Everything You Need To Know About City Hunter, The Classic Manga Turned Netflix Movie

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Despite the fiasco that was Netflix's short-lived live-action "Cowboy Bebop" series and the atrocity that was the streamer's first-ever "Death Note" live-action movie, the service didn't give up after its early failed attempts to adapt beloved anime titles into successful live-action projects. Indeed, it subsequently shifted its attention to adapting other anime properties, including "My Hero Academia," "One Piece," and "Yu Yu Hakusho."

To be fair, these are all sensible choices for live-action adaptations; each of these properties are incredibly popular and play into character archetypes, themes, and stories that resonate across the globe. "My Hero Academia," after all, is literally about superheroes (and superheroes are still hot right now), while the other two are action-adventure stories with supernatural elements and tons of fights and comedic moments alike. On top of all that, they likewise feature characters with super-powers.

While the fantastical adventure elements are part of what makes these franchises popular, they're also a big reason why they're so hard to translate to live-action. For example, it's a lot harder to avoid making a character like Luffy from "One Piece" — who is essentially made out of rubber — look silly as a flesh-and-blood person, as opposed to keeping him squarely in the animation medium (where your imagination and budget, are the only limitations.) This, in turn, is why Netflix's celebrated live-action "One Piece" series is considered such an impressive accomplishment.

This also made it both exciting and kind of unsurprising when Netflix decided to make a live-action movie version of the classic 1980s manga "City Hunter." Now, if you've never experienced the neon fun of characters like Ryo Saeba, Hideyuki Makimura, and Misato Morita, this may not mean that much to you. For that reason, here's a guide to everything you need to know about the 2024 "City Hunter" film.

The original "City Hunter" manga was first published in the popular Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from 1985 to 1991 and was written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo. Its story follows Ryo Saeba, an underground private detective who strives to rid Tokyo of crime. He works with Kaori Makimura, the sister of Ryo's old partner who was murdered. In time, the two become partners and team up to find the killer responsible for murdering Kaori's brother.

Now, "City Hunter" is as '80s as a manga can get. It may not have Kenny Loggins, cuts to speeches by Ronald Reagan or either Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone, but it is still a hardboiled detective story told via '80s buddy cop action-comedy tropes. The protagonist is a notorious flirt and there are a whole lot of shoulder pads, neon lights, absurdist comedic situations, and thrilling action sequences. The "City Hunter" anime also adds plenty of '80s J-Pop and montages to better help sell its aesthetic.

The manga inspired several adaptations prior to the 2024 Netflix film, even in live-action. There's also been a live-action Korean series, a live-action Chinese movie, a live-action French film, and even a Hong Kong version starring Jackie Chan (which came with the added perk of Jackie Chan cosplaying as Chun-Li during a "Street Fighter" themed dream sequence).

The 2024 "City Hunter" movie stars Ryohei Suzuki in the role of Ryo Saeba. This is quite cool, as Suzuki is a super fan of the franchise and has been for "more than 30 years," as he previously told GMA. Indeed, the actor was quite open about his desire to play the character for many years and brings the same energy and enthusiasm he's displayed in other manga adaptations like "Tokyo Tribe" to the film. Suzuki is perhaps best known for his role in the popular Japanese series "Tokyo MER," the sequel film to which was a huge commercial hit in Japan. He is also a voice actor, having performed the Japanese dubbing for the titular character in Pixar's "Lightyear."

Meanwhile, Masanobu Andô plays Hideyuki Makimura, Ryo's partner and a former cop. The actor is perhaps best known for playing boy #6, Kazuo Kiriyama, in Kinji Fukasaku's cult classic movie "Battle Royale." (Kiriyama, of course, was the kid who killed the most students in the deadly game at the heart of the film.) Andô also acted in Takashi Miike's 2007 feature "Sukiyaki Western Django."

Rounding out the cast is Misato Morita as Kaori Makimura, Hideyuki's sister. She was most recently seen in the mini-series "Like a Dragon: Yakusa" on Prime Video. Based on the "Like a Dragon" video game franchise from Sega, it's one of the best video game adaptations to come along in a while.

Reviews for "City Hunter" were fairly mixed. The film has a 59% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 17 reviews, but it does have an 82% from audiences on the Popcornmeter, so there's that. Reviews were particularly split over the ways the movie updates the more, let's say, aged aspects of the original "City Hunter" manga and anime.

Writing for Japan Times, critic James Hadfield remarked that the movie "tones down its hero's peccadillos for contemporary tastes. Ryo may have a voluminous adult DVD collection and an adolescent fixation with boobs, but he keeps his hands to himself these days." Granted, this is not a bad thing, but Hadfield did lament the film being unable to settle on the right tone, stating it tries too hard to stage the action like a "John Wick" movie rather than lean into the original manga's charms.

On the other hand, ButWhyTho critic Kate Sánchez praised the balance of action and comedy, and the way the film respects the main character's silly, perverted side by leaning into its narrative's absurdity. "With action at its core and enough adolescent boob humor to either make you cringe or laugh, 'City Hunter' also pulls off a pretty emotional story," the review reads. "Ryo Saeba isn't the most likable protagonist, but he is endlessly charismatic (especially when his shirt is off)."