City Hunter

City Hunter

Volume 31 of the Jump Comics edition, depicting Ryo Saeba and his supporting cast
シティーハンター
(Shitī Hantā)
Genre Action, Comedy, Crime fiction
Manga
Written by Tsukasa Hojo
Published by Shueisha
English publisher Gutsoon! Entertainment (incomplete, defunct)
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump
English magazine Raijin Comics
Original run 1985 – 1991
Volumes 35 (List of volumes)
TV anime
Directed by Kenji Kodama
Studio Sunrise
Licensed by ADV Films
Network Yomiuri TV, Animax
Original run April 6, 1987 – March 28, 1988
Episodes 51
TV anime
City Hunter 2
Directed by Kanetsugu Kodama
Studio Sunrise
Licensed by ADV Films
Network Yomiuri TV, Animax
Original run April 2, 1988 – July 14, 1989
Episodes 63
Anime film
.357 Magnum
Directed by Kenji Kodama
Produced by Yomiuri Television, Japan Victor
Studio Sunrise
Licensed by ADV Films
Released June 17, 1989
Runtime 87 minutes
TV anime
City Hunter 3
Studio Sunrise
Licensed by ADV Films
Network Yomiuri TV, Animax
Original run October 15, 1989 – January 21, 1990
Episodes 13
Original video animation
Bay City Wars
Directed by Kenji Kodama
Studio Sunrise
Licensed by ADV Films
Released August 25, 1990
Runtime 45 minutes
Original video animation
Million Dollar Conspiracy
Directed by Kenji Kodama
Studio Sunrise
Licensed by ADV Films
Released August 25, 1990
Runtime 45 minutes
TV anime
City Hunter '91
Directed by Kiyoshi Egami
Studio Sunrise
Network Yomiuri TV, Animax
Original run April 28, 1991 – October 10, 1991
Episodes 13
TV film anime
The Secret Service
Directed by Kenji Kodama
Studio Sunrise
Licensed by ADV Films
Network NTV
Released January 5, 1996
Runtime 79 minutes
TV film anime
The Motion Picture
Directed by Kazuo Yamazaki
Studio Sunrise
Licensed by ADV Films
Network NTV
Released April 25, 1997
Runtime 91 minutes
TV film anime
Death of the Vicious Criminal Ryo Saeba
Directed by Masaharu Okuwaki
Studio Sunrise
Network NTV
Released April 23, 1999
Runtime 91 minutes
Anime and Manga Portal

City Hunter (シティーハンター Shitī Hantā?) is a hardboiled manga series written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo, published by Shueisha in the Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1985 to 1991. The manga was adapted into an animated television series by Sunrise Studios in 1987. The City Hunter franchise spans four animated television series, three television specials, two original video animations, an animated feature film, a live-action Hong Kong film starring Jackie Chan and a Korean live action TV drama.

In 2001, Tsukasa Hojo started a new manga series Angel Heart. The author mentioned in the first tankoubon volume that Angel Heart shares the same characters with City Hunter but not its continuity, and therefore takes place in a parallel universe.

Contents

Plot

The series follows the exploits of Ryo Saeba, a "sweeper" or private detective who works to rid Tokyo of crime, and Kaori Makimura, a tomboyish girl who manages Ryo's business affairs. Their "City Hunter" business is an underground jack-of-all-trades operation, contacted by writing the letters "XYZ" on a blackboard at Shinjuku Station. One day, his associate, Hideyuki Makimura, is murdered. Ryô has to take care of Hideyuki's sister, Kaori, who becomes his new partner. However, Kaori is much more jealous and often hits him with a giant hammer.

Characters

Ryo Saeba (冴羽獠 Saeba Ryo?)
The protagonist of City Hunter. He was brought up from infancy in a civil war-torn Central American village. As a result, he has little information regarding his true identity. After the war, Ryo made his way to the United States, before moving to Tokyo. In Japan, he forms the "City Hunter" team with Hideyuki Makimura.
A highly skilled gunman, Ryo is shown to have the shooting precision which enables him to execute the "one-hole shot"; a modernized version of the Robin Hood legend of splitting an arrow. He fires a series of shots that land in the exact same spot of the target repeatedly. His preferred weapon is the Colt Python .357 Magnum.
The most frequent running gag about Ryo's character is that he is extremely lecherous. His clients are almost exclusively beautiful young women, with whom he constantly seeks "mokkori chance". When not working he can often be found hitting on random young women on the streets of Tokyo. His constant womanizing often leads to violent repercussions from his partner Kaori.

Voiced by: Akira Kamiya (Japanese), Martin Blacker (English)

Kaori Makimura (槇村香 Makimura Kaori?)
Ryo Saeba's tomboyish partner. She is primarily responsible for arranging clients, and other managerial tasks. She is in love with Ryo, although in the beginning it seems that he has no feelings towards her, as the anime progresses there are multiple hints about Ryo having feelings for Kaori. Ryo's skirt-chasing rouses her ire more than once. Her favorite weapon is a bazooka (or a hammer to punish Ryo after his womanizing escapades). A running gag is that she is frequently mistaken for a bishōnen-looking man or a transsexual. In the end of the manga it is hinted they got married.

Voiced by: Kazue Ikura (Japanese), Pamela Ribon (English)

Hideyuki Makimura (槇村秀幸 Makimura Hideyuki?)
Kaori's older brother and Ryo's partner at the start of the series. He's a former police detective with a strong sense of justice. Kaori takes over his role as Ryo's partner after he is murdered by gangsters. His dying request was that Ryo take care of his sister.

Voiced by: Hideyuki Tanaka

Umibōzu (海坊主?)
"Umibōzu"' is another "sweeper". He and Ryo have a history dating back to the civil war in Central America. He goes by the professional name Falcon and his real name is Hayato Ijuin (伊集院隼人). Despite his fearsome appearance he has a phobia of kittens.

Voiced by: Tesshō Genda (Japanese), Lou Perryman (English)

Saeko Nogami (野上冴子 Nogami Saeko?)
She is a Tokyo police detective who often uses the City Hunter team to do her job for her. Saeko is the daughter of the chief of police. She was once closely related to Kaori's brother, Hideyuki. Ryo keeps a long detailed list where Saeko owes him for the various favours he's done for her, which she always manages to get out of because Ryo demands a mokkori chance with her for each item.

Voiced by: Yōko Asagami (Japanese), Jana Brockman (English)

Reika Nogami (野上 麗香 Nogami Reika?)
She is a younger sister of Saeko, and is introduced halfway through the manga, and appears sporadically thereafter. She runs the "RN Detective Agency" (RN being her initials), right next to Ryo's apartment. It is hinted a few times that she has a little crush on Ryo but she realises that Kaori loves him too and so she will not stand in her way.

Voiced by: Yoshino Takamori (Japanese), Katherine Catmull (English)

Miki
An Ex-Mercenary female commando, she was raised as an orphan by Umibozu in the battlefield and falls in love with him. She runs a Coffee shop named "Cat's Eye" (homage to Tsukasa's previous manga) along with Umibozu. She is battle hardened and also is a master of hypnosis.

Voiced by: Mami Koyama (Japanese), Amalia Stifter, Johanna Mckeon (The Secret Service) (English)

Professor/Doc
Ex-medic at the Mercenary camp that Ryo was stationed in during the Civil war, he is the source of much of Ryo's underground information. He's just as much of a pervert as Ryo is. Does not appear in the Anime.
Kazue Nattori
A former scientist who's unintended acquaintance with Ryo resulted in her falling in love with him. She eventually becomes an assistant to the Professor in his lab, hoping she will have the opportunity to win his heart.
Kasumi Asou
A member of a proud clan of noble Robin Hood-like thieves, she initially meets with Ryo early on in the manga before returning to him halfway through the manga. She eventually falls in love with Ryo and makes brief appearances thereafter as a part-time employee at Cat's Eye.

Voiced by: Miina Tominaga

Mick Angel
A former partner of Ryo during his stay in the United States, he is an equal to Ryo in terms of both skills and his womanizing nature. Introduced 3/4 of the way throughout the manga, he plays a big role in major story arcs thereafter. Does not appear in the Anime.

Media

Manga

Main article: List of City Hunter chapters

In Japan, the City Hunter manga ran for six years in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from Issue 13 of 1985 to Issue 50 of 1991. The first compiled City Hunter collections were published under the Jump Comics imprint from 1985 to 1992, and totaled 35 volumes. The second edition was from Shueisha Editions, who published an 18 book version between 1996 and 1997. Bunch World published a 39 volume edition between 2001 and 2002. Most recently, Tokuma Comics published a "Complete Edition" of 32 books, each with bonus material between 2004 and early 2005.

The North American version of the manga, published by Gutsoon! Entertainment and serialized in Raijin Comics, is only available up to volume 5. The series has also been translated into Chinese, French, German, Italian, Vietnamese, Spanish, and Indonesian.

Spin-off

Main article: Angel Heart (manga)

In 2001, Hojo started a follow-up series titled Angel Heart manga. The series takes place in a universe parallel to City Hunter, where the character of Kaori Makimura is killed and her heart transplanted into Li Xiang Ying, Angel Heart's protagonist.

Anime

The manga was adapted into an animated television series by Sunrise Studios in 1987. The first series lasted for 51 episodes, followed by three further series; City Hunter 2 (63 episodes); City Hunter 3 (13 episodes); and City Hunter '91 (13 episodes).

Along with the four television series, the City Hunter animated franchise spans three television specials, two original video animations and one feature film.

1 Film:

2 OVAs:

3 specials:

ADV initially had the rights to most of the series, with the exception of the last film. However, it went out of print quickly, and, possibly due to a lack of popularity, has not yet been re-released.

Live action

In 1993, Golden Harvest produced a live action City Hunter (城市獵人) film directed by Wong Jing and starring Jackie Chan. Fortune Star and 20th Century Fox later released it on R1 DVD along with other budget classic HK films. Jackie was not fond of the work, and allegedly criticized it in one of his books.

Mr. Mumble (孟波 Meng bo) is another live action version of City Hunter. Despite the fact the names have been changed, this 1996 movie is considered to be a bit more faithful to the original material than the earlier film. Michael Chow plays Maang Boh (Mr. Mumble, the Cantonese version of Ryo) who takes on a job to guard Sharon (Pauline Suen), the daughter of a mafioso. The film also stars Francoise Yip as Yachi (Saeko), Jessica Hester Hsuan as Lao Tang (Kaori) and Eric Kei as Chi (Umibozu).

Saviour of the Soul (九一神鵰俠侶 Gauyat sandiu haplui) is a Hong Kong film from 1991 that takes elements from City Hunter. Although the plot has little in common with City Hunter, the characters of Ryo, Saeko, Makimura, Kaori, and Silver Fox appear.

A new live-action version of City Hunter has recently been announced, to be produced and distributed by Fox Television Studios and South Korean media company SSD.[1] Jung Woo-sung has been cast as Ryo, and that other Hollywood-based stars will be cast alongside, with filming being done in Seoul and Tokyo.[2]

In 2011, the series was adapted into a Korean television series of the same name by SBS, starring Lee Min Ho, Park Min-Young, and Lee Joon Hyuk.

Novels

Reception

In a 2005 poll held by TV Asahi, City Hunter was voted #66 out of the 100 most popular animated TV series, as voted by TV viewers. A TV Asahi web-poll put City Hunter at #65.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ "New Live-Action City Hunter Reportedly Heading to USA". Anime News Network. December 23, 2008. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-12-23/live-action-city-hunter-reportedly-heading-to-america. Retrieved December 23, 2008. 
  2. ^ "Chung Woo-sung First Asian Actor to Star in American TV Drama". KBS Global. December 23, 2008. http://english.kbs.co.kr/entertainment/news/1561638_28572.html. Retrieved December 23, 2008. 
  3. ^ "TV Asahi Top 100 Anime". Anime News Network. September 23, 2005. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-09-23/tv-asahi-top-100-anime. Retrieved January 1, 2007. 
  4. ^ "TV Asahi Top 100 Anime Part 2". Anime News Network. September 23, 2005. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-09-23/tv-asahi-top-100-anime-part-2. Retrieved January 1, 2007. 

External links

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