“Panic on the Set”
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Tsukasa Hojo
Translation: David Evelyn
Lettering: Kai Kyou
What They Say
Readers follow the City Hunter as he takes on underground odd jobs, ranging from serving as the bodyguard of a captivating madame to executing a vengeful assassination of a corrupt politician, navigating through quick-witted thrills and intense dramas.
The City Hunter Ryo Saeba does the dirty work of cleaning up Tokyo’s nightlife with his heart of gold worn on his sleeve.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Known originally as Shiti Hanta (シティーハンター), it’s far more known by its English name of City Hunter. The manga comes from Tsukasa Hojo, which began in 1985 and it wrapped up in Japan with thirty-five volumes to its name in 1991. Full volume reviews just aren’t my jam or in my workflow, so I wanted to work through a series on my own schedule and spend the time to talk about it chapter by chapter. This series has gorgeous new omnibus releases through Abrams ComicArts, which is what we’re reading, and I haven’t read this since Coamix brought it out in the early 2000s through Gutsoon! And the Raijin magazine. I seriously miss that magazine and the titles it brought out. So while I don’t have plans for a lengthy run on this, I wanted to revisit the manga that I’ve had read in two decades, and the anime that I’ve seen over the years, with a few chapter reviews.
Ryo’s time with Yumiko has been a lot of fun to watch since he’s just so over-the-top with her in his admiration. He’s basically living his dream job, especially after the beach, and is doing everything he can to be close to her while also protecting her. He’s just so smitten, but still very aware of the job. The time back at her place has its moments, since he does his best to worm his way into her bed, but she keeps him at a distance. She may seem indifferent to so many things, but Yumiko is paying attention to everything, including his absconding with her panties back at the beach. He’s certainly gaining new appreciation of her with what she sees and how different she is in so many ways. That kind of cool and emotionless side of her is dominant, but she really does seem to be watching and pay attention to everything.
Most of this chapter focuses on her going to work filming the next day, which has a big kiss sequence for her character with another actor named Kano. Ryo, obviously, doesn’t like any of this and does his best to interfere and try to shift perspectives on it. He’s starting to see more of the problem here and is doing his best to protect her, such as finding the gun with a live round in it, or testing the cake, but he’s also making himself quite the nuisance on set. That’s getting detrimental to his staying there, as one of the big guys starts throwing him off the set, but Yumiko manages to stand firm in wanting him to stay there. It’s all a bit uncertain in some ways, but watching how Ryo and Yumiko are handling all of this, and the teases of information that he is getting along the way, helps to further exactly why he’s there because it feels like there’s a threat just under the surface.
In Summary:
I know it varies from author to author and the kind of team they have working with them, but City Hunter just has some of the most lively and active backgrounds. The entire film stage sequence of this chapter is filled with great details and movement throughout it that you don’t see in a lot of titles these days. Ryo is who he always is, so there’s a light bounce to him and his movements, but I love all the details we get to Yumiko in how she presents herself through movement but also the details such as hair and costume design. The storyline itself is just waiting for something to spring to send Ryo into action, but it’s so much fun just watching him being close to Yumiko and his infatuation with her.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Abrams ComicArts
Chris Beveridge
http://www.fandompost.com
Chris has been writing about anime, manga, movies and comics for well on twenty years now. He began AnimeOnDVD.com back in 1998 and has covered nearly every anime release that’s come out in the US ever since.
He likes to write a lot, as you can see.
