Written and Reviewed by Bop
Some of us love anime. Some of us don’t. I appreciate the art from, but can’t say I love all anime. To me there is a lot of emo bullshit anime, that just doesn’t interest me. However, there are a few gems like Gatchaman, Cyber City Oedo, Remi Nobody’s Boy, Pinocchio, Treasure Island and the Infini-T series. City Hunter is another one of those gems.
City Hunter is about a private eye who only wants to be hired by pretty women. He is bit of bi-polar character. When there are beautiful women in the neighbourhood he can’t control himself and becomes a big lecher. And that is what makes that Tv show funny. However, when shit hits the fan and he needs to get serious he gets serious. He is master of the gun and he can fight. What more do you need in a TV show?
Jackie Chan was the first guy, who did a live-action City Hunter. Legend has it that he once did a poll in Japan asking the Japanese which anime character he should play and it turns out it was City Hunter.
Jackie Chan’s City Hunter was a piece of art. Wacky, funny and just plain ridiculous. However, his City Hunter was very toned down. Ryo Saeba, City Hunter, was not as big of a lecher in the movie as he was in the anime, but still it was a funny movie, that always cracks me up when I watch it again.
Then along came French Philippe Lacheau and crew and did their live-action version of City Hunter, which they called Nicky Larson, which is how City Hunter is called in France. Don’t ask why, because I don’t know. The French version of City Hunter was much much better than Jackie’s one, because Lacheau’s City Hunter acted more like the City Hunter in the anime. Also, the action was more anime like than it was in Jackie’s City Hunter. So in short, it was the superior version.
Little did I know that the Japanese finally would do their live-action version of City Hunter. Stalkeye told me they were coming up with that movie and lo and behold, there it was on Netflix on April 25th. Needless to say, that on April 25th I had a bag of chips and some soft drinks to watch the movie.
So how was it?
It was fucking hilarious. Ryohei Suzuki III is fucking City Hunter. He had the mannerisms of Ryo Saeba aka City Hunter pat down. He is cool, he is calm, he is collected and he is a lecher. Women drive him crazy. The storyline was a bit off, though. Now, I didn’t see all City Hunter episodes, but in the ones I saw I don’t remember he had to deal with people with superhuman powers caused by some kind of drug. That was the only minor thing in the movie. His female tomboy sidekick Kairi was cast perfectly and Saeko was also there. City Hunter always wants to have sex with female cop Saeko in the anime, but they toned it down a bit in the movie, which is a shame.The action was fantastic. It was cartoony but also as good as you see in martial arts movies.
The Japanese did a great version of City Hunter. I thought the French version would be the best, but I was sorely mistaken. I hope more City Hunter live-action movies done by Ryohei Suzuki III are coming. That guy is Ryo Saeba. They are onto something here. For me, this is already one of the best movies of the year. What are you waiting for? Go watch it!