“Demon City” (2025) is a relentless revenge thriller set in the crime-ridden streets of Shinjo City. The story follows Sakata, a seasoned hitman on the verge of retirement, whose world is shattered when his family is brutally attacked by the ruthless Kimen-gumi syndicate. His wife is murdered, and his young daughter, Ryo, is taken from him. Believing Sakata to be dead, the Kimen-gumi overlook the fact that he has survived—though left in a vegetative state.
Even in his weakened condition, the syndicate refuses to take chances, sending assassins to finish the job. But when Sakata sees his would-be killers, something inside him ignites. Strength surges back into his body, and with vengeance as his only purpose, he scours every corner of Shinjo City, determined to hunt down the leader of Kimen-gumi and make them pay.
This article contains spoilers.
Demon City (2025) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The film opens with Sakata sharpening his weapon while listening to the local news. Elsewhere, Yakuza men report to their boss that a new group is going to take over the city of Shinjo. The Yakuza boss is irritated by the incompetence of his men, and he slashes the goon’s face, leaving a scar. Outside, Sakata is killing the Yakuza men one after the other. Soon, the goons inside realize what is happening and try to take the Yakuza boss to safety. Single-handed Sakata kills the goons. One of the goons fights Sakata alone, so Sakata chops the man’s fist. Only one thing is left to do, and that is to kill the Yakuza boss. Sakata finds the boss in the bedroom, and kills him.
Sakata is a hitman, and he works for a man named Fujita. After taking the payment, Fujita tries to ask Sakata not to retire, but Sakata wants to spend time with his family, leaving the hitman job. At home, Sakata’s wife, Aoi, and daughter, Ryo, wait for him. It has been a long day, so Sakata takes a shower while the family waits for dinner.
Suddenly, there is chaos in the living room, and Sakata rushes in to find a few men in devilish masks. The men are ruthless and call Sakata a demon. However, these men, known as Kimen-gumi, thank Sakata for taking down the Yakuza and then they kill Aoi. Now, Sakata asks these men to spare Ryo. The men don’t care and shoot at Ryo, who tries to escape. After that Kimen-gumi shoot Sakata.
How does Sakata regain strength?
Twelve years after the incident, Sakata has survived the attack but has now become a vegetable. Once Sakata is released from the medical prison, Fujita arrives to receive Sakata. In a decade, Shinjo City has become poorer as the old lanes are filled with people who are struggling to live. In this area, Fujita has arranged a place for Sakata and a caregiver as he is unable to function on his own. Elsewhere, Mayor Sunohara says that Shinjo City has progressed quite a lot in the last decade. Furthermore, Sunohara has decided to open an integrated resort, Mohoroba, with a theatre, shopping, and casino. One of the journalists, Kamiyama, begs to differ as he has proof that many people have gone missing and killed in the last decade. Hearing this, Sunohara is angry and cuts off Kamiyama from saying anything further.
Meanwhile, Sakata has a routine life when a goon attacks Sakata with a knife. However, Sakata cannot feel anything in his limbs. Immediately, Sakata is moved to a hospital. At the hospital, a senior detective arrives to meet Sakata. It turns out the detective is a member of Kimen-gumi and has come to kill Sakata. Suddenly, Sakata’s limbs start to work, probably because of the desire to seek revenge. As he regains strength, he fights the detective. Soon, other detectives arrive, and one of them is a Kimen-gumi man. So they kill the other detective and attack Sakata. However, Sakata manages to kill all the detectives.
Who is the leader of Kimen-gumi?
After this, Sakata has regained complete strength in his body. The Kimen-gumi men hear about Sakata’s resurrection, and the leader of the group is thrilled. The group also runs a drug factory(which is a cleaning system factory), and information spreads fast about Sakata’s return. The leader of the group puts on his devilish mask and costume and starts performing a dance ritual of sorts. By then, Fujita has received an order from Kimen-gumi to bring Sakata’s dead body. From the hospital, Fujita brings a dead Sakata to the factory. Once Sakata’s body is dumped inside a conveyor machine, Fujita leaves. The man running the factory, Ikkaku, is pleased to be rid of Sakata. However, once inside the building, Sakata gets out of his body bag. Seeing this, Ikkaku is furious as Fujita has betrayed Kimen-gumi.
Once inside the factory, Sakata fights all the underlings to get to the leader of the group. However, Ikkaku flees the building and blows it up while Sakata is inside. Sakata gets out of the building alive and takes Ikkaku hostage to get the name of the leader. By then, Fujita confesses that he ratted Sakata to Kimen-gumi, so he kills Fujita. As Sakata tortures Ikkaku, the leader calls and tells him to stop the madness if he wants to see Ryo again. It turns out Ryo is alive and is under Kimen-gumi’s care. Despite the warning, Sakata kills Ikkaku. The leader of the group is none other than Sunohara. The report about the factory blowing up and Sakata is all over the news.
How does Sunohara lure Sakata to Mohoroba?
Now a schoolgirl, Ryo watches the news but is unable to recognize Sakata. The person taking care of Ryo is Kanta Fase, who waits to sleep with Ryo once she grows up. Meanwhile, Sunohara pressures Kanta to find Sakata. At school, Ryo is learning archery. A police officer named Takigawa comes home to find Sakata waiting. Previously, Sakata saved Takigawa’s life, and now, Takigawa gives information about a company called Shinjo Security. So Sakata grabs his weapon and heads to Shinjo, where he starts killing the goons. On one floor, Sakata enters a room and sees a nice living space. It is where Ryo is living and now is hiding behind a sofa as she is terrified to see this blood-covered man.
On the wall are photos of Ryo, and Kanta is acting like Ryo’s father. Soon, Kanta arrives and sees Ryo hiding. Seeing Kanta, Sakata gets furious, and they fight each other. Sensing a chance, Ryo rushes out and fires her arrow at Sakata. When Sakata’s guards are down, Kanta pushes him out the window. When Kanta looks down, Sakata leaves in a car. By then, Sunohara finds out that Takigawa was helping Sakata, so Sunohara calls Takigawa. Sunohara gives Sakata an open challenge to meet him in Mohoroba. The Kimen-gumi men prepare to take on Sakata. Frantically, an injured Sakata drives to Mohoroba after gathering his weapons.
How are Jin and Sunohara related?
Ryo is brought into the building and put inside a room. When Sakata arrives at Mohoroba, he is met with an army of men that he needs to fight to reach Sunohara. As Sakata climbs every floor, more men are waiting. When Kanta sees that Sakata is killing off the underlings easily, Kanta puts on his mask and fights Sakata. As they fight, Kanta provokes Sakata by saying that he should leave Ryo alone as she is finally getting hot. Unlike the underlings, Kanta can fight well, but Sakata stabs Kanta in one eye and runs to find Sunohara. In one of the rooms, Sakata finds Ryo, but Ryo cannot recognize Sakata. Sakata is emotional as Ryo cannot remember him, and he is unaware of his surroundings, so one of the goons beats him.
Later, Sakata is in Sunohara’s presence with Ryo in front of him. As Sunohara is obsessed with demons and their existence, he tells Ryo a tale. It is believed that every 50 years, a demon rises and goes on a killing spree, and Sunohara thinks Sakata is the demon. To bring the demon out, Sunohara puts a blade on Ryo’s neck.
In that situation, Ryo remembers her father when she was a child, and Sakata asked her to run from Kimen-gumi. At that moment, Takigawa comes to the rescue as he starts firing from his rifle randomly. Seizing the opportunity, Ryo runs with Takigawa. Now Sakata faces Jin, who is skilled with his sword. Despite that, Sakata slashes Jin’s neck, making him gasp for his life. In a flashback, we see a man bring Sunohara to Jin and say that Jin is Sunohara’s twin. However, Jin has a burn mark on his face.
Demon City (2025) Movie Ending Explained:
Instead of escaping, Ryo runs back to Sakata, as she wants to be with her dad. Unfortunately for Sakata, he does not have any strength left and is wounded, but he still tries to fight Sunohara. In one swift motion, Sunohara chops off one of Sakata’s hands. Despite that, Sakata fights on, and Sunohara thinks he has killed Sakata. Soon Sunohara realizes Sakata has slit Sunohara’s throat. At that point, Ryo arrives and begs Sakata not to die. But Sakata apologizes to Ryo for not protecting Aoi. The battle is far from over as Kanta arrives and attacks Sakata.
Assuming Sakata is dead, Kanta talks to Ryo, but Sakata gets up and kills Kanta. In the end, Sakata dies hugging Ryo. The police arrive and pull out one remaining Kimen-gumi man. Instead of waiting in the ambulance, Ryo runs away. One year later, Jin poses as Sunohara and wins the elections by getting sympathy from the public by showing his scar. After the interview, Jin wears a devilish mask and performs a dance ritual in the forest. Now Ryo arrives and shoots three arrows at Jin to make sure he is surely dead. After that, Ryo drives off in her car. Inside the car, Ryo has a picture of her family (Aoi and Sakata).
In the end, Sakata achieves his long-awaited revenge, but it comes at the cost of his own life. Initially, his heart breaks when Ryo, still too young, fails to recognize him. However, in his final moments, she finally remembers, allowing him to die in peace. Yet, Ryo does not forget the horrors she has endured. She picks up where her father left off, ensuring the Kimen-gumi’s reign of terror is completely eradicated. Whether she follows in Sakata’s footsteps as a hitman or dedicates herself to dismantling groups like Kimen-gumi—criminals who pose an even greater threat to society than the Yakuza—remains uncertain.
Ironically, Kimen-gumi operated under the pretense of cleansing the world of so-called “goons” and “demons,” yet they became the very monsters they claimed to fight against, spreading more chaos than any syndicate before them. As for a sequel, nothing has been confirmed. But if the story continues, it will likely follow Ryo’s journey—one that may prove even more ruthless than her father’s.
