News
New City Hunter Film Debuts at #1 on Netflix's Weekly Global Top 10 Non-English Films
posted on by Alex Mateo
City Hunter was one of the top 10 film on Netflix in 32 countries. In addition to Japan, it topped the list in Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
The film launched on Netflix worldwide on April 25.
While the manga has inspired live-action adaptations in Hong Kong, South Korea, and France, this is the first City Hunter film to be shot on the real-life streets of Tokyo's Shinjuku ward. The film shifts the setting from the late 20th century to modern day, but retains Saeba's long coat from the manga, instead of the jacket seen in the anime adaptations. (The film turns the manga's Balmacaan coat into a belted trenchcoat.)
Ryōhei Suzuki (HK/Hentai Kamen, Tokyo Tribe, Tokyo MER) stars as Ryō Saeba, and Misato Morita (One Week Friends, Koi Suru Haha-tachi) plays the heroine Kaori Makimura. Masanobu Andō (Rohan at the Louvre, Rurouni Kenshin Saishūshō The Beginning's Shinsaku Takasugi) plays Ryō Saeba's partner Hideyuki Makimura, and Fumino Kimura (Rohan at the Louvre) plays detective Saeko Nogami.
Yuichi Sato (Kisaragi, live-action Nōnai Poison Berry) directed the film. Tatsuhiro Mishima (live-action Yu Yu Hakusho) wrote the screenplay, and Yoshihide Otomo (INU-OH, Lupin Zero, live-action Orange) composed the music. Shinichi Takahashi was the executive producer, and Keisuke Sanpei and Kosuke Oshida produced. Netflix produced the film in collaboration with HoriPro and Office Shirous.
The film's theme song "Get Wild Continual" is a new version of the TM Network band's iconic ending song "Get Wild" from the first City Hunter anime.
Coamix and Imagineer's MangaHot app and website is publishing the City Hunter manga in English, and MangaHot describes the story:
Ryo Saeba, a.k.a. City Hunter. A sweeper who fulfills all his client's needs. He'll do anything from bodyguarding to contract killing, but he'll only take the job if a pretty woman is involved, or the client's sincerity makes his heart tremble. Together with his partner Kaori Makimura, the kid sister of his late best friend, Ryo fights the evil haunting the shadows of the city!!
Hojo's City Hunter manga ran from 1985 to 1991 and has 35 volumes. The manga inspired four television anime series, one earlier anime film, and several video and television specials including a 2015 original anime DVD. ADV Films released most of these anime projects in North America. The original anime premiered in April 1987. The City Hunter: Shinjuku Private Eyes anime film opened in Japan in February 2019, and the City Hunter The Movie: Angel Dust film opened last September.
Discotek Media announced its license of the original City Hunter anime projects and the recent City Hunter: Shinjuku Private Eyes film in April 2019. Crunchyroll is streaming the City Hunter television anime series, specials, and films.
Jackie Chan starred in a 1993 Hong Kong live-action film that very loosely adapts the original manga. A Korean live-action television series adaptation premiered in 2011, and Hulu streamed this version in the United States. A French live-action film adaptation opened in France on February 2019. A separate Chinese live-action film adaptation has been green-lit in China.
