Title: City Hunter Complete Edition 28
Series: City Hunter
Author: Tsukasa Hojo
Read copy: Paperback
Published: February 13, 2013
Publisher: Panini Comics Planet Manga
ISBN: 8863044163
ISBN-13: 9788863044164
A Ryo viene chiesto di fare da guardia del corpo... a Umibozu?! Perché l'avvenente e misteriosa donna che gli ha affidato l'incarico vuole che City Hunter protegga il gigante pelato? Quello che è certo è che sta succedendo qualcosa di strano...
My rating:
Title: City Hunter Complete Edition 29
Series: City Hunter
Author: Tsukasa Hojo
Read copy: Paperback
Published: February 28, 2013
Publisher: Panini Comics Planet Manga
ISBN: 8863044430
ISBN-13: 9788863044430
Inizia qui il ciclo finale di City Hunter! Chi è veramente Mick Angel? L’ennesimo killer che vuole far fuori City Hunter o si tratta davvero di un caro amico di Ryo? Nuovi, importanti dettagli del passato di Saeba e un fondamentale chiarimento tra lui e Kaori!
My rating:
Title: City Hunter Complete Edition 30
Series: City Hunter
Author: Tsukasa Hojo
Read copy: Paperback
Published: March 28, 2013
Publisher: Panini Comics Planet Manga
ISBN: 8863046794
ISBN-13: 9788863046793
Il mandante di Mick era il padre di Ryo? E cosa c’entrano la Union Teope e l’Angel Dust in questa complicata e terribile vicenda? Dal passato di Saeba tornano alcuni dei suoi più orribili incubi, qualcosa che lui ha cercato per anni di dimenticare ma che ora dovrà affrontare per sopravvivere!
My rating:
Title: City Hunter Complete Edition 31
Series: City Hunter
Author: Tsukasa Hojo
Read copy: Paperback
Published: April 26, 2013
Publisher: Panini Comics Planet Manga
ISBN: 886304712X
ISBN-13: 9788863047127
Il più intenso numero di City Hunter che abbiate mai letto! Una sfida che avrà delle importanti ripercussioni non solo su di lui, ma anche nel rapporto con Kaori! E poi Ryo dovrà lottare contro un “misterioso” impostore che si aggira per Tokyo spacciandosi per City Hunter!
My rating:
Title: City Hunter Complete Edition 32
Series: City Hunter
Author: Tsukasa Hojo
Read copy: Paperback
Published: May 30, 2013
Publisher: Panini Comics Planet Manga
ISBN: 8863048827
ISBN-13: 9788863048827
Ci ha fatti sorridere, sognare, piangere, preoccupare e molto altro ancora. Ora Tsukasa Hojo conclude la sua serie più famosa con un numero speciale che è entrato nella storia del fumetto! Mille emozioni, un improvviso e imprevisto matrimonio, il caro prezzo della vendetta e molto altro ancora!
My rating:
VOLUME 28:
As I said, the first case was all about girl power with Ryo playing second fiddle to the intrepid duo of Kaori and the female client...And ending up helping Saeko with one of her cases in the process (without even getting paid).
The second case was all about subterfuge, as a woman who Ryo thinks is Umibozu's lover, hires Ryo to protect the gentle giant. There's someone determined to kill him now that he's impaired.
It turns out, Umi isn't as impaired as everybody thinks, and the woman is none other than Miki in disguise.
There went his 10 Mokkoris as payment.
It's the third case that's once more pivotal in the grand scheme of things. A young novelist, who turns out to be a younger Nogami sister, decides to take Ryo and Kaori as inspiration for her next novel and ends up providing much needed advice to out cowardly sweeper.
She (and the reader) also gets a much needed glimpse into the psyche and reasoning of said sweeper, realizing it's not that easy living based on one's emotions in the world Ryo and Kaori live in.
The ending, as they join forces to save young Yuka, is one of the best scenes in this star-crossed romance.
And in the final chapter...Miki finds out just why Kaori can't hit anything with her gun (because Ryo, playing chivalrous knight, has fixed it so she can't) and confronts him only to find out it's his way of keeping Kaori "clean" so she can rejoin the normal world eventually (yeah, like that's going to happen).
And the finale is drawing near as a story arc from the beginning of the manga is about to come back from the dead. Mick Angel is in town. And we all know how that's going to end.
Shit is about to hit the fan, ladies and gentlemen.
VOLUME 29:
The beginning of the end, this volume is one of my favorites (alongside vol. 20, where parts of Ryo's past were first revealed...it must be something about the Americans 😊).
This few chapters are pivotal both for the resolution to the story arc from the first couple of volumes, but also for the last chapters and the ending of the story, as well as for the Ryo/Kaori tumultuous and rather ambiguous relationship.
The two are forced to contemplate and consider their feelings toward one another as well as their intentions. Kaori finds herself doubting what she knows and feels as Mick Angel, Ryo's old friend and rival, comes onto the scene and openly courts her (which has never happened to her before) and also openly declares his feelings for her (which also has never happened to her before) and she finally learns the secret behind her mysterious inability to hit a target with her brother's gun.
Mick's appearance and advances toward Kaori also finally force Ryo to actually get his act together and finally make a conclusive decision whether to keep Kaori with him or not...And actually use words to explain himself.
Once he realizes he doesn't stand a chance, Mick also offers his friend the opportunity to actually speak about his real feelings toward Kaori, but as we all know, Ryo isn't actually known for his ability to reveal his innermost thought or his proficiency with words, so he bungles it...And then Kaori almost blows all three of them up.
Yeah, we need some levity in a rather serious chapter.
Then comes the big reveal about Ryo and Kaori's joined past. They've met before, while she was still in highschool, worried about her brother and he mistook her for a boy, nicknaming her Sugar Boy and on their second encounter didn't remember anything.
Yet, as Umibozu had said previously, Ryo never forgets anyone, and in the last vignette before Mick's departure, the reader learns the truth (that Kaori will in the next volume)...That Ryo remembers the encounter and her perfectly.
And as Mick leaves, without killing his friend as to not make Kaori suffer, he reveals the shocking information about who had forced him to come to Japan. It was Ryo's father and as the man doesn't tolerate failures and disobedience, he sends a suicide bomber souped up on Angel Dust on board of Mick's plane...
If that isn't a good cliffhanger, I don't know what is.
VOLUME 30:
The beginning of the end continues in volume 30 as Ryo faces a demon from his past—his adoptive father and the man who made him.
Ryo and Kaori grow even closer in this volume, as Ryo finally truly embraces her as his partner, tells her the details about his past involving Kaibara, and finally reveals the fact he remembers their first encounter. The discussion is intense, the closeness palpable, the embraces warm...So Hojo-sensei had to throw in some levity in the form of a morning dump. 😉
The battle on the Union Teope ship is action-packed, intense and brutal, especially as Ryo, Kaori and Umibozu are faced with a ghost determined to kill them all on the orders of his master. It's Kaori the savior in this particular chapter, as she's the only one able to get through the haze of PCP and reach the man inside the shell.
And then, the requisite cliffhanger, as Ryo faces off with his father...And falls, eyes wide with shock and chest bloody, under Kaibara's bullet.
VOLUME 31:
Kaibara's shot turns out to be just a graze, but Ryo and Kaori are forced to flee the sinking ship separately...But first, they exchange promises of living and share a kiss through the glass...
Then Kaori, thanks to a bump on the head, promptly forgets the last few days and the important moments and words shared with Ryo and what does the bastard do? He uses the opportunity to go back to his old life, seemingly forgetting about those same shared important moments and words.
First, he protects a young ER doctor, he met thanks to an embarrassing injury caused by Kaori and then uses the appearance of a false City Hunter (someone falsely claiming to be the real CH and stealing clients) to convince one of those clients to go out with him in lieu of payment.
It turns out, the false City Hunter is none other than Mick Angel returned from the death's door and determined to stay in Japan. He also realizes Kaori actually remembers everything (her amnesia was just temporary due to shock), but she's determined to keep quiet, since Ryo doesn't seem to care.
But as she learns the truth about the "stealing" of one of the clients, she's had it and decides to leave him (not before kicking the spit out of him) and go work for Mick. There's no future for them anyway, it seems, and she can't stand it anymore.
So the three decide to have the ultimate battle for the use of the name City Hunter by accepting the same case.
VOLUME 32:
In the beginning of this final volume of the City Hunter saga Ryo and Kaori are still separated with her working with Mick in direct competition with Saeba for exclusive use of the name of their "firm".
The bickering is still there, the beatings are constant, despite Ryo's insistence she should keep only her new partner, Mick, in check, but there are deeper undertones to it all.
Kaori is still filled with jealousy despite her professing she wouldn't return to Ryo no matter what, Mick is determined to bring the two idiots together while also making a last effort of winning Kaori, and Ryo...He's still a mystery, but it's obvious from the designs that something is bothering him (especially during the failed attempt at a joint "nightly excursion" with Mick).
But they have to put it all on the back burner to protect the president of the state of Latoania (yeah, made-up countries aren't Hojo's forte). They of course prevent him from blowing up, but Kaori once again ends up kidnapped, since she and Mick aren't that coordinated.
Ryo naturally rides to the rescue and the connection between these two former colleagues is obvious as they don't even have to be in close proximity to coordinate their actions.
This last realization still isn't enough, even after Kazue makes a surprise appearance and reveals Ryo was actually working for her as well by keeping an eye on Mick, to make Kaori reconsider her leaving...Until she overhears a conversation between Mick and Ryo in which the two men discuss the latter's pulling back after Kaori's "amnesia". The man finally more-or-less confesses his true feelings for Kaori and expresses his deep-set fear of those same feelings, yet is still reluctant to actually speak to the woman in question, resulting in a scheme into which he pulls both Umibozu (who he deems responsible for Kaori fleeing in the first place) and Mick (by blackmailing him with revealing his true intentions to Kazue).
The scheme is unnecessary, because Kaori drags him away on an assignment without bothering to listening to anything, deciding to forgive him one more time.
And then comes the final few chapters where true feelings are revealed both in words, but most importantly in actions, as Ryo and Kaori are invited to Umi and Miki's wedding and where Miki and Kaori have a heart-to-heart about the importance of the ceremony and the meaning of the flowers in her bouquet, and Ryo compliments Umibozu on his courage to go through the process for Miki, despite the dangerous world they're living in.
But someone else is about to use the wedding ceremony to wreak havoc and force City Hunter into a battle for life and death by exploiting Ryo's only weakness...
The final battle is intense, action-packed and fast-paced. Despite it being illustrated, Hojo uses all his talent in conveying the danger the characters are in, the easy banter and camaraderie between Ryo and Umibozu, and finally the urgency and emotions Ryo feels before the climax of the chapter.
The words were needed to make everybody understand just what a pivotal moment the ending was, but, as I said before, actions spoke volumes.
And in the end, Hojo's talent once more shines in those final, calmer vignettes, where instead of words, facial expressions and posture spoke loud and clear, conveying the connection and the bond between Ryo and Kaori.
I'm a little bit disappointed by the ending, since things looked to be quickly back to their usual normal, but let's just say (and hope) the mangaka left it a little open-ended so everybody could take it as they wanted, creating their own possibilities or what was truly going on in the Saeba household as the CH story drew to a conclusion.
In the end, I have to reiterate how much I adore this manga. It's an almost perfect combination of a complex hero living in the gray world of true justice, his tomboyish assistant who turns out to be his saving grace, the connection between them, their peculiar, star-crossed relationship filled with misunderstandings, ambiguity and fears...Wonderful secondary characters and their relationships and friendships, amazing characterization and character growth and development, intense, action-packed, intriguing and sometimes emotional storylines, and a complex main arc that ties together earlier volumes with the later ones, all mixed up with gags and humor...All thanks to the amazing talent of its creator, Tsukasa Hojo.
4 stars, 5 stars, bodyguard/military/merc/gov/cop/spy, favorites, manga/comics/graphic novels, suspense/mystery/adventure/thriller, Tsukasa Hojo
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