Re: Cutie Honey (2004)
Based on what little I'd seen of it, I've been a bit rude about Gainax's three part Cutie Honey reboot in the past, and I'd like to sincerely apologise. With three episodes, each helmed by a different director, it often seems to pull in different directions, but overall, it's very entertaining - I just struggled with the first instalment.
Re:introducing the super-powered, disguise-wearing android in present day (well, 2004) Tokyo, the changes that struck me most are that Honey is now a lonely twenty-something office drone, and, in true Astro Boy fashion, was originally human. Unfortunately, we first find the characters adrift in a sort of colourful onslaught of gags and fanservice.
Not to say I think episode one is without merit; it definitely catches something of the goofy tone and style of the original. Hiroyuki Imaishi directed the segment (presumably straight after Dead Leaves) and it really shows, with madcap character designs, cartoonish environments and many-layered visual gags that refer back to the psychedelic trappings of the original series. Part of me wants to say this is the one that 'gets' Cutie Honey the most, but it's just too much to process all at once. The sugar rush dies down around the half-way point, but it left me oddly cold - it feels like the people having all the fun here are the ones making it.
Episodes 2 and 3 work far better, particularly part two. The series becomes darker in tone as it goes along, but the second part strikes a good balance between shennanigans and something more serious, hitting both a neat thematic callback to Devilman, as an angry mob starts attacking innocent people they believe to be Honey, and getting great mileage from the iconic theme tune as a villain sings it with mocking lyrics to try and flush Honey out of hiding.
The last part builds to a surprisingly epic conclusion, built on some interesting ideas, but it leans too heavily on chief director Hideaki Anno's established show-endings playbook, and doesn't quite sell the hitherto largely absent traditional villain Sister Jill as the key part of its puzzle.
Most surprisingly of all, however, the series's most consistently successful element is actually Natsuko Aki. Honey's schoolgirl friend and possible love interest is here reimagined as a tightly-wound police inspector with a penchant for firearms, finding herself at a loss trying to deal with Tokyo's new superhero. Honey's characterisation is fine, but it's Natsuko who gets all the best development, and frankly, steals the show. It's a bit like turning up to a Superman film and seeing the man of steel upstaged by Jimmy Olsen, but it works.
Whether I like this version more than the 1990s' Shin Cutie Honey, I'm not sure, but it's a strong effort from Gainax in their prime, and the continued lack of any official English-language release, in nearly 15 years, is utterly baffling.
