Series synopsis
City Hunter, also known as シティーハンター is a Japanese action & adventure animation comedy mystery television series that premiered on Nippon TV on April 6, 1987. It ended on October 10, 1991. It stars Akira Kamiya, Kazue Ikura, Hideyuki Tanaka and Yoshino Takamori.
Ryo Saeba works the streets of Tokyo as the City Hunter. He's a "sweeper" and with his sidekick Kaori Makimura, he keeps the city clean. People hire the City Hunter to solve their dangerous problems, which he does with a Colt Python. When Ryo's not working on a case, he's working on getting the ladies, and Kaori must keep him in check with her trusty 10 kg hammer.
Premise
Ryo Saeba works the streets of Tokyo as the City Hunter. He's a "sweeper" and with his sidekick Kaori Makimura, he keeps the city clean. People hire the City Hunter to solve their dangerous problems, which he does with a Colt Python. When Ryo's not working on a case, he's working on getting the ladies, and Kaori must keep him in check with her trusty 10 kg hammer.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Akira Kamiya as Ryo Saeba (voice)
- Kazue Ikura as Kaori Makimura (voice)
- Hideyuki Tanaka as Makimura (voice)
- Yoshino Takamori as Reika Nogami (voice)
- Mami Koyama as Miki (voice)
- Tessyo Genda as Umibouzu (voice)
- Yoko Asagami as Saeko Nogami (voice)
- Yo Inoue
Supporting cast
- Yuji Mitsuya
- Kiyoshi Kobayashi
- Hochu Otsuka
- Mahito Tsujimura
- Rokuro Naya
- Rei Sakuma
- Kazuhiko Inoue
- Daisuke Gori
- Runa Akiyama as Lili (voice)
Guest cast
Episodes
This series spans 5 seasons with 143 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 3 | January 1, 1996 | April 22, 1999 |
| Season 1 | 51 | April 6, 1987 | March 28, 1988 |
| Season 2 | 63 | April 8, 1988 | June 10, 1989 |
| Season 3 | 13 | October 15, 1989 | January 21, 1990 |
| Season 4 | 13 | April 28, 1991 | October 10, 1991 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Secret Service When James Macgyer, presidential candidate for the (fictional) country of Gainan, returns to Japan to see the daughter he left behind 18 years ago, he is greeted with death threats against her. Anna, now a secret service agent with an assumed name, wants nothing to do with her father, believing him to be her mother's killer. James knows he must protect her from men from his past, but who can protect Anna, and possibly patch up their relationship, all while making sure she doesn't lose her job as a secret service agent? Why, City Hunter of course! |
January 1, 1996 |
| 2 |
Goodbye My Sweetheart A mysterious soldier known only as Professor plots his revenge on the government that betrayed him and Tokyo is brought to its knees! Unless the government pays Professor an impossible ransom, downtown Tokyo will be completely destroyed, and the Professor's beautiful sister will be the first to go! Only City Hunter, expert detective and shameless ladies' man, can keep Tokyo from being blown sky high! The bullets fly furiously, and the women have never been more tempting as City Hunter takes it to the edge in this action-packed animated feature. Explosive action will rock your senses as you witness City Hunter's greatest challenge ever! |
April 1, 1997 |
| 3 |
Death of the Vicious Criminal Ryo Saeba The City Hunter Ryo Saeba has been without customers for four months, so his partner Kaori is understandably overjoyed when a customer finally contacts them. As the customer happens to be the striking Mega City TV newscaster Sayaka, Ryo has trouble containing his excitement too. But while it seems not even Kaori's wrath can dissuade Ryo from his lecherous antics, things take a more serious turn when they have to escape a seemingly endless stream of hired killers who come after them. And when Sayaka's employers set Ryo up as a kidnapper and killer, Ryo has no choice but to get to the bottom of this weird case! |
April 22, 1999 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
One Cool Sweeper: XYZ is a Dangerous Cocktail When there is a spate of random shootings in Shinjuku, a sister of one of the victims wants Ryo to catch the killer and bring him to justice. But Ryo can tell that there is much more than justice that his client is interested in. |
April 6, 1987 |
| 2 |
Please Kill Me: Crosshairs Don't Become a Pretty Girl Ryo's client is a daughter of a known scientist who developed a deadly microbe that could render humanity sterile. His client wants him to protect her at all costs while she develops a vaccine, but should she be captured, she wants him to kill her before terrorists can extract the knowledge of the microbe from her. |
April 12, 1987 |
| 3 |
Love Don't Leave Me: A Ten Count to Tomorrow A boxer is killed over a fight for a championship title, and Ryo must deal with the victim's rival obsessed with glory. At the same time, he must deal with the boxer's girlfriend, whose pain is not only in her heart, but also in her body as well. |
April 20, 1987 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Ryo's engaged!? Prediction of love at the rendezvous (Part 1) After helping to protect a young girl named Akemi from some ruthless thugs, she insists that Ryo is her future husband and that they were destined to be married. While Ryo is able to get away, Akemi decides to enlist his help as her bodyguard to protect her from an unknown assailant named Kaijin X. In fact, the marriage story is a farce so that Akemi can leave her career as a young model. |
April 8, 1988 |
| 2 |
Ryo's engaged!? Prediction of love at the rendezvous (Part 2) Ryo discovers that Akemi is being targeted by a professional assassin named the Silver Fox. Ryo must protect her while helping her get out of a career in entertainment. |
April 15, 1988 |
| 3 |
Kaori's the target!! Words of love mean goodbye (Part 1) Humiliated in their last encounter, the Silver Fox pledges revenge against Ryo. He issues a formal challenge to Ryo by saying that he has targeted Kaori, Ryo's "lover" for death and that Ryo must protect her from his attacks. When Kaori confronts Ryo about this, Ryo acts non-commital to the challenge. After an incident in which Ryo falls for a trick set up by the Silver fox, he informs Kaori that she is no longer to be his assistant. |
April 22, 1988 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Announcement of the mokkori escape! XYZ is rescuing the world Ryo and Kaori protect a Rubirian Embassy worker striving not only to salvage the environment of her homeland, but also to expose a smuggling ring in which a Rubirian Embassy Environmental official is involved. |
October 15, 1989 |
| 2 |
Caught red-handed in the realm of love! The lady lawyer's lawful acts Ryo and Kaori attempt to protect a female lawyer marked for death by a corrupt developer, after an electronic databook is accidentally left in her possession. |
October 22, 1989 |
| 3 |
Kaori's mad again! Ryo & the young woman's "Story of the fake marriage" While Ryo has his gun taken away from creditors for failing to pay his rent, he is hired by a beautiful woman who is the owner of her own large company to appear on TV with her. It turns out that this TV show talks about newlyweds as the woman waxes on about her and Ryo's supposed "Love Life". She makes this admission in order to detract potential suitors more interested in her money rather than herself. Later on, it is revealed that several of her potential suitors had been involved in unfortunate accidents and Ryo suspects a powerful executive attempting to gain control of her company through marriage. |
October 29, 1989 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Big Revival of the Funny Pair! The Beauty Fallen from the Sky A plane carrying drugs and a wanted woman crashes into Ryo's apartment which forces him and Kaori to sleep on the same bed. |
April 28, 1991 |
| 2 |
Farewell Kaori! Orders to capture City Hunter Kaori overhears a phone conversation between Ryo and Saeko after which she realises that she has rented her room to a detective whose motive is to arrest Ryo. |
May 5, 1991 |
| 3 |
Combination of puzzlement & recovery! Memories are a distant light Ryo comes across a stuntwoman named Yuki who is trying to get her memory back by performing dangerous stunts. She believes Yuki is being hypnotised by someone. |
May 12, 1991 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | Nippon TV |
|---|---|
| First aired | April 6, 1987 |
| Last aired | October 10, 1991 |
| Runtime | 25 minutes |
| Status | ended |