City Hunter

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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 -- it ... has 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 even ... bandits 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 Shojo ... demography, 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.