Nozomi Morita Spotted Filming “City Hunter 2” as Kaori Behind the Wheel of Ryo Saeba’s Iconic Car

Suzuki and Morita are back as the “Maki x Kaoru” duo!

The “Ryo × Kaori” duo of Ryohei Suzuki and Nozomi Morita returns!

Sitting in the driver’s seat of a retro bright-red Mini Cooper and gazing seriously into the distance is actor Nozomi Morita (29).

In mid-March, filming for the Netflix movie “City Hunter 2”, scheduled for release in 2027, was taking place inside a park in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

“This is the sequel to the live-action ‘City Hunter’ film. The movie released in 2024 became a massive hit, making the weekly Top 10 rankings in 32 countries and regions including South Korea and France. Immediately afterward, fans around the world began calling for a sequel.

Ryohei Suzuki (43), who plays Ryo Saeba and has openly declared himself a huge fan of the original manga, showed strong enthusiasm at the premiere screening held in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho district in April 2024, saying, ‘If you want to see a sequel, please shout everywhere that you want to see what happens next,’” said a movie magazine writer.

Kaori Makimura, the heroine played by Morita, is the partner of Ryo, an elite sweeper who takes on various underworld troubles centered around Shinjuku. The previous film focused on Kaori and Ryo’s meeting as Kaori pursued the truth behind her brother’s death.

For fans, the biggest concern was whether the sequel would be made with the same cast as the first film.

“Morita won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for last year’s film ‘Night Flower’. Since then, she has appeared in the films ‘Soon’, ‘Farewell’ and ‘Rental Family’, with another movie scheduled for release this fall. She is also set to star in NHK’s morning drama Meguru Swan in the first half of 2027, making her extremely busy.

Rumors of a ‘City Hunter’ sequel had circulated from an early stage, but because there was no official production announcement for a long time, some people on social media worried that ‘Morita might not be able to appear,’” the same writer explained.

However, it has now been confirmed that Morita’s version of Kaori will return. Fans must surely be relieved. The opening scene described earlier was from her filming location.

In the original manga, Ryo’s beloved car, the “Morris Mini Cooper 1275S Mk-I,” appeared in all the iconic scenes. This time, it was Morita holding the steering wheel. However, during filming, the car remained parked. The scene appeared to involve staking someone out or staring into the distance from inside the car.

Afterward, Morita got out of the vehicle wearing 1980s-style fashion: a pink sweater over a striped shirt, blue jeans, and leather shoes. Surrounded by a large staff, she joined Suzuki in a still-photo shoot in front of the Mini Cooper.

On March 26, Morita posted on her X account:

“Though I’m still inexperienced, I love Kaori-chan, I love ‘City Hunter’, and I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”

Fans responded enthusiastically with comments such as, “I want to see the same chaos from the previous movie again,” and “The chemistry between the two was amazing.” Fans can hardly wait for the day they can once again see the “Ryo × Kaori” duo of Suzuki and Morita.

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