Shin Megami Tensei may have spawned the more "bubbly" Persona spinoffs, but the main titles are many times incredibly dark and apocalyptic tales. This scope and tone was once quite popular in Japanese anime and manga, especially when it came to high-budget, experimental OVAs. In fact, one ultra-violent action anime fit the world of Shin Megami Tensei to a T.
Demon City Shinjuku is an infamous late '80s OVA that revels in its demonic displays of death and dismemberment. Featuring a modern Japan besieged by demons amid a cyberpunk aesthetic, the movie was the best adaptation of Shin Megami Tensei, despite being completely unrelated. Here's how the gnarly anime classic is similar to the Atlus video game franchise.
Demon City Shinjuku Was the Ultimate Violent '80s OVA
Based on a 1982 novel by Hideyuki Kikuchi, Demon City Shinjuku involves a version of Japan and later the world that is ravaged by demons being summoned to Earth, brought forth by the evil Rebi Ra. Shinjuku would be contained in the aftermath of the "Devil's Shake" that summoned the monsters, though life is certainly much harder with humanity beset by their new demonic attackers. A youth named Kyoya, the son of Rebi Ra's rival Genichirou, is forced to call upon his own latent power to carve his way into the heart of Shinjuku in order to stave off a complete demon takeover.
The OVA is very much a product of its time, featuring tons of gory violence and a storyline in which Japan's government has essentially conquered the world. It's also hauntingly beautiful, with its animation quality still holding up today. This makes sense, as it was directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, who was also behind Ninja Scroll and an adaptation of Vampire Hunter D. With its gritty themes and apocalyptic nature, it not only fit in well with other OVAs of the era but also foreshadowed the popularity of the Megami Tensei games.
Shin Megami Tensei and Demon City Shinjuku Are Incredibly Similar
The storyline of the Shin Megami Tensei games likewise involves hordes of demons and apocalyptic settings, starting with the second entry, Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II. This widely-acclaimed game came out in 1995, several years after the 1988 Demon City Shinjuku OVA. Even though the first Megami Tensei was itself a novel adaptation, the second game and those afterward are where the similarities to Demon City Shinjuku's Biblical levels of destruction really ramp up. These newer games would focus on the paradigm of Chaos and Order, with players choosing whether to serve God or Lucifer, or else allow mankind to forge its own path.
There was an OVA based on the first Megami Tensei, although this meant that the similarities to Demon City Shinjuku weren't as apparent. However, they do both share the vaguely cyberpunk color palette of violent OVAs in the '80s, further cementing a similar tone and creative DNA between the two franchises. Such a color palette would be emphasized further in SMT spinoffs like Devil Survivor and Soul Hackers, the former of which involves the demonic takeover of Japan as a sort of conspiracy.
Demon City Shinjuku would become most well-known from footage being shown in the film Johnny Mnemonic, a cyberpunk story starring Keanu Reeves. This was something of a full-circle effect, with cyberpunk and anime having become increasingly linked. Such connections extend to video games, as seen in how much the OVA seemed to also inspire the franchise that would birth Persona. Shin Megami Tensei still lacks a new OVA in the modern era that captures the themes and settings of the newer games, but anime fans can check out the old-school Demon City Shinjuku on Crackle or Pluto TV to see how such a project might look.