City Hunter (written by Hojo Tsukasa) will be the second new graphic novel title to premier in June. Featuring a time when the dark alleys of the Shinjuku District in Tokyo are filled with uncontrollable crime. Citizens seek the help of the "City Hunter," a sure shot professional gunman who never misses his target with his Colt .357 magnum.
Tsukasa Hojo (北条司 Hōjō Tsukasa, born on March 5, 1959, in Kokura, Kitakyushu, Japan) is a Japanese manga artist. He studied technical design while still at Kyushu Sangyo University, where he began to draw manga. He worked on several one-shot stories before releasing his serialized works: Cat's Eye, City Hunter and Angel Heart.
Hojo claims that he really did not have any inspiration for these works other than having to meet a deadline. He says he wrote down a few things, he thought about a few things, and one day the ideas just came to him, out of thin air. In reality, the process was a lot more complicated, with editors involved, but fans got the benefit of Hojo's sense of adventure and humor.
After the success of Cat's Eye and City Hunter, Hojo went on to work on other series such as Family Compo. His current ongoing series is Angel Heart, a spinoff of City Hunter set in an alternate universe. It has been serialized in the Weekly Comic Bunch since 2001 and 30 collected volumes has been published so far.
Tsukasa Hojo is Takehiko Inoue's mentor. Inoue worked as an assistant to Hojo during the production of City Hunter. Hojo is also a long-time acquaintance of Fist of the North Star illustrator Tetsuo Hara, who was also one of the founders of Coamix. Hojo contributed to the production Fist of the North Star: The Legends of the True Savior film series by designing the character of Reina.
He was honor guest of the eleventh French Japan Expo which was held in July 2010.
This isn't even a review. This is more like a rant.
I have to give a credit for the hilariousness of some parts of this book.
I don't like Kyo Saeba. This right here is pretty much problematic because he's the protagonist and I was expecting a lot from him. I know that he's good at his job but he's just so freaking cocky (in a hit-me-on-the-face way)! What's more is that he's a perv! I don't know if it's supposed to be funny or if the author is just sexually deprived or it's just the 1980's sense of humor but there were just so much sensual stuff that doesn't even add to the weight of the book. If Saeba's going to be a modern robin hood then why not stick to it? How come Saeba has to kiss/ harass all the girl character in the book? Being a protagonist/ a good-doer does not entitle anybody (specially HIM) to be like that. Ugh, this is so frustrating.
I thought that he's going to get better on the few remaining chapters. I was so disappointed. Nonetheless, it's my fault anyway for expecting too much. Bu-bu-but I like the dramaaa. Can you blame me?
I know that this is too early for me too judge the manga in its entirety given that I'm just on the first volume. I just hope that it gets better in the following volumes. Volume 19's not that bad anyway, so I'm still hopeful.
Worked quite well as a partly serious, partly humorous crime series, but then it decided it needed to go full cartoony slapstick comedy, with some crime stories hidden within. It'd be one thing to deal with the massive tonal shift, but the humor itself was repetitive. Ryo, the main character, would hit on an attractive woman, and his partner/love interest would hit him with a mallet because how dare a grown man have a sex drive. Lather, rinse, repeat.
This is very hard boiled story. Ryo Saeba is protagonist. Characters and background of City Hunter are so realistic. I really like these realistic designs especially women designs that Mr. Hojo draws because designs of women are not too thin and tight like Lupin the third and I like fashion of characters. Ryo usually looks silly but he will do it when the time comes. This is the point that makes him look cooler.
This is an enjoyable series. I enjoy these sweepers in 90s Japan and I think it does a great job of combining humor and action.
I think it’d be pretty tough doing some kind of action series, James Bond-esque style, seeing that anything would appear like a rehash, but City Hunters has felt memorable so far. Saebo does some crazy stuff like shooting a bullet between the bones in his hand to slow the impact of the bullet. He kills a cheating boxer at a match right when the boxer is being hit by the other boxer. There’s beauty in his kills.
I felt as though Makimura was killed in strange fashion. The entire death scene feels rushed and Saebo and Kaori’s glossed over it. I was hoping to see Makimura play a larger role in the series but, oh well.
Reflecting on the humor if the series, it is definitely juvenile and the masculinity of Saebo would definitely not mesh well in today’s pop culture. But I’ll enjoy this in the meantime.
EDIT 1.26.2018: Updated to 5 stars because the volume had a resounding effect on me.
Rating Update 26 May 2019 Five stars to three stars. Here are the following ratings for each chapter:
Chapter One: five stars Chapter Two: four stars Chapter Three: three stars Chapter Four: two stars Chapter Five: three stars Chapter Six: three stars
The cumulative rating of the volume is roughly 3.33 stars. The rating is thus three stars.
Update 8 June 2019 With the adoption of my new rating system, a five star rating is befitting. This change is done because of the update from January 26, 2019. I remember finishing the volume and wishing I was a city hunter. Unfortunately, the series has not reached the same heights at the time of this update, now having finished reading the eleventh volume. Since the volume has not reached the same heights, I have doubted my previous rating of five stars but it is a sound rating.
August 25, 2019 Rating Update Five stars to four stars. I have debated whether the volume's rating of five stars is supported despite the three star-rated sections. I have looked through these sections to see if they are cumulative, as to support the five star-rated peaks, or separate, which would mean a lowering of the volume to four stars. I have decided to rate the chapters again:
Chapter One (Ten Seconds of Dishonour): five stars Chapter Two (The BMW Devil): four stars Chapter Three (The Shooter from the Darkness): three stars Chapter Four (The Angel Dust of Fear): two stars Chapter Five (A Cool Partner): three stars
The cumulative rating is 3.4 stars. I have removed chapter six because Wikipedia says chapter six is from volume 2. The final two chapters are cumulative, since they continue revealing Ryo and Kaori's relationship in the wake of Makimura's death. I have decided to rate the volume at four stars because of the impression it left on me. I will ignore the 3.4 star rating because of the previously stated reason, and because the page amounts of each chapter were not calculated, which would have lowered the strength of lower rated chapters. The chapters are separate, for the most part.
The other major reason behind the lowering of the rating is because the "Double Edge" chapter, which I had read online, is not listed on the Wikipedia chapters list for the first volume. The "Double Edge" chapter, which featured Ryo killing an actor who was trying to kill another actor, which greatly contributed to my statement that "there’s beauty in his kills". The heights of the first few chapters decrease into mediocrity and decent content in the later chapters.
Although the volume had a resounding effect on me (most likely an effect increased by the "Double Edge" chapter), it is only for the first chapter, and subsides because of previously stated criticisms for the rest of the chapters. The feeling does not carry over.
January 1, 2020 Update In seeing if the chapters taken separately will reach a four star-rating, I will average the rating of the volume with the individual ratings for the chapter (read the August 25, 2019, rating update for information on how I consider some chapter cumulative and fine for their boredom).
Chapter One (Ten Seconds of Dishonour): (Pages one through thirty-six, thirty-six pages) Five stars. One hundred and eighty points. Chapter Two (The BMW Devil): (Pages thirty-seven through ninety-eight, sixty-two pages) Four stars. Two hundred and forty-eight points. Chapter Three (The Shooter from the Darkness): (Pages ninety-nine through one hundred and nineteen, twenty-one pages) Three stars. Sixty-three points. Chapter Four (The Angel Dust of Fear): (Pages one hundred and twenty-two through one hundred and sixty-two, forty-one pages) Two stars. Eighty-two points. Chapter Five (A Cool Partner): (Pages one hundred and sixty-three through one hundred and eighty-three, twenty-one pages). Three stars. Sixty-three points.
Six hundred and thirty-six points divided by one hundred and eighty-one = 3.51 stars.
I have thought of lowering chapter two to three stars but I must remind myself of the ending, in how Ryo shoots the woman's stalker in order so that she doesn't dirty her hands and his continued amazing aurora, and the jokes spaced out. Even though the chapter is lengthy, it allows for the buildup and four star-rated ending. I have also thought to lower the rating of chapter three to two stars because of the setting of a basement shootout but the feelings of Ryo being sent out on a mission for Makimura and the belief that the ending surprised and delighted me, leaves the volume at a three star rating (I quickly reread all of chapter three to make sure. One of my discoveries was the belief and inclination that I might have been surprised at Kaori's reveal at the end of the chapter upon initially reading it).
I must correct my statement the previous update: "Although the volume had a resounding effect on me (most likely an effect increased by the "Double Edge" chapter), it is only for the first chapter, and subsides because of previously stated criticisms for the rest of the chapters. The feeling does not carry over". I do remember some propellment of enjoyment in the chapters after the first one, which pushes their ratings up from my previous thoughts that they should be two star-rated chapters.
January 8, 2020 Rating Update Four stars to three stars. To begin, I believe that my initial feelings and enjoyment for the chapters have been forgotten and replaced by my current bland reception. At one point I had finished reading this volume and despite the weaker later chapters, I wanted to be a city hunter. It thrilled me; the style of the manga, Ryo's persona and abilities. This seemed to be valid enough reason to rate the volume at five stars, but this would be to disregard the mediocre ensuing chapters. Most importantly, my five star-rated feeling was after having read both the first chapter and the "Double Edge" chapter, the later which was not in the original volume. This double dosage of a five star-rating influenced my disregard for the later chapters. I consider the chapters individual enough that they stand on their own and don't require each other for buildup.
An updated rating for each individual chapter:
Chapter One (Ten Seconds of Dishonour): (Pages one through thirty-six, thirty-six pages) Five stars. One hundred and eighty points. Chapter Two (The BMW Devil): (Pages thirty-seven through ninety-eight, sixty-two pages) Two stars. One hundred and twenty-four points. Chapter Three (The Shooter from the Darkness): (Pages ninety-nine through one hundred and nineteen, twenty-one pages) Three stars. Sixty-three points. Chapter Four (The Angel Dust of Fear): (Pages one hundred and twenty-two through one hundred and sixty-two, forty-one pages) Two stars. Eighty-two points. Chapter Five (A Cool Partner): (Pages one hundred and sixty-three through one hundred and eighty-three, twenty-one pages). Three stars. Sixty-three points.
Five hundred and twelve points divided by one hundred and eighty-one = 2.83 stars.
For further reason why the second chapter should be rated at two stars, the update from May 26, 2019, rated chapter two at four stars and chapter three at two stars. These ratings were probably incorrect since the second chapter probably meant the "Double Edge" chapter that is not part of the volume. Also, the total amount of chapters rated in the May 26, 2019, update was six chapters and not five. The two star-rating for chapter three most likely corresponds to the actual two star chapter titled "The BMW Devil". I still slightly remember having a bit of boredom from the lengthiness of the chapter and the blandness of it.
I have also thought of lowering chapter three to two stars but I cannot remember my feelings towards it, and the average rating of 2.83 stars would not fall lower than 2.5 stars because of the chapter being lowered.
April 4, 2020 Update I have thought of lowering the first chapter, "Ten Seconds of Dishonour" from five stars to four stars because I have felt that the true five star-rated chapter was the "Double Edge" chapter. The "Double Edge", which was not part of the book, may have hindered my reception and memory of "Ten Seconds of Dishonour". Even if the chapter rating was lowered for "Ten Seconds of Dishonour", the volume would still receive a 2.63 star-rating, more than enough to round up to a three star-rating. Furthermore, if these calculations were continued to include chapter three being lowered to two stars, as had been mentioned in the previous update, the volume would receive a 2.51 star-rating, still a high enough rating to receive a three star-rating.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I read “CITY HUNTER”. I rate this manga five start! Protagonist is “Saeba Ryo”, three dimensional character. He is “Sweeper” who exclude some antagonist like a gangster in the city. The plot is that he is requested escort some person by client. And he fights with his partner “Kaori”. She is secondary character. Setting is Shinjuku in Japan. He is very strong and very very cool! Each scene is very exciting especially climax scene!. You will fall in love. But he is flawed character. He likes woman too much. Usually he looks like lazy. But when he starts working, he becomes very cool and clever. When the client request, they have to write “XYZ” on the board in front of Shinjuku station. “XYZ ” means they are in pinch. If you read this manga, you will want to use this word.
Doch damit weckst du die schlafenden Hunde der Mafia…
Zum Inhalt:
Ryo Saeba und sein Partner Makimura sind Polizisten, welche sich aber auch mit Aufträgen über Wasser halten. Als ein Boxchamp erschossen wird, sollen die beiden den Fall lösen. Außerdem werden sie von der Schwester eines ermordeten Mädchens angeheuert, um das Verbrechen zu klären. Als Makimuras Schwester Kaori plötzlich verschwindet soll Ryo sie suchen und erfährt so ein dunkles Geheimnis rund um das Mädchen, denn plötzlich befinden sich alle drei in einem Kampf mit der Mafia, welcher tragische Opfer fordert.
Cover:
Das Cover beinhaltet eigentlich alles, was man zu diesem Manga wissen muss. Zu sehen sind hier die beiden Protagonisten Ryo und Kaori, wie sie beieinander stehen und scheinbar von einem Waffenvisier aufgegriffen werden. Anhand der Kleidung kann man schon erkennen, dass der Manga aus den 80ern/90ern stammt und dementsprechend eigentlich schon absoluten Kultstatus inne hat.
Eigener Eindruck: City Hunter ist und bleibt ein Klassiker unter den Mangas und wurde auch zu seinem Jubiläum in einem Sonderband noch einmal als Gesamtausgabe veröffentlicht. Die Zeichnungen sind bisweilen sehr stark detailliert, weichen aber auch sehr schnell in scherzhafte Chibi-Zeichnungen ab, besonders dann, wenn der Autor seine schwarzhumorige Seite auslebt. Denn mit Ryo Saeba hat er einen absoluten Antihelden geschaffen. Stets ist dieser dabei seinen weiblichen Kunden auf die Pelle zu rücken oder ihnen zumindest in irgend einer Form nachzustellen. Darüber kann man durchaus schmunzeln, denn Ryo bekommt zumeist immer eine Abreibung die sich gewaschen hat. Neben den scherzhaften Szenen bekommt der Leser aber eine handfeste Story, welche sich fortan in den nachfolgenden Bänden immer weiter fortsetzt. Denn mit dem Auftauchen von Kaori haben sich Ereignisse in Gang gesetzt, welche Ryo und sie immer weiter zueinander führen, auch wenn Ryo das so nicht zugeben will beziehungsweise Kaori mehr oder minder immer als Sittenwächter fungieren muss. Wem übrigens die Droge „Angel Dust“ in dem Manga bekannt vorkommt. Der Nachfolgemanga der Reihe City Hunter trägt eben jenen Namen und gehört auch zu den Klassikern schlechthin. Für mich jedenfalls war der Manga mal wieder eine willkommene Abwechslung, auch wenn er sich wohl eher an das männliche Leseklientel richtet. Trotzdem macht er aber Spaß und ich freue mich schon auf die Fortsetzung rund um den Schwerenöter Ryo.
Fazit:
Schwarzhumorig, spannend und durchaus noch mit Potential nach oben. Ich bin gespannt wie es weiter geht und kann euch den Manga daher nur empfehlen, wenn ihr gerne lacht, aber auch eine gute Kriminalgeschichte mögt.
Idee: 5/5
Charaktere: 4/5
Logik: 4/5
Spannung: 4/5
Emotionen: 4/5
Gesamt: 4/5
Daten:
ISBN: 9783898850469
Sprache: deutsch
Ausgabe: Flexibler Einband
Umfang: 184 Seiten
Verlag: Ehapa Comic Collection - Egmont Manga & Anime
Baca ulang setelah lebih dari seperempat abad. Pertama kali baca komik ini tahun 1994, jaman keemasan persewaan komik. Waktu itu, komik-komik silat dan horor buatan Indonesia saja masih gampang dijumpai di persewaan-persewaan buku. Komik serial City Hunter ini awalnya aku baca karena gambarnya berbeda dari komik Jepang lainnya yang waktu itu lebih populer seperti Kungfu Boy dan Tiger Wong. Gambar dalam komik ini lebih "realistis", ceritanya berlangsung di kota yang "nyata" bukan di dunia yang fiktif, bahkan hingga ke gaya berpakaiannya yang khas 80an akhir dan 90an awal digambarkan dengan bagus.
Rupa-rupanya, setelah kubaca, komik ini tergolong komik "dewasa". Ada beberapa penggambarannya yang lumayan "vulgar" sehingga banyak sensornya. Ryo Saeba, tokoh utama di komik ini, digambarkan sebagai pria genit yang suka menggoda wanita, mesum, dan suka "jalan-jalan" ke kawasan "lampu merah" di Shinjuku, kota tempat cerita serial ini berlangsung. Meskipun begitu, dia dan temannya, Makimura, bekerja sebagai "sweeper" (barangkali tepatnya sebagai detekif dan pembunuh bayaran) yang dikontrak orang untuk membunuh dan mereka berdua lumayan terkenal dan ditakuti di kota itu.
Komik nomor pertama berisikan beberapa kasus yang ditangani oleh Ryo dan Makimura. Kasus-kasus pertama lebih merupakan pengantar perkenalan tokoh utama. Kasus utama dalam nomor ini adalah kasus yang membuat partner Ryo terbunuh dan mendapatkan penggantinya yang akan terus mendampingi Ryo sepanjang komik.
Setelah seperempat abad lebih, komik ini aku baca lagi dan baru terasa ternyata memang nuansa 80annya kuat banget. Tsukasa Hojo jago banget ngegambarnya. Selain itu, di zaman internet seperti sekarang, akses terhadap versi terjemahan yang lebih baik juga tersedia, sehingga beberapa bagian komik yang dulu membingungkan sekarang bisa ketahuan kocaknya di mana. Pendek kata, komik ini enggak rugi buat dibaca lagi. Kocak dan aksinya seru.
Tras terminar la relectura de Naruto le toca el turno a City Hunter. Y no es que sea una de mis obras favoritas, sólo quiero cambiarla de estantería XD. Soy consciente con éste relectura que me va a
costar bastante llegar hasta el final. El motivo? Que es una obra inconclusa en España y es imposible encontrarla en inglés, eso hará que mis ganas vayan decayendo según me acerque al precipitado final dado a la obra por mangaline...
Pero bueno, que me lío.
Lo primero que sorprende del tomo es que incluye varias historias, que además de ser autonclusivas se enlazan para marcarnos la base del personaje y de su mundo. Son historias donde vemos claro que se enfrentará a asesinos y organizaciones mafiosas, donde conocemos a los dos personajes principales y la excusa de que estén juntos; y donde vemos también el tono: serio en los momentos dramáticos y guarrete en los distendidos.
Se nota que es una obra de hacer años, especialmente en ese humor guarrete japones que a día de hoy podría hasta impedir la publicación de la obra en nuestro país (así de imbéciles nos estamos volviendo): tocamientos sin permiso, insinuaciones constantes... en fin, pero sigue teniendo algo que hace racia.
El dibujo es bastante bueno, y más teniendo en cuenta que estamos ante un primero tomo. Habrá que ver cómo evoluciona, pero para sí lo quisieran muchas obras modernas: con personalidad (aunque las caras femeninas son casi todas iguales...).
Buena primera toma de contacto, seguiremos informando.
I've heard so much about this series but was surprised that no one accidentally spilled any crazy details from it to me besides just describing it as a "wild ride".
Ryo is truly a special type of scum (morally grey character) but also a really good sweeper who cares about people. He's always on the lookout for trouble even when it isn't a hired gig and has an insatiable appetite for women AND for pissing women off. I wonder if anyone has counted how many times he gets slapped by a woman in the series for being a perv. The manga makes light of his perviness which is a tad annoying but unsurprising for the time it was published in. I'm just happy the women stand up for themselves. Also, what kind of lawless land are they living in? Ryo is murking people in daylight and then running off with the closest damsel in distress
I really enjoyed the first volume in the omnibus and am grateful to Abrams Comics for the DRC! I'll keep my eye out for the full volume 1 omnibus when its published September 23rd!
Intriguée par le drôle de titres de cet album, je n'ai pas été déçue bien au contraire. Les dessins à coup de crayons sont un peu désuets mais très mignons. L'humour est omniprésent dans ce petit ouvrage. L'appétit du lion est sans bornes, tout lui fait ventre. le rapport texte-images est superbement travaillé, tout en sous-entendus et en non-dits. La dernière double page de mise en abîme est particulièrement savoureuse.
Manga kocak abis yang sampai sekarang masih kutunggu versi terbitan resminya ("Halo? Level Comics? Sebelum nerbitin Angel Heart mestinya nerbitin seri ini dulu dong!"). Kenapa sih belum ada penerbit resmi yang mau (baca: berani) menerbitkan?
Apa karena Ryo Saeba pervert banget, bukan teladan yang baik bagi generasi muda Indonesia (meskipun dia sweeper yang luar biasa keren kalo lagi nggak bertingkah konyol)? Atau karena banyaknya gambar e***si-nya Ryo (di Angel Heart juga ada dan gak kena sensor, kan? Ok,ok, memang nggak sebanyak dan sevulgar di City Hunter yang ada di hampir setiap chapter >.<, hohoho... wajarlah, bagaimanapun di seri ini Ryo masih muda, ngakunya kan selalu berumur 20 tahun)?
Sekarang aku terpaksa puas dengan koleksi mangascan dan koleksi versi Rajawali Grafiti yang terjemahannya sebenarnya enggak oke banget (ingat ada adegan Ryo dan Kaori nulis alamat rumah di Jakarta Selatan waktu teken kontrak sebagai peragawan/peragawati... ;P)
Novel koleksi Mas Gunawan ini gue baca semester pertama di Jatinangor, barengan koleksi sejarahnya Mas Anto. Baru datang di Universitas Djatinangor Darusalam. Kocak, saru, heroik, sekaligus romantis. Ada Kaori asisten sekaligus malaikat penjaga bagi sapa itu nama jagoannya Ryo Sheba (?). Bawa martil segede gaban kalo Ryo dah mulai macem2. Pernah difilmkan dengan Jacky Chan jadi Ryo Sheba.
Nikki Larson, ça vous rappelle quelque chose ? En voici, la version originale et le moins qu'on puisse dire c'est que c'est toujours aussi drôle... Et cela, en dépit d'une édition qui aurait pu être meilleure de la part de Panini...
I give it 4 stars even if it's not the best volume of the series because I've read more of it and I know how much potential this series has and the 1st volume can only give you a glimpse of all the good stuffs.