City Hunter (Japanese: シティーハンター, Hepburn: Shitī Hantā) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo. It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1985 to 1991, with its chapters collected in 35 tankōbon volumes. The manga was adapted into an anime television series by Sunrise Studios in 1987. The anime series was popular in numerous Asian and European countries.
City Hunter spawned a media franchise consisting of numerous adaptations and spin-offs from several countries. The franchise includes four anime television series, three anime television specials, three made-for-television animated films, two animated feature films for theatrical release (Shinjuku Private Eyes in February 2019 and Angel Dust in September 2023), several live-action films (including City Hunter, a Hong Kong film starring Jackie Chan, and Nicky Larson et le Parfum de Cupidon, a French film), video games, and a live-action Korean TV drama. It also had a spin-off manga, Angel Heart, which in turn spawned its own anime television series and a live-action Japanese TV drama.
Contents
Plot
The series follows the exploits of Ryo Saeba, a "sweeper" who is always found chasing beautiful girls and a private detective who works to rid Tokyo of crime, along with his associate or partner, Hideyuki Makimura. Their "City Hunter" business is an underground jack-of-all-trades operation, contacted by writing the letters "XYZ" on a communal message blackboard at Shinjuku Station.
One day, Hideyuki is murdered, and Ryo must take care of Hideyuki's sister, Kaori, a tomboy who becomes his new partner in the process. However, Kaori is very susceptible and jealous, often hitting Ryo with a giant hammer when he does something perverted. The story also follows the behind-the-scenes romance between Ryo and Kaori and the way they cooperate throughout each mission.
Characters
Ryo Saeba (冴羽 獠, Saeba Ryō)
Voiced by: Akira Kamiya (Japanese); Martin Blacker (ADV Films dub), Stephen Fu (Discotek Media dub) (English)
Ryo is the main protagonist of the series. At the age of three, Ryo was the only survivor of a plane crash in Central America. He was raised as a guerilla fighter and has no knowledge of his prior identity. After the war, Ryo makes his way to the United States, before eventually moving to Tokyo.
While in Tokyo, he forms the "City Hunter" team with Hideyuki Makimura, but after Hideyuki's death, Kaori takes his place as Ryo's new partner. A highly skilled gunman, Ryo is known for executing the "one-hole shot", a series of shots that all land in exactly the same spot on the target. His preferred weapon is the Colt Python .357 Magnum.
Ryo invented the nickname Umibozu for his fellow colleague Hayato Ijuin, and he answered giving Ryo his own, "The Stallion of Shinjuku" (新宿の種馬, Shinjuku no Taneuma) (an ironic name, because Ryo is a real pervert who tries to hit on any beautiful woman he meets or sees, failing every time). Ryo is an accomplished marksman with revolvers, semiautomatic guns, machine-pistols, rifles, carbines and crossbows; he knows hand-to-hand combat very well and drives as a real daredevil when needed; his car is a Mini.
Kaori Makimura (槇村 香, Makimura Kaori)
Voiced by: Kazue Ikura (Japanese); Pamela Ribon (ADV Films dub), Morgan Garrett (Discotek Media dub) (English)
Kaori is Ryo Saeba's partner. She is primarily responsible for arranging clients and other managerial tasks. Ryo's skirt-chasing rouses her ire more than just once. Though the partners frequently pick on fights or arguments, they actually form a great team together. She might have been mistaken as a man sometimes due to her hairstyle. She is Hideyuki's adoptive sister, her birth name being Kaori Hisaishi (久石 香, Hisaishi Kaori).
Hideyuki Makimura (槇村 秀幸, Makimura Hideyuki)
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo, City Hunter started in Shueisha's shōnen manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump on February 26, 1985, and ran until the December 2, 1991, issue. Its chapters were collected by Shueisha in 35 volumes, under the Jump Comics imprint, between January 15, 1986, and April 15, 1992. In these volumes the series is grouped into 55 different stories or "episodes" instead of as their original individual chapters. Each story is centred on a different female character or "heroine". An 18-volume bunkoban edition was released by Shueisha from June 18, 1996, to October 17, 1997. A third edition City Hunter Complete Edition of 32 volumes was published by Tokuma Shoten from December 16, 2003, to April 15, 2005. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the series, a fourth edition, City Hunter XYZ edition, was published by Tokuma Shoten across twelve volumes from July 18 to December 19, 2015. In 2019, a fifth edition, City Hunter Zenon Selection, was released in 29 volumes by Coamix to coincide with the French live-action adaptation of City Hunter, Nicky Larson et le parfum de Cupidon.
Attempts were made to license the series for the American comic market during the 1980s; however, Hojo insisted the manga should be released in the right-to-left format. In 2002 Coamix created an American subsidiary, Gutsoon! Entertainment. City Hunter was a flagship title in their Raijin Comics anthology. Raijin switched from a weekly format to a monthly format before being cancelled after 46 issues. In 2022, Coamix's MangaHot service began publishing City Hunter manga in English digitally. In April 2025, Abrams ComicArts announced that it will start releasing the manga in an omnibus edition in print under its Kana imprint on September 9 of the same year. Kana is using a new English translation for the release.
From 2001 to 2017, Hojo serialized a spin-off series titled Angel Heart. The series takes place in a universe parallel to City Hunter, where the character of Kaori Makimura is killed and her heart transplanted into Xiang-Ying, Angel Heart's protagonist.
A spin-off manga by Sokura Nishiki, City Hunter Rebirth (今日からCITY HUNTER, Kyō Kara City Hunter; lit. 'Today from City Hunter'), was launched in Tokuma Shoten's Monthly Comic Zenon magazine on July 25, 2017. It is centered around a 40-year-old unmarried woman who is a fan of Ryō Saeba and the City Hunter manga, and suddenly dies in a train accident and is reincarnated into the world of City Hunter.
Anime
The series was adapted into an anime series produced by Sunrise, directed by Kanetsugu Kodama and broadcast by Yomiuri Television.
City Hunter was broadcast for 51 episodes between April 6, 1987, and March 28, 1988, and released on ten VHS cassettes between December 1987 and July 1988.
City Hunter 2 was broadcast for 63 episodes between April 8, 1988, and July 14, 1989, and released on ten VHS cassettes between August 1988 and March 1990.
City Hunter 3 was broadcast for 13 episodes from October 15, 1989, to January 21, 1990, and released on six VHS cassettes between November 1990 and April 1991.
City Hunter '91 was broadcast between April 28 and October 10, 1991, and released on six VHS cassettes between February and July 1992.
The series was later reissued as 20 video compilations.
A 32-disc DVD boxset, City Hunter Complete, was published by Aniplex and released in Japan on August 31, 2005. The set contained all four series, the TV specials and animated movies as well as an art book and figures of Ryo and Kaori. 26 of the discs comprising the four series were then released individually between December 19, 2007, and August 27, 2008. 30,000 box sets were sold, grossing ¥3 billion ($38 million), in Japan.
For the 30th anniversary of the original manga, buyers of all 12 volumes of City Hunter XYZ edition were entitled receive a "motion graphic anime" DVD. The DVDe adapted a special Angel Heart chapter entitled "Ryo's Proposal" and was voiced by the original City Hunter cast.
The series was licensed by ADV Films for release in North America; they announced their acquisition in May 1998 at Project A-Kon 9. The first City Hunter series was released on the ADV Fansubs label in March 2000. The aim of this label was to provide cheaper subtitled-only VHS releases at a faster pace than usual. The series was scheduled for 13 tapes, consisting of four episodes each. The tapes could be ordered individually or as a subscription service.
Live action
Saviour of the Soul (九一神鵰俠侶 Gauyat sandiu haplui) is a live-action Hong Kong film from 1991 that uses the characters from City Hunter but changes the plot. In 1996, Mr. Mumble kept the concept of City Hunter but changed the characters' names.
In 1993, a live-action Hong Kong theatrical adaptation of the series was released. The film was directed by Wong Jing and starred Jackie Chan as Ryo Saeba, Wang Zuxian as Kaori, and Japanese idol Kumiko Goto. During filming of the movie, Chan dislocated his shoulder. The movie has been criticised by Chan. Fortune Star and 20th Century Fox later released it on R1 DVD along with other budget classic HK films.
In 2016, a new Chinese film based on City Hunter was announced to be in development. It was announced that it would be directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Stanley Tong and star Chinese actor Huang Xiaoming as Ryo Saeba.
A separate French action comedy film Nicky Larson et le Parfum de Cupidon (lit. 'Nicky Larson and Cupid's Perfume') was released in France on February 6, 2019. The French adaptation has Philippe Lacheau as director as well as the star, playing the title character Nicky Larson (as Ryo Saeba is known in the French dubs of the anime series).
In December 2022, Netflix announced a live-action film adaptation in the works with lead actor Ryohei Suzuki as Ryo Saeba and Misato Morita as Kaori Makimura. Directed by Yūichi Satō, the film premiered on the streaming service on April 25, 2024.
A planned live-action television series of City Hunter was announced in 2008, to be produced and distributed by Fox Television Studios and South Korean media company SSD. Jung Woo-sung, was scheduled to play Ryo alongside Hollywood-based stars, with location filming in Seoul and Tokyo.
In 2011, the series was adapted into a Korean television series of the same name by SBS, starring Lee Min-ho and Park Min-young. The series is available to watch with English subtitles on the streaming service Hulu.
In 2014, there was a Chinese television series based on City Hunter, with the title Cheng Shi Lie Ren (Chinese: 城市猎人).
Musical
In 2021, the Takarazuka Revue produced a musical version titled City Hunter: Nusumareta XYZ (CITY HUNTER－盗まれたXYZ－). It was performed at the Takarazuka Grand Theater from August 7 to September 13, 2021, and then at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater from October 2 to November 14. The musical starred Sakina Ayakaze as Ryo Saeba and Kiwa Asazuki as Kaori Makimura.
Video games
A City Hunter video game for the PC Engine was released by Sunsoft on March 2, 1990.
Ryo appears as a playable character in the crossover fighting game Jump Force.
Reception
By 2016, the City Hunter manga series had sold over 50 million tankōbon volumes worldwide. In addition, the series was circulated in an estimated 900 million copies of Weekly Shōnen Jump manga magazine between 1985 and 1991, with those Jump issues generating an estimated $2 billion. The series voted as the 19th "Most Powerful" series to have featured in Shonen Jump. On TV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150.000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, City Hunter ranked 57th.
In Manga: The Complete Guide, Jason Thompson described the manga stories as "well told and entertaining". Writing for Mania.com, Eduardo M. Chavez describes the series as "funny, sexy, action packed and at times just plain whacked" and praises the mix of action and comedy. Patrick King of Animefringe described the series as "not the most intellectually stimulating piece of fiction I've experienced lately" but called it "a blast to read".
Legacy
A replica of Kaori's "100-ton hammer" raised ¥1.832 million ($17,150) on Yahoo Auctions in 2007. It was the biggest selling charity item of the year for the service.
In 2012, the characters of Ryo, Kaori and Umibozu appeared in a video for the virtual musician Mana. Mana is a collaboration between Hojo and Tetsuya Komuro of TM Network.
The cover for the 2015 Chris Brown single "Zero" was allegedly copied from one of Hojo's City Hunter sketches.