Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis

Unknown Epic...the Japanese Excalibur
Before I begin, I just want to acknowledge that this is a VERY confusing movie and difficult to recommend to average English viewers. It's based on an extremely long and complicated novel released only in Japan known as "Teito Monogatari" ("Tale of the Imperial Capital") by Hiroshi Aramata. The original novel is basically a huge retelling of the history of Tokyo from the turn of the century all the way up to the next millennium, but done from an occultist viewpoint. It was notable for being a pioneer of the "fantasy occult boom" that dominated Japanese pop culture in the late 80's and early 90's and was hugely influential (see the ONMYOJI films, which were based on books written in the wake of this novel's popularity).

The novel is composed of 12 volumes each around 250--500 pages in length. But that's not all. There is an unofficial 13th volume which serves as a side story (and was also made into a movie). Is that it? No. There are also prequel, several spin-off works...

Almost like live-action anime
Having taught the language, I found it difficult to describe some Japanese concepts to students without visual aids. This was one of my favorite ...um.. teaching tools... yeah. Oh, and if you like japanese animation, you'll probably love this.

BISON!!!
Okay, so I'm not gonna lie. The main reason I watched this movie is because the main bad guy, Yasunori Kato, was the inspiration for Bison from the Street Fighter games. Street Fighter of course being the single greatest video game series of all time(don't deny it). If you want to hold that against me, feel free to do so. But I gotta say, Bison's inspiration is one bad dude. He's the kind of villain you really love to hate. It's no surprise that he's inspired so many other bad guys that came after him.

In fact, I'd say that Kato's presence is the driving force behind this film. To be honest, the scenes that didn't have him didn't interest me that much. I'm not entirely sure why. This movie has all the things I love. Sorcery, demon possession, evil spirits, etc. All good stuff. Plus, the special effects are deliciously old-school. Some people might think they seem fake by today's standards, but I love them. But somehow, I feel like something was missing to make...

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