Ask John: Could City Hunter Earn an American Resurgence?

Question:
With the new live-action City Hunter TV series being in prodcution now, could this [be] the perfect time for an anime distributor to license rescue and release the City Hunter anime? ADV released all but the last special back in 2003, but all has since gone out of print and the last two seasons of the TV series go for $100+ online now. Could the new live-action show help renew interest in this excellent franchise?

Answer:
Although I dislike being decidedly negative, in this case, I think I have to be simply realistic. Ironically, despite being thematically similar to its descendant, Trigun, City Hunter has never really caught on in America. That’s not to say that the upcoming live action television series has no potential. I only mean that live action doesn’t necessarily equate to a similar interest in an animated incarnation. While it’s true that AD Vision’s relatively scarce domestic City Hunter television series DVD sets command high after-market prices, those valuations reflect the interest of a small audience of hardcore fans and collectors rather than a broad American interest in the franchise.

AD Vision released the City Hunter television series domestically at the height of the company’s success, yet none of the television series episodes were dubbed in English – a move out of character with ADV’s standard anime distribution policy at the time. The four television series were released in budget priced, subtitled only collections in deference to the series’ small American audience. Likewise note that Gutsoon attempted to publish an English translation of the City Hunter manga, but the title didn’t prove popular enough among American readers to stave off its cancellation. So far, none of the City Hunter anime – the TV series, TV specials, OVAs, or motion picture – has been re-licensed for American DVD re-release, nor has the manga been picked up for distribution by a new American distributor. Both Jackie Chan’s 1993 live action City Hunter movie and the 1993 semi-sequel Madam City Hunter movie have been available on American DVD for years, but neither has ever been especially well known or popular among American viewers (although, granted, Jackie Chan’s City Hunter movie isn’t especially good, and while Madam City Hunter is a respectable action film, it has very little relation to creator Hojo Tsukasa’s original City Hunter.)

Despite being a well respected and popular franchise in Japan, City Hunter has always been a niche title appealing to only its cult following in America. In fact, even in the early 1990s, when City Hunter anime was still being produced periodically, I clearly recall a fellow American anime fan acquaintance of mine referring to City Hunter as an out of date franchise. City Hunter is particularly attractive to Japanese viewers because the series is particularly accessible. It’s a lighthearted action series that typically concentrates more on character personalities and situational comedy than serious, exhilarating action. That’s precisely what may make a live action television series adaptation successful and attractive to mainstream American television viewers. However, in its original anime incarnation, the series has a somewhat slower pace than Trigun, and it doesn’t have the quirkiness associated with Trigun. While select City Hunter episodes are famously serious and dramatic, the series as a whole doesn’t have the pathos of Gungrave (not to mention it’s video game connection). In effect, there are just other, more recent gunslinger anime shows that are more distinctly suited to the tastes of American viewers than City Hunter. While City Hunter isn’t an especially dated anime, it still can’t overcome the American stigma of being an old anime in an American market that typically avoids anime produced before 1990.

While avowed City Hunter fans are very devoted, the City Hunter manga and even more so its anime TV series adaptation appeal almost exclusively to only Americans predisposed to appreciate the series’ wild shifts in mood and lengthy periods of redundant comedy interspersed by memorable action. (I’m not trying to disparage the City Hunter franchise. Rather, I’m just being realistic. I’ve purchased every domestic City Hunter anime DVD release plus a DVD copy of the Madam City Hunter movie. I own and have read all of the English translated City Hunter manga. And I own two vintage City Hunter shitajiki and a copy of the Japanese Hojo Tsukasa Illustrations book.) As a moderate City Hunter fan and a proponent of classic anime, I’d be very pleased to see the upcoming live action City Hunter television series spark a revitalization for the earlier anime and manga, but I don’t anticipate that occurring. I think that the City Hunter franchise has proven itself to be a title that doesn’t quite inspire the enthusiasm of average Americans. And while American viewers may enjoy a live action City Hunter specifically tailored to American tastes, that doesn’t mean that those same viewers will turn their attention to the earlier incarnations.