Re: Cutie Honey (2004) (V)

Directors:

Hideaki Anno
Hiroyuki Imaishi

Writers:

Gô Nagai (comic)
Kazumi Nakajima (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 July 2004 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Plot Keywords:

Magical Girl | Based On Manga | Beauty | Transformation | Based On Comic

Cast

Yui Horie	...	Honey Kisaragi / Cutie Honey (voice)
Hideo Ishikawa	...	Seiji Hayami (voice)
Junko Noda	...	Natsuko Aki (voice)
Kazue Ikura	...	Sister Jill
Yumi Tôma	...	Black Claw
Mami Kingetsu	...	Cobalt Claw
Noriko Uemura	...	Gold Claw (episode 1)
Hiromi Konno	...	Scarlet Claw
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tomoko Kaneda	...	Mayumi Takahashi
Yuka Komatsu	...	Rinko Terada

Runtime:

Japan:45 min (3 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Company:

Dynamic Planning

Movie Connections:

Follows Kyûtî Hanî (2004)

Loud, gaudy and camp

Loud, gaudy and camp, 'Re: Cutie Honey' is an assault on the senses.

Taking its cue possibly from American shows like 'Powerpuff Girls', 'South Park' and 'Samurai Jack', the animation is very much simplified to the point of resembling crude graffiti art.

The animation style is also similar and reminiscent of that used in the 'New Getter Robo' OVA series (2004).

While the fantastic title animation promises stylish animation harking back to shows like 'Cowboy Beboy', 'Lupin III' and the original 'Cutey Honey' series of the 70's, the rest of the show disappoints with distorted and garish animation that is sub par and truly unsettling.

Even the animation of shows like 'The Big O' and the American series 'Justice League Unlimited' seem better by comparison.

I can only suspect that part of the intention was to mimic and pay tribute to Nagai Go's original manga work but what worked for series like 'Kikaider: The Animation' may not necessarily work for all shows.

However, while the animation suffers, the story is actually quite good. A very different approach to the Nagai Go story that puts a bit of a modern spin on the tale and yet is still familiar enough so as not to put off fans of the original series.

The music is another bright spot for this series. Koda Kumi's rendition of 'Cutie Honey' is quite good as is the ending theme 'Into Your Heart'. It does help that J-Pop Music Powerhouse, Avex-Group helped with the music arrangement.

'Re: Cutie Honey' is not a bad series, just not a very good one. Long time fans of Cutey Honey like myself, will find this a unique and quite different take on the character and story. While not on the same level as 'Cutey Honey Flash', I still recommend it to fans. First time viewers to the show should hold off and wait for the live-action movie before investing in the series.