Ryo Saeba isn’t exactly a hero for our times. A denizen of Tokyo’s seamy Kabukicho entertainment district, the private investigator is an expert marksman and pugilist, but also an incorrigible pervert. Anyone seeking his services can leave a message on a blackboard in nearby Shinjuku Station, though they should be warned that he only goes for the pretty customers — and he won’t be looking at their faces when he’s talking to them.
The protagonist of Tsukasa Hojo’s “City Hunter” manga series made his debut in 1985, but he’s best remembered from a long-running anime in which he was voiced by the inimitable Akira Kamiya. He’s a product of a different era, which presents a problem to any contemporary adaptation (just ask the producers of the James Bond franchise).
A 2011 South Korean “City Hunter” TV series turned the title character into a dashing vigilante who was unlikely to get himself canceled. Philippe Lacheau’s wildly entertaining 2018 movie version, “Nicky Larson et le parfum de Cupidon,” stayed truer to the bawdy spirit of the material while also having fun with it.