Summary
Fans are celebrating the latest live-action adaptation ofCity Hunter, which is bringing more attention back to the classic crime-adventure series depicting Ryo Saeba and Kaori Makimura. New audiences will likely be checking out the original anime and manga, but for those who want more, anime is in no short supply of shows inspired by Tsukasa Hojo’s most well-regarded work.
Anime often romanticizes its dense metropolises, filling the glistening nightlife with crooks, secrets, and suave anti-heroes. When theCity Hunterduo is not enough to satisfy one’s desire for urban adventures, other anime may provide a worthy twist.
Be it alternate universes, gritty port cities, the far future, or even exaggerated versions of the US, there are more than enough shows that make the city a wild and tough place.
The Next Shonen Mega-Hit Just Got Bigger With a New Anime From the Studio Behind Hero Academia
Gachiakuta is one of the best shonen manga to come out in recent years, and an upcoming anime adaptation by Bones will make it even bigger.
10Angel Heart
City Hunter Spin-Off Provides More Of The Same For Hardcore Fans
For a pureCity Hunterexperience,Tsukasa Hojo’s spinoffAngel Heartprovides an alternate-universe take on his seminal work. While Ryo Saeba continues his work as Shinjuku’s sweeper, this time around he’s accompanied by Xiang-Ying, a teenage ex-assassin who was given Kaori’s heart after the latter’s tragic death in this version. Xiang-Ying provides a unique alternative to Kaori, being a far more trained and formerly lethal partner to Ryo, while also shifting the dynamics to be something of a daughter figure.
Hojo’s Shinjuku is in fine form as always, littered with bars and seedy alleys.Manga readers will be pleased to know they have 17 years' worth of story to enjoy, with a run that lasted from 2001 to 2017. For those wanting a slightly more abbreviated take, TMS Entertainment produced a 50-episode anime that aired in 2005.
9Black Lagoon
Crime Series Mixes Gun-Fu, Black Comedy, and Cynicism
Rei Hiroe’s crime manga provides a gritty, cynical alternative toCity Hunter’sshining city by depositing the hapless Rokuro Okajima in Roanapur - a stinking, humid port city - where he chooses to join Lagoon Company, which straddles the line between mercenaries, couriers, and pirates. The story’s hard edge allows it toexpertly jump from black comedy, elaborate action, and tragic endings on a dime, whether it means the heroes flee from a killer maid or stand morosely over a needless death.
Madhouse’s 2006 adaptation was many fans' first introduction to its brand of insanity, and is fondly regarded by many, whether because it’s another hit by the acclaimed studio, or because it made the jump to international TV. It helps thatStudio Madhousecreated some of the industry’s best gunfights with this show, where Revy, Lagoon’s best gunfighter, does John Woo proud as she leaps and slides while using her two handguns.
8Call of the Night
Urban Fantasy Provides New Way to Look at the City
For a more supernatural look at the nightlife, Liden Films' 2022 anime provides some inventive visuals that liven up both the city and the vampires that secretly inhabit it. The city is awash with neon colors and strong shadows that give the anime plenty of personality to go alongside its curious leads Ko and Nazuna.
This series mashes up several genres, including touches of horror and even action, thoughthe beating heart of the show is the quick-witted verbal sparring all the characters engage with, and the surprisingly down-to-earth antics they get up to, even before they start meeting other vampires. With its focus on comedy, drama, and romance,Call of the Nightis perfect for those who might not be interested in having their city tales interrupted by gunfights and gangsters.
7Case File nº221: Kabukicho
Sherlock Pastiche Provides Laughs Amid Reinterpretations
This show is titledKabukicho Sherlockin Japan, which makes its premise clear. This series ably transfers Doyle’s stories into an exaggerated version of Kabukicho, which stands in for England’s once infamous East End, with its own version of Sherlock and Watson. While Production I.G.’s reinterpretation of the characters might turn off some purists, it still offers a breezy and whimsical adventure that tests an audience’s ability to recognize what stories have been rewritten to fit the aesthetics of modern-day Japan.
Given Japan’s preference to portray Holmes in a Victorian setting, fantasy or otherwise,audiences in search of private detectives in the big city might welcome the change of pace here. If Ryo Saeba’s perpetually skirt-chasing and Kaori’s mallet are no bother, Sherlock Holmes solving cases with Rakugo performances shouldn’t get in the way of enjoyingKabukicho’svarious murder mysteries.
6Darker Than Black
Complex Plot Provides Plenty of Mindbending Espionage
BONES' 2007 original anime series is often compared to dark superhero stories, though the superpowers are employed in a cutthroat espionage setting, where betrayals are common and conspiracies are often never fully explained. Amid all this, the electricity-manipulating Hei, along with his team, takes on jobs for the Syndicate while living double lives.Darker Than Blackis a more morose alternative toCity Hunter, that instead providesa labyrinthine plot for audiences to try and pick apart, while enjoying the portrayal ofspies who try to outwit one anotherwith their bizarre abilities.
While the anime has two seasons and OVAs, the first is often considered the best, and right up the alley ofCity Hunterfans, given it keeps its spycraft neatly packed up in Tokyo’s concrete jungle, where Hei skulks about the alleyways and rooftops.
5Demon City Shinjuku
Straightforward Adventure Is a Blast From the Past
This classic 80s OVA provides a post-apocalyptic twist, with the titular city having been shattered by a demonic invasion, leaving Kyoya and Sayaka to journey across haunting vistas like abandoned train tracks, murky hotels, and isolated noodle stands. This is a classic fantasy tale of good and evil through a modern lens, with a sword-wielding hero journeying to make allies and face off against a villainous wizard at the end with the power of friendship.
While not as elaborate as other stories, it still has plenty of exciting fight scenes to make it well worth its time, withfans considering it a classic of its decade.Running at an hour and 20 minutes,Shinjukuis a fun way to revisit anime of the past. It also has its own, roundabout cyberpunk influence, given the anime can be seen in the background of the 1995 filmJohnny Mnemonic.
4Durarara!!
Long-Running Series Provides An Unforgettable Cast
Ryogo Narita is known best for creating stories withlarge ensemble casts, and his talent is in full force when bringing the insanity ofDurarara!!‘sIkebukuro to life. While at first it seems the protagonist is either the newcomer Mikado, or the amnesiac Dullahan Celty, they are justpart of a massive number of characters who clash and interact with each other, all of whom have their own bizarre backstories.
The constant introduction of new faces and new arcs keeps audiences on their toes and never quite sure who to root for in any given situation, showing how unpredictable this Japanese district is. With over 60 episodes produced by Brain’s Base,Durarara!!has plenty of material for viewers ready to settle in for a long haul of complex, intersecting plotlines and quirky characters.
3Gunsmith Cats
Short and Sweet OVA Provides Nonstop Action
Kenichi Sonada’s manga, which spawned a three-episode OVA, is best described asCity Hunterif the action moved to Chicago. Like Ryo Saeba, bounty hunter Rally Vincent dispatches foes with precision gunfire and a weapon of choice that the series likes to wax eloquent as the ultimate weapon. The OVA itself tends to be fondly remembered, packing detailed and smooth animation that also includesone of anime’s best-remembered car chases.
Gunsmith Catscaptures the strange nostalgia for America as a nonstop Hollywood action film full of detailed guns and beautiful women, not unlike aLethal Weaponmovie drawn by the studio OLM. For fans who want to step out of the Japanese aesthetic and into the seat of a Shelby GT500 racing down a highway,Gunsmith Catsis the perfect choice.
2No Guns Life
Over-The-Top Cyberpunk Adventure Has Plenty of Spirit
Cities and cyberpunk elements naturally go hand-in-hand, with technologically advanced cities becoming a metaphor for machinery choking out human life. Tasuku Karasuma’s manga pushes the concept to the point of parody, which ironically gives it its own strong identity. Certainly, it is hard to forget the protagonist Juzo Inui, a monologuing noir anti-hero who happens to have a revolver for a head. It sounds like a joke, butJuzo is played so earnestly straight readers can’t help but follow the lone tough-guy, well-trodden as his archetype is.
Madhouse, again, was responsible for bringing the story to life in a 2019 anime that gives a basic introduction to the setting in its single cour run. While it didn’t become the star of its Fall line-up, it nonetheless is a solid adventure story for those wanting a sci-fi bent to their crime and conspiracy.
1Odd Taxi
Underrated Mystery Sure to Surprise With Quality
This anime original sadly went under the radar in 2021, not helped by the fact that its cast of anthropomorphic animals looked like they belonged to a children’s edutainment show. Those willing to try watching, however, will find a tightly constructed noir plot centered around Odokawa, a walrus taxi driver, and his potential involvement in the case of a missing woman. He makes foran unusual hero who relies on guile and a bit of luckto survive his encounters with crooked cops and vicious gangsters.
Alongside the 13-episode anime is a movie compilation, subtitledInto the Woodsthat helps close some of the lingering plot threads. Mystery fans shouldn’t be put off by the cute visuals, as they hide a dark plot worthy of any detective novel that slowly unfolds and finds ways to involve even the most tangential of characters in every vital moment.
