“The Inglorious Ten Count”
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Tsukasa Hojo
Translation: David Evelyn
Lettering: Kai Kyou
What They Say
Readers follow the City Hunter as he takes on underground odd jobs, ranging from serving as the bodyguard of a captivating madame to executing a vengeful assassination of a corrupt politician, navigating through quick-witted thrills and intense dramas.
The City Hunter Ryo Saeba does the dirty work of cleaning up Tokyo’s nightlife with his heart of gold worn on his sleeve.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Known originally as Shiti Hanta (シティーハンター), it’s far more known by its English name of City Hunter. The manga comes from Tsukasa Hojo, which began in 1985 and it wrapped up in Japan with thirty-five volumes to its name in 1991. Full volume reviews just aren’t my jam or in my workflow, so I wanted to work through a series on my own schedule and spend the time to talk about it chapter by chapter. This series has gorgeous new omnibus releases through Abrams ComicArts, which is what we’re reading, and I haven’t read this since Coamix brought it out in the early 2000s through Gutsoon! And the Raijin magazine. I seriously miss that magazine and the titles it brought out. So while I don’t have plans for a lengthy run on this, I wanted to revisit the manga that I’ve had read in two decades, and the anime that I’ve seen over the years, with a few chapter reviews..
With Hojo acknowledging in a note after the chapter, this first installment was something that we see our lead character do at times, but the whole assassination thing kind of fell off as the work progressed since he found more interesting stories to work with. But opening the series with him being hired to assassinate someone is pretty straightforward sweeper stuff. Ryo Saeba is your kind of easily handsome and flirty guy who is a pure 80s groper type that does it because he can. He’s got the right look and outfits to be popular, and the skill and intelligence to be a sweeper and general problem solver, but he’s also just a child in a lot of ways as well. The main thrust of events here is that a boxer named Shun is getting ready for his comeback match after a car accident and ends up getting killed in the park while with his girlfriend. He’s convinced he knows who it is, another boxer named Inagaki, and it’s his dying works to her.
That gets Ryo brought in as the girlfriend, Megumi, was actually Shun’s doctor after the accident, and the two become involved over the course of his treatment. She wants him to find and kill Inagaki over what happened, and her determination is bolstered by the fact that she’s dying of cancer and has signed over her insurance payout of several million yen to Ryo for the job. Ryo’s a bit ambivalent at first, but he takes on the job and does the work while watching as Inagaki sets things up for his new challenger and makes threats there as well. Inagaki is going to face Mita, and Ryo stalks Mita for a few days waiting to see what Inagaki might end up doing. And he puts together some pretty serious threats toward Mita regarding his family and specifically his daughter if he doesn’t throw the match in the third round. It’s fairly standard, but you can see how Inagaki is working all of this in order to bolster his reputation and payout with bets and more.
Amusingly, Ryo has a bit of investment in this as well as he had bet on the original match with a bad bookie, and that has gone south in its own way, but as much as Ryo flirts and fondles his way through life – including with Megumi at first even, he’s serious when it comes to the work itself. I like that he doesn’t just try to find a time when Inagaki is alone and essentially offs him, but rather looks for a creative way to deal with him. It’s a bit comically over the top with a bullet he intends to shoot into his ear at the right time that will use enough force to push him out of the ring, but not kill him because it won’t penetrate. You kind of have to overlook aspects of this, but he’s looking to humiliate and shame Inagaki by doing so, as he’s knocked out hard, loses after promising a KO of the champ, and is considered one of the most shameful ways to lose.
In Summary:
The opening chapter of this sets plenty of things in motion, but not everything that will define the series. Ryo’s playboyish ways are here, but limited, and the assassination aspect is something that will drift off more as time goes on. We do get some time with Ryo’s partner in the work, but it’s a limited role that I definitely don’t think works well as it adds a kind of seriousness that feels off. Generally, the artwork is a lot of fun and I have a love of the designs of this era, the backgrounds that are employed, and honestly, just the fact that it’s pretty damn low-tech by today’s standards. That keeps a different flair and air about the whole thing that’s very appealing in a world of instant communication that we have today. Ryo’s the kind of character that, if I recall, gets goofier the more time goes on, but getting to see more of his serious side here at the start is a lot of fun. It’s a solid story with an interesting resolution.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Abrams ComicArts
