What do you think?
Rate this book
City Hunter Omnibus Volume 1
The era-defining manga phenomenon finally arrives in a gorgeous deluxe English-language omnibus edition.
The source of multiple anime series, specials, films, live-action adaptations, and video games, City Hunter is beloved for its mix of action, comedy, and romance, and has sold over 50 million volumes worldwide.
This English-language omnibus edition contains the first three volumes of the series, beautifully printed and packed with all of the original art, including a 4-page full-color insert. This omnibus will be a prize for a collector’s shelf.
James Bond meets Lupin the Third! A stylish cocktail of hard-boiled action and raunchy comedy, manga classic City Hunter follows exceptional marksman and compassionate sleazeball Ryo Saeba as he sweeps corruption from the lavish 80s Tokyo nightlife, one evil at a time.
Readers follow the City Hunter as he takes on underground odd jobs, ranging from serving as the bodyguard of a captivating madame to executing a vengeful assassination of a corrupt politician, navigating through quick-witted thrills and intense dramas.
The City Hunter Ryo Saeba does the dirty work of cleaning up Tokyo’s nightlife with his heart of gold worn on his sleeve.
The source of multiple anime series, specials, films, live-action adaptations, and video games, City Hunter is beloved for its mix of action, comedy, and romance, and has sold over 50 million volumes worldwide.
This English-language omnibus edition contains the first three volumes of the series, beautifully printed and packed with all of the original art, including a 4-page full-color insert. This omnibus will be a prize for a collector’s shelf.
James Bond meets Lupin the Third! A stylish cocktail of hard-boiled action and raunchy comedy, manga classic City Hunter follows exceptional marksman and compassionate sleazeball Ryo Saeba as he sweeps corruption from the lavish 80s Tokyo nightlife, one evil at a time.
Readers follow the City Hunter as he takes on underground odd jobs, ranging from serving as the bodyguard of a captivating madame to executing a vengeful assassination of a corrupt politician, navigating through quick-witted thrills and intense dramas.
The City Hunter Ryo Saeba does the dirty work of cleaning up Tokyo’s nightlife with his heart of gold worn on his sleeve.
- GenresManga
582 pages, Paperback
Published September 23, 2025
25 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Tsukasa Hōjō
728 books91 followersTsukasa 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.
(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukasa_...)
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.
(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukasa_...)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 1, 2025
I don't love early Ryo, but the cases he takes on are still really good. It's worth sticking around if you can get past all the (lame) boner jokes.
December 8, 2025
Shunichi Ogino is an up-and-coming young boxer who’s got a title shot coming up. He’d previously been hit and run by a car, and during his recovery fallen in love with his physical therapist, Dr. Megumi Iwasaki. They’re planning to marry after the big fight. But there’s been some threatening phone calls lately. When Shunichi is shot during his early morning run, he tells Megumi exactly who it was. But Megumi can’t wait for the justice system to take down the criminal, so she doesn’t tell the police. This is a job for the City Hunter!
This action-comedy manga started in 1985 after the end of Tsukasa Hojo’s successful Cats Eye series. It also did well, inspiring a four-season anime, several animated and live-action movies (one starring Jackie Chan!) and an alternate history “sequel”, Angel Heart.
The City Hunter of the title is Ryo Saeba, who works as a “sweeper” (combination private detective/bodyguard/assassin) in 1980s Shinjuku, Tokyo. He’s an expert shot with multiple types of firearms, darn good with personal combat, and can take a lot of punishment. He also has a variety of other useful talents, including being a skilled vocal mimic. And somehow he’s able to operate freely, despite ownership and use of highly illegal guns and, you know, killing people every so often.
On the downside, he’s a horndog, very attracted to pretty women, and not shy in the least about making that attraction known. This often manifests as sexual harassment, and even when he’s trying to be restrained, the mokkori bulge in his pants gives away his real thoughts. (It will be revealed later that his awesome combat abilities are fueled by his libido.)
In the early chapters, Ryo’s partner is Hideyuki Makimura, a former police officer who scouts the clients to make sure they’re legitimate requests. He’s a world-weary type, cynical but devoted to his little sister Kaori (who Ryo has never met.)
After the introductory chapter about the boxer, the City Hunter team takes on a serial rapist and murderer who becomes known as the “BMW Devil.” Then Ryo is investigating a series of disappearances believed to be tied to sex trafficking. Coincidentally, he sees a young person being hassled by an aggressive prostitute despite the target’s clear distaste. It turns out the “young man” is actually a young woman whose tomboyish appearance and butch fashion sense causes her to be misgendered on a regular basis.
To “help” her out, Ryo tricks her into being the bait in a trap for the sex traffickers. Only afterward does he learn that she’s actually Kaori Makimura, his partner’s sister. Oops.
The next story introduces Union Teope, an organized crime ring specializing in drug running, that is trying to take over the Japanese underworld. They want to either hire the City Hunter to help eliminate the local Yakuza, or kill them as a possible threat. They use “Angel Dust”, an urban legend version of PCP, to turn minions into “super soldiers.”
One of these kills Hideyuki, but not before the ex-cop is able to pass the information to Ryo. Now Union Teope is after both Ryo and Kaori (so as not to leave survivors that might come back for revenge) so Kaori volunteers to become Ryo’s new partner at least partially to protect herself. She makes a lot of rookie mistakes, but at least seems to help female clients feel a bit less threatened by Ryo. We also get a hint at Ryo’s past as he’s very familiar with Union Teope and their operational methods despite them being new to Japan.
After dealing with some Union Teope sub-bosses, the crime organization backs off temporarily, and the City Hunter team becomes involved in bodyguarding a Yakuza boss’ daughter from a biker gang. This is more lighthearted than it sounds due to the actual nature of the bikers. As a result, high schooler Sayaka gets a crush on the much older Ryo.
So she inserts herself into Ryo and Kaori’s next assignment, helping a man fake his own death for the second time to get out from under a corrupt politician’s thumb and be able to see his abandoned daughter.
Next up, Ryo becomes a bodyguard for Yumiko Sato, an eccentric but very attractive actress. It seems there’s been a suspicious number of near-fatal accidents during the shooting of her new movie, a crime thriller. But who’s responsible? Her manager, the one who hired Ryo? Her playboy co-star? His jealous ex-mistress? The much put upon director? Or someone else entirely?
The volume ends on a cliffhanger as Ryo learns who the attempted killer is, and realizes that he might actually have to work for a win.
There’s some very good art, and Hojo does know how to draw the female figure nicely. Various details of weaponry and machinery come off well, and the action is exciting.
On the other hand, the comedy shifts are sometimes jarring, and sexual harassment isn’t as funny as it used to be. Also, the girl of the week characters tend to suffer from “same face”. As someone who’s seen most of the anime, I know that some of the comedic elements are tied into Ryo’s tragic backstory so if you can put up with them in the meantime, there’s some satisfying payoff.
Content notice: Quite a lot of murder, including by the main character, sometimes a bit gory, plus some lesser violence both slapstick and realistic. Sexual harassment by the lead, though his actual extramarital sex is all off camera and very much consensual. Mention of rape and sex trafficking. Drug abuse. Full frontal female nudity (in Shounen Jump! The Eighties were a different time.) A bunch of dick jokes. Misgendering as a running gag. Older teens should be okay, adult guardians might want to screen it for younger teens to see if they’re ready.
Despite some of the humor aging badly, this is a well-drawn, exciting series. Recommended to fans of Eighties action movies.
This action-comedy manga started in 1985 after the end of Tsukasa Hojo’s successful Cats Eye series. It also did well, inspiring a four-season anime, several animated and live-action movies (one starring Jackie Chan!) and an alternate history “sequel”, Angel Heart.
The City Hunter of the title is Ryo Saeba, who works as a “sweeper” (combination private detective/bodyguard/assassin) in 1980s Shinjuku, Tokyo. He’s an expert shot with multiple types of firearms, darn good with personal combat, and can take a lot of punishment. He also has a variety of other useful talents, including being a skilled vocal mimic. And somehow he’s able to operate freely, despite ownership and use of highly illegal guns and, you know, killing people every so often.
On the downside, he’s a horndog, very attracted to pretty women, and not shy in the least about making that attraction known. This often manifests as sexual harassment, and even when he’s trying to be restrained, the mokkori bulge in his pants gives away his real thoughts. (It will be revealed later that his awesome combat abilities are fueled by his libido.)
In the early chapters, Ryo’s partner is Hideyuki Makimura, a former police officer who scouts the clients to make sure they’re legitimate requests. He’s a world-weary type, cynical but devoted to his little sister Kaori (who Ryo has never met.)
After the introductory chapter about the boxer, the City Hunter team takes on a serial rapist and murderer who becomes known as the “BMW Devil.” Then Ryo is investigating a series of disappearances believed to be tied to sex trafficking. Coincidentally, he sees a young person being hassled by an aggressive prostitute despite the target’s clear distaste. It turns out the “young man” is actually a young woman whose tomboyish appearance and butch fashion sense causes her to be misgendered on a regular basis.
To “help” her out, Ryo tricks her into being the bait in a trap for the sex traffickers. Only afterward does he learn that she’s actually Kaori Makimura, his partner’s sister. Oops.
The next story introduces Union Teope, an organized crime ring specializing in drug running, that is trying to take over the Japanese underworld. They want to either hire the City Hunter to help eliminate the local Yakuza, or kill them as a possible threat. They use “Angel Dust”, an urban legend version of PCP, to turn minions into “super soldiers.”
One of these kills Hideyuki, but not before the ex-cop is able to pass the information to Ryo. Now Union Teope is after both Ryo and Kaori (so as not to leave survivors that might come back for revenge) so Kaori volunteers to become Ryo’s new partner at least partially to protect herself. She makes a lot of rookie mistakes, but at least seems to help female clients feel a bit less threatened by Ryo. We also get a hint at Ryo’s past as he’s very familiar with Union Teope and their operational methods despite them being new to Japan.
After dealing with some Union Teope sub-bosses, the crime organization backs off temporarily, and the City Hunter team becomes involved in bodyguarding a Yakuza boss’ daughter from a biker gang. This is more lighthearted than it sounds due to the actual nature of the bikers. As a result, high schooler Sayaka gets a crush on the much older Ryo.
So she inserts herself into Ryo and Kaori’s next assignment, helping a man fake his own death for the second time to get out from under a corrupt politician’s thumb and be able to see his abandoned daughter.
Next up, Ryo becomes a bodyguard for Yumiko Sato, an eccentric but very attractive actress. It seems there’s been a suspicious number of near-fatal accidents during the shooting of her new movie, a crime thriller. But who’s responsible? Her manager, the one who hired Ryo? Her playboy co-star? His jealous ex-mistress? The much put upon director? Or someone else entirely?
The volume ends on a cliffhanger as Ryo learns who the attempted killer is, and realizes that he might actually have to work for a win.
There’s some very good art, and Hojo does know how to draw the female figure nicely. Various details of weaponry and machinery come off well, and the action is exciting.
On the other hand, the comedy shifts are sometimes jarring, and sexual harassment isn’t as funny as it used to be. Also, the girl of the week characters tend to suffer from “same face”. As someone who’s seen most of the anime, I know that some of the comedic elements are tied into Ryo’s tragic backstory so if you can put up with them in the meantime, there’s some satisfying payoff.
Content notice: Quite a lot of murder, including by the main character, sometimes a bit gory, plus some lesser violence both slapstick and realistic. Sexual harassment by the lead, though his actual extramarital sex is all off camera and very much consensual. Mention of rape and sex trafficking. Drug abuse. Full frontal female nudity (in Shounen Jump! The Eighties were a different time.) A bunch of dick jokes. Misgendering as a running gag. Older teens should be okay, adult guardians might want to screen it for younger teens to see if they’re ready.
Despite some of the humor aging badly, this is a well-drawn, exciting series. Recommended to fans of Eighties action movies.
September 17, 2025
My thanks to NetGalley and Abrams ComicArts Kana for an advance copy of this collection of adventures featuring one of the most handiest and handsy heroes in manga, a character with his own set of morals, sense of justice and own way of dealing with the ladies.
As with most good things I have come across in my life it was Jackie Chan who introduced me to the stories of Ryo Saeba, City Hunter. I was watching everything I could of Jackie whose movies mixed humor, action and a willingness to die on film for entertainment value. I was quick to acquire tapes, and DVD's through whatever means necessary and one was a DVD with a movie that I had no idea the name, the plot even what the story was about. Jackie was wearing a white coat, and acting much more sex pest-ish than usual. I enjoyed it, but it took awhile to find out what it was. The movie was of course City Hunter, and I was able also acquire many of the television shows and movies featuring the character. For all of this, I had never read the manga. Until now. City Hunter Omnibus Volume 1 is written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo and features the adventures of a man with a particular set of skills, both in violence, gun play, and an ability to be slapped by most of the women he encounters.
The omnibus contains the first three volumes, featuring stories that will be familiar from the shows, and the latest Netflix movie. Ryo Saeba, the so called City Hunter, is a sweeper, sweeping, for a price the scum, the villainous, and the murderous from his city of Tokyo, and or this mortal plane. Ryo carries a .357 Magnum, a weapon he is not afraid to use, but his best weapon is his tenacity, street smarts, and his ability to pester woman. Ryo is a throwback to the well one would say 50's, but more like the caveman days when it come to the ladies. Kaori Makimura is his partner, the sister of his late partner killed by a criminal union that Ryo is doing his best to wipe out. Kaori does the best she can with Ryo, quick with a witty remark, or even a punch for the many pokes that Ryo throws at her. The adventures are big and small, looking for lost women, tracking a serial killer, dealing with robbers, or fighting vast criminal organizations.
The stories a violent, funny, rude and a little well weird. The violence is very gun porn, something the Japanese do quite well. The humor is well onset adolescence, and might be dated in a lot of ways. The stories though still stand up, though zombie PCP sounds like something from a police propaganda film. The art is excellent. Full characters, a good sense of motion and action. Accurate weapon, cars, and backgrounds. Plus villains look evil, girls are very good girl and the violence is again well portrayed. Like a Jackie Chan mixed with John Woo with some Naked Gun.
Fans of manga will enjoy this. Old school readers like myself can catch up and see where story ideas came from, and what they were originally. This is the start of a few books being reissued featuring the work of Tsukasa Hojo and I look forward to reading them all.
As with most good things I have come across in my life it was Jackie Chan who introduced me to the stories of Ryo Saeba, City Hunter. I was watching everything I could of Jackie whose movies mixed humor, action and a willingness to die on film for entertainment value. I was quick to acquire tapes, and DVD's through whatever means necessary and one was a DVD with a movie that I had no idea the name, the plot even what the story was about. Jackie was wearing a white coat, and acting much more sex pest-ish than usual. I enjoyed it, but it took awhile to find out what it was. The movie was of course City Hunter, and I was able also acquire many of the television shows and movies featuring the character. For all of this, I had never read the manga. Until now. City Hunter Omnibus Volume 1 is written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo and features the adventures of a man with a particular set of skills, both in violence, gun play, and an ability to be slapped by most of the women he encounters.
The omnibus contains the first three volumes, featuring stories that will be familiar from the shows, and the latest Netflix movie. Ryo Saeba, the so called City Hunter, is a sweeper, sweeping, for a price the scum, the villainous, and the murderous from his city of Tokyo, and or this mortal plane. Ryo carries a .357 Magnum, a weapon he is not afraid to use, but his best weapon is his tenacity, street smarts, and his ability to pester woman. Ryo is a throwback to the well one would say 50's, but more like the caveman days when it come to the ladies. Kaori Makimura is his partner, the sister of his late partner killed by a criminal union that Ryo is doing his best to wipe out. Kaori does the best she can with Ryo, quick with a witty remark, or even a punch for the many pokes that Ryo throws at her. The adventures are big and small, looking for lost women, tracking a serial killer, dealing with robbers, or fighting vast criminal organizations.
The stories a violent, funny, rude and a little well weird. The violence is very gun porn, something the Japanese do quite well. The humor is well onset adolescence, and might be dated in a lot of ways. The stories though still stand up, though zombie PCP sounds like something from a police propaganda film. The art is excellent. Full characters, a good sense of motion and action. Accurate weapon, cars, and backgrounds. Plus villains look evil, girls are very good girl and the violence is again well portrayed. Like a Jackie Chan mixed with John Woo with some Naked Gun.
Fans of manga will enjoy this. Old school readers like myself can catch up and see where story ideas came from, and what they were originally. This is the start of a few books being reissued featuring the work of Tsukasa Hojo and I look forward to reading them all.
December 31, 2025
First a bit of history. Many, many years ago I was into Korean dramas. One I enjoyed was based on this manga. When I saw this was on sale I decided to see what the original City Hunter was like.
I'm rather sorry I did as this guy is a complete creep. He never passes up a chance to grope women. In one story he's humping up on a high school girl. I don't what the age of consent is in Japan but I'm not Japanese so ick! Get away from her you pervert. Also the artwork. I had trouble telling the good guys from the bad guys as everyone looked the same!
I need to find that old kdrama to wash this manga out of my memory.
12-31-2025
Edit: Hey, I found the show on YouTube so at least one good thing has come from reading this manga as it has brought me back to this program.
I'm rather sorry I did as this guy is a complete creep. He never passes up a chance to grope women. In one story he's humping up on a high school girl. I don't what the age of consent is in Japan but I'm not Japanese so ick! Get away from her you pervert. Also the artwork. I had trouble telling the good guys from the bad guys as everyone looked the same!
I need to find that old kdrama to wash this manga out of my memory.
12-31-2025
Edit: Hey, I found the show on YouTube so at least one good thing has come from reading this manga as it has brought me back to this program.
October 1, 2025
City Hunter is top tier manga baby! I love the older manga, they are grittier and more free in their expression than a lot of modern stuff. All the authors from this period like Tetsuo Hara, Hirohiko Araki, even Yasuhiro Nightow were all drawing from the same creative well, same experiences, even movies and anime. It is this style they created which has always drawn me in. Their stories are so vibrant, action packed, and even comical. Also it is these stories that are the shoulders most modern manga writers and artists stand up on today. They owe a great debt to series like this one so you owe it to yourself to jump in and experience it too!
January 9, 2026
City Hunter follows a lecherous 'Sweeper' by the name of Ryo Saeba. He'll take on any job so long as it interests him, and usually if the client is a beautiful woman. Ryo is a perverted goof with a serious side that comes out during his missions. Quite a few groping and boner jokes throughout the Manga, though the groping gets very toned down when Kaori shows up. Kaori is his partner who keeps his nonsense in check, they make quite a good pair. Though your milage may vary as Kaori is also subject to Ryo's perversion at times. If you like episodic stories with an overarching plot I recommend City Hunter.
January 22, 2026
A challenge to get through, especially in omnibus format. Ryo as a character takes shape throughout this volume, starting as an edgy off-putting ladies man and ending as a charming, virtually harmless savant. That transformation is the only reason I'm considering the second volume. Will the completionist in me win out against the memory of boredom from the first half of this book? Knowing me... probably
September 26, 2025
These bad guys are definitely taking the full gallon of PCP
November 8, 2025
took me so long to read since it’s kinda a new thing every chapter but it was okay. you can definitely it’s super old though because he’s popping boners 24/7 which is weird asf. 3.8/5
January 17, 2026
The story and art were fine but holy shit is Ryo an awful person. I don't think there's a single woman in the entire book he doesn't grope or harass. Maybe it's just cultural differences but yeesh.
January 12, 2026
An anti-hero "sweeps" Shinjuku's underground of all scum, as he flips from consummate professional to sophomoric clown in the space of a panel. A Lupin the Third character with better artwork. The silliness gets old, and the fourth wall is always in ruins.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews