# City Hunter (1987)

> Tokyo sweeper Ryo Saeba takes dangerous jobs with his gun while his partner Kaori keeps his roving eye in check with a giant hammer.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/33143

## Facts

- Seasons: 4
- Episodes: 140
- Episode runtime: 25 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, action, comedy
- Network: Nippon TV, YTV
- Cast: Akira Kamiya, Kazue Ikura, Hideyuki Tanaka, Yoshino Takamori, Mami Koyama, Tessyo Genda, Yoko Asagami, Yo Inoue
- TMDB rating: 7.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159208/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: breezy, irreverent, comedic, playful, kinetic

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series positively, praising its comedic action and the chemistry between Ryo and Kaori.

## Synopsis

City Hunter (1987-1991) is a Japanese animated action comedy series created for Nippon Television and YTV, adapted from the manga and produced by Sunrise. Ryo Saeba, a freelance "sweeper" who solves dangerous problems for paying clients in Tokyo, is the protagonist, and his partner Kaori Makimura keeps his roving eye in check with a ten kilogram hammer. Across four seasons and 140 episodes, the engine is simple and reliable: a client arrives with a threat, Ryo answers with his Colt Python, and the episode turns on a clash of gunplay, cheeky romantic pursuit, and Kaori's violent correction. Other principal voices include Reika Nogami and Saeko Nogami, who orbit the central pair with their own agendas. Each episode is largely self-contained, so the series plays as a sequence of case-of-the-week jobs rather than one continuing arc. Set in contemporary 1980s Tokyo, it has the bustling, neon-tinged texture of city life, and its tone is breezy and irreverent with a steady comic rhythm. Fans of Lupin the Third and Cat's Eye will find the same mix of playful lechery, stylish firearms action, and urban adventure. The series remains a defining example of the shounen action comedy tradition.

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