City Hunter 2 (1988) - Episodes 1 - 6 (out of 63) (First Impressions)
I wasn't exactly sure what to watch, and as such I had both
City Hunter 2 and
Giant Gorg in hand, but after watching the OP for
City Hunter 2, a sense of excitement and happiness overcame my whole body and I knew at that moment that I'd be watching
City Hunter 2. So here I am watching
City Hunter 2, the sequel to the phenomenal
City Hunter and I've just wrapped up the
first 6 episodes, and man it feels great to be back.
It's no secret that
City Hunter is one of my favorite series of all time, and after finishing the fantastic
Space Cobra I had an urge to go back to
City Hunter and get some more 80’s in my system. In case you're wondering,
City Hunter 2 is a TV series by studio
Sunrise and directed by
Kodama Kenji, who is known for directing shows such as
Kekkaishi and
Detective Conan Case Closed. Right off the bat the sequel clicked as I became reacquainted with the cast and crew. The first thing that you see is the intro, so I'm glad to say that the
OP for
City Hunter 2 is fantastic and sets the tone for the rest of your viewing experience. Its slick, it’s stylish, it’s awesome.
City Hunter is back, and it’s awesome.
City Hunter itself is a show the follows
Ryo and
Kaori, the duo who go around helping people, mainly acting as bodyguards when people feel like they are in danger. Of course, as the series progresses they find themselves in all sorts of situations and protecting all sorts of people. The dynamic between each character is what makes this show an instant favorite.
Episode 1 throws you straight in. Both
Ryo and
Kaori are on the streets looking for anybody who will hire them, since it’s been a month since their last job. However, as usual with
Ryo being
Ryo he's busy eyeing up all of the cuties. I've said this before and I'll say it again, nobody does character designs like
Tsukasa Hojo, and man the girls in this show are stunning and absolutely beautiful.
Ryo himself has a reputation of sorts, one of a sexual deviant and can often scare the female clients away, which is a shame since he only accepts work from females! Of course
Kaori is pissed and scolds
Ryo, which is also hilarious, seeing this hulk of a man beautiful man sulking with puppy eyes as
Kaori pulls out a 100 ton hammer and smashes it in his face has me rolling and wiping my tears each and every time. The reaction faces in this show are second to none.
As
Ryo roams the street he hears the distressed cry of a girl and saves her from a bunch of thugs. This must be his lucky day, right? Well it turns out that the damsel in distress is in fact only fifteen years old, ooops! What makes matter worse; she says that she wants to get married to
Ryo because of some horoscope that she read.
Ryo manages to run away but later gets a call for a job. The job in questions is protecting a cute model,
mokkori! He thinks that the lady in questions looks hot too, but it turns out that the girl is the fifteen year old girl from earlier and she’s hired him to protect her. Makeup, a different hairstyle and a swimsuit goes a long way for
Ryo. How cruel. He accepts the job, begrudgingly but as always
Kaori is always watching, making sure he doesn’t lay a finger on her. The little brother of the girl also objects, convinced that
Ryo has a Lolita complex. In the end it’s a hilarious episode with sweeter moments that reminds me just why I loved
City Hunter so much in the first place.
Episode 2 continues the story as they figure out who is trying to kill her. The reason as to why she’s being targeted is apparently to do with her accidentally taking a photograph of him and thus he wants her killed and the negative. In the beginning, the girl lied about wanting to marry
Ryo due to the fact that she didn’t want to become an idol, as her heart lies with photography but maybe as the episode progresses her feelings for
Ryo become genuine? Another great, hilarious episode with a touching ending that managed to tear me up and for such a silly set-up, it manages to be mature and grown up, par for course with
City Hunter I guess.
The M&M's marketing continues. Some things never change.
In
Episode 3, although the previous girls’ job is done and concluded, the man who wanted to kill her, known as
Silver Fox is still on the run, and wants revenge on
Ryo for making a fool out of him. His plan to get
Ryo back is to target and kill his partner,
Kaori whom he mistakes as his lover. Of course
Ryo objects at the notion of being in love with her, and of course
Kaori is upset and angry. The truth is,
Ryo loves her, but tries to push her away since he feels as if he isn’t enough to protect her and doesn’t want to further endanger her, but she takes offense at
Ryo, thinking that he doesn’t care for her at all. She tries to grab his attention by wearing sexy outfits, to which
Ryo asks why she sounds as if she’s got a cold when she tries to talk sexy to him, and when she tried to do aerobics in front of him, bending over and stretching he exclaims that it’s a good idea to exercise because she’s gained a few pounds. I have to admit, the scene where she’s stretching in that leotard had me both laughing and aroused. You see, I love
Kaori. I seriously couldn’t stop laughing, and it exemplifies just why I love this series. After going on numerous dates with other women in order to convince
Silver Fox to stop targeting
Kaori, he fails and
Kaori is almost killed but it turns out to be a ruse. In the end,
Ryo pushes
Kaori away, firing her.
Episode 4 continues the story and although
Kaori has been fired, she’s determined to get back, but whenever she’s snooping on him, he pretends to talk **** about her behind her back in order to further push her away but in the end she just becomes more enraged and decides to fight
Silver Fox head on herself in order to prove her worth. In the end, maybe they’re both inseparable and maybe
Ryo comes to terms with his love for
Kaori after all.
In
Episode 5, a novelist wants to learn more about the underworld and hires
Ryo and
Kaori in order to protect her. She doesn’t know that he’s the famous
City Hunter himself and just sees him as an incompetent pervert. As she gets deeper into the world of Yakuza, it’s
Ryo’s job to protect her.
Finally
Episode 6 deals with a lady who steals a painting from a gallery. Apparently it’s a fake and she knows because her father is the original artist. As she is being chased by the bodyguards,
Ryo bumps into her and saves her, inviting her over for some Mokkori time but of course their hunt for her and the painting is far from over. She’s really cute, but even
Kaori admits that she’s a bit of a pervert. It’s a great episode yet again with everyone finding themselves in hilarious situations as always, for example
Ryo convinces the girl that
Kaori is in fact a boy, big mistake.
City Hunter is without a doubt one of my favorite shows of all time, and the sequel retains everything that I loved about the original. The characters are hilarious, with pitch perfect voicing all around from main characters to side characters, the set-ups are interesting and imaginative, the music is fantastic and it goes without saying that the series contains outstanding character designs. I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing through the whole thing and I’m glad that it’s back in my life.
MOKKORI!
