Wicked City (1987 film)
| Wicked City | |
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| Directed by | Yoshiaki Kawajiri |
| Produced by | Kousuke Kuri Yoshio Masumizu |
| Screenplay by | Kisei Choo |
| Based on |
Wicked City: Black Guard by Hideyuki Kikuchi |
| Starring |
Yūsaku Yara Toshiko Fujita Ichirō Nagai Takeshi Aono |
| Music by | Osamu Shooji |
| Cinematography | Kinichi Ishikawa |
| Edited by | Harutoshi Ogata |
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| Distributed by | Japan Home Video |
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Release date
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Running time
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82 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Wicked City (妖獣都市 Yōjū Toshi?) is a 1987 Japanese OVA neo-noir horror film 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 existence of the "Black World" - an alternate dimension populated by supernatural demons - is known to very few humans. For centuries, a pact between the Black World and the world of humans has been observed to maintain peace, and terms must be negotiated and renewed every few hundred years to continue relative harmony. A militant faction of radicals from the Black World stops at nothing to initiate chaos between the two worlds. Their chief enemies are the Black Guard, an organization designed to protect the relations of both worlds in secret.
Renzaburō Taki, a salaryman electrical goods salesman by day, and a Black Guard agent when needed, has casual sex with Kanako, a young woman who he has been meeting at a local bar for several months. Kanako reveals herself to be a doppelgänger from the Black World Radicals and attempts to kill Taki, but he resists her attempt and she escapes. The next day, Taki is assigned to protect Giuseppi Mayart, a two-hundred-year-old man with fantastic spiritual powers. Mayart is to be a signatory for the ratified peace treaty between the Human World and the Black World in Tokyo, and a major target for the Radicals. Taki is also informed that he will be working with a partner from the Black World.
While awaiting Mayart's arrival at Narita, Taki is attacked by two Radicals, but is saved by his partner - a beautiful fashion model named Makie. After another skirmish, Taki and Makie eventually meet Mayart, who quickly reveals his perverse behaviour to them. The trio take shelter in a Hibiya hotel with spiritual barriers to protect it from Radicals. While playing chess to pass time, the hotelier explains to Taki, who is unsure of his responsibilities within the Black Guard, that he will only value his position once he knows what he is protecting. During a skirmish with a Radical, Mayart sneaks out after a skirmish at the hotel.
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