r/CutieHoney

I recently got into the Cutie Honey franchise. I've only seen Shin and Re so far. Shin has some very big positives, but it's kinda half baked in parts. (Plus it never got a proper conclusion. *Sob*) Re I think is great from a TECHNICAL standpoint, but there were some parts that were so horrendous that I wanted to call the FBI. Not to mention, I don't really like how Honey is portrayed in it. Still, I kinda wanna give Flash a try, because it has the most episodes, so MAYBE stuff actually has time to develop, and it was made by a lot of people who worked on Sailor Moon, and I LOVE Sailor Moon! Thing is, I've heard mixed things about it. So I figured... maybe I should ask people within the Cutie Honey community whether or not I should check it out. Lemme know!

Hey, so I figured I'd talk about Shin/New Cutie Honey, since it was my introduction to the Cutie Honey franchise. (Technically, I knew about the original first, but Shin/New was the first one I watched.) And I figured I should give my overall thoughts on it.

The Good - There's honestly a LOT of good going for Shin/New Cutie Honey. Hell, its best aspects are honestly better than almost any other anime I've ever seen. Let's list them off:

-The Action: This is no Dragon Ball Z IMO, but it's solid! Has some pretty cool action sequences, especially the beginning of Episode 3. (Burning Up, anyone?) I also like some of the violence, too. There were some parts that were pretty intense and made me go like: "HOLY SHIT!" in the best way possible. Hell, I remember seeing the English Dub of Shin/New Cutie Honey when I was 17, and I was so shocked when Deathstar dropped the F-bomb.

-The Art Style: I absolutely ADORE it. It's the perfect blend of 90s anime and Go Nagai's art style, and I think it works immaculately. Cutie Honey herself is so expressive and I could honestly look admire the look all day.

-The Comedy: While I don't think this is really meant to be a comedy, I do think what it has is mostly solid. A lot of moments honestly got a pretty good chuckle out of me!

-The Dark Tone: This is definitely the "Darker and Edgier" version of Cutie Honey. Cosplay City looks like a twisted nightmare city, and the atmosphere itself is very grey and threatening. Gotta say, I approve. It makes the serious moments much easier to... well, take seriously. And honestly, I think it juxtaposes to the original in the best way possible. The original was kinda goofy and colorful, but this one is dark and gritty. It's honestly heartbreaking. (In a good way.)

-Honey herself: She's honestly an amazing protagonist. She's sexy, badass, and clever. The fact that she's willing to fight against such overwhelming and insurmountable odds to protect those she cares about is honestly so touching.

-The Soundtrack: A lot of the music in this pretty good, honestly! Dolmeck's theme sounds dark and imposing, and the "Honey Flash!" theme sounds triumphant and heroic. And don't get me started on "Burning Up!" Speaking of music...

-The Theme Song: Specifically, the English version by Mayukiss. I've listened to the themes of every version of Cutie Honey, and the one by Mayukiss is by far my favorite. I feel like some people might think it's cheesy, and yeah, I get that, but... it's anime. Of course it's gonna be cheesy, ha ha! Still, I prefer the lyrics of the Mayukiss theme over the Japanese original lyrics. The Japanese lyrics are kinda weird and are just about how "cute" Honey is, while the English Mayukiss lyrics state that Honey's a heroine that has to use her powers to rise and prevail over evil, and the song itself really exemplify the "survival against all odds" feel it has.

-The Villains: Or at least their designs. They're honestly freaking HORRIFYING. Lord Dolmeck looks like a cross between Ganondorf and Deathborn, Peeping Spider gives me Zoda vibes, and Black Maiden is body horror IMO. Panther Zora, especially in the second OP, looks utterly malevolent and horrific. I absolutely approve.

The Bad - Honestly, I don't think the flaws of this show are particularly egregious, but they did hold this show back a lot. Starting with:

-Awkward pacing: I honestly wish this show had more Honey and less of the new Hayamis, at least during the fight scenes. It's kind of frustrating to see Honey fighting a villain, but it keeps cutting to the supporting cast. Can't it just focus on Honey's battles and melees?

-Lack of a conclusion: By far the worst part of Shin/New Cutie Honey. I was so disappointed to find out that this never got a proper conclusion, apparently due to budget issues. It's such a shame, because maybe a conclusion would've somewhat salvaged it. Maybe Sister Jill would've returned? Tarantula Panther appeared in the second OP, so they probably had plans for her to return potentially.

-The New Characters: I'm not really a fan of the new main characters introduced. Chokkei is alright, but I'm not really a fan of Akakabu or Daiko. They're forgettable at best. I would've preferred if they just made Seiji into a cyborg like Danbei.

-The Short Length: I honestly wish this show was longer. Nothing really has time to simmer, which was such a letdown. The idea of Dolmeck, one of the new villains, making a serum that lets the lowlifes of Cosplay City turn into mutants is such a cool idea, and I wish it was explored more. What was the origin of the serum? What's in it? What is it capable of? I guess we'll never know, sadly. I also wish Dolmeck's character was explored more, because he has some cool ideas. His whole "humans are bastards" philosophy is an awesome idea, but it's pretty shallow because we don't see a whole lot of him. I also would've liked to see how he found Black Maiden and Deathstar, too.

Overall thoughts: I think I'll give this a 7/10, but from how much it personally means to me, a 10/10. Has a lot of good going for it, but its flaws really hold it back. Honey is a stellar protagonist, and the villain designs and art style are pretty top notch, but its lack of a proper conclusion, short length, and awkward pacing kinda keep this from being amazing. Honestly, I'd love to see a remake of this. Give things time to develop, keep the action scenes focused, and polish everything. Because when Shin/New Cutie Honey is at its best, it's dark Sailor Moon on steroids. At its worst, it's a generic awkward OVA. But hey, it was definitely enough to elevate Cutie Honey to one of the highest honors I can give, and that's being one of my favorite protagonists period. HONEY FLASH!!