The man from Mokkori returns with a live film, produced by Netflix with a captivating plot that takes inspiration from the first episode of Tsukasa Hojo’s manga and develops it into a feature film made up of action, gags and that right spirit that exudes from work of the mangaka of “City Hunter”
A detective story in which director Yuichi Sato was able to combine drama, adventure, psychological introspection and sincere dialogues, all played by actors who identified with the protagonists, thus limiting the boundary between anime and live action.
The film immediately exposes the various relationships between the protagonists, the stallion from Shjnjuku collaborates with the ex-policeman Hideyuki Makimura, who on his sister Kaori’s birthday, has to reveal to him that she was adopted, as she remained orphaned, after her father, linked to an organization, the Union, of criminals dedicated to the creation of a mysterious drug that gives Herculean strength but makes you lose your mind, is killed by Makimura’s own father.
Unfortunately, the stepbrother was killed the same day, by a hitman from this gang to recover some vials of the powerful drug; vials stolen from the laboratory by a girl, an idol of the cosplay scene, who escaped from the experiments and who Ryo Saeba and his partner were trying to track down, after having been hired by her sister who contacted them with the famous wording XYZ on the blackboard of the station Shjnjuko.
The work, compared to many other live shows, based on manga, is adapted in such a way as not to deviate from the original plot of the manga, giving life to situations that have made “City Hunter” a cult, a winning recipe whose writers have understood of having to use, compared to many others who have distorted the basic script of titles such as “DragonBall Evolution”, “Kyashan”, “Devilman”…
The dynamism with which the film unfolds is undoubtedly a strong point, the action alternates with Ryo’s classic semi-erotic scenes, limiting the stasis scenes to a few moments, thus avoiding pauses and dead moments that would have broken the fast-paced rhythm . The dramatic moments, such as Makimura’s death, or the explanation of what this drug is, are shot in such a way as to create a strong pathos in the viewer, as they are essential elements for the continuity and implications of the story.
The actor Ryohei Suzuki perfectly plays the depraved but infallible with his Colt 357 Python pistol, Ryo Saeba, both in the role of the horny guy with beautiful girls and in the sweeper version, highlighting all the qualities including the “One Hole Shot”, i.e. hitting the same target several times in the same point. His charisma is well managed, you immediately identify with the character, his movements are the same, his build is the same, he goes without problems from the man with the “easy shot” to the infallible sniper, so much so that you have the sensation of witnessing to the anime.
Kaori (Misato Morita), after a somewhat buttoned-up start, takes on more and more centrality in the continuation of the story, slowly acquiring the importance she will have in the continuation of events, hoping that there will be a sequel, as the film ends with a open ending: Kaori who settles in the Saeba house as the new assistant but without the organization being defeated. An interesting detail was revealed where the hammer she uses against Ryo comes from!
Saeko, played by Fumino Kimura, is very similar, even if her part is very minimal but, in those few moments, she immediately highlights her character and the weakness that Ryo has for her.
An enjoyable, pleasant and excellently shot film, with various ideas that make it lively and usable even for those who don’t really know City Hunter, managing to modernize a must of animation with the inclusion of characters, shots of a modern Tokyo in a narrative context from 30 years ago which pays homage to the work with some cameos, among them the legendary red Mini, with an eye to nerd culture.