Tokyo Babylon (1992) (V)

Director:

Kôichi Chigira

Writers:

Clamp (comic series)
Hiroaki Jinno (episode)

Genre:

Animation | Drama | Fantasy | Horror

Plot:

Subaru Sumeragi, a young Onmyouji sorcerer, investigates a series of unusual murders with the aid of his twin sister and fellow Onmyouji Seishirô. |

Plot Keywords:

Sorcerer | Manga | Anime | Tokyo Japan

Cast

Kappei Yamaguchi	...	Subaru Sumeragi
Takehito Koyasu	...	Seishirô Sakurazuka (voice)
Miki Itô	...	Hokuto Sumeragi
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jenny Baker	...	Hokuto Sumeragi (voice: English version)
Sean Barrett	...	Insp. Kono (voice: English version)
Ben Fairman	...	Subaru Sumeragi (voice: English version)
Dean Fenton	...	Seishirô Sakurazuka (voice: English version)
Garrick Hagon	...	Nagumo (voice: English version)
Claire Harper	...	Kazami (voice: English version)
Vernon Miller	...	Yamagana (voice: English version)
Shirley Richardson	...	Mirei (voice: English version)
Hiromi Tsuru	...	Asou Kazami
Kôichi Yamadera	...	Yamagawa

Runtime:

USA:113 min (2 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:18

Company:

Mad House

Trivia:

The first animated appearances of Subaru Sumeragi, Hokuto Sumeragi, and Seishirou Sakurazuka. The characters would go on to play major roles in the 'X' movie and television series and make guest appearances in the 'CLAMP in Wonderland' video clip and 'Tsubasa Chronicle' television series.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Seishirô Sakurazuka: Come on home. We'll treat Subaru to a magnificent breakfast.
Subaru Sumeragi: Eehh?
Seishirô Sakurazuka: Sei-chan, let's make it a great breakfast! We can have miso soup with tofu, natto, and seaweed!
Seishirô Sakurazuka: Alright.
Subaru Sumeragi: Come on, Subaru!
Seishirô Sakurazuka: Hurry up!
Subaru Sumeragi: Okay!
[for the first time in a long time, Subaru has smile on his face]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Tsubasa: Toukyou Bakuro (2007) (V)

Enjoyable all round, if not completely breathtaking.

Adapted from CLAMP's popular debut manga, this is mainly aimed at fans of said manga. As such, it holds little interest for people who aren't familiar with the manga. To them, this will probably seem like a nicely stylised sort of LSD-induced X-files episode. If that sounds like your kind of thing, then give this a try, as it's a really rather nice video. But keep in mind that the second video (with the killer in the subway) is far superior and a better buy overall.

The story revolves around a building project where several mysterious deaths have occurred. Subaru is called in to have a look, and eventually meets a young woman out for revenge on the man she believes to have murdered her brother. However, the man in question seems to be able to avert any disaster that may be drawn to him, and abuses of this ability, making him a very dangerous force indeed. Subaru and Seishiro eventually have to face off with the human disaster repellent atop the nearly-finished building.

What we have here is mostly typical Tokyo Babylon fare; Subaru apologises a lot and Hokuto shouts at him. Only Seishiro is different from the Seishiro we know from the manga. His "dark side" is never explored, and instead of rampantly flirting with Subaru, he shows more inclination towards Hokuto in the videos. No doubt many fans will feel the video version of Seishiro is rather...wrong (a large part of Tokyo Babylon -is- a homosexual love story, learn to live with it). Instead of a proper adaption of the manga, these videos seem more like extra filler episodes to go alongside the manga.

Nevertheless, it's good fun, with pretty character designs and backdrops (even though the overall animation quality isn't really breathtaking), a well-paced and interesting story, and some cool psychic fighting at the end, backed by a very good music score. The appeal of this video will only be very limited for those who haven't read the manga, and they'll also miss out on a lot of the finer points of the story. But even for them, this can still be quite enjoyable as a little something different, or as a way to sample some CLAMP-style artwork. Give it a go, and you might find yourself growing very fond of this elegant little psychic romp.