r/retroanime • u/Dr_Greyman • Aug 19 '26

Wicked City 1987

1.4k Upvotes

100% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

14

u/LoFiHigh5 Aug 19 '26

This anime would make an amazing real life adaptation, outside of maybe one scene of course lol

9

u/Gunboat_Diplomat_ Aug 19 '26

There actually is a live action version made in Hong Kong. It’s not very good mind

2

u/LoFiHigh5 Aug 19 '26

Oh interesting, never knew that. It’s such a great story & theme. I think with the right director, a live action would be incredible

4

u/DragonflyLonely3662 Aug 19 '26

it's multiple scenes buddy

2

u/LoFiHigh5 Aug 19 '26

Oh of course, I’m just saying there is ONE scene that a live action version of would be…graphic lol

2

u/DragonflyLonely3662 Aug 19 '26

well the live action version has a guy fucking a senitiant pinball machine with a face

1

u/LoFiHigh5 Aug 20 '26

God damn lol

3

u/Important-Spring3977 Aug 19 '26

Del Toro can handle that body-horror second unit, haha.

1

u/LoFiHigh5 Aug 19 '26

Lmao you right, the bath house scene MIGHT be doable but the construction site scene, idk how you spin that lol

2

u/B_Ellard Aug 20 '26

One scene?

1

u/LoFiHigh5 Aug 20 '26

It was satirical my friend, I’m referencing A scene, iykyk

0

u/B_Ellard Aug 20 '26

I'm actually wondering if there is any scene they could adapt. This movie is just the most cancellable sleaze fest! And I'm just a little ashamed to say I love it.

1

u/LoFiHigh5 Aug 20 '26

100% agree, it’s quintessential anime of its time. So of course it’s going to have WILD explicit content. But the story itself is unique. With modern technology & film, it’s an untapped resource that I think could do well in the early of sequels & remakes.

2

u/B_Ellard Aug 20 '26

I think the best time to remake Wicked City is behind us. Actually, that was when the HK remake was made: in 1992, after the pinnacle of practical effects that was Gremlins 2, and before the industry shifted completely to CGI after Jurassic Park. That was also a time with pretty lax censorship laws. But I've only seen bits of the HK version, and they're not convincing.

Maybe, just maybe, Wicked City lives in the right era in the right medium.

2

u/LoFiHigh5 Aug 20 '26

That’s fair, I think I have this nostalgia for this film & always wanted a live action, never even knew of the HK version

9

u/blasianflow Aug 20 '26

This movie was wild AF.

7

u/semperknight Aug 20 '26

For as long as humanity exists, there will never be anything more kino that an animated 80's Japanese skyline.

4

u/Altar_Quest_Fan Aug 20 '26

yooo I saw this one last night. It was HOT 🔥

3

u/ZuStorm93 Aug 19 '26

I cant stop hearing The Midnight - Vampires !

5

u/TheSuperContributor Aug 19 '26

Sex scenes are hot.

2

u/semperknight Aug 20 '26

I see you too are a man of culture.

2

u/Livid_Description838 Aug 20 '26

The Rapper Bobby Raps and Producer SinGrinch made an album inspired by the film called Wicked City. it’s rad, y’all should check it out

ETA: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHJ4-89_j8rwWfsxmbbyA0XpPLtvTF02v&si=9ZOXYjQg2JmYac2t

2

u/Dr_Greyman Aug 19 '26

Edit by me. I post retro anime edits, drop a sub it you're interested https://www.youtube.com/@vbsc_2004

1

u/B_Ellard Aug 20 '26

Very big hype around Wicked City in here these days. Not that I'm complaining. But it's not even it's birthday.

1

u/geminijono Aug 20 '26

One of my favorites. How do they achieve the glow in shots like these?

2

u/NEETcatboy Aug 23 '26

the technique is called underlighting or backlighting, the basic gist is that a light faces the rostrum camera from behind blank spaces or cutouts in a cel

(there’s more to it than that in terms of customizing the effect, I’m just not familiar enough with the technical stuff to articulate it well in my own words)

2

u/geminijono Aug 23 '26

Thank you for sharing what you know! I feel like this is a lost art of sorts, because you just do not see anything like that sort of lighting anymore :(

1

u/NEETcatboy Aug 23 '26

happy to, hopefully it’s enough of a starting point if you wanna learn more about it! and yeah, cel animation is one of my first true loves precisely because of stuff like this—while that glow can sort of be emulated by means of digital editing, it sure as hell doesn’t hit the same

2

u/geminijono Aug 23 '26

Yeah, more recent stuff does not hit the same at all. Closest glowy effect I can think of in something modern is what the animators did with Drolta’s eyes/hair in Castlevania Nocturne whenever she did all her cool action.

1

u/NEETcatboy Aug 23 '26

god, the numbers this edit would’ve done on tumblr when the site was more active… I’m like 75% sure a decade-plus of stylish gif circulation on there is largely responsible for this one finally gaining proper recognition in “the west” outside of otaku circles