melora Harte Melora I. Harte is an American voice actress. In addition to voice acting in anime, she also adapted and directed several anime dubs... |
Lisa Robinson |
Production
Director Yoshiaki Kawajiri had just completed his work directing the very dark and gritty segment The Running Man from portmanteau anime Meikyu MonogatariNeo Tokyo (film)
, also titled Manie-Manie on its title card, is a 1987 anime science fiction anthology film produced by Project Team Argos and Madhouse. Conceived and produced by Madhouse founders Masao Maruyama and Rintarō, it adapts short stories by Taku Mayumura featured in the 1986 collection of the same...
(1987) and was asked to direct a 35 minute short on Hideyuki Kikuchis novel. Kawajiri completed the short and after Japan Home Video saw a screening of it, they wished him to make it feature length. The producers Kenji Kurata and Makoto Seya expressed their opinion that the director shouldn’t extend it unless he wanted to. Kawajiri was such a fan of the world, he saw it as an opportunity to explore more characterization and created more animation for the start, the middle and the end. The project was completed in under a year.
Design
The film is a sexual thriller in which sex is portrayed mainly as a weapon (sex with monsters, rape and torture), and only briefly used as a form of romantic expression, though in such a way as to not consider the film hentaiHentai
is a Japanese word that, in the West, is used when referring to sexually explicit or pornographic comics and animation, particularly those of Japanese origin such as anime, manga, and computer games. The word hentai is a kanji compound of 変 and 態...
. The film portrays demons as beings that can walk in human form and seduce their prey much like a Siren
Siren
In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous mermaid like creatures, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on an island called Sirenum scopuli...
, instilling castration anxiety
Castration anxiety
Castration anxiety is the fear of emasculation in both the literal and metaphorical sense.-Literal:Castration anxiety is the conscious or unconscious fear of losing all or part of the sex organs, or the function of such....
in the viewer through use of demons with vagina dentata
Vagina dentata
Vagina dentata is Latin for toothed vagina. Various cultures have folk tales about women with toothed vaginas, frequently told as cautionary tales warning of the dangers of sex with strange women and to discourage the act of rape....
.
The Wicked City
A Hong Kong live action adaptation of the film was made in 1992 financed by Golden Princess Film ProductionGolden Princess Film Production
Golden Princess Film Production is a Hong Kong production company and film distributor. It has produced several acclaimed films including The Killer, Peking Opera Blues and Full Contact.-External links:* at the IMDb...
Ltd. The film was directed by Tai Kit Mak, produced by Hark Tsui and starred Jacky Cheung
Jacky Cheung
Jacky Cheung is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor. The Chinese language media refers to him, Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings , with more than 60 million records sold as of 2000....
, Leon Lai
Leon Lai
Leon Lai is a Hong Kong-based actor and Cantopop singer. The media refer to Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings . He uses the stage name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming" which literally means "dawn."-Biography:...
, Yuen Woo-ping
Yuen Woo-ping
Yuen Woo-ping is a Chinese martial arts choreographer and film director, renowned as one of the most successful and influential figures in the world of Hong Kong action cinema. He is one of the inductees on the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong...
, Roy Cheung
Roy Cheung
Roy Cheung Yiu-Yeung is a Hong Kong-based actor, best known on-screen for his roles as Triad gangsters in a number of films.- Early life and career :As a child, Cheung idolized kung-fu legend Bruce Lee but never seriously considered a career in acting....
, and Michelle Reis
Michelle Reis
-Biography:Reis was born in Macau which was then a Portuguese colony. Reis is of mixed ancestry as her father is Portuguese and her mother is Chinese. So, she can be considered as a macanese. Reis attended Maryknoll Convent School, and matriculated from St. Paul's Secondary School.Reis started...
.
The story takes place in Hong Kong in a conflict between worlds of Humans and "Rapters". Special police in the city are investigating a mysterious drug named "happiness". Taki, one of the police, meets his old lover Windy, who is a rapter and now mistress of a powerful old rapter named Daishu. Taki and other special police track down and fight Daishu, but later find that he hopes to coexist with human. The son of Daishu, Shudo, is the mastermind. In the end Shudo is defeated, but Daishu and Taki's friends die too. Windy leaves alone.
Live action
The magazine "VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
" in April 2006 mentioned that there will be a live action Wicked City is in creation by a German production company called Stallion Film. Directed and co-produced by Mark A.Z. Dippé
Mark A.Z. Dippé
Mark A.Z. Dippé is an American film director and visual effects supervisor. He has directed numerous films from 1997 to now, starting with Spawn.He is co-founder of The Animation Picture Company.- External links :...
, (director of Spawn
Spawn (film)
Spawn is a 1997 American superhero film loosely based on the comic book of the same name, by Todd McFarlane and published by Image Comics. Directed and co-written by Mark A.Z. Dippé , the film stars Michael Jai White in the leading role...
: The Movie), he with the help of Johnny Hartmann will be doing this movie project. Its budget is between $50 to $60 million but no cast has been announced.
Influence
CanadianCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
creator Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane is a Canadian cartoonist, writer, toy designer and entrepreneur, best known for his work in comic books, such as the fantasy series Spawn....
has often cited many designs in his famed comic book Spawn
Spawn (comics)
Spawn is a fictional comic book superhero who appears in a monthly comic book of the same name published by Image Comics. Created by writer/artist Todd McFarlane, Spawn first appeared in Spawn #1...
have been inspired by the film.