Sep 16, 2018
Oh Cutie Honey Universe, so much potential, so ill executed. A beloved decades old manga, given the light of a new modern adaptation after the previous simply stunning Gainax adaptation of Re; Cutie Honey, or the more shoujo Flash meant to replace the vacant spot of Sailor Moon. Further back to Shin Cutie Honey with the overall more edginess. Even back to the OG 70's adaptation. Is still think Honey looked better with brown eyes.
Universe was produced for the 50th anniversary of Go Nagai as a manga artist. Other famous works of his include the violent Devilman and Mazinger manga's, each laying their groundwork
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for many later works. Cutie Honey was no exception, depicting a strong female protagonist fighting against the criminal organisation known as Panther Claw. So much potential for a modern interpretation of the story as done superbly with the Gainax adaptation, which I believe to be the pinnacle of the series.
It was clear from the start that hardly any effort was incorporated into this adaptation, if anything that is one of its stronger points, with how much it sticks to the source material (I have heard anyway.) The story had pacing issues and several very questionable plot points and their resolutions, yet the inclusion of Investigator Genet was a surprising and welcome dynamic compared to the original. The art was lacklustre to say the least, glaring colours which looks entirely tot plastic and goofy (although this was most likely sticking to the material, somewhere just bad), very jarring 3D animation, and fairly underwhelming battle scenes, taking place in strange gravity tunnels for most of the fights all got boring fairly quickly.
The music was generally fine, except for the unforgivable act of not using the original Cutie Honey sound track for the new adaptation, although I do congratulate them for trying something new, the original song has become so iconic and beloved that the pure nostalgic factor could have made the show more tolerable.
Characters were generally flat and uninteresting. Although some characters were interesting such as Tarantula, and Investigator Genet. Honey herself was fairly Oll Korrect, yet nothing outside of the expectations of her to protect her friends and the Airborne Element Fixing Device from the machinations of Sister Jill. Yet, Honey still had several memorable moments. Sister Jill was as masochistic as ever, betraying her own minions just to inflict pain to Honey. Many of the characters also acted in a generally homosexual fashion, which is something fresh to see, as Cutie Honey has always been a bit gay. (So offense intended)
Overall, give this one a skip unless you REALLY want to watch all of the Cutie Honey adaptations, although perhaps leave this one for last. Highly recommend the 2004 Gainax adaptation which reimagines the basic formulae of Cutie Honey into a more modern story, while also having a much better animation and direction quality.
4/10 :/
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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