Anime: City Hunter

It's pretty watchable for such an old show, but the age still shows and it's far from perfect. If you're going to watch this with an 8-9 points expectation, you're in for some heavy disappointment. Also, I will rate comparing the anime with todays shows, giving reduction for things like obviously outdated animation & sound. Comparing it to other old anime is too much trouble and in my opinion such a review is no good to anyone, since what matters is how it compares to todays shows (actually you would have to update your reviews all the time, though even I wouldn't bother with that, lazy as I am)

Animation: not much to say, it's old and it shows. Especially the sex appeal is close to 0 thanks to the old animation & the fashion sense of that time. A bit of praise is due though, since the gun & bullet scenes are pretty well done already.
6

Sound: Sometimes it's pretty decent for such an old show, with good voice actors. The weapon sounds can be enjoyable too. It lacks anything to really impress though, and it obviously suffers from it's age again.
6

Story: Story? Where? Not in this anime for sure. It's the classical "one episode one job" style, with just a few rare exceptions where theres a "to be continued". Most of the stuff doesn't have any meaningful plot too, its just one weird job after the next one without any impact on the future. The contents of each job may be intriguing and not so badly done at least half of the time, but the general layout & solving has too many similarities to really impress. Thus excitement is very low.
4

Character: The main guy is obviously a cool & fun guy, but unfortunately the taste is a bit poor in this show; his "mokkori" pervert style is still fun at start, but soon gets annoying since it's always the same cheap crap. Same with his "I don't kill if I don't have to" naive bullshit that keeps up till the last episode. A few more kills of bastards that deserve it would have been refreshing. It's not that I don't agree with the idea of a Sweeper who helps people and values life; but if it's like that all the time, the character is too boring to entertain in any way. There's also not a single episode (in this first season at least) that explores his past and how he got so good in the first place.
His female partners comedy acts with a 100 tons hammer (hoho how funny -.-) also get annoying, and while he always tries to get with women, he rarely succeeds. It's just always the same shit over and over again in this show.
Else it can also be said that while there are a great cast of different characters over all the different jobs, there are too few who play enough of an importance and make new appearances. Most characters are too flat too.
5

Value: there are not so many Sweeper anime, and certainly none other with such a unique main hero. For that time, the action is also fairly fine, so it might get some extra points if you keep it in memory as a good classic. I would almost always prefer to watch an anime with real action and flaws in other areas like Phantom over this one, though.
7

Enjoyment: for such an old anime, I was surprised that I managed to keep watching till the end, so it definitely has an unusually good quality for such an old show. But I already said it: too less story, too much repetitions in action & comedy. Also there are some serious logic issues at some times, like a guy still speaking his last words even though he got a bullet in his head in the last episode. You get pushed along the different jobs and their solving, but it can't nearly compare to a thrilling new show where high quality action & exciting story, maybe even some funny humor, are present.
5

Please note that when reviewing this series, I have thought of it WITHIN its timeframe. So if it seems to be rated highly to you, it is because I am judging it for the time it was made.

Where do you start when you review a milestone series? This is a tough question and one that really comes forth as I review City Hunter.
City Hunter is one of those series that transcend time and generations as the winning combination of drama, action and comedy can be appreciated time and time again. This series has its aspects often copied (Cowboy Bebop being the most obvious one) and even the copies can't go wrong with the winning formula. One who takes a chance on this series will not be disappointed as it has such a broad appeal that it is unlikely to be found lacking (a little like Sailor Moon for the boys).

The animation quality of City Hunter still stands well nowadays because of the high production values this first series of episodes have as a standard. I think it is also clear that no shorcuts were taken when one first lays eyes on some of the breathtaking backgrounds of the Tokyo cityscapes.
The level of detail and mastery in creating these images already elevate this series from generic backgrounds found in more recent shows like InuYasha, Love Hina or Naruto.
The character design is just as pleasing to the eye as these backgrounds. Ryo Saeba looks a lot more like how a person would look then you usual highly stylised Shounen protagonist. The "Mokkori" ladies, including Saeko and Kaori, are also really well drawn and very sexy. With this level of eye candy, there was hardly a chance that it would not be a successful franchise.
The only kink I came accross while watching the episodes was that at times, the proportions on certain character were either strange or just wrong. This occurs very rarely and doesn't really take away from the series so overall it isn't so much of an issue.

This series also comes with a fully kicking soundtrack that even surpasses the great animation. Both intros were incredible pieces of JRock/Pop. GoGo Heaven is probably the better one of the two as it really taps into the action/comedy aspect of the show. The standout track is of course Get Wild (a hit in its own right when released as a single in 1986 and recently reworked by the influencial TM Revolution), one track that taps shamelessly into the drama/romance aspect of the show oh so well!
The voice actors match the quality of the vocal tracks here with completely effervescent and infectious performances. Ryo's voice actors especially has a lot of fun with his character and really draws the audience in!

The overall story of City Hunter is that a sweeper (the kind without a broom) is called upon to either protect persecuted *mostly* females or right wrongs that were done to them in the past (Saint Tail uses the same premise to similar success). As such, this series is easily a very episodic one with a fairly static development all the way through (the only permanent change was the casting of Kaori).
Some people will find this to be a problem as City Hunter does not offer a plot that progresses much through its run. However, the episodic nature of City Hunter allows the audience to catch it sparringly and still enjoy the show just as much.
Later episodes do have storylines that continue for 3 or 4 episodes that have a better connection with its permanent audience and usually delivers very well on that front too.

Because of the episodic nature of the show, character development is lacking overall. However, the main cast is so well defined that they remain just as exciting through the show's entire run. The creators somewhat redeem the lack of development for the main cast by giving us great three dimensional victims/clients who call for Ryo's help. Overall it plays out like Law & Order as the CASE at hand is what is given importance.

City Hunter is easily one of the best Shounen animes ever made (just behind Saint Seiya and Berserk in my books). Its perfect mix of action, comedy and drama does what an anime is meant to do: entertain its audience. It's probably not the most rewarding anime you'll see but it is definitely one that you will forever appreciate. Out of the 51 episodes of this series only 1 was subpar. That is an incredible ratio; especially for a shounen title. Do yourself a favour - see it and enjoy it!

Before reading this review, I think it is important to note that I consider this anime to be my favorite. So my judegement might be a little too good; but I will try as much as I can to keep it professional.

City hunter is an Action-Comedy. The protagonist is Ryo Saeba, a professional private-sweeper with a very accurate shooting eye, and top notched fighing skills. Also, he is a Super-Hentai, thats why he only accepts buiseness offers from beautifull women. To apply a job offer usually one only needs to write an XYZ on the board where Koari (Ryo's Assistant) will pick it up..

City Hunter was aired in 1989.. This really shocks me; since some people say that the animation is bad, but acceptable to that period of time. Well, to an anime drawn at that time, I still find the quality of its drawing to be much better of some works I see today, never to forget the minimal computer contribution (If there was any) in this work. The character designs are THE most realistic I have seen thus far. Some of the shots were really marvellous and breath-taking. The environment was very detailed and very beautifully drawn. Still, City Hunter had two flaws animation-wise, first, You could feel as if some frames were skipping during the animation sometimes, the fact that brings us back to minimal computer contribution and manual labor defects. the second defect could be seen during the movement of the characters. This was only obvious 2 or 3 times and could be easily neglicted. Still, I insist on saying that the animation though perfromed in the 80's, can live up till now and be compared to what is being intorduced now.

Coming to a very strong side of City Hunter, Which is the sound. City Hunter displayed a very professional way in capturing the spirit of the 80's. All of the albums are great and lovely to hear. The opening theme for the for first 26 episodes "Ai yo Kienaide (Kohiruimaki Kahoru) [Love, Don't Disappear!]" is really a wonderful song. That applies also to "Never Go Away", "Woman", "footsteps", "Paradise Alley", " Go Go Heaven" and many more. You never get enough of the soundtrack; it is that simple. As for voice casting, It was also very good, Steady performance all the way, with no annoying voices.

Each Episode of City Hunter introduced a story of its own, which carried two major flaws to the anime. the first one was the repetition, you easily can guess what was going to happen. The second one was related to the plot overall, It was simply going nowhere, nevertheless, you remain tuned and attched to know whats going to happen. This is largely contributed to the strong comedy related to the mokkori events taking place in each episode. Hehehe, the fact that the comedy is much better than the action in this anime is quite obvious. Also, One can look to this anime as describing the daily lives of the characters it represents rather than describing a story that involved those characters, and thats another good point City Hunter introduced. They were trying to make it as real as possible, and in my opinion, they were successful.

You cant hate any of the characters of City hunter. They are all to be loved. I did not notice any character development in the whole show, but that did not bother me at all. Since development here means Ryo losing his mokkori sense, or Koari her jealousy, it was better not done. The supporting characters served the story in a very good way and had their times right; meaning, you never get bored of them, at the same time you're always wanting to see them. The right amount served at the right time, that is.

I never had fun watching any other anime show as I had when I watched City Hunter, and I am sure to repeat this show over and over again. And as I said in the beginning of this review "This is my favorite". If you have not seen it yet, give it a shot, I am sure you will find it , at least, an enjoyable experience.

Have you ever imagined about being the master marksman for hire in the big city? If yes, then this is what you should watch! Saeba Ryo aka City Hunter, who live in the flat house in Shinjuku area of Tokyo.

Beside the reputation in sharpshooter and bull eyes, Ryo is also known as Mokkori Maniac! He prefers to work with pretty women rather than rich old fart.

Since this series had been created for about 17-20 years ago. The music style is like either jazz or disco music. Sometimes I feel like I watched some kind of documentary films, because CITY HUNTER protraited how Japanese people live in urban during 80'.

Even the Ryo's skills are quite exaggerated, but there are always gags during the story, it won't bore you that easy. If you can overcome the old drawing, then this would be a good choice for you.

My ABSOLUTE favourite anime series of ALL TIME

never the less, this is an absolute great series...

granted, this anime is roughly a dozen years old, so the animation can't be expected to be revolutionary, but at the time, it much MUCH better than average.

the music is one of its greatest points, CITY HUNTER came out with at least 10 soundtracks, each just great as the next. (Earth, by Psy-S is just one of many great songs for C.H.)

the story itself can be critiqued to be repetitive, but it's always entertaining and yet fresh in its own ways.

Overall, this is a great series with plenty of humour, action, and very, VERY likeable characters...

HIGHLY Recommended for pratically EVERYONE