Doomed Megalopolis

Doomed Megalopolis
The cover of ADV's DVD release of Doomed Megalopolis.
帝都物語 (Teitō Monogatari)
Genre	Historical, Horror
Original video animation
Directed by	Rintaro
Studio	Madhouse
Released	September 27, 1991 – August 14, 1992
Episodes	4

Doomed Megalopolis (帝都物語, Teitō Monogatari) is an anime rendition of the Japanese historical fantasy epic Teito Monogatari (Hiroshi Aramata). Like its live-action predecessor, Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis, the anime is only an adaptation of the first 1/3rd (first four books) of the original novel. It was released by Toei in 1991 as a 4-part OVA. In 1999, ADV Films gained the rights to the anime and released it on a four-volume cassette series in the US, under the title Doomed Megalopolis. In 2001, ADV re-released the entire series on a 2-Disc DVD edition. However, the release contained Streamline's dubbed releases and did not have an optional Japanese soundtrack or any special features. As such, ADV gathered the rights to the original Japanese voices, and in 2003, re-released an enhanced version entitled Doomed Megalopolis: Special Edition, wherein the Japanese language option was available and bonus features, such as interviews and documentaries were added. In the context of the cinematic adaptations, the anime could be considered a remake of its live-action predecessor, Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis, since it covers exactly the same plot.

Plot

The plot concerns a spiritual battle within Tokyo during the early 20th century.

Episode 1: "The Haunting of Tokyo"

The story begins in contemporary Tokyo, with a voice over narrative concerning the state of the expanding city. The narrator tells the tale of how Taira no Masakado went against the Emperor and was executed for his crimes. However, his hatred for the new capital of Edo has left a curse that persists in the city to this day.

The setting moves backward to 1908. Two figures appear in Tokyo at exactly the same time. One is Yasumasa Hirai, an Onmyoji of the Tsuchimikado Family who has come to give advice to Baron Eiichi Shibusawa as to how to make Tokyo the most blessed and successful city in the East. The other figure is Yasunori Kato, an evil Onmyoji who wishes to destroy Tokyo completely to appease his ancestors, the indigenous tribes of Japan who fought against the Imperial court in ancient times. Kato plans to do this by awakening the raging spirit of Taira no Masakado as a weapon to demolish the city. To do this, he kidnaps a young girl (Yukari Tatsumiya), who is blessed with psychic powers, to use as a medium for Masakado's spirit. Hirai discovers this and attempts to stop Kato and save Yukari with his own magic. The episode climaxes with Hirai taking the battle to the Tsuchimikado Family temple, where he while his followers protect Yukari with their own magics while Yukari's friends fight Kato's shikigami outside the temple. However, despite the collaboration of all these individuals against the dark Onmyoji, Kato still manages to overwhelm Hirai. With Hirai defeated, Kato escapes with Yukari.

Episode 2: "The Fall of Tokyo"

Kato attempts to employ Yukari's body as a medium to awaken Masakado's spirit. However, Masakado rejects the offer, and Kato is once again at a loss. However, as he views into Yukari's body, he realizes that his magic has impregnated her with what he believes to be his child. He leaves, planning to return when the child is of suitable age to use as another medium for Maskado's spirit. Hirai's followers find Yukari and deliver her back to her brother's home. Yukari's brother, Yoichiro Tatsumiya, is left with such mixed emotions for Yukari, that he unfortunately expresses his love for her through a blatant act of incest. Tragedy strikes the nation as the Emperor Meiji passes away thus ending the Meiji period. In accordance with this transition, Hirai sacrifices himself to perform one final act of divination which foretells the year of Tokyo's destruction—the year of the boar. The story then moves ten years forward to 1923 where Yukari's daughter, Yukiko Tatsumiya, is now a young girl. Kato decides to kidnap the girl. However a myriad of defenses are ready for his coming. Upon crossing Nihonbashi Bridge, he is attacked by spiritual guardians set as traps by the Tsuchimikado Clan. After neutralizing them, Kato must escape from a Kimon Tonkou spell trap set by Hirai's follower and Koda Rohan. Despite all this resistance, he still successfully makes his way to Masakado's grave and manages to invoke the tyrant's spirit through the body of Yukiko. Masakado reacts violently by summoning a lightning bolt down upon Kato. However the spiritual energy released from this encounter has temporarily awoken the Underground Dragon, whose violent undulations result in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, wherein most of Tokyo is decimated and many innocent lives are lost.

Episode 3: "The Gods of Tokyo"

The plot now shifts to the mid-1920s. While rebuilding Tokyo, plans are put forth by Noritsugu Hayakawa to erect a subway system which will modernize the city. Hayakawa employs the talents of Torahiko Terada, a physicist and scientist in the field of Earthquake Studies, to oversee construction. Kato infiltrates the construction sites for the subway tunnel, and employs shikigami and spiritual apparitions to hold the workers at bay while he focuses on a second awakening of the Underground Dragon. Shibusawa calls in a Feng Shui expert (Shigemaru Kuroda), who pinpoints the source of these disturbances to foreign magic that is undermining the balance of the earth's spiritual energy veins. Since the construction workers are too frightened to continue their work, Terada decides that different action must be taken to complete the excavation. He enlists the help of Gakutensoku to use his robot Gakutensoku to finish the excavation. Terada reasons that since Gakutensoku is inhuman, he can't be tricked by psychic apparitions that would terrify normal men. Meanwhile, a beautiful young shrine maiden by the name of Keiko Mekata, has been summoned by Masakado's spirit to fight Kato. While praying at Masakado's shrine one day, she catches the eye of Yoichiro Tatsumiya, who falls in love with her. The two marry, and Keiko is initiated into the Tatsumiya household. As a member of the Tatsumiya household, Keiko can provide spiritual protection for the family from the inside. Kato, still unable to rouse the Underground Dragon through his own magics, decides to kidnap Yukiko and use her as a sacrifice. After a battle at the Tatsumiya household, Kato escapes with Yukiko and Keiko pursues him underground. While contending with Keiko, Kato is distracted and doesn't notice the efforts of Gakutensoku, who arrives at the "heart" of the Underground Dragon and self-destructs. This throws the spiritual energy veins into disarray, releasing Yukiko and foiling Kato's plan. Finally, Keiko uses Masakado's power to banish Kato.

Episode 4: "The Battle for Tokyo"

Wounded by Keiko, Kato has retreated to a small, desecrated temple on the outskirts of Tokyo. The dark onmyoji employs all his powers to shift the path of the moon so that the force of its gravity will destroy Tokyo. Keiko receives spiritual aid from Kuroda and Masakado's spirit and sets off to destroy Kato once and for all. Instead of fighting him however, she sacrifices herself by transforming into the bodhisattva Kwannon, appeasing the curse that had been fueling Kato for so long. The anime ends in 1927 with Japan's first underground railroad system being opened and a quote by Koda Rohan, who hopes Tokyo will find peace for the time being.

Voice cast

Character	Japanese version	English version
Junichi Narutaki	Kōichi Yamadera	Cam Clarke
Yasunori Katō	Kyūsaku Shimada	Jeff Winkless
Yasumasa Hirai	Goro Naya	Mike Reynolds
Makoto Nishimura	Kan Tokumaru	Clifton Wells
Yoichiro Tatsumiya	Kaneto Shiozawa	Kerrigan Mahan
Yukari Tatsumiya	Keiko Han	Joan-Carol O'Connell
Kamo	Ken Yamaguchi	Kirk Thornton
Kuroda Shigemaru	Kenichi Ogata	Steve Kramer
Amano Junkichi	Kōichi Kitamura	Ed Mannix
Torahiko Terada	Naoki Tatsuta	Steve Bulen
Eiichi Shibusawa	Osamu Saka	Michael Forest
Noritsugu Hayakawa	Takaya Hashi	Michael McConnohie
Keiko Tatsumiya	Yōko Asagami	Barbara Goodson
Koda Rohan	Yūsaku Yara	Sam Fontana

Streamline English Dubbed Edition

The English North American version distributed by Streamline Entertainment and produced by Carl Macek. In order to simplify the story for a Western audience, many changes were made to the dialogue, such as the deletion of Japanese-specific cultural references. Some examples include:

• The word oni was changed to devil.
• The word priest was substituted for onmyoji.
• Shikigami were referred to as "spirit cards".
• The dialogue of Yasumasa Hirai's letter to Koda Rohan in Episode 2 is quite changed from its original version. References to Nanda, En no Gyōja, Abe no Seimei, Mt. Koya, Kūkai, Tsuchimikado Family, Ryujin Village, and Shugendo were deleted in favor of a simpler variation of Kato's origin.
• Kannon is never mentioned by name and only referred to as "The Goddess of Mercy".

Distribution

As of 2010, the production is currently owned by Bandai and is available for streaming on their website.

Differences from Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis

The main director of the anime, Rintaro claimed to have been helplessly inspired by both of the previous live-action adaptations of Teito Monogatari (Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis and Tokyo: The Last War) while he was directing Doomed Megalopolis. He admitted that there are stylistic similarities between the adaptations. Despite some aesthetic similarities, the plot of Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis and Doomed Megalopolis differ significantly in many areas. Below is a partial list of major changes from the plot of the live-action adaptation:

• Yoichiro Tatsumiya is given a completely different, and arguably more respectable, treatment in the live-action version. In the live-action version, Yoichiro is not apathetic towards his sister’s (Yukari Tatsumiya) plight; he makes several attempts to participate in both the defense of her and the city of Tokyo. In the live-action version, he engages in the first spiritual battle between Kato and the Tsuchimikado Clan instead of excusing himself to work. He is also responsible for the erection of the statue guardians at Nihonbashi Bridge, an important obstacle in Kato’s progress toward Masakado’s grave site. Finally he does not attempt to murder his sister at the climax of the film. Instead he valiantly goes to Masakado’s grave site by himself to use his blood to appease the anger of the raging spirit. He also is not shown to actively rape his sister, although later on in the film it is implied that they did copulate to produce Yukiko Tatsumiya.

• In the anime, Yasumasa Hirai explains that Kato wants to use Yukari Tatsumiya as a vessel for Masakado’s spirit because she possesses an “powerful spiritual energy”. In the live-action version, Kato wants to use Yukari Tatsumiya as a medium because she and Yoichiro are direct descendents of Masakado’s family and share the closest blood ties with the dead warlord.

• The character of Kamo (head of the Tokyo branch of the Tsuchimikado Family) is not present in the live-action version. Instead Koda Rohan is responsible for all his activities. Likewise, nobody dies during the skirmish with Kato at the site of Masakado’s grave—both Junichi Narutaki and Koda Rohan survive.

• In Doomed Megalopolis, the reason Kato goes into a ten year seclusion after failing to use Yukari as a medium for Masakado’s spirit is because he hopes to use her daughter, Yukiko as a medium in her place when she is older. In the live-action film, Kato has been planning the Great Kanto Earthquake with the White Lotus society in Dalian, China for ten years by amplifying the reverberations of artificial earthquakes created in Dalian. Yukiko is not involved in any way in this operation. Likewise Kato escapes from the Kimon Tonkou spell by himself.

• The role of Junichi Narutaki is shortened in the live-action version. After the battle with Kato at Masakado’s mound, he only has one more scene where he exchanges a brief greeting with Yoichiro Tatsumiya and then disappears for the rest of the film. The character is used again in the side story film Teito Monogatari Gaiden.

• In the live-action version, there is only one battle between Keiko Tatsumiya and Kato, and these parallel the events of the third episode of the anime with some differences. The end result of Keiko's sacrifice is also left unclear. Likewise, Kato is clearly still alive at the end of the live-action version.

Differences from the original novel

Due to time constraints of the animated adaptation and difference in audience, Doomed Megalopolis takes many deviations from the source material. In general, the content of the animated adaptation is much more graphic, obscene and simplified from the original novel. Some areas where the original novel differ include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the original novel, Kato is more human in his portrayal and has several personal interactions with the main characters. At the beginning of the book, he converses with Yoichiro Tatsumiya and slowly gains the trust of him and his family. In the anime, Kato isn't even identified by name until the middle of the first episode and he never interacts with any of the main characters outside of frightening them with spiritual apparitions or threatening them.

• In the original book, Kato takes Yukari out on a date into town to see a kabuki play. After the show, Kato feeds her a candy which is actually a Fukuchu-Mushi (Inside Belly Worm) egg.

• There is no magical skirmish between Yasumasa Hirai and Kato by the riverside in the original book. Koda Rohan finds Yukari wandering around in a trance near the river bank and takes her to get help.

• The Fukuchu-Mushi itself is not an enormous worm with a phallic shaped head as portrayed in the anime. Rather it is merely an orange shapeless mass about the size of a rat. Yukari regurgitates it during a trance state and it immediately escapes into the reeds along the riverbank.

• Ogai Mori has a more active role in the book.

• In the book, Kato sponsors Karl Haushofer into a Chinese secret society working to free China and Korea from Japanese control. Kato is also actively involved with underground Chinese and Korean organizations. None of these plot points are ever touched upon in the animated adaptation.

• When Kato approaches Masakado's grave during the Year of the Boar, he is confronted only by Koda Rohan and Narutaki. The character of Kamo is not present and thus, nobody dies in the encounter at Masakado's grave.

• The anime concludes its story in 1927 at the end of the fourth book in the novel. However the story of the original novel continues for eight more books from 1927 all the way to the end of the 20th century. Likewise the climax of the fourth book is slightly more open-ended.