City Hunter: Difference between revisions

Ryo Saeba is a "sweeper" (combination hitman/private eye) who uses his [[Improbable Aiming Skills]] and all-round [[Badass|Badassery]] to deal with crime in Tokyo. He also happens to be a loony [[Chivalrous Pervert]].

 

 

Ryo Saeba is an apparent orphan who was brought up in a war-torn village in Central America. At a young age, he was [[Playing with Syringes|used as a test subject]] for a unique LSD derivative which resulted in him developing [[Super Reflexes]]. He trained these reflexes as a guerilla in that country's civil war before escaping to the United States and thence to Japan. In Japan, he teamed up with former police detective Hideyuki Makimura to form the "City Hunter" sweeper agency; ostensibly, he's a [[Private Detective]], but will go further for certain clients - he's also a [[Hitman with a Heart]].

The "comedy" comes into play whenever Ryo sees a beautiful woman. Somehow, that LSD derivative had as much of a positive effect on his sexuality as it did his reflexes. He has a sex drive of truly epic proportions, and [[Chick Magnet|a physique guaranteed to make just about any woman happy to be its focus]]... which is just about the only [[Restraining Bolt]] this [[Lovable Sex Maniac]] ''has'' - he '''knows''' that he's everything he claims to be, and is thus [[Chivalrous Pervert|always patient enough to wait until the girl's in the mood to get wild.]] He's not above what most would consider outright sexual harassment, however... as long as the girl seems amused by it.

 

 

Early in the manga, Hideyuki dies on a case, asking Ryo to look after his much younger adoptive sister, Kaori. Kaori, a tomboyish [[Tsundere]] (who is of course [[Beautiful All Along]]) quickly takes her brother's place as Ryo's partner and business manager. She is decidedly unimpressed by Ryo's lecherous ways and often interrupts his seduction attempts. Despite this, the two quickly form a strong emotional bond - though Kaori is never sure whether Ryo's excuse for not acting on their easily noticed [[UST]] is really because [[It's Not You, It's My Enemies]], or if her lecherous partner is just too damned horny to ever settle down.

 

For the [[Korean Drama]] of the same name, see ''[[The City Hunter|City Hunter]]''.

* [[Adult Child]]: Ryo's emotional maturity outside of work is questionable at best.

* [[Akira Kamiya]]: Ryo's voice.

* [[Amusing Injuries]]: Ryo, courtesy of a girl. Though ''well'' deserved most of the time.

* [[Badass Adorable]]: Sure, Kaori and the younger girls in the cast qualify, but it's actually ''Ryo'' in particular who personifies this trope through his lovably frank [[Casanova]] [[Adult Child]] behavior, coupled with a sweet and gentle sensitivity. [[Akira Kamiya]] sure is good at playing [[Fist of the North Star|sensitive and kind hearted badasses]], isn't he?

* [[Bifauxnen]]: Kaori, due to androgynous good looks and a rather butch fashion sense, was often mistaken for a pretty man. Later in the series, she starts wearing tight skirts to clear up the confusion.

* [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]: There are quite a few incidents. There is a sequence in the manga where Ryo and a client look at the clouds for 4 panels. Ryo wonders if the audience will start to think the mangaka is lazy. Another is when Ryo takes a bodyguard assignment twice in a row, and asks if the mangaka has run out of ideas. At another point, he uses speech bubbles to shield himself from Kaori's wrath, while she throws her's at him. Characters also run outside the panel or break them sometimes. [[Intense Close Up]] is also treated like the character's face ''literally'' getting larger.

* [[But Not Too Foreign]]: More than once, white girls that come to Japan for Ryo's protection are revealed to be half Japanese.

* [[Casanova]]: Ryo. He's actually a very successful one until Kaori came along...

* [[Dead Little Sister]]: Hideyuki. More exactly, he is Kaori's Dead Older Brother ''and'' Ryo's Dead First Partner.

* [[Dirty Old Man]]: Doc.

* [[Distracted by the Sexy]]: Saeko relies on this a bit much for a police officer.

* [[Evil Laugh]]: Ryo's is a rare ''heroic'' and ''lovable'' example, used whenever he is about to go on another "mokkori hunt."

* [[Fair Cop]]: Saeko

* [[Fashion Victim Villain]]: One of the [[Monster of the Week|Villains Of The Week]] in an [[In-Universe]] example of this.

* [[Handsome Lech]] and [[Chivalrous Pervert]]: Ryo sways between the two depending on the situation... and whether or not Kaori and her ultra-heavy mallet are around.

** Ryo's friend and rival Mick Angel also qualify for both tropes.

* [[Hitman with a Heart]]: Ryo, Umibozu, Mick.

* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]: Played straight with Ryo. Inverted with Kaori, who can't shoot straight. Literally. {{spoiler|This was done on purpose by Ryo, apparently, to make sure she never kills anyone.}}

* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]: Ryo, you the man.

* [[The Loins Sleep Tonight]]: Ryo is unable to get it up after being stung by genetically engineered bee with a super-potent venom. It was a side-effect of the antidote.

* [[Lovable Sex Maniac]]: Ryo.

* [[The Masochism Tango]]: Ryo and Kaori.

* [[Mythology Gag]]: The cafe run by Umibozu and Miki is named "[[Cat's Eye]]".

* [[Nurse with Good Intentions]]: Yoshimi Iwai, [[Dojikko|oh so much]].

* [[Phantom Thief]]: Kasumi Asou alias Theif n°305, who comes from a line of women phantom thieves.

* [[Throwing the Fight]]: The bad guy in the first story is a sadistic boxer who sought to intimidate his opponents into doing this so he could become champion, and even murdered one opponent (the boyfriend of the lady who calls Saeba in) when he wouldn't throw the fight.

* [[Tsundere]] : Kaori, just Kaori.

* [[Villainous Crossdresser]]: Ryo's worst nightmare.

* [[We Help the Helpless]]: the City Hunter team, though most of their jobs will involve shooting sooner or later.

** An even earlier and more notable case is Umibozu's terrible fear of cats, especially if they're [[Tastes Like Diabetes|cute]] [[Cute Kitten|kittens]]. It leads to [[Crowning Moment of Funny|extremely funny scenes]], and to plot-point moments as well.

 

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[[Category:Anime]]

[[Category:Manga]]