There are roles that will be forever linked to the actors who first played them, because audiences cannot see anyone inhibit the role. We cannot picture anyone but Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, or Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800, and while others have tried to step into those roles, they were unable to walk in the same footsteps. For roles that have had multiple actors play the same character, there will always be a standout. While Christian Bale has played Batman and Henry Cavill has played Superman, audiences will forever remember Michael Keaton and Christopher Reeve as the World’s Finest.
On the other hand, there will be the occasional rare instance where an actor believes he’s the only one built for the role, such as Sylvester Stallone fighting tooth and nail to play boxer Rocky Balboa, and finding great success. And now, Japanese actor Ryohei Suzuki believes that it has always been his destiny to play famed manga detective, Ryo Saeba, of City Hunter fame.
Created by writer and illustrator Tsukasa Hojo in 1985, the long-running manga follows the exploits of Ryo Saeba, a “sweeper” who rids Tokyo of crime, alongside his partner Kaori Makimura, the adopted sister of his original partner Hideyuki. It has since spawned multiple anime series and movies, and numerous adaptations and spin-offs from around the world, including several live-action films. The most well known is the 1993 Hong Kong comedy, starring action legend Jackie Chan, and several French films, as well as a 2011 live-action Korean TV drama starring Lee Min-ho and Park Min-young.
“He’s been my real hero since my childhood,” explains the actor in an exclusive interview on the Shinjuku set of the upcoming Netflix film in Tokyo, Japan. During the set visit in early 2023, Netflix invited several notable cosplayers and media from Southeast Asia, to join the film as extras in the cosplay event segment in the movie. The gang consisted of Prince De Guzman, AWIE, Prestonles, Yuuno and Geek Culture all dressed up amongst the crowd of cosplayers. If you spot anyone dressed as the Front Man from Squid Game, let us know.
It was his love for the franchise that spurred Suzuki to consider voice-acting, before he switched to acting. Surprisingly though, there has never been a Japanese live-action adaptation of City Hunter until now, and the 41-year-old actor, who spent his formative years with the franchise is ready to show the world who Ryo Saeba is.
“And well, I don’t want to sound strange or weird, but I’ve lived my life, the whole time, half believing that I am Ryo Saeba,” says the star, who has taken on several genre roles prior to City Hunter. In 2013, he starred as the titular hero Hentai Kamen in the movie of the same name, the first of two film adaptations of the popular Kyūkyoku!! Hentai Kamen manga. He also played Ryu Nakanishi aka The Horned Owl in the 2013 Gatchaman film, based on the classic 1970s anime series, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman.
Still, City Hunter remains his first love as a kid, as the combination of stylistic action on paper (he once shot a bad guy but fired the gun through his own hand to slow down the bullet, to avoid collateral damage), comedy and emotional relationships attracted a legion of fans young and old.
“I was 10 years old or so when I was really in love with City Hunter. But I think what I love most about it is the combination of silly comedy, dirty jokes and the serious action, cool action,” recalls the actor.
Directed by Yūichi Satō (The Master Plan, 2011, Kasane: Beauty and Fate, 2018), the film stars Misato Morita (The Naked Director, 2019) as Kaori, Masanobu Ando (Battle Royale, 2000) as Hideyuki, and Fumino Kimura (Love Life, 2022) as police detective and Saeba’s friend, Saeko.
“Also there’s a really good emotional, touching sentiment between Kaori. So like 80 per cent of the whole story is comedy, 15 per cent action and five per cent touching emotional story. I liked the balance in that story.
So Suzuki did what any kid would have done – try to become his hero.
“I copied how he walks, the way he stands, I copied how he talks, his voice, so in a way at least, I think I am Ryo Saeba, like 50 per cent of him.”
Amidst the laughter among the select media in the room after he made the admission, there’s also the realisation the manga character, while an expert marksman and in hand-to-hand combat, is also depicted as a rather lecherous character who loves chasing beautiful and voluptuous women. While depicted in a comedic way, a lot of the sexual innuendo and depiction of harrassment from the 1980s, when the manga was first written, has evolved and the Netflix movie will make some updates for a modern audience, which the actor believes is necessary.
“I don’t feel the need to put my own interpretation to Ryo Saeba but we have to update things a little bit, in order to adjust it to modern values. So we updated little things, but we haven’t changed his character or another person’s character or personality. So I think it’ll be pretty authentic.”
Despite his intimate knowledge of the source material, there was one thing that Suzuki had to learn – how to handle firearms, not just competently, but in a manner that reflects the expert manner in which Ryo Saeba does.
“There are plenty of action scenes, especially handling firearms. We are not allowed to shoot guns here, so I traveled to other countries to train myself on how to handle firearms, especially handguns.,” he said, including learning how to assemble and disassemble guns with ease and expertise.
Now before fans get upset about any changes that might alter the nature of the character, the recent trailer drop for the film already gives a snippet about the rather comedic but perverse nature of Saeba. The character is heard singing “Mokkori, mokkori”, with a view of scantily clad women in a sauna, with Saeba peering at them through a pair of binoculars.
The word mokkori is the Japanese onomatopeia for the sound of something that instantly grows and bulges against something, and when used in manga, refers to a character having an erection or boner. The film has shots of cleavage, but what it won’t have are the more extreme references to Saeba’s playful perversion.
“We want the audience to feel that this is City Hunter, this is what we want to see. But this time, Ryo Saeba doesn’t touch women’s bodies without their consent, unless it is to save their lives. He doesn’t sneak into changing rooms and steals things like that,” he says, alluding to the character’s penchant for stealing women’s bras and panties in the manga. But his collection of pornographic material remains.
The movie will also feature a new version of the classic song Get Wild, redubbed Get Wild Continual, by original Japanese band TM NETWORK. The track was used at the end of the anime and has become synonymous with the franchise.
But regardless of any updates made to the characters in the movie, it was done with the knowledge that the team was given carte blanche, including from series creator Hojo, whom Suziki calls a friend.
Recalls the actor, “The funny thing is Mr Tsukasa Hojo is so generous about his work, and I’m a good friend of his for a long time. He always says, ‘When you make a live-action, you can do whatever you want, you can change whatever you want to change. My City Hunter is just mine, you can make your own City Hunter.’ That’s his stance.”
“But I am too a big fan of City Hunter, so I cannot change things like he wants me to do,” admits the actor.
Yonk is a geek who is fortunate enough to have an equally geeky Star Wars fan for a wife, who owns a LEGO Millennium Falcon encased in a glass coffee table as their home’s centre-piece.
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