Wicked City (1987): trivia & fun facts

Fun facts

• Yoshiaki Kawajiri had just completed his work directing The Running Man, a segment from the portmanteau film Neo-Tokyo (1987), and was asked to direct a 35-minute OVA short film based on Hideyuki Kikuchi's novel.
• He noted that Yoshiaki Kawajiri composes scenes like a live-action filmmaker, and complimented his deft cutting and camera angles, but felt that the "Saturday-morning style animation" and juvenile story did not warrant the effort.
• Hayao Miyazaki was reportedly so impressed by Kazuo Oga's art direction that he hired Oga for My Neighbor Totoro (1988).
• Based on Black Guard, the first novel of the Wicked City series by Hideyuki Kikuchi, the film is the solo directorial debut of Yoshiaki Kawajiri, who also served as the character designer, storyboard artist, animation director and a key animator.
• Writing under the pseudonym "Kisei Chō", Norio Osada's original draft of the screenplay began with Makie's saving of Taki from two demons at Narita, and ended with Taki's first battle with Mr. Shadow and rescue of Makie.
• After Japan Home Video were shown the first 15 minutes of completed animation, they were impressed enough with Kawajiri's work that the runtime was extended to 80 minutes.
• Literary critic Susan J. Napier describes the film in her book, Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke, as having similar depictions of the female body as its contemporaries: objects to be "viewed, violated, tortured" while also being "awesomely powerful, almost unstoppable".

Source: Wikipedia

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