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For Cutie Honey:

Add Toei Anime Anthology w/CD: Cutie Honey, Cutie Honey R.C.T with Megumi and Cutie Honey Roman Album Archive to a Merchandise section there.

For New Cutie Honey:

http://manga.goncat.com/kojin1/go/honey/honey4/index.html

Production

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Cameos

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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,[1] while Devilman's titular character appears as a gargoyle.[1] In the second, a scene in a downtown market in Cosplay City has cameos from Hige Godzilla from Harenchi Gakuen[2] and Naojiro Abashiri from The Abashiri Family;[2] a scene in Honey's bedroom shows a bust of Mazinger Z and a framed picture of her father, Dr. Kisaragi;[2] and several scenes show Mazinger Z's Sayaka Yumi, The Abashiri Family's Kikunosuke, and an unnamed character from Kekkō Kamen as they get turned into plastic-coated statues.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] Danbei's techniques parody those of Nagai's super robots Mazinger Z and Grendizer.[5] Later episodes feature appearances by Akira Fudo of Devilman and Professor Kabuto of Mazinger Z.[6][7]

Themes

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Chokkei: Honey, I'm sorry. For not being more helpful back there.
Honey: No, you're wrong. The reason I'm able to fight is because of the way I feel for you.

—episode 2[8]

At the 1994 Anime America 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' expositions, 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.'"[9]

Another contrast in the series is 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.[10] 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."[11]

Reception

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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"[12] and called it "quite a bit of fun, especially for those looking for fan-service with a bit more intelligence and style than some of the other offerings out there".[13] 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";[14] 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."[15] 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. 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."[16]

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.[16] Carlos Ross of THEM Anime gave earlier Nagai anime bad ratings,[17] 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".[18] 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".[12] Scott Green of Ain't It Cool News praised "Nagai's tasteless sense of strangeness" as the series's "highpoint", saying its "bright American style superhero design, with kaleidoscopic oddity, humorously gratuitous nudity and violence" make it "amusing nonsense".[19] 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.[15][20]

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 an "S&M Queen" form in response.[16][21] 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!"[18] Toole said that Jessica Calvello "gives the character a growling, tough-girl charm that was conspicuously absent from the original version",[14] while Dozier said that Calvello captured "the combination of innocence and bravado [of Honey] that is both so confusing and yet so appropriate".[16] 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's 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!"[12]

Episode summaries

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  1. Mayor Light and his secretary Honey Kisaragi hold an outdoor gathering with his fellow citizens to speak out against the rise in crime in Cosplay City; as Chokkei watches in the crowd, Peeping Spider and a biker gang attack the group. Danbei appears and tries to save them; he is overwhelmed by the numerous bikers, but Dolmeck and Black Maiden soon appear and order the bikers to stop. Danbei tries (but fails) to kill any of them with a barrage of missiles. He then meets with Chokkei at Danbei's house, where Chokkei notices a statue of a heroine named "Cutie Honey" that resembles Kisaragi. Light and Honey then go to an indoor meeting; Light finds his audience there gone—dead, according to Dolmeck's minion Death Star. As she and the bikers ambush them, Danbei and Chokkei arrive, and they escape upward with Honey and Light to the outside of the building they had entered. Light, Danbei, and Chokkei are all surprised when Honey inadvertently regains her signature heart-adorned choker; with it, she can again use her powers to transform into Cutie Honey and other forms, survive Death Star's gunfire, and defeat the attackers.
  2. After Honey briefly explains her true identity to Mayor Light, both agree to fight together to stop crime in the city. She goes to a downtown market with Danbei and Chokkei. Honey stops at the shop of the "Jewel Princess", and the Princess gives her a free ring. The piece of jewelry, however, is a tracking device: the Princess uses it to find Honey at Danbei's house (where she and the Hayami family all now live) and Honey is forced to fend her off at night. Black Maiden and Virtual Hacker (another minion of Dolmeck) offer to help the Princess add Honey to her "collection" of statues—plastic-coated women that adorn her castle. Honey, Danbei, and Chokkei return to the Princess's shop; it is closed, but they stumble in and the Hacker and Princess capture the three. Honey is crucified and drowned in liquid plastic, but uses her powers to free herself. She defeats Virtual Hacker and the Jewel Princess and escapes with Danbei and Chokkei, as the Princess's castle and her plastic statues crumble from the force of Hacker's self-destruction.
  3. Noticing a trend of capsule usage among her enemies, Honey fights four more of them: Sewer King (下水道王), Pilgrim (ピルグリム), Aquamedusa (アクアメデューサ), and Evil Stinger (エビルスティンガー).[22] Stinger tells Honey that she received hers from "Saline" (セイレーン[23], Seirēn), a popular singer who always throws her microphone to crowds. Honey, Danbei, and Chokkei, all hidden behind curtains, see Peeping Spider—joined by Dolmeck and Black Maiden—give Saline a box of capsules. After Chokkei bumps into a prop and causes noise, Maiden telekinetically lifts the curtains and finds them; the three are forced to fight Saline and her band members, who use capsules to transform into monsters. After Saline and Honey explain their respective motives, Honey defeats Saline and Peeping Spider learns and reveals that Honey is an android. Spider kidnaps Chokkei and sends him up to Dolmeck's skyship, a massive flying structure.
  4. Using her small airplane, the "Honey Comet", Honey and the rest of the Hayami family fly to the skyship to rescue Chokkei. There, the Hayamis fight Peeping Spider, while Honey fights Black Maiden. Maiden is defeated, but the Hayamis later attack a large structure in the airship, and Maiden then reveals herself to be a resurrected Panther Zora. Honey then fights Dolmeck; both are badly injured and Dolmeck's body starts releasing evil souls that are absorbed by Zora. Honey forms a large wall to try to re-seal the body, while Danbei assaults the skyship's innards with missiles. As the entire Hayami family flies from the destroyed ship using Danbei's jet pack, Honey emerges alive from within a falling rock.
  5. Some time after the first four episodes, a visibly older Chokkei wishes to become strong, so he can protect Honey as she has guarded him. As a nuclear bomb explodes in the middle of Cosplay City, the bomber calls Mayor Light to demand a ransom. Honey fights him and he is arrested by police; she then rushes with Chokkei to meet Danbei at the location of a larger bomb, but it is stolen by two other criminals. The three chase the criminals and fellow gang members through a busy highway, and Chokkei ends up in their van. Several rival criminals attack Chokkei and the gang, but they are defeated by Gene, one of the gang's women. Honey meets Chokkei and they both witness Gene transform into an acid-spewing monster without using a capsule. Danbei joins them, and Honey decides to lure Gene farther from the city while Chokkei stays behind with surviving gang member Natsuko. Danbei breaks through the bridge under Honey and Gene, takes both the bomb and Honey, and launches the bomb skyward with a Rocket Punch. The bomb explodes and Honey kills Gene.
  6. Natsuko joins Honey and the Hayami family. A woman named Yasha, empowered by Panther Zora, plunges them into a historical Japanese setting. While Yasha's minions attack Cosplay City, Honey and Danbei fend off samurai and female ninja, and mannequins come alive to fight the others. Yasha transforms into a giant, tough-skinned, lamia-like half-woman half-serpent, but Honey defeats her. (Two of the forms Honey takes along the way, "Ryoma Sakamoto" and "Nezumi Kozo", share their names with famous Japanese people who lived in the 1800s.) Natsuko noticed "SP" logos on the bodies of the attacking mannequins, and as the city returns to normal, she remembers an old park with the same initials—"Samurai Park"—where she believes Yasha and the others came from.
  7. Chokkei's mother Daiko—now a leader of "The United Thug Alliance"[24]—meets with constituent gang leaders; they report that many of their members, including Akira Fudo of Devilman,[6][note 1] are missing. They are then kidnapped and taken by an army of "Thug Hunters" to an island prison. When Honey, Natsuko, Chokkei, Danbei, and Chokkei's father Akakabu learn Daiko's fate, they disguise themselves as prisoners to sneak in; Natsuko becomes a slave girl to prison leader Miss Scorpion, Honey is jailed and shackled with Akira, and the others are grouped with the remaining prisoners. As Akakabu is chosen by roulette spin to fight Scorpion's "Big Three" minions, Daiko tells Chokkei that she fell in love with Akakabu when he endured her punishing attacks in a fight. When Honey learns that Scorpion's Big Three want to kill the prisoners, she fights off her captors, frees Akira and runs to the others; she then kills one of the minions and takes on Scorpion. Akira rigs the prison with explosives, remotely frees Chokkei from a trap, and opens the prison's gates so the other inmates can flee. Scorpion transforms and proves a challenge for Honey, but Akira rescues her as the prison explodes.
  8. Professor Kabuto, a character from Mazinger Z,[7][note 1] appears as the man who made Danbei a cyborg, and as the creator of a teleportation device called the "Instant Space Removal Machine" ("Isrum").[25] Peeping Spider, unseen since the battle with Dolmeck, is caught relaxing around the city and using his abilities mainly at peep shows. Honey uses his technology—which includes trinoculars that can see space-time disturbances—to find Gold Digger, a woman who has seized the Isrum to teleport to banks and rob them of their gold. Gold Digger attacks Honey and Spider with the Isrum, and they end up in a chilled room; Honey then puts her own life on the line to save the freezing Spider, and he develops feelings for her. Honey then lures Gold Digger to a bank with large stores of gold, defeats her, and destroys the machine. Gold Digger is ripped apart and sent through a warp.

References

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  1. ^ a b Akira Fudo and Professor Kabuto also appear in the "Dark Army" episode opening sequences.
  1. ^ a b 酒井征勇 1994a, p. 57.
    a "(▲直慶が学校の先輩であるライト市長を取り囲んで撮った記念写真に写っているのは、『ハレンチ学園』、『いやはや南友』、『おいら女蛮』のキャラ達。そして、永井先生や冷奴先生もいるぞ。よくよく見ると、ライト市長のサイン人りだ。(1話))"
    b "(もう言わなくてもわかるね。ご存じ『デビルマン』の登場だ。ビルの上や壁にいるところを見ると、魔除けになっているのかな?(1話))"
  2. ^ a b c d 酒井征勇 1994a, p. 58.
    a "(▲コスプレシティのダウンタウン。怪しげな露店を開いて、武器を売りつけようとしているヒゲモジャの男こそ、『ハレンチ学園』のヒゲゴジラ先生(本名・吉永小百合)。(2話))"
    b "(▲ハニーの後ろの、このキャラの名前がすぐ出た人は、相当の永井豪ファン。そう『あばしり一家』の直次郎ろですね。(2話))"
    c "(▲ハニーの寝室に置いてあるのは何と『マジンガーＺ』の胸像。 でも、その横に飾ってある写真に注目。如月博士なのだ!(2話))"
    d "... To the right is [a picture of] Mazinger Z's heroine, Sayaka Yumi, [and] in the middle is The Abashiri Family's Kikunosuke. The one on top? Hint: Kekko Kamen. ... (episode 2) (... 右は『マジンガーＺ』のヒロイン・弓さやか、真ん中は『あばしり一家』の菊ノ助だ。では一番上はだれ? ヒントは『けっこう仮面』。 ...(2話))"
  3. ^ Compare designs shown in 酒井征勇 1994a, p. 66; Nagai 1974, front cover; and the Toei Animation "Cutie Honey" page referenced above.
  4. ^ "Extras: Clean Open (disc 1)". New Cutey Honey: Essential Anime Collection. Kisaragi and Cutie are identified in 酒井征勇 1994a, pp. 8–10, and the other five are listed in 酒井征勇 1994a, p. 11.
  5. ^ Nagai, Go. 酒井征勇 1994a, p. 88. "(ハニーに会うために、サイボーグになった団兵衛の活躍もおもしろかったな。マジンガーＺやグレンダイザーの必殺技のパロディにしちゃったからね(笑))"
  6. ^ a b "New Cutie Honey Stage.7 Prison Is the Nest of Evil (新・キューティーハニー Stage．7 闇の軍団編 監獄は邪悪の虜)" (in Japanese). Toei Satellite TV. Retrieved December 30, 2008. A character closely resembling Akira Fudo of Devilman appears. (あの「デビルマン」の不動明を彷彿させるキャラクターが登場) Cite error: The named reference "toeich-fudo" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b "Cutey Honey Vidéo 4" (in French). Dynamic Visions. Archived from the original on July 9, 2001. Retrieved January 12, 2009. Peu après, elle donnera la chasse à une criminelle assoiffée d'or qui s'est emparée d'une arme conçue par le célèbre professeur Kabuto (Mazinger Z, vous connaissez ?). Cite error: The named reference "dybex-kabuto" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  8. ^ "The Sweet Trap of the Jewel Princess". New Cutey Honey: Essential Anime Collection. Episode 2. 23:28 minutes in. (English subtitles)
  9. ^ Graham, Miyako (1996-10). "Anecdotes on the making of "The New Cutey Honey" from Mr. Go Nagai". Protoculture Addicts. Special #1: p. 50. ISBN 978-2-923736-13-6. ISSN 0835-9563. {{cite journal}}: |page= has extra text (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |title= (help)
  10. ^ Napier 2001, p. 345, 352.
  11. ^ Napier 2001, p. 355.
  12. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference mania-newcutie1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference mania-newcutie2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ajump1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ a b Carter, Jason (February 3, 2005). "New Cutey Honey". Anime Jump. Retrieved February 21, 2008.
  16. ^ a b c d Dozier, Sandra (July 22, 2004). "Essential Anime Collection: New Cutey Honey". DVD Verdict. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
  17. ^ For example:
  18. ^ a b Ross, Carlos. "New Cutey Honey". THEM Anime Reviews. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
  19. ^ Green, Scott (May 28, 2004). "AnimAICN: Ghibli; Son of Asgard; Cutey Honey; Evangelion; GetBackers; Negimi". Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  20. ^ Carter, Jason (November 8, 2004). "Devil Lady: The Complete Collection". Anime Jump. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
  21. ^ Friedman, Erica (July 22, 2004). "Yuri Manga - Yuri Anime: Cutey Honey". Okazu. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
  22. ^ Japanese names given in 酒井征勇 1994b, pp. 18–19.
  23. ^ 酒井征勇 1994b, p. 16.
  24. ^ "Prison Is the Nest of Evil". New Cutey Honey: Essential Anime Collection. Episode 7. 3:11 minutes in. (English subtitles)
  25. ^ "Temptation Shines Like Gold". New Cutey Honey: Essential Anime Collection. Episode 8. 4:26 minutes in. (English subtitles)
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