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Kamikaze Douga's City Hunter OVA Previewed in Video
posted on by Kevin Pennyfeather
Mainichi Shimbun newspaper's Mantan Web site began streaming a video on Friday for the new OAD (original anime DVD) for Tsukasa Hōjō's City Hunter manga, "Ryō no Propose" (Ryō's Proposal). The video reveals that Kamikaze Douga will animate the DVD.
The December issue of Tokuma Shoten's Monthly Comic Zenon magazine also included a QR code and a password on Saturday that grants access to a five-minute making-of preview for the DVD. The video interviews some of Kamikaze Douga's staff, shows how the staff creates the "motion graphic" scenes with motion capture, previews the characters' voices, and shows some of the anime at different levels of production.
The DVD will will reunite four of the main cast members from earlier City Hunter television anime:
- Akira Kamiya as Ryō Saeba
- Kazue Ikura as Kaori Makimura
- Youko Asagami as Saeko Nogami
- Tesshô Genda as Umibōzu
In addition, Bin Shimada will play the character Doku.
The story of the new anime DVD will adapt "Ryō no Propose," the special Angel Heart chapter that Hojo drew. The "motion graphic anime" will animate Hojo's original manga lines. The DVD will be a special bonus for those who purchase all 12 volumes of City Hunter XYZ Edition.
This new edition of the manga launched in Japan on July 18, and Tokuma Shoten is publishing two volumes a month. Each volume will have over 600 B6-size pages for 1,600 yen (about US$13) and will include new cover illustrations and interviews with Hojo. The long interviews will have Hojo discussing all 57 stories in the manga.
In addition to the DVD, those who buy all 12 volumes of the new manga edition will receive two reproductions of the manga's original art.
The new edition of the manga celebrates the 30th anniversary of the launch of Hojo's detective comedy action series. Hojo's 1985 manga inspired four television anime series, one anime film, and several video and television specials. ADV Films released most of these anime projects in North America. Jackie Chan also starred in a 1992 live-action film that very loosely adapts the original manga.
Hojo launched the Angel Heart spinoff manga in 2001, and that series inspired a television anime in 2005. Angel Heart inspired a live-action TV series that premiered this month, and Crunchyroll is streaming the series as it airs.
