Studio: Sunrise
Short Synopsis
This book could not find a published synopsis of this City Hunter film, so the summary below sticks to what the surviving English-dubbed version shows. Ryo Saeba, the Shinjuku "sweeper" who takes on dangerous jobs left for him as "XYZ" on the message board at Shinjuku Station, is drawn into a case involving a glamorous blonde woman. The relationship is tense from the start: in one scene she stands over Ryo with a pistol in her hand while he sits slumped against the wall of a shabby room with bullet-scarred plaster. Later the two talk at night beside a chain-link fence in the city, Ryo leaning back with his arms folded while she looks away. The case builds towards a threat over Tokyo, with coloured beams of light shooting from the top of a tall, illuminated tower at night. As the title suggests, a great deal of money is at stake. Kaori, Ryo's partner, keeps him in line with her giant hammer whenever his attention to beautiful women gets the better of him. The specifics of the conspiracy and its resolution are not described in any source this book could check.
Why It Matters
- Like the series it comes from, the film switches between farce and noir: Ryo the clown and Ryo the professional are the same man, and the night-time Tokyo settings, neon and towers give the action a stylish, adult atmosphere unusual in animation outside Japan at the time.
- It was released on the same day as City Hunter: Bay City Wars, as a double bill, at the height of the franchise's success. City Hunter, adapted from Tsukasa Hojo's manga by Sunrise, became hugely popular across Asia and Europe, especially in France as Nicky Larson, and later inspired live-action films in Hong Kong and France.
Notes and Trivia
- Miki Itō voices Miki in both 1990 films.
- ADV Films released it on VHS in English in 2000, and on DVD together with Bay City Wars in 2003.
- See also: City Hunter: Bay City Wars (1990).