If, when we talk to you about Nicky Larson, you immediately have the song by Jean-Paul Césari in mind, you will have a blast with it. Nicky Larson as Angel Dust by Kazuyoshi Takeuchi. The serial adaptation of the cult manga City Hunter by Tsukasa Hōjō made the heyday of Club Dorothée in the 1990s and also had a live-action French adaptation by Philippe Lacheau, which attracted 1.6 million spectators in theaters. Born in 1985, the hero with more than 40 volumes of manga and 140 episodes of series has not aged a bit in this film which is announced as his last adventure.
He continues to investigate between two flirting sessions. The years have in no way diminished the libido of Nicky Larson (aka Ryô Saeba) who would try to seduce a working cow if he only had her to eat. It is not essential to have seen Private Eye’s by Kenji Kodama (deprived of release in French cinemas in 2019) to grasp all the subtleties of the scenario. In summary, Nicky Larson does what he’s always done: he gropes girls, gets picked on and, when he has a moment, he joins forces with the Cat’s Eyes, another creation of Tsukasa Hōjō, to save the world.
Nicky Larson fears no one
One might think Nicky Larson is overwhelmed as his “beauf” side can be off-putting at first glance. This would be to disregard the schoolboy humor of the saga! If the detective couldn’t be more annoying, he finds someone to talk to with ladies who let him do it even less than in the original series. He really hits it hard, despite his legendary Colt Python and his seductive look in 1990s VRP costumes! His quest to find a cat (and try to get a very pretty young woman into his bed) leads to a dangerous adventure involving a fearsome serum.
When he’s not harassing girls and getting donuts in return, Nicky is still just as effective in fighting crime, or even more so, because the animation is absolutely beautiful. On the action side, Nicky Larson fears no one as the song says. Which makes the film accessible to an audience who is not necessarily familiar with its universe. The original voices of the characters – Akira Kamiya in Japanese and Vincent Ropion in French for Nicky, like Kazue Ikura and Anne Rondeleux for his partner Laura – send gentle shivers down the spines of early fans.
A story of worship
We learn a lot about the hero’s painful past in Angel Dust and here again, it is certain that the nostalgia works at full speed by revealing a little more of the character’s flaws. Like the alien from Roswell, we can find Nicky nerdy or have a cult history with him which makes us consider his faults (parodic, remember) as those of a slightly clumsy uncle who we are still happy to find at family celebrations. It is up to each and every person to make their choice.