Teito Monogatari #1

My summer 2026 was hijacked by this 80's movie and its original novel.  

I'm not sure what this title should be translated in English. Some call it "Doomed Megalopolis," and some call it "Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis." In direct translation, however, it should be "Imperial City (Teito:帝都） Saga（Monogatari:物語）" or ”Story of Imperial Capital.”

Ｉ first watched the film when I was young and innocent. I was completely blown away then by the lavishness of the costumes and casts. The featured actor, Shimada Kyusaku had a really unforgettable, impactful looks. So impressive in many ways that he might appear in your dream and assault you like Freddy Krueger, but in this case, the culprit would use his chin instead of claws. 

After 40 years, this summer I revisited the film, having been tired of the recent films with "safe" and uninpressive plots and boring visuals, or based on popular manga-the safest bets. I wanted to get some kick.

The film was still brilliant. The character designs, the film sets and the costumes were absolutely extraordinary and extravagant, an embodiment of the Japanese golden age. And the details were beautifully produced. I almost burst into tears when young Tamasaburo, now a living national treasure, performed a sequence of movements in which he almost fell, but caught himself, like choreography of Japanese traditional dance or Kabuki.

Meanwhile, the plot was hopelessly incoherent. While watching the film, I was filled with ??? For example (SPOILERS AHEAD):

• Why did Kato the demon wear military outfit, or sometimes snakeskin clothes?
• Why did Ishida Junichi play the leading role in such a solemn (in terms of the visual) film despite his then somewhat frivolous image？
• Does Koda Rohan look too stylish in comparison to his real looks? 
• What’s Narutaki's role in the story? He was just running around and attacked by Kato but recovered unbelievably quickly. 
• The story was about the city planning of Tokyo, but there seem to be no legislature...and so on. 

I asked these kinds of questions to Gemini, and the AI suggested, probably tired of answering me, that I should read the original text and that the follow-up film "Teito Taisen" was even more chaotic.  

to be continued...