Netflix’s City Hunter Movie Is Unfairly Good

Netflix is no stranger to the world of creating live-action adaptations of animated favorites, with recent months seeing the release of Yu Yu Hakusho, One Piece, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. In the face of so many successes, there is one recent live-action anime adaptation that might get lost in the shuffle but deserves anime fans’ attention. City Hunter has released a new live-action movie on Netflix which honors its source material. 

Luckily, the new City Hunter movie works as a great “jumping on point” for new fans who might not have the time to catch the original anime series and movies that made up the story of Ryo Saeba. In the film, while it might not be animated, it is able to work well within the often hilarious, often dead-serious structure of the original’s story. There are elements of the movie that are most decidedly “anime” such as the choreography of fights, Ryo’s plucky attitude, and the element of a mysterious drug giving denizens of Japan superpowers. 

City Hunter: One of Netflix’s Best Live-Action Adaptations

The live-action movie works well as a portal into the original City Hunter anime as well, giving potential viewers an idea of what they’re in for should they want to leap into the world of sweepers. At its heart, City Hunter works best for the sheer amount of fun that the cast and the story have with its framework. The movie might not get the same attention as the likes of One Piece, but it should. 

City Hunter is currently available to stream on Netflix. Here’s how the streaming service describes the live-action adaptation of the classic anime series, “Ryo Saeba is a “sweeper” based in Shinjuku, Tokyo who cleans up trouble in the gritty underworld. Although he’s an unparalleled playboy who struggles to keep his cool around beautiful women, when he accepts a request, he carries it out with crack marksmanship, impressive athletic abilities and a calm composure. The unflappable, foolish and flirtatious Ryo is played by Ryohei Suzuki, while the heroine Kaori Makimura is played by Misato Morita. Ryo’s partner Hideyuki Makimura is played by Masanobu Ando, and Saeko Nogami, a beautiful detective who has a complicated relationship with Ryo, is played by Fumino Kimura.”

Have you had the chance to watch the latest live-action film focusing on anime’s most popular sweeper? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for all the latest on City Hunter and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Ryo Saeba.