Reviews for City Hunter

Finally! The whole manga was translated to English, which is something that I have been waiting for so long! I'll make this review short and tell my thoughts clearly. City Hunter is a legendary series. It's one of those hidden gems that I have found during all these years of my fascination to anime. I marathoned the whole anime, and I think it's the funniest anime I've ever watched along Saiki Kusuo. After finishing the anime I gave it straight up 10 (masterpiece) rating. However I don't think it was because of the story. The story is quite monotonous, simply because of one thing -- ithas the same gags and they never change! I think no one would be willing to count how many times Kaori has bashed Ryo with her giant hammer, and how much does Saeko owe Ryo right now? Probably one million MOKKORI. The manga and the anime are episodic so I understand why it was repetitious, but still I really grew tired of the same jokes and same conversations. Also I was kinda disappointed that Kaori and Ryo's relationship never really developed, they had only a few romantic moments during the series and they were always in danger during those moments. Kaori had a lot of reasons to leave Ryo during the series, but she never did, and this will happen a lot during the series. Character development was at the bottom, which is probably the biggest reasons why the story is so monotonous.

The art both in the manga and the anime were fantastic. Both also really resemble each other, so it was easy to watch and it at the same time. It really gives you an 80s vibe which I personally am a big fan of.

I also love this series as a man a lot because most of the female character are beautiful. Man, 80s character looked so human, I don't know what happened but now a stereotypical anime character has eyes size of a plate and nose so small you can barely even see it.

Saeba Ryo, he is hands down one of the greatest character ever made. His pervert nature mixes awesomely with his cool side when saving girls and shooting bad guys. It's weird why I think he's hilarious, he is just a pervert and doesn't tell any jokes. I think it's all because of his voice actor in the anime Kamiya Akira, he also voiced Kenshiro in Hokuto no Ken and can make a lot of hilarious voices. Also Ryo's facial expressions are really fun and of course the all powerful MOKKORI.

But you may still ask, why 10?

Honestly when you have cool, strong and charismatic main character, awesome 80s music (anime), beautiful artstyle, great action scenes, and as childish sense of humor as I do, what else do you need. Honestly if this wasn't episodic I don't think it would've made it to 10, but for some reason I never really got so bored that I was not enjoying it. I was really just in to the action, music, Ryo, and the girls (obviously), and always got something out of every chapter.

Overall City Hunter is a series that has really entertained me and I will remember this series as one of the GOAT anime series ever made.

How is this a short review? I still need to finish my homework *sigh*

City Hunter is the first manga I have read, even before Dragon Ball Z, and that's why it's leaves me a good memory, it's the manga with which I laugh the most. We go easily from one emotion to another, following the adventures of Nicky Larson, a silly man with girls, but serious with his weapon. This series has so marked me, that I have the complete series, except for a few movies I miss them, but I have all the seasons, and it's really worth, the replicas of Nicky and Mammoth (Opponent and Friend at a time, paradoxical, I know) are unforgettable, or evenbandits with ridiculous replicas that mark a person for life "I'm going to send you a dumpling" for "I'm going to kill you", I always have it head, and I go out often, so much is striking. The intrigues and adventures are really involved, we are sometimes surprised by the end, and the episode goes so fast that we chained at a frantic pace!

I really think that this manga is a must, or at least watch a few episodes to make an opinion for the most reluctant, this animated is not very long, 4 seasons, and some movies and OAVs. I think even start the series in book, it would seem that they are good, so I will let me tempt soon!

I'd like it more if it kept the same seriousness that had in the beginning. At some point it became too childish for my liking, not to mention that half of the manga is about the same shit = helping some random bitch only to get her fall for Ryo moments later. When you keep doing that over and over again well... You'll get sick of it. The best word to describe this series is frivolousness, very little on this manga had any real profound feeling. The thing that bothered me the most is that, I don't understand why this manga isn't under a Shojodemography, cause the only thing that I truly enjoyed was Ryo and Kaori relationship (except for the fact that it seems the author tried to push the indecisive attitude of Ryo way too much, poor Kaori wasted so many years of her youth being virgin for a man that wouldn't touch her) Those chapters that were focused on some aspect of their relationship were the ones that I felt had something real to bring, even tho their romance was pretty much half-assed, the bond they share felt authentic, what I'm tryna say is, basically, the best thing about this manga, is the main shipp. If we cut all those chapters that felt like absolute filler, the aftertaste that this manga left on me would've be better. Also the final boss as well as the final arc, felt pretty rushed to me, Kaibara (as well as the whole manga) needed more development.

Plot aside, the art is top notch since the beginning, Tsukasa Hojo is a fucking genius in that aspect.

To finish... I can't recommend this manga, there are so many things that left me with a feeling of disappointment and frustration (like how the fuck didn't I get a kiss scene from the main couple??) I'd love to read a reboot from this manga, but with a more serious and realistic tone with it (but without killing Kaori, for God sake )

City Hunter tells the adventures and stories of sweeper Ryo Saeba and his partner Kaori Makimura, who form City Hunter and are hired as bodyguards or private investigators. The manga is of an episodic type, but obviously there are also some main and more important stories than the episodic ones, such as flashbacks, which form the interpersonal relationships of the characters and the main core of the story. This manga I can say with great pleasure that it has become one of my favorites and that I will carry forever in a special place of the heart. Tsukasa Hojo (author of the famous"Cat's Eye", known in Italy as "Cat's Eyes") has been able to amaze me not only through his innovative style, but also through the continuous development and change of events, designs, characterization of the characters and much more like the gags. I loved the drawings not only for their evolution (which can be glimpsed not only within "City Hunter" but also within "Cats'Eye", whose style is even more immature and very different compared to the latter) but also for their precision and clarity. These characteristics can also be glimpsed in the arrangement of the cartoons and balloons, which also possess a sort of experimentalism. In fact, we see that Hojo in addition to knowing how to manage, in an exceptional way 9 cartoons on a single page, without giving a sense of disorder and chaos, is also capable of making the balloons become, when needed, something material and physical capable of interacting. and get in touch with the characters of his story.

Sometimes there is also a sort of "breaking of the scenic illusion" (if we can call it that), that is when the characters of the manga all of a sudden start talking about the manga itself and even about the author, who very often leaves between the cartoons commentary notes on the events in progress.

During its serialization "City Hunter" has changed a lot: we have parts in which the detective genre is the most consistent, in others the melodramatic one and in others still that of the story of the past. Furthermore, the manga from the beginning to the end is characterized by a correct alternation between action and narration. Despite this, the gags have always been a fixed point of the story, sometimes present to a lesser extent, others instead in which they follow each other effectively. The author goes from a funny moment to a serious one with a disarming ease without ruining the continuity of the narrative. This is evidenced by a change in the drawing style, without resorting to particular techniques such as the deformed one, and by the fact that the "gag wounds" are different from the real ones, as well as the expressions.

Reading City Hunter I realized how unique and crazy Tsukasa Hojo is through his experimentalism and innovative style of yesteryear. He will definitely recover "Cat's Eye" but also his artbooks as his drawing style has become one of my favorites. I hope that through this review you have encouraged you to read a unique and inimitable work of its kind.

I used to catch the anime adaptation of this way back when and I was gripped in with the formula that was presented. And since I had time, I wanted to try out the manga. There were a few chapters where the translations had broken english and it deterred me at that point but it managed to find its footing again once a better translation group got a hold of it. Speaking of the formula, each arc usually starts with our main characters, Ryo and Kaori, meeting their clients and taking them up on their request as the "City Hunter". The two are in a shady"sweeper" business, particularly focusing on assassinations and bodyguard duty with Ryo carrying the previously mentioned title. Other than the case which sets the narrative for the arc, the story focuses on their women clients or the women that are attached to the clients themselves. As we go through the arc, we learn more about the reason for hiring the duo, then they beat the bad guys, and it ends with Ryo usually winning the hearts of these leading ladies despite his lecherous personality but then fails to take advantage of those newfound feelings for various reasons- some comedic, some profound, and some character-developing.

In retrospect, I found it baffling how non-graphic the manga is despite its premise. I understand it's still a shounen manga but it's not like characters don't die. Grunts and extras get killed or shot but somehow it felt lacking in showing these things in full-view like it did in the early chapters. Despite his indecent actions, Ryo is considered to be the most capable sweeper in this universe and there are hints of him using his perverse personality as a veil for his true feelings. Although, the line between his two sides are blurred to the point of transparency. Moving forward, we learn more about his past beyond the calm and collected sharpshooter, and the lingerie-raiding scoundrel that he presented himself as.

Kaori works as the assistant for City Hunter and her personality is tied to Ryo not just because he's her partner, but also as the one keeping him from being sent to jail for sexual harassment. She's tomboyish and aggressive but these also pair well with her clumsiness in the fieldwork that Ryo is an expert in. Throughout the manga, I wasn't exactly a fan of how she's delegated into the damsel-in-distress role at the tail end of multiple arcs. While she does become more capable in the latter half of the series, this did not change how she was still used to raise the stakes.

As a comedy manga, it relies mostly on slapstick rather than clever dialogue, and Kaori's the one playing the incredibly extra straight man, hitting our comic Ryo with her 100-ton hammer. The other half of this manga's comedy relies on Ryo's previously mentioned indecency. Suffice it to say, it got old real quick to have him try and get himself a sex offender registration, and this went on for the entire 35-volume lifespan of the series. It was surely a product of its time, as multiple other jokes and actions of these characters just didn't age well. Some examples are the jokes pertaining to gender with a weird fixation on trans people, and inappropriate sexualization of characters.

With nearly 200 chapters, I noticed that the latter half pushed more towards the relationship development of Ryo and Kaori and I was quite fond of that. Of course, there were multiple occasions where these developments were put on-hold to keep the status quo for future chapters but there's a clear difference between the way the author capped off arcs at the start and arcs later down the line. Another thing I liked was the slowburn presentation of Ryo's backstory. I liked how each and every revelation brings a different interpretation that one would initially conclude on before the reveal. Lastly, the gradual increase of recurring cast members was a treat to follow through. It's nice to see familiar faces and the dynamic of certain pairs were quite entertaining. I would say that Ryo and Umibozu's dynamic was my favorite due to their endless bickering and snappy remarks, without the ever-so tiring sexual connotations that Ryo would have with his female pairings.

As we reach the climax of the entire manga, I was unfortunately underwhelmed with its set-up. Calling back to Union Teope, the company that killed Ryo's former partner, would've been perfect had that been sprinkled all throughout the manga rather than just being isolated in that singular arc. Not to mention the slight retcon in Ryo's backstory that was done to insert the big bad. It's a minor nitpick but I felt like I had to point it out. After this specific arc ended, we had two more volumes to go and that was quite weird to experience because the climax of the story would usually follow the ending immediately. Since that wasn't the case, I was met with a finale that felt all too familiar with the climax but manages to be slightly different due to the no-dialogue, final few chapters and the involvement of the recurring characters prior.