Netflix announced today that Tsukasa Hojo’s City Hunter manga is getting a Japanese live-action film! It will be streamed on the platform worldwide in 2024, with actor Ryohei Suzuki (My Love Story!, Hentai Kamen) playing the role of Ryō Saeba. Yūichi Satō is directing the movie. A visual of Ryōhei Suzuki in the character’s clothes were also shared.
Additionally, Tatsuhiro Mishima is writing the screenplay, and Yoshihide Otomo is composing the music. Shinichi Takahashi is the executive producer, and Keisuke Sanpei and Kosuke Oshida are producing at Netflix in collaboration with the HoriPro and Office Shirous studios.
The live-action adaptation aims to create a uniquely Japanese live-action version set in modern-day Shinjuku, taking advantage of the filming in the actual Shinjuku district and the unique nuances of the Japanese language expressed from the original story. As such, the main character’s costume has been changed, with the long coat of the original manga being used instead of the jacket of the anime version of City Hunter.
City Hunter is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo. It was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1985 to 1991 and collected into 35 tankōbon volumes by its publisher Shueisha. The manga was adapted into an anime television series by Sunrise Studios in 1987.
The series follows the exploits of Ryo Saeba, a “sweeper” who is always found chasing beautiful girls, and a private detective who works to rid Tokyo of crime, along with his associate or partner, Hideyuki Makimura. Their City Hunter business is an underground jack-of-all-trades operation, contacted by writing the letters XYZ on a blackboard at Shinjuku Station.
▍City Hunter Live Action Movie Staff & Production
Original Work: Tsukasa Hojo
Director: Yuichi Sato
Executive Producer: Shinichi Takahashi
Producer: Keisuke Sanpei, Kosho Oshida
Screenplay: Tatsuhiro Mishima
Music: Yoshihide Otomo
Director of Photography: Motonobu Kiyohisa
Lighting: Kenichi Hamada
Sound Mixer: Masaharu Tanabe
Art Director: Kentaro Kosaka
Decoration: Chuo Kobayashi
Costume Design: Kumiko Ogawa, Shuhei Sakaue
Hair and Makeup Direction: Keisuke Sakai
Make-up: Eri Shiotani
Action Director: Mine Tanimoto
Scripter: Rie Fujishima
Location Manager: Hiroto Takeishi
Production: Netflix (in collaboration with HoriPro and Office Shirous)
Original Cooperation: Coremix