WICKED CITY animation at FOMO Cinema Tbilisi

Yoshiaki Kawajiri | 1987 | Japan | 1h22m | Presented in the original Japanese audio with English subtitles

WICKED CITY is one of the landmark works of late 1980s adult animation, a film that helped define a darker, more nocturnal strain of anime at the point where horror, noir and urban fantasy began to bleed into each other. Set in a Tokyo where the human world coexists uneasily with a hidden demon realm, it follows a secret agent assigned to protect the signing of a fragile peace treaty. Kawajiri fills the screen with wet neon, shadowy interiors, grotesque metamorphoses and the sense that the city itself has become unstable. The film was based on Hideyuki Kikuchi’s novel and produced by Madhouse, with Kawajiri not only directing but also serving as character designer, storyboard artist, animation director and key animator.

The production history matters because WICKED CITY was not originally conceived at feature length. Kawajiri was first hired to direct a much shorter OVA adaptation, but once the producers saw the initial animation they expanded it into an 80-minute film. That shift gave him more room to shape the world and its moods, and you can feel the ambition in every frame. This was also his solo directorial debut, which makes the film even more important in retrospect. Before NINJA SCROLL and VAMPIRE HUNTER D, Kawajiri was already building the visual language that would become inseparable from his name: elaborate action choreography, adult fantasy, and cities that seem alive after dark in all the wrong ways. Even Hayao Miyazaki reportedly admired Kazuo Oga’s art direction enough to later bring Oga onto MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO.

WICKED CITY belongs to that moment when Japanese animation was proving how far it could stretch beyond family entertainment and television convention. It is messy, lurid, stylish and completely sure of its own tone. In the West, films like this became part of the gateway into a more adult idea of anime, and their influence on cult viewing culture was enormous. Kawajiri would go on to become one of the key names in that space, but WICKED CITY is where the template is already fully visible.

NOTE: WICKED CITY is also screening as the first half of Tuesday's Animation Film Double alongside GANDAHAR. Please click here for further details

FOOD AND DRINK POLICY: FOMO Cinema Lounge Bar opens 1 hour before the first screening of the day and closes at 02:00,.serving a wide selection of beer, wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic refreshments including coffee and tea, as well as fresh hot popcorn! Outside food is allowed in the bar but not in the cinema. No alcohol from outside allowed. All guests are invited to arrive early and stay late!

LOCATION: FOMO Secret Cinema, Bazari Orbeliani, Tbilisi. A five minute walk from Liberty Square metro.

HOW TO FIND FOMO: Enter Bazari Orbeliani via Atoneli St above Carrefour and take the stairs on your left to Level 1. Signage on the door. You can also check our Instagram story highlights for a video showing exactly how to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17933106294029235/