If you ever wondered how Ryo Saeba of City Hunter ended up working with Kaori Makimura, then the latest live adaptation of Tsukasa Hojo’s popular manga will aptly give you the answer. Directed by Yuichi Satoh, the screenplay of the film is adapted by Tatsuro Mishima and has a runtime of about 1 hour and 44 minutes.
City Hunter (シティーハンター) follows a top-class “sweeper” private detective Ryo Saeba, also a uniquely skilled marksman and notorious playboy, who teams up with his late partner’s sister, Kaori, to uncover the truth behind his mysterious death.
The cast of the film includes Ryohei Suzuki as Ryo Saeba, Misato Morita as Kaori Makimura, Masanobu Ando as Hideyuki Makimura, Asuka Hanamura, Ayame Misaki, Moemi Katayama, Ami201, Tetta Sugimoto, Takaya Sakoda, Fumino Kimura as Saeko Nogami, Isao Hashizume and others.
City Hunter Review
Ryo Saeba, a skilled detective in the dark underbelly of modern-day Shinjuku, Tokyo, is known for his suave demeanour and playful personality. He tackles dangerous missions in the underworld with ease. When he receives a message on the XYZ message board – requesting help finding a missing sister named Kurumi, Ryo teams up with his partner Hideyuki to track her down.
As they delve into the search, a series of violent incidents in Shinjuku puzzles police detective Saeko. Tragedy strikes when Hideyuki is killed during the investigation, leaving Ryo’s partner Kaori devastated. Determined to uncover the truth behind Hideyuki’s death, Ryo pledges to solve the mystery surrounding Kurumi and the violent events plaguing Shinjuku.
As the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that the violent events in Shinjuku are connected to the enigmatic substance known as “Angel Dust”, and Kurumi holds the key to unravelling its mysteries. This discovery spurs Ryo and Kaori to embark on a mission to uncover the secrets surrounding Hideyuki’s demise and find a way to help Kurumi. However, the unlikely duo find themselves chased by a mysterious union, which might hold many secrets behind the violent deaths and Kaori’s life.
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If you are familiar with the manga and its character’s eccentricities, then within a few minutes you will be acquainted with Ryo’s ‘mokkori’ or perverted antics. The word mokkori generally refers to the sound of something that instantly grows – a Japanese onomatopeia to refer to a boner or getting turned on. Therefore, whenever Ryo gets excited about seeing beautiful ladies or even stripping himself, he exclaims the word to express his feelings. While this behaviour is something often misinterpreted by first-time viewers, consider it to be unnecessary and form a negative perspective about it.
On the surface, Ryo’s character looks like a vile pervert who would rather ogle at women than solve cases. Although the presence of perverted characters in anime and manga has been a long-standing tradition, remaining very prominent even today. In the case of Ryo, it’s more of a farce to keep his real side hidden and to avoid getting entangled with others, where it could become a liability. It can be seen how his flirtiness never gets extended beyond a casual chat. And even when things do get further, he drops the play and showcases a genuine side to turn everything down.
Some might think that it’s problematic, as it sexualises the opposite sex but it never promotes the behaviour. Rather shows how he falls into bigger issues because of his eccentric behaviour, which also plays a big part in Ryo’s character development. Wherein, later on, he slowly faces the unresolved issues and realises his true self with the help of his new partner – Kaori. While there’s not much to say about Kaori, in this particular film, her naivety does feel exaggerated here. But that also makes us anticipate her growth over time.
Talking about the visual style, the legendary ‘one-hole shot’, where a series of shots land in the same spot was quite aptly portrayed. We often witness Ryo, showing his extra-ordinary shooting skills by putting holes in glass windows before crashing into them or aiming at targets perfectly, even in crowds. By using slow-motion in such scenes, it impactfully showcases his skills and also, makes the action sequences visually appealing. Overall, it’s a quick, funny and entertaining watch which even the fans of the manga would appreciate.
Rating: 3.5/5
City Hunter is available to watch on Netflix.
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