Shinjuku, Tokyo—a neon bastion of crime and debauchery. Where criminals walk around with impudence, all while the police are too caught up in bureaucracy to help average Joes and Janes navigate the lawless streets. But hark, who’s that in the distance with a tent in his pants? Na na na na na na na na, it’s Ryo Saeba, the City Hunter!
City Hunter was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1985 to 1991. It’s since been adapted multiple times in different formats, including a 1993 Hong Kong film starring Jackie Chan. The plot centers around Ryo Saeba, a womanizing sweeper (hired gun) who takes on jobs alongside his partner and friend, Makimura. Later on, Ryo partners with Makimura’s younger sister, Kaori, introducing a romantic side-plot that’s developed between scenes of Ryo cleaning up the streets of Shinjuku.
Suave, Debonair, and Relatable—A Role Model for Boys Everywhere?
The first volume of City Hunter highlights Ryo’s unflappable confidence and unparalleled combat expertise. Like a sillier version of James Bond, Ryo is a skilled fighter who’s always two steps ahead of his enemies. But his womanizing skills aren’t nearly as charming. In fact, his flirting skirts the line of sexual harassment, and women react with violence and exasperation to his behaviour.
When he’s in his element as the City Hunter, things are a lot different. Ryo is shockingly heartless when “bumping off” his targets considering this was a Weekly Shonen Jump series. They all had it coming, though. So their violent deaths are more cathartic than anything else.
While the circumstances behind clients asking for Ryo’s help are usually tragic—such as the woman whose younger sister was murdered by a serial killer—the series never depicts their emotional resolution or closure. It makes City Hunter an easy read that centers on Ryo’s duties as a sweeper. On the flip side, this may read as shallow to some who want the stakes the story introduces to mean something. The writing’s propensity for placing us in another character’s point of view to keep Ryo’s schemes in the dark means that we don’t learn his thoughts or opinions about the personal tragedies he encounters on the job.
Hellooo, ‘80s
My experience of reading older manga usually entails yellowed pages and faded ink, so I was pleasantly surprised at how modern City Hunter Omnibus Volume 1 looks on my tablet. The way Hojo utilizes pen strength to denote textures and shadows gives scenes a unique atmosphere that encapsulates the seedy world that Ryo occupies, as opposed to the crisp and clean lines used for Shinjuku in the daytime.
One memorable panel showing a woman stripping naked for Ryo combines Hojo’s shading techniques with a bokeh effect to depict the spotlights shining down on her. She looks almost angelic despite the awful situation she’s in. Hojo’s beautiful and detailed art style brings City Hunter to life, no matter the context or mood of the scene.
City Hunter could have only come out in the ‘80s, though. The aforementioned panel of the woman does not shy away from showing her bare breasts—something that ecchi manga today can’t possibly get away with. The “mokkori” gag—in which Ryo says something gentlemanly and noble, only for the next panel to show the giant tent forming in his pants—is also much more blatant than what Weekly Shonen Jump can get away with today.
Verdict
The City Hunter omnibus is a real treat for both new and old fans. I’ve never read it before, so I enjoyed poking at facets of it in my mind to work out just what about this series captured so many readers’ attention decades ago. Was it Ryo’s “funny pervert” routine and how it’s almost a character he plays to hide his wealth of personal issues? Was it Kaori breaking through the norms governing female characters during the 1980s? Or was it their unexpected partnership? Whatever it is, it’s definitely captured my attention, and I’m already planning to read more adventures of the City Hunter.
City Hunter Omnibus Volume 1 is available to purchase from Bookshop, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.
Credits:
Story and Art: Tsukasa Hojo
Translation: David Evelyn
Lettering: Kai Kyou
Retouching: Joshua Baldwin
Editor: Kristiina Korpus
Designer: Shawn Dahl
Publisher: Kana
Thank you to Kana for providing us with a review copy of this title. Receiving a review copy of manga has in no way altered the opinions expressed in this article.
Article edited by: Anne Estrada
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