What They Say:
Honey Kisaragi is ‘Cutie Honey’, scantily-clad warrior of love and justice, fighting against the evil Panther Claw organization. They desire the ‘Atmospheric Element Solidifier’, which Honey holds within herself. When Panther Claw begin to cause chaos and death throughout the city as a way of luring in Honey, will she be able to succeed against the ruthless clan of demonic divas and their matron leader, Sister Jill?
The Review
Content (Warning, some portions of this review may contain spoilers):
Cutie Honey is one of those classic, trend-setting shows that deserve all the respect it can get, simply because it’s one of the progenitors and popularizers of the esteemed Magical Girl genre. It’s debut in 1973 led way to countless other properties down the road, like Magical Princess Minky Momo (1982) and Magical Angel Creamy Mami (1983), which would expand the horizons of the genre enough to cement it as a main staple of anime, with gargantuan shows like Sailor Moon (1992) and Cardcaptor Sakura (1998) becoming massive hits throughout the globe in their heyday, as well as having huge fanbases to this day.
Because of this (and also because all Go Nagai properties are forever cursed), we have another adaptation of Cutie Honey to look forward to this Spring Season.
But wait, don’t we already have the perfect Cutie Honey adaptation already? 2004’s Re: Cutie Honey, directed by esteemed ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ director Hideaki Anno, and storyboarded by Studio Trigger main-brain Hiroyuki Imaishi?
No, we’re here to talk about the new Cutie Honey adaptation, Cute Honey Universe. Helmed by Production Reed (of In Another World With My Smartphone fame), this version of the legendary Magical Girl franchise doesn’t quite live up to the overblown craziness of Re:, and certainly becomes a tad forgettable in the current anime landscape.
First of all, the discussion of adaptations expands when there are 45 years of difference between this new release and the original product. Older anime watchers might stick to earlier adaptations, but what about the new market, fresh with teens and young adults who haven’t experienced them first-hand? Will they suck up and look to the past, or will they do what’s expected of them and lazily watch the new series with no knowledge of its origins? Neither is right or wrong, but both are bound to happen, and with that in mind, anime studios need to prepare for the sudden influx of new viewers who aren’t going to waste their time with a history lesson.
On the other hand, is it even important to painstakingly establish lore details that most casual watchers wouldn’t care about? Who cares if Honey was originally Catholic, or that she was an android created by her father, or that her costume dissolves when she runs out of energy, or anything about Cutie Honey for that matter? Many would say, “forget all this, let’s just get to the action!”
Universe takes the modern approach of only explaining necessary plot details, leaving everything else as either a background element or out of the show entirely, while mostly embracing flashy action sequences. Here, Honey isn’t portrayed as a Barbie-esque costume changer, nor a mysterious vigilante cosplayer either. Honey is already working publicly, busting out her transformations willy-nilly, with almost no regards to onlookers. This is a different and much fresher aspect of Universe, since having Honey deal with hiding her double identity is a trope older than the series itself, and its removal allows for a much faster, to-the-point plot progression.
The fight scenes, though, are much more mixed. The narrative side of these action sequences is great, as jobbing, power balances, and objective hierarchies are established naturally and smoothly. Cutie is stronger than most Panther Claw agents, but not as powerful as Sister Jill. Simple but straightforward, and executed with swift precision.
On the other hand, the way these fights look is subpar, especially in comparison with Re:. Still, placing these shows side by side in the animation department isn’t entirely fair, as even the most revered animation studios struggle to measure up to Gainax and their wild, abrasive style, and Production Reed isn’t exactly known for their art quality. Still, drenching the first fight scene of the show in a glaring, warbled blue is nothing but distracting, especially when the aesthetic of Cutie Honey is a direct homage to late-60s and early-70s disco and psychedelia. It was written back when those were the dominant fashions, and subsequent adaptations always embrace it somewhat. Even Universe displays a wonderful sense of color during its OP, but then for some reason becomes almost puzzled by its own appearance.
Instead of making peace with these visual inspirations, Universe is incredibly inconsistent with its aesthetic. Sometimes a scene will have flat lighting, other times it’ll be drowned in warm orange, and sometimes it’ll just mute the backgrounds into drab grays, all while Honey’s cherry-red hair stick out like a sore thumb. The visual feast that Re: managed to reach is elevated even further upon watching ‘Universe’, a reminder that seasonal shows aren’t as ambitious.
On smaller notes, Universe immediately appropriates the ‘yuri’ subgenre but does it in a way that I haven’t seen done in years. One of the first shots of the episode is in the Panther Claw headquarters, where dazzling, gorgeous women are free to fondle and kiss around with each other for everyone’s viewing pleasure. On the other hand, in Honey’s school, schlubby and old teachers can be found sloppily smacking on each other in the bushes, to the disgust of everyone. Adding to this the fact that the headmistress is a dominatrix, and this show definitely explores all extremes of this genre, and will most likely continue to do so in future episodes.
In Summary:
Cutie Honey Universe is a bog-standard, underwhelming addition to the Cutie Honey franchise so far. The writing works, but it must keep the wheels spinning in order to maintain relevancy. The visuals, while sometimes laying down snippets of fun character animation and facial expressions, is erratic and confused, and must straighten out into a cohesive aesthetic before the show achieves any sort of identifiable personality. In a season stacked to the brim with highly anticipated properties, Cutie Honey Universe started the race with a limp, but it can snap out of it and run side-by-side with the giants if it focuses and delivers some balls-to-the-wall, sugary awesomeness.
Grade: C+
Streamed By: HIDIVE
