“Well, I’d hoped that hospital had some sexy nurses or something, but … they were all gross men. Total sausage fest. It was suffocating.” Wait. He suffocated on sausage? Join your faithful Grue-Crew – Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, Crystal Cleveland, and Jeff Mohr – as they take a trip to unknown lands and their second anime, and wind up in Wicked City (1987).
Decades of Horror 1980s
Episode 230 – Wicked City (1987)
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While protecting a signatory to a peace treaty between their peoples, a male human and a female demon discover that their mutual attraction may be the key to unifying their worlds.
Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri Writers: Hideyuki Kikuchi, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Norio Osada Art Direction: Kazuo Oga Selected Cast: Yûsaku Yara as Renzaburo Taki (voice) Toshiko Fujita as Makie (voice) Ichirô Nagai as Giuseppe Mayart (voice) Takeshi Aono as Shadow (voice) Mari Yokô as Kanako / Spider Woman (voice) Tamio Ôki as Hotelier (voice) Kôji Totani as Jin (voice) Yasuo Muramatsu as President (voice) Kazuhiko Kishino as Healer (voice) Arisa Andô as Prostitute (voice) Asami Mukaidono as Temptress (voice) Ikuya Sawaki as Ken (voice) Masato Hirano as Monk (voice) Gregory Snegoff as Taki (USA dub) (voice) (as Greg Snegoff) Mike Reynolds as Mayart (USA dub) (voice) Gaye Kruger as Makie (USA dub) (voice) Edie Mirman as Kanako (USA dub) (voice) Jeff Winkless as Shadow (USA dub) (voice) David Povall as Hodgkins (USA dub) (voice) Alexandra Kenworthy as Secretary (USA dub) (voice) Eleni Kelakos as Temptress (USA dub) (voice) (as Eleni Kalakos) Robert V. Barron as President (USA dub) (voice) Steve Kramer as Male Coworker (USA dub) (voice) Jason Klassi as Ken (USA dub) (voice) Melora Harte as Female Coworker (USA dub) (voice) Frank Catalano as PA (USA dub) (voice)
And now for something completely different. Who’s up for some classic dark fantasy action horror anime? Shall we travel along with the Grue-Crew to Wicked City (1987)? The film is based on the first novel of Hideyuki Kikuchi’s “Wicked City” series titled Wicked City: Black Guard (1985). It is also the solo directorial debut of Yoshiaki Kawajiri who is also responsible for Demon City Shinjuku (1988), Ninja Scroll (1993), and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000) among others. Wicked City has it all: supernatural demons, secret agents, tentacled monsters, and . . . well, you’ll figure it out. And then check out what the Decades of Horror 1980s Grue-Crew think of this out-there anime. Enjoy!
At the time of this writing, Wicked City is available to stream from Tubi, Pluto TV, HiDive, and Retrocrush. The film is also available as a Blu-ray disc from Discotek Media.
Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Crystal, will be Frankenstein Island (1981). Yes. She went there, and soon, the rest of the Grue Crew will be going there as well, for better or for worse.
Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans – so leave them a message or comment on the Gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the Gruesome Magazine website, or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com.
