Review of "Shinjuku Private Eyes" and general talk about "City Hunter"
You can watch them on Crunchyroll (or in the near future). I mean old TV series, didn't check for this movie. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2020-05-07/crunchyroll-adds-city-hunter-anime-to-catalog/.159334
[I]
I associate City Hunter since my childhood. Like in the case of "Lupine III" or "Neon Genesis Evangelion", I was lucky to find fragments of episodes or promotional materials at a time when I didn't know what anime was and I saw them as ordinary cartoons. For example, on foreign channels, which I received thanks to a plate, VHS cassettes, or during holidays with my parents in France or Italy, where I came across a few times fragments of the above cartoons while watching TV sets. Once I became a teenager, sometimes I came across a movie, meme, or reference to "City Hunter", but as with "Lupine III", it took many years before I became convinced by this cartoon. I delayed with 'Lupine' until the summer of 2018, and I met 'City Hunter' at the end of 2019. And all in all good, because I would not have appreciated these series before. Going to the movie, I had a lot of fun with it, but not crazy - it was fun, but next year at this time I would not remember about it. I liked it even less after seeing a dozen episodes of the series, which went out from April 1987 to March 1988. I will say more, "City Hunter" convinced me to learn all the titles associated with this brand. For now, I will pass the voice to a colleague with whom we decided to do a light text cross. For so many years he was spamming me with links to City Hunter and more, so I couldn't deny myself the pleasure of committing this text without him.
[Karol]
Despite the fact that I associate this brand much shorter, because about 6 years, I am one of 10 people in Poland who watched everything that came out under this title. Even cutscenes with pachinko, and if you add to this the read manga "Cat's Eye", a picture with Jackie Chan, a Korean series that has nothing to do with the brand, despite the fact that its creators think differently, a French acting film released this year and many times have seen "Angel Heart" (including in the acting version) I can safely say that I am one of the best-informed people on this side of the internet when it comes to this brand. In the following parts I will tell you how it looks from the fan page of the series, but now in the version tl; dr. If you saw the series and you liked it, you will also like the film, if you like "Gintama" from the time when it did not have a fixed story, you will like the film, if you liked the loose episodes of Lupine, you will like the film.
[I]
In fact, I could subscribe to Karol's words, i.e. the last two sentences, because my ignorance disqualifies me from the previous ones. The film immediately, whether in terms of the script, character or climate, brings to mind the above-mentioned productions. The main character is Saeba Ryo, a mercenary who, like Lupine, likes to act for free for the so-called higher goals. He has no such abilities and intellect as Lupine, but he is not stupid, although Saeba is trying hard to convince us otherwise. He makes up for it with much greater strength, better fitness of his body, and shooting skills. He is much heavier and better muscled than the descendant of Arsene, so he can solve more cases by force. On the other hand, when it comes to shooting, it's definitely closer to Jigen's skills than Lupine's. As for the reference to "Gintama", after watching almost 11 episodes I see that they have a similar narrative. Or rather, the creator of "Gintama" was somewhat inspired by the "City Hunter". It's about those looser episodes, often mistakenly considered fillers (including myself), during which nothing significant happens or these events have a marginal effect on the rest. As in most anime/series/movies I sense such threads and usually skip them, so in "Gintama" and "City Hunter" it comes with more difficulty. And that's good because I like the episodes in which I can get to know the hero better. And this one is a terrible guy, he won't let any lady who has eye-catching shapes and use everyone. Something like young Muten Roshi from DB. He will not enjoy such a view for too long, because his partner, Kaori Makimura, is chasing him. Characteristic signs - loudly screams and holds a hammer, which smashes Saeba on the head. Just as Saeba is mainly from the action, she deals with work and acquiring new clients. The action takes place in the beautiful city of Shinjuku, especially at night.
[Karol]
A little straightening and adding; P, Ryo is a former mercenary who at some point in his life decided to settle in Shinjuku and help his brother Kaori - a former policeman at City Hunter's work, i.e. to deal with things that the police cannot, because regulations and breaking the law (Ryo he did dirty work, and Hideyuki logistics). At some point, Kaimura takes the place of Makimura. What like what, but Ryo by the rules, does not start too snotty, and knows when he must stop. The cheerful character of Ryo is similar, and like Gintoki or Maes Hughes from the FMA, we get characters who, with the help of humor, try to hide traumas from the past that hardly anyone knows, even people from their immediate surroundings. It is also worth saying something about the rest of the important characters. Even if this was not shown in the movie, Kaori, in addition to wielding a 100-ton hammer, is often taken for a peasant by her slightly too masculine appearance, which is the object of jokes. Another person in the pack is Nogami Saeko, Ryo's friend who is modeled after Mine Fujiko in her relationship with Saeba, with the difference that she is a policewoman. The relationship between Ryo and Saeko is best shown in this fragment
[I]
Although Saeba had pretty cool actions, I didn't like him after the cinema. His exploits, thanks to his figure and experience, are less unrealistic than those performed by Lupine, but I can't convince him. A little bit because I was irritated by his stupid and sometimes forced peeping and other jokes. I know it is such a charm of this title, but the creators could make up at least a few jokes or delete the less successful ones. Maybe I would like them better and Ryo would get to the characters I like? Fortunately, this is not the case with the other characters and city design. If it wasn't for these two things, I would write these words in a different mood. Although on the other hand, after watching these several episodes, I can see that Ryo is a cool guy, only the film flattened his character a little too much. In the case of Kaori or Umibozu it wasn't so painful, but they made Ryo too laughable and not enough charming alpha male.
There were not many opportunities to get to know the characters from the background, and apart from a few pieces of information, which were probably only to refresh the memory of the fans of the original, they show nothing interesting. There was no scene that would produce a strong enough WOW effect to make me genuinely interested in their fate (unlike Jigen, Mine Fujiko or Goemon). On the one hand, I understand the creators, you had to develop the story properly, give a lot of air time for the main characters, but you could easily cut out some fragments to put something more interesting in their place. Even jokes would benefit and would be more fun, as in the TV series, where there are fewer, but they are more thoughtful. Well, maybe except Umibozu, who as one of the few characters gets a satisfying amount of action and slightly more original jokes. Yes, they are a bit repetitive and seem to be cliché, such typical scenes for a large block from a standard action movie, but they have some nice elements. For example, during melee combat, Falcon showed that he was a veteran of flesh and blood. It's about the scene where he fought a similar block and got rid of the opponent in a simple but brutal way - he broke his arm in an aggressive, strong blow. Nice homie, although if it was a character from a less talented mangaka, I probably would not have such positive impressions, because there is not much you can do with such a mountain of muscles.
In some productions, the city plays the role of a specific hero (eg Gotham or Edo from "Gintama"). It is no different in the case of the title discussed here. Just as I have a few reservations about the film, the city still has its own, so to put it, soul. During the day it can even look nice, quite encouraging to live in, but sometimes it reveals its dark side. Since I watched the city for the first time at night in "Akira" or the first movie "Ghost in the Shell", I am enjoying this view at every screening. Watching such scenery, whether it's a computer game, a real recording, a combination of the real image and CGI effects, always causes me faster heartbeat and butter eyes. I love watching colorful lights, neon lights, urban gray, dirt on the street, banners, various shop windows, etc. on the screen. Whether it's GitS or "Blade Runner" or anything else, I'm a whore for such themes. "City Hunter: Shinjuku Private Eyes" As much as I liked the movie in total, so I can not praise "Shinjuku Private Eyes" for presenting the city. It may not be distinguished by any particular element, location, or characteristic building, but when I was watching I felt similarly like when visiting some long-term town or watching/reading some work in which the city plays an important role. You were right about how many times you admired the creation of the city in this title.
[Karol]
I have to defend Ryo. We know the reason for his fooling around, one of the girls at the Ogaty bar shows him, when Ryo gives his performance with a tray and beer, he wants to make Ai forget for a moment that someone is hunting her. So he became enemy No. 1 and began to work to focus attention on himself. He partially makes a smokescreen showing that he is frivolous as a bodyguard, which makes the mole more exposed and lowering his guard. This, of course, does not change the fact that Ryo is a womanizer, but in most cases, women who initially had a less favorable opinion about him, changed them. First of all, they gave him 5 stars out of 5 for his work, and secondly, at the end, they got close to him, in the series he had a chance to get his harem from crowned ladies several times, and some were even ready to go swing with him. Well, after a while Ryo starts to slow down, as it was shown in the movie, in the second scene in the shower, or just a moment earlier when Ai gets a bit drunk in bed. And we have different "interactions" with the models or the aforementioned performance in the bar. At first, he even choked his own way to Saeko, which is the norm, and the "100 favors" she mentions are the same favors mentioned here -
Showing the past of Ryo, Umibozu, Saeko or Miki would not make much sense in this film and would hurt all three. Retros of these two gentlemen have always been given in important moments. It is a pity, however, that no more was shown from the time when Kaori was a little girl. And when I'm at a redhead, how light lifting does not bother me, because she still has her tomboy charm, I missed the fact that the surroundings take her for her younger brother Ryo. It is crap, but if you think about it, it's quite important. The description of Kaori matches the description of Shani from The Witcher, after a long look at Kaori was one of those "not very pretty and beautiful, ones that dreamed at night, while the classically beautiful ones were forgotten after five minutes." Ryo, however, most of the time liked the latter. In the end, however, it turns out that Ryo, despite everything, got stuck with Kaori, and not, for example, with Saeko. Although the fact that okama chose her for the photo session may mean something ...
[I]
We had a few days break from exchanging emails with Karol (because of my fault, I had a few things to comprehend that were more important to me at that time) and during it, I decided to start my adventure with the TV series. I finally understood why you are defending Ryo like that. My criticism was mainly due to the fact that the film made him too much of a ridiculous lover of female charms, and too little charming flirtatious. It is a pity that they did not take some checked jokes from the first episodes - Saeba was already bending the stick there, patting the ladies on firm pups or making immoral proposals. However, it was much funnier, and ... some of them can be justified (I can already see complaints for these words), and those from the cinema screen gave the impression that they were added by force or in a thoughtless way. I realize that for the movie they had some time limits and couldn't enter everything. However, in the old series they somehow could show in several scenes that Ryo, despite his silly approach, takes his work seriously and approaches clients in a professional manner. It would be enough to copy them live as part of a fanservice for older fans and it would be much better for IMO. He was more convincing in the TV series, and his masculinity and femininity are more balanced. And most importantly, if he wants, he can say in a charmingly charming way a few sentences, after which the women's knees soften. They didn't even come close to it in the movie. Ryo is smart, talented, and experienced, and his stupidity is camouflage and a comedy element. Today is metoo and I see no option for some TV series jokes to go unnoticed today. I don't know what's going on, but for 4 episodes they gave the oven quite hard, and in a few moments I was surprised that something like that passed in a fairy tale for young teenagers. Now I fully understood this gag with a young lady with a gavel at the beginning of the movie - "It's not 80's anymore, you can't do it anymore !!!" xD.
I also liked Kaori more in the TV series. Her debut in the 4th episode introduced me to this character better than it was done in the cinema. In fact, I know little or less about it, but it's always easier to find these 25 minutes per episode than 1.5 hours for a movie. I got to know her character roughly, in both cases we could see her beauty and charm. In episode 4, she flew for some time in her underwear, and in "Shinjuku Private Eyes" she became a model for a moment and was reliably pied to the photo session. I would have to watch the movie for the second time because it seems to me that it was presented in a too simple way. In the sense, there are too many repetitive jokes with her that are at the expense of moments that would tell us more about this heroine.
[Karol]
I will not write here about Kaori, because more importantly I wrote above. I am glad that the movie has a sideline romantic thread between her and Ryo because it is one of the best-led pairs in Jump ever. If they had developed it too much, it would probably have been too shallow. It has been kept that Kaori is explosive in this case, because it is still a pinch, and Ryo does not say everything, because he prefers deeds. If they were trying to build it somehow in the movie, it probably would look like they would follow the childhood friend's scheme, only in the version that we live together. In the series, we got stages from - we live together, because we work together, through which the sister of a friend whom I am looking after, to realize, has long fallen in love with Kaori, the deeds only took place after more than 100 episodes.
Before I get into the supporting characters, I'll mention one of the biggest crossover parts in history, the Kisuga Sisters. The filmmakers reached even deeper into the Tsukasa Hojo brands and chose "Cat's Eye", which could be seen on the screen 34 years ago. They are the original owners of the Cat's Eye cafe, which is now taken care of by Miki and Umibozu. By the way, they were known (or more precisely, unknown) as thieves - Cat's Eye, which only steal images of one painter who was their father. In the film they only got time for a slightly longer cameo, but the entrance they got was great. Now there will be a spoiler from the end of the "Cat's Eye" manga.
Since the bar now belongs to Miki, it means that the whole thing happens after the Kisuga sisters flew to the States, after their goal - finding out what happened to their father was done. Finally, we see that Hitomi gets amnesia due to illness. It is a pity that it did not explain how her memory returned. And also Toshio, a policeman who was responsible for prosecuting Cat's Eye and Hitomi's fiancée, could also appear.
As the matter in the film is not about the police, Saeko has been pushed into the background, but we still see the relationship between her and Ryo, and how he helps Saeba in his illegal work. As a high-ranking police officer, he has access to resources that are very useful in crisis situations. Somewhat more shown Umibozu and Miki, since their cafe is a fairly common meeting place, so some relations between them were shown, and we were given a joke with Umim and a robot. They also got a chance to show up in action scenes, but it was still less time than what usually Goemon in Lupin gets.
[I]
In the case of the girls from "Cat's Eye" I will not speak, because I only know them from the movie, and considering how the characters were flattened, I prefer to comment on it in silence: '). The more that your words about the romance between Kaori and Ryo are confirmed, i.e. that it looks as if Ai Yazawa wrote it, but from a male point of view. I would, however, extend it to the whole manga, if the TV series is its faithful adaptation. It is known that Tsukasa could not afford bolder scenes, like the author of "Nana" (this is due to the receiving group of the magazine that published his comics - for the same reason Oda cannot say that Big Mom from OP is a cannibal), but how do you will brackets some simplifications, gagged characters, funny situations, very well written and shown male-female relationships and some other advantages. I mean a well-presented city, a nice show of weapons, more or less at the level of "Lupine III" (you can see that the author is really interested in it or at least pretty well covers the topic, like the late Monkey Punch), and the characters. Whore at all, I'm angry at how many things they've messed up in the movie! Umibozu on the show and Umibozu from the movie is heaven and earth. Sure, I know that the characters change over the years, but damn - Umibozu is a super-mercenary who in his debut episode showed more character than in a long movie. Even if he is later reduced to the role of a clown-robber, like Drax from GotG, I assume that he will have at least some serious actions that could easily be played for the needs of a fanservice. For example, such as the one in which Ryo and he measured who has larger eggs and harder character. During this quest, both of them were horribly confident and focused only on their opponent. Yes, Umibozu wouldn't shoot, but Ryo didn't know it and had to deal with any eventuality.
Continuing the previously started thread, the characters, despite some simplifications and contradictions, behave as in the series intended for adult audiences. The author shows this both with the attitude of the characters and the issues they speak. You can see that he knows the subject because the character's character is consistent with their attitude and behavior. Ryo behaves like a man, does not reveal his strengths when he does not have to, he holds his emotions by the mouth, properly modulates the voice when necessary, speaks in such a tone, in such words that women's knees soften. And it is not a dry class, which translates not only to greater physical attractiveness but also strength and endurance. Ryo's clients are different - from innocent girls, to resolute and sharp feminist, ending with femme fatale and each of these creations is internally coherent. Just like in the case of Ugo and Ryo, I did not feel any artificiality or unnatural behavior in them. It is a pity that "City Hunter" came out this week because the author had to tone too much, some scenes probably also had to be cut out completely or presented in a different way (again, I am returning to the cannibalistic motivations of the Big Mama from "One Piece"). The relationship between Kaori and the main character would only benefit from it. Not that they had to go to bed right away, but if you turned the atmosphere up a bit, add a little pepper to the script (scenes in the bathtub with one Nana, soliciting attention and attention from parents and people from the environment, in the case of the second heroine), it certainly would not It hurts. Well, but these are only details that would only add some color to this relationship.
[Karol]
It's time to finally say something about music. This has always been a strong point of this brand, no matter if it is about "Cat's Eye", "City Hunter" or "Angel Heart". I am even inclined to say that the soundtrack to the serial CH is one of the best soundtracks in history, so I hoped that this element would not disappoint me. When I heard OST before I watched the movie, I was disappointed, mainly because the climate was changed completely. Fortunately, it works much better during the screening. Listening, however, I felt that I associate this music from somewhere, which made sense because the composer turned out to be Taku Iwasaki. The man who was responsible for the music for "Angel Heart" and it was felt that he went into similar climates. We will hear most of the most important songs, the authors knew where to put old songs, and opening the movie with Angel Night was one of the better choices, as well as ending it with Get Wild and Still Love He. They thought about nice flavors, e.g. when Get Wild is getting a shortcut of several episodes, and then ending in the style of the second season of "City Hunter", only with photos from today's Shinjuku. Footstep returns at the most badass moment when Ryo, Umibozu, and Miki go kicking asses. I even found out to Mr. Cool and its derivatives. My only regret is that the original Cat's Eye theme from Anri was not given, but the refreshed version, but you can't have everything.
[I]
Which is right. However, I am not sure if I agree with the claim that it is one of the best OSTs in the history of anime. Not because it's weak or something, I just haven't watched enough episodes to give a fair assessment. What I have already heard, however, is enough to say that I am dealing with at least a good soundtrack. Not only is it perfectly suited to various situations, but it also emphasizes those slightly more intimate moments between Ryo and the women interested in him. In the end I understood why you have been raving about the music in the anime "City Hunter" or "Angel Heart" for so many years. I love the strong, female vocals in anime, and TV CH has provided me with many nice songs for my ear. "Nana", "Tekkaman Blade", the serial "Ghost in the Shell", I love each of these cartoons for music. Songs from "City Hunter" have a slightly different atmosphere from the above anime, but in no way does it affect their rating. I know that I will regularly come back to listening to opening, Footsteps, Want your love, ending (the one with male vocals), and other songs that are just catching in my ear.
Well, that's all from me. Initially, I planned to talk only about the movie, and a little bit more about the TV series. I will say straight from the bridge, I do not recommend xD cinema. You'd better watch the first season of the series because it's available on YT. The anime didn't get old at all and if it keeps its level to the end, I will rate it at least at 8/10, and maybe even higher. Although it is old, it has aged very nicely. Especially today, in the era of me-too and similar actions. Already in the first episode you will see why I mention them. Would you like to add something else?
[Karol]
I will write a little bit about various references that can be found in the film, not counting what I have already mentioned. Despite the fact that we jumped 30 years ahead, Ryo and Saeko still haven't changed cars, the first drives a red Mini and the second drive a red Porsche 930. Kaori photo session can refer to the one that Ryo and Kaori had in season 3, only that in this version there was no shooting during it. Date Kaori and detective Kuwaty in "City Hunter 91". took place in the same place as Kaori and Mikumi's date in the movie. The roof on which Ryo shows the night panorama of the city previously appeared, for example, in "City Hunter 2", when Ryo shows the same view of Salina and tells her that when he has enough dark side of Shinjuku, he comes there to clear himself mentally. Kazue is one of the former clients of Ryo and Kaori, then they helped her in the case of modified bees that were to be used as biological weapons. In the end, the physical version of the board at the Shinjuku station returns (it was her second disappearance and return, it was the first time in "Angel Heart"), and on it we have a small easter egg referring to Lupine (maybe some cross?).
I hope that the result at the level of the animated films "Gintama" will show Sunrise's officials that despite a 20-year break there is still interest in "City Hunter", and there is a chance that you can partly take in orphans after Gintoki and the company. There is still some manga to adapt, and even if they don't want to go on the show, Akira Kamiya, or Ryo's voice, confirmed that he would be happy to return from retirement to work on the sequel.