New Cutie Honey

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New Cutie Honey
新・キューティーハニー
(Shin Kyūtī Hanī)
Genre Action, Adventure, Magical girl
OVA
Director Yasuchika Nagaoka
Studio Flag of Japan Toei Video[1]
Licensor Flag of the United States ADV Films
Episodes 8
Released April 21, 1994–November 21, 1995

New Cutie Honey (新・キューティーハニー Shin Kyūtī Hanī?, officially romanized as New Super Android Cutey Honey or New Cutey Honey)[1][2] is a Japanese OVA in the Cutie Honey franchise, released in 1994. Its titular character Honey previously appeared in the OVA adaptation of Kekko Kamen as a student, and her lesbian teacher from the 1973 TV series, Alphonne, also made two brief appearances there,[3] but New Cutie Honey was the first Cutie Honey OVA.

The series, which ended with eight episodes in 1995, pays homage to some of franchise creator Go Nagai's other works, including the Mazinger and Devilman series.[4] While the first four episodes contain a complete story, the last four episodes take a monster of the week approach. When the series was released on DVD in 2004, a scripted but unfilmed episode 9, a Christmas story, was released as a drama CD. The eight filmed episodes were released by ADV Films in the United States; the series remains the only Cutie Honey anime to be commercially released in the US.

Cast members in the English language version include Jessica Calvello (the voice of Honey), who was hand-picked by Nagai[5] and would later voice Excel throughout half of Excel Saga; and Tiffany Grant (Daiko), who would voice Asuka in Evangelion. Series seiyū include Kōsei Tomita (the voice of Danbei Hayami, both here and in the '70s series), who previously voiced Dr. Hell in Mazinger Z and Daemon in the Abashiri Family OVA; Michiko Neya (as Honey), who would later voice Sophitia in the Soul games; and Rica Matsumoto (Chokkei Hayami), who would voice Satoshi in Pokémon.

Contents

[edit] Main characters

New Cutie Honey has many characters, its major ones including:[6]

The opening sequence of the first four episodes pays tribute to Honey's original seven forms. In order: Kisaragi, Hurricane, Misty, Idol, Flash, Fancy, Cutie.
The opening sequence of the first four episodes pays tribute to Honey's original seven forms. In order: Kisaragi, Hurricane, Misty, Idol, Flash, Fancy, Cutie.
Honey Kisaragi (如月ハニー[1] Kisaragi Hanī?)
Further information: Honey Kisaragi
A secretary who works for Mayor Light in Cosplay City. She was originally able to transform into the heroine Cutie Honey, and had fought the evil Panther Claw organization; but by the first episode of this series, she had lost her ability to transform and had also forgotten about Danbei Hayami, who had helped her fight the group. During an encounter with Dolmeck's minion Death Star, she regains her signature heart-adorned choker, and is once again able to transform into Cutie Honey and other forms. She defeats Dolmeck's army in the first four episodes and fights against Panther Zora's Dark Army in the next four.
Voiced by: Michiko Neya (Japanese), Jessica Calvello (English)
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] Plot

Many years after the events of the original TV series, the citizens of Cosplay City are struggling with a crime wave. Mayor Light has vowed to rein in the criminal element and bring back peace. However, the dark lord Dolmeck, along with his sidekicks Black Maiden and Peeping Spider seek to derail his efforts.

Unknown to all, Light's secretary is Cutie Honey. When her secret is revealed, she resumes her campaign to save the city with the power of love. After her return, Honey moves into the home of Danbei, now a 150-year-old cyborg guardian, along with Danbei's grandson Chokkei, and his parents Daiko and Akakabu.

Honey defeats several human villains, women who transform into monsters using capsule injections. After she defeats one of them, a singer and capsule distributor, Peeping Spider learns and reveals that Honey is an android. He then kidnaps Chokkei and sends him to Dolmeck's airship, prompting Honey and the rest of the Hayami family to fly there to rescue him. 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 starts releasing evil souls from his body, which are absorbed by Zora. Honey forms a large wall to try to re-seal Dolmeck's body, while Danbei destroys the airship. As the entire Hayami family flies from the destroyed ship using Danbei's jet pack, Honey emerges alive from within a falling rock.

Some time after the battle with Dolmeck, Honey and the Hayamis fight off some more villains in episodes 5 through 8. These new villains transform and gain powers without using capsules, but instead through direct influence by Zora. A girl named Natsuko appears in episode 5 onward, mainly as a companion of Chokkei; her presence reminds Honey of her old friend Natsuko, who died in the original versions of Cutie Honey. Peeping Spider, who was in Dolmeck's airship before it was destroyed in episode 4, aids Honey and her friends in episode 8 with his specialized eyes.

[edit] Reception

The OVA has received generally positive attention; reviewers have praised its visual quality, criticized its plot and inconsistent city design, and differed on its character designs and use of nudity. A May 2004 Japanese release, the New Cutie Honey Complete Pack, has received very high customer ratings on Amazon.co.jp;[7] Amazon.com customer ratings of the May 2004 Essential Anime Collection release by ADV Films are somewhat lower.[8] Chris Beveridge of Anime on DVD gave positive reviews to DVD versions released in 2000 by ADV; he "was really impressed with the production values of this show" and says "lets face it. it's all about the half to completely naked transformation sequences. They're grrreat!";[9] he calls the series "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."[10]

Two later reviews on the website Anime Jump greatly diverge: site maintainer Mike Toole rates the series 3.5 out of 5 stars and calls it "tons of fun, a light, tasty action-comedy that's ... spirited and silly and tongue-in-cheek", and praises its character designs as "letter-perfect to Go Nagai's original (quite appealing!) character designs";[11] Jason Carter rates the 2004 ADV release 1.5 out of 5 stars, praising Calvello's voice work but saying "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 "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."[12]

[edit] Media Information

[edit] Episodes

The first anime version of Cutie Honey made in 21 years, New Cutie Honey was originally planned as a four-episode series. An extension was planned to 12 episodes due to good rental figures, but only eight episodes were made in total, and there was a decline in animation quality in episodes 7 and 8.[13]

The eight episodes were released in pairs; in addition, a "special edition story" (話　特別編?) called "Flash.1", "Angel holiday" (天使の休日?), was released on November 21, 1994.[13]

# Title Release date
Original four episodes
1 "An Angel Descends"
(天使は舞い降りた) 		 1994-03-21
2 "The Sweet Trap of the Jewel Princess"
(宝石姫の甘い罠) 		 1994-03-21
3 "A Singing Voice Is the Devil's Temptation"
(唄声は悪魔の誘い) 		 1994-07-21
4 "The Death of Honey? Battle for the Sacred Skyship!"
(ハニー死す!?摩天楼の聖戦) 		 1994-07-21
Dark Army Story (闇の軍団編?)
5 "Challenge! The Fangs of the Evil Sky Monster"
(挑戦！邪空獣の牙) 		 1995-06-21
6 "The Evil of Revenge"
(妖かしの復讐鬼) 		 1995-06-21
7 "Prison Is the Nest of Evil"
(監獄は邪悪の虜) 		 1995-10-21
8 "Temptation Shines Like Gold"
(誘惑は黄金の輝き) 		 1995-10-21

Sources — [14](English episode titles), [13](Japanese episode titles)

[edit] Soundtracks

Soundtracks released for the OVA include:[13]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Dynamic Planning and Toei Video. DVD キューティーハニー プレミアムBOX 特集 (Japanese). Retrieved on 2008-01-20.(Other Honey series are listed there as, for example, "（Ｃ）ダイナミック企画・東映アニメーション" [©Dynamic Pl. - Toei Anim.], but New Cutie Honey is "（Ｃ）永井 豪／ダイナミック企画・東映ビデオ" [©Go Nagai/Dynamic Pl. - Toei Video].)
  2. ^ A.D. Vision. Cutey Honey Anime Essentials. Retrieved on 2008-02-22.
  3. ^ Salvatore (Umino). Sightings. Lovely Warrior. Retrieved on 2008-01-26.
  4. ^ Danbei's Rocket Punch, shown in episodes 1, 3, and 5, is a nod to the Mazinger series. In episode 7, Honey transforms herself into Kouji Kabuto. The title sequence of episodes 5 through 8 features Silene, Devilman's nemesis, and Akira Fudo of Devilman Fudo also appears in episode 7. Devilman can also be briefly seen as one of the back-up guitarists for Seline in episode 3.
  5. ^ Sakura Con Guest Announcements. Anime News Network (2002-03-02). Retrieved on 2007-03-01.
  6. ^ Material in this section is drawn from the series itself unless otherwise noted.
  7. ^ 新・キューティーハニー コンプリートパック. Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
  8. ^ Cutey Honey - Essential Anime Collection (Vols. 1 & 2). Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
  9. ^ Beveridge, Chris (2000-11-21). New Cutey Honey Collection Vol. #1 (of 2). Anime on DVD. Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
  10. ^ Beveridge, Chris (2000-12-05). New Cutey Honey Collection Vol. #2 (of 2). Anime on DVD. Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
  11. ^ Toole, Mike (2003-10-14). New Cutey Honey. Anime Jump. Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
  12. ^ Carter, Jason (2005-02-03). New Cutey Honey. Anime Jump. Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
  13. ^ a b c d 新・キューティーハニー. キューティーハニー七変化. Retrieved on 2008-02-25. “２１年ぶりにアニメ化となったOVA『新キューティーハニー』。総セル枚数１万枚のハイクオリティ作品で、一応１２話まで製作される予定だったが、残念ながら某会社の倒産（？）により途中で製作中止となった。７、８巻ではそのあおりをうけ目玉のクオリティは低下した。”
  14. ^ Amazon.ca: New Cutey Honey (DVD). Retrieved on 2008-02-25. (This Amazon.ca page contains the same ASIN as this US product, but the US Amazon.com page does not contain episode information.)

[edit] External links

Languages