Computer animation and changing social norms can make it hard for older anime to appeal to modern viewers, particularly a franchise like 'City Hunter' that's steeped in Japanese bubble-era pop culture. There's many ways around this, like introducing a new setting or expanding the world through spin-off series, such as how the original 'City Hunter' spawned 'Angel Heart'.
Instead, 'City Hunter: Shinjuku Private Eyes' recycles a leftover plot from its 1980s print run, overlaid with modern trappings like smartphones, UAV drones, and rap music by Lotus Juice. Instead of drawing 'XYZ' in chalk, Ryo's clients now write it using an augmented-reality app on their phone. Instead of nukes, the villains are chasing a virtual-reality headset linked to an army of military drones.
Beneath a veneer of modernity, it's the same grade-school slapstick and go-nowhere romantic subplots of a filler TV episode. Maybe that's enough for starving 'City Hunter' fans, but being familiar with the franchise might be even worse. See the theatrical poster? That's the entire cast, and since all but three of them are returning characters, returning fans will instantly guess who the villain is. A whodunit mystery doesn't work when there's only one suspect, and Ryo's prowess with his iconic Colt Python isn't impressive when he's shooting at robots already shown to be bulletproof.
Badly-animated robots, too; for a feature-length film, the animation feels very cheap. All of the robots are clone-brushed CGI models, looking identical and moving in perfect unison. Worse, they animate at a smooth 24 frames/second, clashing with with the static backgrounds and choppy animation of the human characters. A car chase through Kabuki-cho in the intro is nicely animated, but it's short and unrelated to the plot.
'Shinjuku Private Eyes' is an attempt to modernize 'City Hunter' without actually changing its stagnant formula. Fans have seen it all before, and there's nothing here for the modern anime fan to latch onto.
Instead, 'City Hunter: Shinjuku Private Eyes' recycles a leftover plot from its 1980s print run, overlaid with modern trappings like smartphones, UAV drones, and rap music by Lotus Juice. Instead of drawing 'XYZ' in chalk, Ryo's clients now write it using an augmented-reality app on their phone. Instead of nukes, the villains are chasing a virtual-reality headset linked to an army of military drones.
Beneath a veneer of modernity, it's the same grade-school slapstick and go-nowhere romantic subplots of a filler TV episode. Maybe that's enough for starving 'City Hunter' fans, but being familiar with the franchise might be even worse. See the theatrical poster? That's the entire cast, and since all but three of them are returning characters, returning fans will instantly guess who the villain is. A whodunit mystery doesn't work when there's only one suspect, and Ryo's prowess with his iconic Colt Python isn't impressive when he's shooting at robots already shown to be bulletproof.
Badly-animated robots, too; for a feature-length film, the animation feels very cheap. All of the robots are clone-brushed CGI models, looking identical and moving in perfect unison. Worse, they animate at a smooth 24 frames/second, clashing with with the static backgrounds and choppy animation of the human characters. A car chase through Kabuki-cho in the intro is nicely animated, but it's short and unrelated to the plot.
'Shinjuku Private Eyes' is an attempt to modernize 'City Hunter' without actually changing its stagnant formula. Fans have seen it all before, and there's nothing here for the modern anime fan to latch onto.
