New Cutie Honey
Encyclopedia
is a 1994 Japanese anime
series in the Cutie Honey
media franchise
created by Go Nagai
. Inspired by continued popularity of the original 1973 Cutie Honey television series, and first announced by Toei Video on October 1993, it remains the only Honey anime licensed for sale
in the United States. Unlike the original, it was developed as an OVA (original video animation), a type of anime made for home video. Its filmed episodes were released by ADV Films in the US, and have also been sold in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand.
Set one hundred years after the original, it follows protagonist Honey Kisaragi, along with her friends from the Hayami family, as she fights criminals in the fictional Cosplay City. Honey, a female android, has a device within her that allows her to transform
into various personas, or summon weapons and other powers, by shouting "Honey Flash!" The first four episodes contain a complete story
in which Honey battles the forces of Dolmeck, a man feared even by other criminals. In later episodes, she defeats other enemies
empowered by her returning former nemesis, Panther Zora. The series staff planned to make at least twelve episodes, but it ended with eight in 1995. A 2004 DVD release included a scripted but unfilmed ninth episode—a Christmas story—as a drama CD.
New Cutie Honey includes many characters and cameos from or based on prior works by Nagai
, such as Mazinger Z
and Devilman
. It has inspired merchandise of its own, including many scale model
kits of Honey. ADV's English language
dub
of the series features Jessica Calvello
, who Nagai picked for the title role. Critical responses to the series have focused on its production values and voice work, and have explored Honey's transformations—which often tear off her clothes and show her naked body as they occur—in relation to her strong character traits. It has also been compared and contrasted with other anime based on Nagai's works.
City. vows to rein in a citywide crime wave and restore peace. However, a self-proclaimed "Lord of Darkness" named , feared even by other criminals there, seeks to derail his efforts in the first four episodes. A large freelance gang of armored, axe-wielding mutant motorcyclist
s, joined by two of Dolmeck's allies—, a very young-looking red-haired girl who rides naked in a humanoid robot slightly shorter than him and can psychokinetically
move objects and people; and , who wears decorative robotic spider legs and an electronic trinocular scope, and can use stealth technology
, see through objects
, sense spacetime
disturbances, and trap people in strong web
s—attack an outdoor meeting of the Mayor and his fellow citizens. Dolmeck then halts the attackers and asks the Mayor to rule the city with and under him. Unknown to all, Light's secretary is a gynoid
who previously could transform
into the titular
red-haired
, sword-wielding hero
ine Cutie Honey or summon other personas and powers, often after shouting "Honey Flash!" She later confronts the biker gang and another female minion of Dolmeck, and inadvertently regains those abilities and lost memories before defeating the group.
Light agrees to fight crime in the city with Honey's help. She moves into the home of , a returning character from the 1973 Cutie Honey series. He is now both a 150-year-old cyborg fitted with many sensors and tools, and a pervert who often tries to see Honey naked and even asks her to transform to do so. They live there with his young grandson , who has a crush on Honey and wishes to become like Mayor Light; and Chokkei's parents, who themselves attempted to rob a city bank in the first episode. Chokkei's mother is a self-proclaimed expert thief who can summon increased strength when her son is in danger, and a descendant of Seiji Hayami from the original TV series. His father loves his wife and son but, like Danbei, is not above peeking at Honey when she showers.
Honey remembers that the minion she defeated injected liquid from a "capsule" to transform into a monster. She fights other capsule users, then seeks the capsules' source. After she defeats a female capsule distributor, Peeping Spider learns and reveals Honey's true robot form. He kidnaps Chokkei and sends him to Dolmeck's airship
, and Honey and the rest of the Hayamis fly there to rescue him; they fight Peeping Spider, defeat Black Maiden, and attack a large structure in the ship along the way. Maiden then reveals herself to be Panther Zora (Honey's nemesis and the leader of the Panther Claw in the original series) reborn
; Honey wounds Dolmeck, and his body releases souls that Zora absorbs. Honey tries to re-seal Dolmeck's body, while Danbei destroys the airship. After the entire Hayami family escapes the ship with Danbei's jet pack
, Honey emerges alive from within a falling rock.
The next four episodes are set an unspecified time after the battle with Dolmeck. Chokkei has grown older and fond of Honey, and the Hayamis remain with her to fight off antagonists who transform and gain their power through direct influence by Zora. Mayor Light rarely appears in this half of the series. A girl named appears in the fifth episode as a criminal who wants to use a nuclear bomb
to get a ransom; she joins Honey's group by the sixth episode, often stays near Chokkei, and calls him "boy" to his annoyance. Her presence reminds Honey of an old friend of the same name who died in the original versions of Cutie Honey. In the seventh, Daiko—now a leader of a "United Thug Alliance" of gangs—goes with Honey and the Hayamis to rescue fellow thugs imprisoned by an army of "Thug Hunters", and reveals she fell in love with Akakabu for his persistence in an earlier fight with her. Peeping Spider returns in the eighth, last episode; there, Honey and her friends capture him and use his technologies to defeat a teleporting gold thief.
wrote in the liner notes
for Rhino Entertainment
's CD The Best of Anime (1998) that the series, even untranslated, was a favorite among early anime fan clubs for its nude transformation sequences and innuendo
s. Even as brief nudity became commonplace in 1980s anime, the continued popularity of Honey inspired New Cutie Honey creation in 1994. Toei Video announced the series in a press conference dated October 12, 1993, with Go Nagai, series director Yasuchika Nagaoka, Hitomi (the lead singer of the group les 5-4-3-2-1, who perform the series' Japanese theme song), and Honey and Chokkei's seiyū
(Japanese voice actors) Neya and Matsumoto in attendance.
The Japanese name of the series, , became officially romanized as New Super Android Cutey Honey or New Cutey Honey. It has also been spelled with "Cutie" instead of "Cutey". Unlike the original Cutie Honey, the series is an "OVA
" (original video animation), one made for home video formats such as VHS tape. OVAs are known for their higher quality than TV anime, and Toei felt the new Honey was especially high-quality because (according to them) each episode used ten thousand cel
s, three times the usual number. By November 1994, series planner Naoko Takahashi said that Honey was tentatively set to last twelve episodes, with more to be considered later, but the series was cut short at the eighth episode, released in late November 1995. Several scenes in that episode have unshaded foregrounds, partly drawn characters with missing legs, or both. A script for a planned ninth episode was produced as a drama CD voiced by the series' original seiyū. Its English dub, made by ADV Films in 1998, features Jessica Calvello
, who was hand-picked by Nagai to perform the voice of Honey. In a post at the Anime on DVD forum
s, voice actor and writer George Manley—who has worked for the Houston-based ADV—praised both Neya and Calvello's work in Honey as examples of "impressive" performances, and said that the series, whose dub was released four years before he began voice work, "was the title, and I often admit this, that brought me back to watching anime and started me on a long road to, 'Wow, I wonder what might happen if I moved to Houston....
convention, Nagai talked about the contrast between Honey and the dark Cosplay City: "I thought... well, what would Honey-chan do if she appeared in a dark futuristic city like in BATMAN
. In the movie BATMAN, everything is dark. Dark background and dark characters. However, in the case of Honey-chan, she’s super cheerful and sunny. She really stands out due to the dark background." He believed that New Cutie Honey differed from other anime that focus on settings and characters' exposition
s, and that Honey instead "makes her own moves, and she carries the whole story". On the relative weakness of male characters in the series, he said, "Honey-chan is like a mother, and she loves to protect weak men. Their existence is her reason to live, like oh, 'I have to fight to protect you.
Honey pays homage
to some of Nagai's other creations
, such as the Mazinger
and Devilman
series; the first two episodes alone include many cameos. The first shows Mayor Light and Chokkei in a picture with characters from Nagai's Harenchi Gakuen
, Iyahaya Nantomo, and Oira Sukeban
, while Devilman titular character
appears as a gargoyle
. In the second, a scene in a downtown market in Cosplay City has cameos from Hige Godzilla from Harenchi Gakuen and Naojiro Abashiri from The Abashiri Family
; a scene in Honey's bedroom shows a bust of Mazinger Z
and a framed picture
of her father, Dr. Kisaragi; and several scenes show Mazinger Z Sayaka Yumi
, The Abashiri Family Kikunosuke, and an unnamed character from Kekkō Kamen
as they get turned into plastic-coated statues. Cutie Honey's skin-tight, full-body costume uses the same design and tricolor
(blue, black, and red) scheme as that of Nagai's original manga, but its chest opening—with rounded side edges—resembles the one in her 1973 anime attire. The opening sequence used in the first four episodes shows versions of Honey's original seven forms in the TV series: Kisaragi, Hurricane, Misty, Idol, Flash, Fancy, and Cutie. Danbei's techniques parody those of Nagai's super robot
s Mazinger Z and Grendizer. Later episodes feature appearances by Akira Fudo of Devilman and Professor Kabuto of Mazinger Z.
. Their names in Japan are prefixed by "Stage.", followed by the episode number. Each episode title, from the fifth onward, is prefixed with "". ADV Films
released the series in four two-episode VHS tapes with English subtitles
. The subtitled versions were released between 1994 and 1996, and English dubs of the episodes were made in 1998. It remains the only Cutie Honey anime licensed for sale
in the United States , despite being followed by the TV series Cutie Honey Flash
in 1997 and the three-episode OVA Re: Cutie Honey
in 2004.
The series has been reissued many times for various markets, and was eventually shown on television and posted on the Internet. Four-volume VHS versions were released in France and Italy in 1996: the French version (also called ) was dubbed by Chinkel and released by Dynamic Visions (now known as Dybex), and the Italian () was released by Dynamic Italia (now Dynit
). Toei re-released the entire series on DVD on May 21, 2004 as the New Cutie Honey Complete Pack. The release included a drama CD called based on a script for an unfilmed ninth episode. ADV reissued the series on two DVD collections in November and December 2000, as a single two-disc Essential Anime edition on May 25, 2004, and on a three-DVD bundle with the Kekkō Kamen
OVA in April 2008. The series was published on two DVDs in the United Kingdom, released on September 20 and November 15, 2004, by ADV Films UK. Madman Entertainment
followed with a two-DVD collection, released in Australia on February 2, 2007 and in New Zealand on March 14. Two episodes were broadcast each month on the Toei Channel satellite television
network between January and April 2003 and episodes were shown on the Anime Network
in April and May 2004. The Anime Network added the series to their on-demand Online Player service on July 9, 2009. By then, ADV had divested
many of their assets: the company transferred licenses to Honey and other works to AEsir Holdings, their home video distribution arm to Section23 Films
, and Anime Network to Valkyrie Media Partners on June 1 that year.
Writer and composer Takeo Watanabe
are credited for both opening themes of the series: "Cutie Honey", performed by les 5-4-3-2-1 for the first four episodes; and "Cutie Honey (English Version)", translated by Masaki Takjao, arranged by Takao Konishi, and performed by Mayukiss for the next four. The themes are based on the original series' theme "Cutie Honey". The English theme, which has a softer beat than the les 5-4-3-2-1 cover, is also used for the prior episodes in ADV's November 2000 DVD release. Three ending themes are used: les 5-4-3-2-1 arranged and performed "Circle Game" for the first and second episodes and "Rendez-vous in Space" for the third, and Mayuki Hiramatsu performed "Legend of Good-Bye" for episodes 5 through 8.
s. The first soundtrack, New Super Android Cutey Honey: Music Collection Vol. 1 (COCC-11513), was released on February 21, 1994 by Nippon Columbia Co. Ltd. (now Columbia Music Entertainment
). It includes les 5-4-3-2-1's "Cutie Honey", advertised as a "more danceable" version of the original, and "Circle Game". It also has guitar work by Yoshio Nomura, background music by Kazuhiko Toyama
, and dialogue between protagonists Honey and Chokkei. It was followed by Music Collection Vol. 2 (COCC-11840) on June 21, 1994, which includes a version of Cutie Honey sung by Michiko Neya, along with "Burning Up!", the theme of Saline used in the third episode; by Special Vocal Collection (COCC-12543) on April 29, 1995; and by Music Collection Vol. 3 (COCC-12551), which has the English Cutie Honey theme, on June 1, 1995.
The three-CD compilation , released in June 1998, includes the les 5-4-3-2-1 version of Cutie Honey as the last of its 71 tracks. The 2004 compilation Cutie Honey Song Collection Special has six New Cutie Honey tracks.
s, posters, t-shirts, a 1/6 scale model
kit of Honey by Noriyasu Tsushima, pencil boards
, production materials, and a carrying case. A series special called "Flash.1", , was released on VHS
and Laserdisc
on November 21, 1994; it includes 30 minutes of selected scenes from the first four episodes and appearances by Nagai, Nagaoka, Neya, Matsumoto, and Fukami. In December 2005, a 283-page book by MEF containing drawings and production material from New Cutie Honey and the 1995 PC-FX
video game Cutie Honey FX
was released.
Two sets of six Honey figures, based on various forms she takes throughout the series, were released by Banpresto
. Both have three common figures: one of her Cutie form, another of her "S&M Queen" form, and one of her Armoroid form with broken armor (which she takes during a battle in the eighth episode). 1/8 scale models of her Cutie and standard "Kisaragi" form—the latter first taken at the end of the first episode—were made by Volks
; both show her with one foot on a base labeled "CH". A 1/6 scale kit of Cutie Honey lying on her side, with her sword in hand, was released in limited quantities in 2000 and 2001. Three 1/5.5 scale Honey kits that depict her diving suit
(from the sixth episode), tennis outfit (from the English-language title sequence), and Kisaragi form were created by Kurushima and released between late 2002 and early 2004. 1/6 scale kits based on Honey's Cutie and Kisaragi forms, and 1/5.5 scale kits of her Cutie and partially armored forms, were created by Yu Makimura of Left-Hand.
with a bit more intelligence and style than some of the other offerings out there". Two reviews of Honey on the website Anime Jump greatly diverged: site maintainer
Mike Toole rated the series 3.5 out of 5 stars and called it "tons of fun, a light, tasty action-comedy that's ... spirited and silly and tongue-in-cheek
", and praised its character designs as "letter-perfect to Go Nagai's original (quite appealing!) character designs"; Jason Carter praised Calvello's voice work in his review of the 2004 ADV release, but rated it 1.5 out of 5 stars, said that much of Cosplay City "goes back and forth between looking like an ordinary modern metropolis and resembling some sort of Smurf
town built of polluted marshmallows", and concluded "The characters are largely annoying, the plot is hackneyed, the nudity is absurd, the fighting is rarely more than average, and the whole thing is ultimately pointless - as the series' later attempts at developing Honey as a person make all too clear." Sandra Dozier of DVD Verdict was also unimpressed with Honey: "I can see why it is popular—the glossy animation, the well-endowed chicks, the scant clothing. If that isn't your thing, however, there is very little to draw you to this series."
Reviewers have noticed Go Nagai's influence on New Cutie Honey; several considered it among the best anime based on his works
, while others preferred different series. Dozier said that Nagai is "recognized in the anime world as an influential artist and storyteller who is known for preferring extra helpings of nudity and violence in his work", and that such influence "definitely comes through" in the series. Carlos Ross of THEM Anime gave earlier Nagai anime bad ratings, but called Honey "another Go Nagai-based anime that common logic should dictate that THEM rate harshly - except that we actually enjoyed it immensely", while calling its "awfully ugly backdrops, and weird-looking characters" "standard Go Nagai". Beveridge says he greatly preferred Honey over other Nagai offerings, but that "it really doesn't rise up too much higher than thinly veiled fan service with something of a story". Scott Green of Ain't It Cool News
praised "Nagai's tasteless sense of strangeness" as the series' "highpoint", saying its "bright American style superhero design, with kaleidoscopic oddity, humorously gratuitous nudity and violence" make it "amusing nonsense". In his negative review, Carter said the Devilman
-based Devil Lady
was a more entertaining anime with a similar "impressively built woman fighting monsters" premise.
Many reviewers also contrasted its portrayal of main character Honey as a powerful figure with how it also shows off her body through her nude transformation sequences. Susan J. Napier
, author of Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke
, distinguished the series from more pornographic anime such as Wicked City
, Twin Dolls
, and La Blue Girl
. Napier thought that the series "sends mixed messages" because even though Honey has great strength and heroism, her transformations are very sexual in nature. She wrote that "the presumably male viewer is invited in, to participate in the unclothing and clothing of her nude body, while both male and female viewer alike are allowed the vicarious participation in the ecstatic transformation process", but quickly added: "Despite the regressive and voyeuristic aspects of her characterization, she is still clearly the film's hero, one worthy of admiration and emulation ... in the film's several violent scenes she more than holds her own." Dozier did not share that sentiment: she said "Honey does have some appeal as a fighter and as someone who cares very much about the people who are important to her, but her android past and her family life aren't explored too deeply—mostly, she's too busy getting into compromising situations and fighting evil."
Both Dozier and Yuricon
president Erica Friedman wrote about the sexual nature of Honey, including the lesbian
desire of the Jewel Princess (one of Honey's enemies) for her in the second episode. Friedman—who had looked for such "implied yuri" in Cutie Honey manga—called the Princess's appearance "*just* what I was hoping for", and praised Honey's change to her S&M Queen form in response. Ross said about the series: "It's seemingly exploitative, it's incredibly sexist, and the female members of my household - you'd expect them to be indignant, but, no, they were laughing their butts off because it was so blatant, and yet Honey was actually never objectified in the whole series." He further writes, "Honey Kisaragi is an extremely strong character who is no damsel in distress. If anyone needs help in this series, it's the guys!" Toole said that Jessica Calvello "gives the character a growling, tough-girl charm that was conspicuously absent from the original version", while Dozier said that Calvello captured "the combination of innocence and bravado [of Honey] that is both so confusing and yet so appropriate". Beveridge said the "fight sequences are pretty well done and provide some fun moments watching Honey battle the various demonic forms", but concluded that Honey main goal is to showcase the lead heroine's changes: "Oh, lets face it. it's all about the half to completely naked transformation sequences. They're grrreat!"
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series in the Cutie Honey
Cutie Honey
is a Japanese media franchise created by Go Nagai. Cutie Honey first appears on volume 41 of the 1973 edition of Shōnen Champion. According to Nagai, she is the first female to be the protagonist of a shōnen manga series....
media franchise
Media franchise
A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...
created by Go Nagai
Go Nagai
, better known by the penname , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy, horror and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with Meakashi Polikichi, but is best known for creating Cutie Honey, Devilman, and Mazinger Z in the 1970s. In 2005, he became a...
. Inspired by continued popularity of the original 1973 Cutie Honey television series, and first announced by Toei Video on October 1993, it remains the only Honey anime licensed for sale
Anime industry
The anime industry has grown significantly in the last few years, especially outside of Japan. It has spread rapidly across the world, with a major increase in the licensing of various series, movies, and OVAs at an increased rate across multiple regions, and the rise of the anime network, Animax,...
in the United States. Unlike the original, it was developed as an OVA (original video animation), a type of anime made for home video. Its filmed episodes were released by ADV Films in the US, and have also been sold in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand.
Set one hundred years after the original, it follows protagonist Honey Kisaragi, along with her friends from the Hayami family, as she fights criminals in the fictional Cosplay City. Honey, a female android, has a device within her that allows her to transform
Henshin
is the Japanese word for "transformation," literally meaning, "to change or transform the body." This word is primarily used in manga, anime, and tokusatsu dramas for when a character transforms into a superhero. usually have a "henshin call", a catchphrase which they recite when they transform...
into various personas, or summon weapons and other powers, by shouting "Honey Flash!" The first four episodes contain a complete story
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
in which Honey battles the forces of Dolmeck, a man feared even by other criminals. In later episodes, she defeats other enemies
Villain of the week
"Villain of the week" is a term that describes the nature of one-use antagonists in episodic fiction, especially ongoing American genre-based television series...
empowered by her returning former nemesis, Panther Zora. The series staff planned to make at least twelve episodes, but it ended with eight in 1995. A 2004 DVD release included a scripted but unfilmed ninth episode—a Christmas story—as a drama CD.
New Cutie Honey includes many characters and cameos from or based on prior works by Nagai
Bibliography of Go Nagai
Go Nagai is a prolific Japanese manga artist who has written, illustrated, or otherwise contributed to over 360 manga titles since his professional debut in 1967 with Meakashi Polikichi...
, such as Mazinger Z
Mazinger Z
, known briefly as Tranzor Z in United States, is a Super Robot manga and anime series created by Go Nagai. The first manga version was serialized in Shueisha Weekly Shōnen Jump from October 1972 to August 1973, and it later continued in Kodansha TV Magazine from October 1973 to September 1974. In...
and Devilman
Devilman
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai which originally started as an anime adaptation of the concept of Nagai's previous manga series, Demon Lord Dante. A 39 episode anime series was developed by Toei in 1972 and Nagai began Devilman as a manga in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen...
. It has inspired merchandise of its own, including many scale model
Scale model
A scale model is a physical model, a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object, which seeks to maintain the relative proportions of the physical size of the original object. Very often the scale model is used as a guide to making the object in...
kits of Honey. ADV's English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
dub
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
of the series features Jessica Calvello
Jessica Calvello
Jessica Lynn Calvello is an American voice actress primarily known for her anime voiceover work, particularly with ADV Films and later 4Kids Entertainment....
, who Nagai picked for the title role. Critical responses to the series have focused on its production values and voice work, and have explored Honey's transformations—which often tear off her clothes and show her naked body as they occur—in relation to her strong character traits. It has also been compared and contrasted with other anime based on Nagai's works.
Plot
New Cutie Honey is set one hundred years after the events of the original 1973 Cutie Honey television series, in the fictional CosplayCosplay
, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...
City. vows to rein in a citywide crime wave and restore peace. However, a self-proclaimed "Lord of Darkness" named , feared even by other criminals there, seeks to derail his efforts in the first four episodes. A large freelance gang of armored, axe-wielding mutant motorcyclist
Motorcycling
Motorcycling is the act of riding a motorcycle. A variety of subcultures and lifestyles have been built up around motorcycling.-Benefits:Robert M. Pirsig's book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was a paean celebrating motorcycling...
s, joined by two of Dolmeck's allies—, a very young-looking red-haired girl who rides naked in a humanoid robot slightly shorter than him and can psychokinetically
Psychokinesis
The term psychokinesis , also referred to as telekinesis with respect to strictly describing movement of matter, sometimes abbreviated PK and TK respectively, is a term...
move objects and people; and , who wears decorative robotic spider legs and an electronic trinocular scope, and can use stealth technology
Stealth technology
Stealth technology also termed LO technology is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive electronic countermeasures, which cover a range of techniques used with personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, and missiles, to make them less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection...
, see through objects
X-Ray Vision
In science fiction stories or superhero comics, X-ray vision is the ability to see through physical objects at the discretion of the holder of this superpower. The most famous possessor of this ability is DC Comics' iconic superhero character, Superman....
, sense spacetime
Spacetime
In physics, spacetime is any mathematical model that combines space and time into a single continuum. Spacetime is usually interpreted with space as being three-dimensional and time playing the role of a fourth dimension that is of a different sort from the spatial dimensions...
disturbances, and trap people in strong web
Spider web
A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web or cobweb is a device built by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets....
s—attack an outdoor meeting of the Mayor and his fellow citizens. Dolmeck then halts the attackers and asks the Mayor to rule the city with and under him. Unknown to all, Light's secretary is a gynoid
Gynoid
A gynoid is anything which resembles or pertains to the female human form. It is also used in American English medical terminology as a shortening of the term Gynecoid ....
who previously could transform
Henshin
is the Japanese word for "transformation," literally meaning, "to change or transform the body." This word is primarily used in manga, anime, and tokusatsu dramas for when a character transforms into a superhero. usually have a "henshin call", a catchphrase which they recite when they transform...
into the titular
Title role
The title role in the performing arts is the performance part that gives the title to the piece, as in Aida, Giselle, Michael Collins or Othello. The actor, singer or dancer who performs that part is also said to have the title role....
red-haired
Red hair
Red hair occurs on approximately 1–2% of the human population. It occurs more frequently in people of northern or western European ancestry, and less frequently in other populations...
, sword-wielding hero
Hero
A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
ine Cutie Honey or summon other personas and powers, often after shouting "Honey Flash!" She later confronts the biker gang and another female minion of Dolmeck, and inadvertently regains those abilities and lost memories before defeating the group.
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
, and Honey and the rest of the Hayamis fly there to rescue him; they fight Peeping Spider, defeat Black Maiden, and attack a large structure in the ship along the way. Maiden then reveals herself to be Panther Zora (Honey's nemesis and the leader of the Panther Claw in the original series) reborn
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
; Honey wounds Dolmeck, and his body releases souls that Zora absorbs. Honey tries to re-seal Dolmeck's body, while Danbei destroys the airship. After the entire Hayami family escapes the ship with Danbei's jet pack
Jet pack
Jet pack, rocket belt, rocket pack, and similar names are various types of devices, usually worn on the back, that are propelled by jets of escaping gases so as to allow a single user to fly....
, Honey emerges alive from within a falling rock.
The next four episodes are set an unspecified time after the battle with Dolmeck. Chokkei has grown older and fond of Honey, and the Hayamis remain with her to fight off antagonists who transform and gain their power through direct influence by Zora. Mayor Light rarely appears in this half of the series. A girl named appears in the fifth episode as a criminal who wants to use a nuclear bomb
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
to get a ransom; she joins Honey's group by the sixth episode, often stays near Chokkei, and calls him "boy" to his annoyance. Her presence reminds Honey of an old friend of the same name who died in the original versions of Cutie Honey. In the seventh, Daiko—now a leader of a "United Thug Alliance" of gangs—goes with Honey and the Hayamis to rescue fellow thugs imprisoned by an army of "Thug Hunters", and reveals she fell in love with Akakabu for his persistence in an earlier fight with her. Peeping Spider returns in the eighth, last episode; there, Honey and her friends capture him and use his technologies to defeat a teleporting gold thief.
Production
Background and development
The first anime incarnation of Cutie Honey was broadcast from October 13, 1973 to March 1974, alongside the Go Nagai Cutie Honey manga that had started publishing on October 1, 1973. Fred PattenFred Patten
Frederick Walter Patten is known for his work as a historian in the science fiction, anime, manga, and furry fandoms, where he has gained great distinction through a substantial contribution to both print and online books, magazines, and other media....
wrote in the liner notes
Liner notes
Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
for Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company. It is owned by Warner Music Group.-History:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues successes...
's CD The Best of Anime (1998) that the series, even untranslated, was a favorite among early anime fan clubs for its nude transformation sequences and innuendo
Innuendo
An innuendo is a baseless invention of thoughts or ideas. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging , that works obliquely by allusion...
s. Even as brief nudity became commonplace in 1980s anime, the continued popularity of Honey inspired New Cutie Honey creation in 1994. Toei Video announced the series in a press conference dated October 12, 1993, with Go Nagai, series director Yasuchika Nagaoka, Hitomi (the lead singer of the group les 5-4-3-2-1, who perform the series' Japanese theme song), and Honey and Chokkei's seiyū
Seiyu
Voice acting in Japan has far greater prominence than in most other countries. Japan's large animation industry produces 60% of the animated series in the world; as a result, Japanese voice actors, or , are able to achieve fame on a national and international level.Besides acting as narrators and...
(Japanese voice actors) Neya and Matsumoto in attendance.
The Japanese name of the series, , became officially romanized as New Super Android Cutey Honey or New Cutey Honey. It has also been spelled with "Cutie" instead of "Cutey". Unlike the original Cutie Honey, the series is an "OVA
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
" (original video animation), one made for home video formats such as VHS tape. OVAs are known for their higher quality than TV anime, and Toei felt the new Honey was especially high-quality because (according to them) each episode used ten thousand cel
Cel
A cel, short for celluloid, is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation. Actual celluloid was used during the first half of the 20th century, but since it was flammable and dimensionally unstable it was largely replaced by cellulose acetate...
s, three times the usual number. By November 1994, series planner Naoko Takahashi said that Honey was tentatively set to last twelve episodes, with more to be considered later, but the series was cut short at the eighth episode, released in late November 1995. Several scenes in that episode have unshaded foregrounds, partly drawn characters with missing legs, or both. A script for a planned ninth episode was produced as a drama CD voiced by the series' original seiyū. Its English dub, made by ADV Films in 1998, features Jessica Calvello
Jessica Calvello
Jessica Lynn Calvello is an American voice actress primarily known for her anime voiceover work, particularly with ADV Films and later 4Kids Entertainment....
, who was hand-picked by Nagai to perform the voice of Honey. In a post at the Anime on DVD forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
s, voice actor and writer George Manley—who has worked for the Houston-based ADV—praised both Neya and Calvello's work in Honey as examples of "impressive" performances, and said that the series, whose dub was released four years before he began voice work, "was the title, and I often admit this, that brought me back to watching anime and started me on a long road to, 'Wow, I wonder what might happen if I moved to Houston....
Themes and cameos
At the 1994 Anime AmericaAnime America
Anime America was an annual three-day anime convention held between 1993 and 1996 in Santa Clara and later San Jose, California. The first Anime America was held in 1993 in Santa Clara, California.-Event history:...
convention, Nagai talked about the contrast between Honey and the dark Cosplay City: "I thought... well, what would Honey-chan do if she appeared in a dark futuristic city like in BATMAN
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
. In the movie BATMAN, everything is dark. Dark background and dark characters. However, in the case of Honey-chan, she’s super cheerful and sunny. She really stands out due to the dark background." He believed that New Cutie Honey differed from other anime that focus on settings and characters' exposition
Exposition (literary technique)
At the beginning of a narrative, the exposition is the author's providing of some background information to the audience about the plot, characters' histories, setting, and theme. Exposition is considered one of four rhetorical modes of discourse, along with argumentation, description, and narration...
s, and that Honey instead "makes her own moves, and she carries the whole story". On the relative weakness of male characters in the series, he said, "Honey-chan is like a mother, and she loves to protect weak men. Their existence is her reason to live, like oh, 'I have to fight to protect you.
Honey pays homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to some of Nagai's other creations
Bibliography of Go Nagai
Go Nagai is a prolific Japanese manga artist who has written, illustrated, or otherwise contributed to over 360 manga titles since his professional debut in 1967 with Meakashi Polikichi...
, such as the Mazinger
Mazinger
is a long running series of manga and anime featuring giant robots or mecha. The name can also be pronounced "Mazinga", as it is has been known in several countries, including in the United States of America.-Series:The series in order:...
and Devilman
Devilman
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai which originally started as an anime adaptation of the concept of Nagai's previous manga series, Demon Lord Dante. A 39 episode anime series was developed by Toei in 1972 and Nagai began Devilman as a manga in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen...
series; the first two episodes alone include many cameos. The first shows Mayor Light and Chokkei in a picture with characters from Nagai's Harenchi Gakuen
Harenchi Gakuen
is a Japanese media franchise created by Go Nagai. Harenchi Gakuen was one of the manga serialized in the very first issue of Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump. The series was the first big success for Go Nagai...
, Iyahaya Nantomo, and Oira Sukeban
Oira Sukeban
, sometimes called Sukeban Boy, is a Japanese manga created by Go Nagai in 1974. It is a comedy with several erotic touches, where the protagonist Banji Suke has to disguise himself as a girl in order to be able to attend an all-female school...
, while Devilman titular character
Title role
The title role in the performing arts is the performance part that gives the title to the piece, as in Aida, Giselle, Michael Collins or Othello. The actor, singer or dancer who performs that part is also said to have the title role....
appears as a gargoyle
Gargoyle
In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between...
. In the second, a scene in a downtown market in Cosplay City has cameos from Hige Godzilla from Harenchi Gakuen and Naojiro Abashiri from The Abashiri Family
The Abashiri Family
is a manga series created by Go Nagai that originally ran in the magazine Weekly Shōnen Champion. Some of its characters returned with different names as part of other series, such as Cutie Honey, UFO Robot Grendizer and Mazinger Angels Z among others.Some of the first stories were adapted into an...
; a scene in Honey's bedroom shows a bust of Mazinger Z
Mazinger Z (robot)
Mazinger Z is a fictional mecha from the anime and manga series of the same name, created by Go Nagai. Within the story, Mazinger Z was created by Professor Juzou Kabuto and piloted by his grandson Kouji...
and a framed picture
Picture frame
A picture frame is a decorative edging for a picture, such as a painting or photograph, intended to enhance it, make it easier to display, or protect it.-Construction:...
of her father, Dr. Kisaragi; and several scenes show Mazinger Z Sayaka Yumi
Sayaka Yumi
is one of the heroine of Go Nagai's manga and anime Mazinger Z. She was a bit hot-tempered and tomboyish, and had a habit of clashing with the story's hero, Kouji Kabuto even though she had a romantic interest in him....
, The Abashiri Family Kikunosuke, and an unnamed character from Kekkō Kamen
Kekko Kamen
is originally a shōnen manga series from Japanese creator Go Nagai, which spawned an OVA series and several live-action films. The manga series is about the misadventures of a student named Mayumi Takahashi who attends a boarding school called Toenail of Satan's Spartan Institute of Higher...
as they get turned into plastic-coated statues. Cutie Honey's skin-tight, full-body costume uses the same design and tricolor
Tricolour
A tricolour is a flag or banner more-or-less equally divided into three bands of differing colours...
(blue, black, and red) scheme as that of Nagai's original manga, but its chest opening—with rounded side edges—resembles the one in her 1973 anime attire. The opening sequence used in the first four episodes shows versions of Honey's original seven forms in the TV series: Kisaragi, Hurricane, Misty, Idol, Flash, Fancy, and Cutie. Danbei's techniques parody those of Nagai's super robot
Super Robot
is a term used in manga and anime to describe a giant robot or mecha, with an arsenal of fantastic super-powered weapons, extreme resistance to damage unless the plot calls for it, sometimes transformable or combined from two or more robots and/or vehicles usually piloted by young, daring heroes,...
s Mazinger Z and Grendizer. Later episodes feature appearances by Akira Fudo of Devilman and Professor Kabuto of Mazinger Z.
Episodes and releases
The eight 25-minute episodes of New Cutie Honey are directed by Yasuchika Nagaoka and produced by Toei VideoToei Animation
Toei Animation Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio owned by Toei Co., Ltd. The studio was founded in 1948 as Japan Animated Films . In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was reincorporated under its current name...
. Their names in Japan are prefixed by "Stage.", followed by the episode number. Each episode title, from the fifth onward, is prefixed with "". ADV Films
A.D. Vision
A.D. Vision was an American international multimedia entertainment company headquartered in Houston, Texas, prior to its collapse and distress sale to four other Houston-based companies in 2009...
released the series in four two-episode VHS tapes with English subtitles
Subtitle (captioning)
Subtitles are textual versions of the dialog in films and television programs, usually displayed at the bottom of the screen. They can either be a form of written translation of a dialog in a foreign language, or a written rendering of the dialog in the same language, with or without added...
. The subtitled versions were released between 1994 and 1996, and English dubs of the episodes were made in 1998. It remains the only Cutie Honey anime licensed for sale
Anime industry
The anime industry has grown significantly in the last few years, especially outside of Japan. It has spread rapidly across the world, with a major increase in the licensing of various series, movies, and OVAs at an increased rate across multiple regions, and the rise of the anime network, Animax,...
in the United States , despite being followed by the TV series Cutie Honey Flash
Cutie Honey Flash
is a 1997 anime television series in the Cutie Honey franchise. In its native Japan, the series assumed the timeslot of Sailor Stars, the final story arc of the long-running Sailor Moon anime...
in 1997 and the three-episode OVA Re: Cutie Honey
Re: Cutie Honey
is a three-episode OVA series based on the 2004 tokusatsu film Cutie Honey, both being adaptations of the 1970s manga written and illustrated by Go Nagai. The series was co-produced with Gainax and Toei Animation, directed by Hideaki Anno, and shown on the Animax satellite television network in...
in 2004.
The series has been reissued many times for various markets, and was eventually shown on television and posted on the Internet. Four-volume VHS versions were released in France and Italy in 1996: the French version (also called ) was dubbed by Chinkel and released by Dynamic Visions (now known as Dybex), and the Italian () was released by Dynamic Italia (now Dynit
Dynit
Dynit SRL is one of the main Italian manga and anime publishers. It was founded in 1995 by Francesco Di Sanzo, Claudia Cangini, Francesco Bombardini, Paolo Nascetti, Saetti SRL and Federico Colpi and its original name was Dynamic Italia SRL. The name was changed following a litigation between Colpi...
). Toei re-released the entire series on DVD on May 21, 2004 as the New Cutie Honey Complete Pack. The release included a drama CD called based on a script for an unfilmed ninth episode. ADV reissued the series on two DVD collections in November and December 2000, as a single two-disc Essential Anime edition on May 25, 2004, and on a three-DVD bundle with the Kekkō Kamen
Kekko Kamen
is originally a shōnen manga series from Japanese creator Go Nagai, which spawned an OVA series and several live-action films. The manga series is about the misadventures of a student named Mayumi Takahashi who attends a boarding school called Toenail of Satan's Spartan Institute of Higher...
OVA in April 2008. The series was published on two DVDs in the United Kingdom, released on September 20 and November 15, 2004, by ADV Films UK. Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...
followed with a two-DVD collection, released in Australia on February 2, 2007 and in New Zealand on March 14. Two episodes were broadcast each month on the Toei Channel satellite television
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
network between January and April 2003 and episodes were shown on the Anime Network
Anime Network
The Anime Network , a former subsidiary of A.D. Vision, Inc. , is a cable and satellite digital broadcast service in North America dedicated to anime.-History:...
in April and May 2004. The Anime Network added the series to their on-demand Online Player service on July 9, 2009. By then, ADV had divested
Divestment
In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for either financial or ethical objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm...
many of their assets: the company transferred licenses to Honey and other works to AEsir Holdings, their home video distribution arm to Section23 Films
Section23 Films
Section23 Films is an American home video distribution company specializing in anime and Japanese films. The company is one of five successors to ADV Films, as well as the distributor of titles from Sentai Filmworks and Switchblade Films. ADV had announced that it had sold its assets to a group of...
, and Anime Network to Valkyrie Media Partners on June 1 that year.
Writer and composer Takeo Watanabe
Takeo Watanabe
was a Japanese musician and composer. In addition to composing the well known theme song for Cutie Honey he has also composed music for multiple television anime and films including Lone Wolf & Cub, Candy Candy, and Mobile Suit Gundam....
are credited for both opening themes of the series: "Cutie Honey", performed by les 5-4-3-2-1 for the first four episodes; and "Cutie Honey (English Version)", translated by Masaki Takjao, arranged by Takao Konishi, and performed by Mayukiss for the next four. The themes are based on the original series' theme "Cutie Honey". The English theme, which has a softer beat than the les 5-4-3-2-1 cover, is also used for the prior episodes in ADV's November 2000 DVD release. Three ending themes are used: les 5-4-3-2-1 arranged and performed "Circle Game" for the first and second episodes and "Rendez-vous in Space" for the third, and Mayuki Hiramatsu performed "Legend of Good-Bye" for episodes 5 through 8.
| Episode # | Title |
|---|
Soundtracks
The music of New Cutie Honey has been released on several soundtracks, and some of the music has since been re-released on compilation albumCompilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
s. The first soundtrack, New Super Android Cutey Honey: Music Collection Vol. 1 (COCC-11513), was released on February 21, 1994 by Nippon Columbia Co. Ltd. (now Columbia Music Entertainment
Columbia Music Entertainment
is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as . It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK Columbia trademarks in 1931. The company changed its name to Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd. in 1946. It used the Nippon Columbia name until...
). It includes les 5-4-3-2-1's "Cutie Honey", advertised as a "more danceable" version of the original, and "Circle Game". It also has guitar work by Yoshio Nomura, background music by Kazuhiko Toyama
Kazuhiko Toyama
is a Japanese composer. Toyama is notable for creating music for Bikkuriman, Cyber City Oedo 808 and New Cutie Honey. He is sometimes credited as Kazz Toyama.-Music works:*Ai to ken Camelot: Mangaka Marina Time Slip*A Wind Named Amnesia...
, and dialogue between protagonists Honey and Chokkei. It was followed by Music Collection Vol. 2 (COCC-11840) on June 21, 1994, which includes a version of Cutie Honey sung by Michiko Neya, along with "Burning Up!", the theme of Saline used in the third episode; by Special Vocal Collection (COCC-12543) on April 29, 1995; and by Music Collection Vol. 3 (COCC-12551), which has the English Cutie Honey theme, on June 1, 1995.
The three-CD compilation , released in June 1998, includes the les 5-4-3-2-1 version of Cutie Honey as the last of its 71 tracks. The 2004 compilation Cutie Honey Song Collection Special has six New Cutie Honey tracks.
Merchandise
New Cutie Honey and its characters have inspired a wide range of products, and the character Honey in particular prompted many model kits and figures. The New Cutey Honey Perfect Guide, an art book with character descriptions, interviews, and detailed summaries of the first two episodes, was released by Keibunsha on May 19, 1994. This was followed by New Cutey Honey Perfect Guide Vol. 2, made for the next two, on November 11 that year. The two books contain information on other series-based merchandise, such as Honey-themed telephone cardTelephone card
A telephone card, calling card or phone card for short, is a small plastic card, sized and shaped like a credit card, used to pay for telephone services. It is not necessary to have the physical card except with a stored-value system; knowledge of the access telephone number to dial and the PIN is...
s, posters, t-shirts, a 1/6 scale model
Scale model
A scale model is a physical model, a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object, which seeks to maintain the relative proportions of the physical size of the original object. Very often the scale model is used as a guide to making the object in...
kit of Honey by Noriyasu Tsushima, pencil boards
Shitajiki
Shitajiki is a Japanese word for various types of materials placed under a sheet of paper for writing, either to prevent marking on the sheets below or to provide a better surface for writing...
, production materials, and a carrying case. A series special called "Flash.1", , was released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and Laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
on November 21, 1994; it includes 30 minutes of selected scenes from the first four episodes and appearances by Nagai, Nagaoka, Neya, Matsumoto, and Fukami. In December 2005, a 283-page book by MEF containing drawings and production material from New Cutie Honey and the 1995 PC-FX
PC-FX
The is a video game console released in Japan on December 23, 1994 by NEC Corporation. It is the 32-bit successor to NEC's PC Engine ....
video game Cutie Honey FX
Cutie Honey FX
was a Cutie Honey video game developed by Datawest and released by NEC for the PC-FX in Japan in 1995.-External links:* on Mainichi.jp's Gamequest game library...
was released.
Two sets of six Honey figures, based on various forms she takes throughout the series, were released by Banpresto
Banpresto
is a Japanese toy company, best known in America for game development, headquartered in the Shinagawa Seaside West Building in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It was founded April 1977 as Hoei Sangyo, Co. Ltd. The company was renamed Coreland in 1982, and during the 1980s it worked mainly as a subcontractor for...
. Both have three common figures: one of her Cutie form, another of her "S&M Queen" form, and one of her Armoroid form with broken armor (which she takes during a battle in the eighth episode). 1/8 scale models of her Cutie and standard "Kisaragi" form—the latter first taken at the end of the first episode—were made by Volks
Volks
is a Japan-based corporation that produces garage kits and mecha kits as well as the Dollfie, Super Dollfie and Dollfie Dream lines of dolls. The company's headquarters is in Kyoto, with some 30 shops worldwide, and annual sales of about $50 million, as of 2008....
; both show her with one foot on a base labeled "CH". A 1/6 scale kit of Cutie Honey lying on her side, with her sword in hand, was released in limited quantities in 2000 and 2001. Three 1/5.5 scale Honey kits that depict her diving suit
Wetsuit
A wetsuit is a garment, usually made of foamed neoprene, which is worn by surfers, divers, windsurfers, canoeists, and others engaged in water sports, providing thermal insulation, abrasion resistance and buoyancy. The insulation properties depend on bubbles of gas enclosed within the material,...
(from the sixth episode), tennis outfit (from the English-language title sequence), and Kisaragi form were created by Kurushima and released between late 2002 and early 2004. 1/6 scale kits based on Honey's Cutie and Kisaragi forms, and 1/5.5 scale kits of her Cutie and partially armored forms, were created by Yu Makimura of Left-Hand.
Reception
Chris Beveridge of Anime on DVD (now part of Mania.com) gave positive reviews to the two New Cutey Honey Collections released in 2000 by ADV; he "was really impressed with the production values of this show" and called it "quite a bit of fun, especially for those looking for fan-serviceFan service
, fanservice, or , is a term originating from anime and manga fandom for material in a series which is intentionally added to please the audience. It is about "servicing" the fan - giving the fans "exactly what they want"...
with a bit more intelligence and style than some of the other offerings out there". Two reviews of Honey on the website Anime Jump greatly diverged: site maintainer
Webmaster
A webmaster , also called a web architect, web developer, site author, or website administrator is a person responsible for maintaining one or many websites...
Mike Toole rated the series 3.5 out of 5 stars and called it "tons of fun, a light, tasty action-comedy that's ... spirited and silly and tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...
", and praised its character designs as "letter-perfect to Go Nagai's original (quite appealing!) character designs"; Jason Carter praised Calvello's voice work in his review of the 2004 ADV release, but rated it 1.5 out of 5 stars, said that much of Cosplay City "goes back and forth between looking like an ordinary modern metropolis and resembling some sort of Smurf
The Smurfs
The Smurfs is a comic and television franchise centred on a group of small blue fictional creatures called Smurfs, created and first introduced as a series of comic strips by the Belgian cartoonist Peyo on October 23, 1958...
town built of polluted marshmallows", and concluded "The characters are largely annoying, the plot is hackneyed, the nudity is absurd, the fighting is rarely more than average, and the whole thing is ultimately pointless - as the series' later attempts at developing Honey as a person make all too clear." Sandra Dozier of DVD Verdict was also unimpressed with Honey: "I can see why it is popular—the glossy animation, the well-endowed chicks, the scant clothing. If that isn't your thing, however, there is very little to draw you to this series."
Reviewers have noticed Go Nagai's influence on New Cutie Honey; several considered it among the best anime based on his works
Bibliography of Go Nagai
Go Nagai is a prolific Japanese manga artist who has written, illustrated, or otherwise contributed to over 360 manga titles since his professional debut in 1967 with Meakashi Polikichi...
, while others preferred different series. Dozier said that Nagai is "recognized in the anime world as an influential artist and storyteller who is known for preferring extra helpings of nudity and violence in his work", and that such influence "definitely comes through" in the series. Carlos Ross of THEM Anime gave earlier Nagai anime bad ratings, but called Honey "another Go Nagai-based anime that common logic should dictate that THEM rate harshly - except that we actually enjoyed it immensely", while calling its "awfully ugly backdrops, and weird-looking characters" "standard Go Nagai". Beveridge says he greatly preferred Honey over other Nagai offerings, but that "it really doesn't rise up too much higher than thinly veiled fan service with something of a story". Scott Green of Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News is a website founded and run by Harry Knowles, dedicated to news, rumors and reviews of upcoming and currently playing films and television projects, with an emphasis on science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic-book and action genres...
praised "Nagai's tasteless sense of strangeness" as the series' "highpoint", saying its "bright American style superhero design, with kaleidoscopic oddity, humorously gratuitous nudity and violence" make it "amusing nonsense". In his negative review, Carter said the Devilman
Devilman
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai which originally started as an anime adaptation of the concept of Nagai's previous manga series, Demon Lord Dante. A 39 episode anime series was developed by Toei in 1972 and Nagai began Devilman as a manga in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen...
-based Devil Lady
Devil Lady
is a Japanese action horror manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. It was originally serialized between January 1997 and July 2000 in the manga magazine Weekly Morning. Seventeen bound volumes were published by Kodansha for release in Japan. The story focuses on Jun Fudo, a teacher who...
was a more entertaining anime with a similar "impressively built woman fighting monsters" premise.
Many reviewers also contrasted its portrayal of main character Honey as a powerful figure with how it also shows off her body through her nude transformation sequences. Susan J. Napier
Susan J. Napier
Dr. Susan Jolliffe Napier is Professor of the Japanese Program at Tufts University. She was formerly Professor of the Japanese Literature and Culture at the University of Texas at Austin, and a visiting professor at the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University...
, author of Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke
Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation
Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation is a scholarly book which uses techniques of literary criticism on anime by Susan J. Napier published in 2001 by Palgrave Macmillan. It discusses themes of shōjo, hentai, mecha, magical girlfriend and magical girl...
, distinguished the series from more pornographic anime such as Wicked City
Wicked City (film)
is an animated horror neo-noir directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, based on Hideyuki Kikuchi's novel of the same name.The story takes place towards the end of the 20th century and explores the idea that the human world secretly coexists with the demon world with a secret police force known as the Black...
, Twin Dolls
Twin Angels
is the English name given to a hentai anime series about twin sisters, and a boy who will determine the fate of the world.The title has been published in English under two names, Twin Dolls by Soft Cel Pictures and Twin Angels by Anime18. The series is also known as Seijyuu Den / Inju Seisen...
, and La Blue Girl
La Blue Girl
is an erotic anime and manga series.Based on the manga by Toshio Maeda, the La Blue Girl anime, like his other hentai series , features a large amount of tentacle rape...
. Napier thought that the series "sends mixed messages" because even though Honey has great strength and heroism, her transformations are very sexual in nature. She wrote that "the presumably male viewer is invited in, to participate in the unclothing and clothing of her nude body, while both male and female viewer alike are allowed the vicarious participation in the ecstatic transformation process", but quickly added: "Despite the regressive and voyeuristic aspects of her characterization, she is still clearly the film's hero, one worthy of admiration and emulation ... in the film's several violent scenes she more than holds her own." Dozier did not share that sentiment: she said "Honey does have some appeal as a fighter and as someone who cares very much about the people who are important to her, but her android past and her family life aren't explored too deeply—mostly, she's too busy getting into compromising situations and fighting evil."
Both Dozier and Yuricon
Yuricon
Yuricon is an anime convention geared toward fans of yuri anime and manga. The first Yuricon event was held in 2003 in Newark, New Jersey with about 200 attending, although Yuricon has existed as an online entity since 2000. The event was organized by Yuricon, LLC., which continues to run...
president Erica Friedman wrote about the sexual nature of Honey, including the lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
desire of the Jewel Princess (one of Honey's enemies) for her in the second episode. Friedman—who had looked for such "implied yuri" in Cutie Honey manga—called the Princess's appearance "*just* what I was hoping for", and praised Honey's change to her S&M Queen form in response. Ross said about the series: "It's seemingly exploitative, it's incredibly sexist, and the female members of my household - you'd expect them to be indignant, but, no, they were laughing their butts off because it was so blatant, and yet Honey was actually never objectified in the whole series." He further writes, "Honey Kisaragi is an extremely strong character who is no damsel in distress. If anyone needs help in this series, it's the guys!" Toole said that Jessica Calvello "gives the character a growling, tough-girl charm that was conspicuously absent from the original version", while Dozier said that Calvello captured "the combination of innocence and bravado [of Honey] that is both so confusing and yet so appropriate". Beveridge said the "fight sequences are pretty well done and provide some fun moments watching Honey battle the various demonic forms", but concluded that Honey main goal is to showcase the lead heroine's changes: "Oh, lets face it. it's all about the half to completely naked transformation sequences. They're grrreat!"
External links
- New Cutey Honey on Anime NetworkAnime NetworkThe Anime Network , a former subsidiary of A.D. Vision, Inc. , is a cable and satellite digital broadcast service in North America dedicated to anime.-History:...
- New Cutey Honey Collection trailer from Madman EntertainmentMadman EntertainmentMadman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...
, which shows a partially dubbed clean Japanese title sequence.