Author: Hojo Tsukasa
Copyright © Hojo Tsukasa

CITY HUNTER is a highly popular manga that ran in JUMP from 1985 to 1992. Most anime and manga fans are probably familiar with the name, even if they have not actually seen or read it. In a nutshell, it's about a killer/bodyguard for hire and his partner, but instead of the hard-boiled approach, CITY HUNTER makes the most of slapstick comedy and some romantic tension. Saeba Ryo is City Hunter, a professional "sweeper" and incredible marksman, cleaning up the streets of Tokyo with the help of his partner Makimura. When Makimura is killed by a drug cartel, Ryo winds up teaming with Makimura's sister, Kaori.
Unfortunately, Ryo has a weakness for the opposite sex. Or rather, make that an obsession for anything in a skirt—he only takes jobs from beautiful women! Kaori makes it her duty to protect the virtue of hapless clients from Ryo's other specialty, the mokkori. (This word is, I have been told, the sound of a gopher popping out of the ground. Please use your imagination.) Kaori's specialty is pulling a massive hammer out of nowhere to smash Ryo senseless, and there you have the legendary hallmarks of CITY HUNTER.
Although CITY HUNTER ended its seven-year run in 1992, Shuueisha, the publisher, has recently re-released the entire series as small pocket-sized books. The CITY HUNTER PERFECT GUIDE BOOK is a sort of commemoration, boasting previously unpublished artwork, episode guides, character profiles and two interviews with the author, Hojo Tsukasa.
I fell in love with CITY HUNTER about ten years ago, and would read my favorite episodes a dozen times over while eagerly waiting for the next volume. Hojo's art, while old-fashioned at first, soon began improving by leaps and bounds. There was some brilliant humor, and most stories contained a very warm, human element. When I spied an ad for this "Perfect Guide," I headed to the bookstore the very next day.
Flipping through this book, I was struck by how it was made especially with fans such as myself in mind. This would normally be reason to be grateful, but sadly, while it delivers the content it promises, the CITY HUNTER PERFECT GUIDE BOOK still falls quite short of being "perfect." The book is packed with information and trivia concerning CITY HUNTER, but because it is too short, it comes across as being half-hearted rather than concise. The main problem lies not with the amount of content but the layout itself, which packs it as efficiently as possible. This leaves no space for what should have been the real purpose of this guide—for people to savor fond memories and nostalgic moments.
The bulk of this book consists of main character profiles, female character profiles and summaries of the more interesting episodes. A great deal of service is paid to Ryo and Kaori's relationship as well, perhaps a little too much as it comes off rather forced. And, since the humor was a large part of what made CITY HUNTER fun, there is also a collection of some of the wackiest, weirdest scenes and situations in the series. Another plus is the several pages of color artwork: jacket covers and movie posters not included in the artbook HOJO TSUKASA'S ILLUSTRATIONS.
Two interviews with Hojo round out the rest of this book. In the first, Hojo shares his thoughts about CITY HUNTER. While his previous work CAT'S EYE was very well received, it is CITY HUNTER that entrenched him firmly in the industry. Hojo, however, speaks not of his success but of the inspiration for the series (he had just ended CAT'S EYE, but had the idea of giving one of the characters a gun), the reason why it isn't a serious action story (he thought a protagonist who loved chasing women would be more interesting to draw) and how he draws his female characters (Hojo admits with a laugh that he was too lazy to change his faces, therefore only varied hairstyles and clothing). There is even a map of Ryo and Kaori's apartment!
The second interview is a bit more personal. Hojo recounts his childhood in Kyushu, his relationship with his father, how he stumbled into the world of manga and what his thoughts are about his current series FAMILY COMPO. For fans of Hojo work's, there is a wealth of background information here that makes for quite interesting reading, and I would go so far as to consider these interviews the more worthwhile portions of this book.
In conclusion, despite its flaws, at only ¥820, CITY HUNTER PERFECT GUIDE BOOK is still an attractive bundle for fans of the series, especially those able to read Japanese. Unfortunately, its very nature cannot help but bore those with no, or merely elementary, knowledge of this series. For those looking to learn more about CITY HUNTER, the actual manga itself is a far better buy.

Publisher: Shuueisha
202 pages; Color, Black and White
ISBN: ISBN4-08-782038-6
¥820
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