Cutie Honey

When first started watching fansubbed anime in 2007, I found this old series from 1973 called Cutie Honey. The episodes were a bit repetitive but I was hooked and really wanted to see how the story ended. Unfortunately there is no complete English fansub so I've only seen 14 episodes. Even though Cutie was a TV series, it featured what I would call "Barbie doll" nudity, which seemed very risque for a TV show from the 1970's.

Shortly after I started watching the anime, the same fansub group released Cutie Honey the Live, a live action TV series that started in October 2007. The story of the live action series is quite different, but is nonetheless very enjoyable. One thing they did keep was the "Barbie doll" nudity which is done with the actress in a body suit and some cheap effects. It works but I think the original anime was actually more revealing, which tells us something about how attitudes have regressed. Cutie Honey the Live is also the first non-anime fansub I watched, and made me realized how just how limited regular TV has become.

But it is not over yet! There is also a movie made in 2004 called Cutie Honey - Live Action. The movie is licensed in North America, but there is a fansubbed version around, although I haven't watched it. But wait, there's more! The movie was adapted back into anime, a 3 episode OVA called Re: Cutie Honey which I finished watching today. An OVA is a direct to video release which is less restrictive, so the producers went all out with the nudity and mature themes, but the story and character's are still excellent. Re: Cutie Honey is by far the best of all the Cutie Honey remakes I've seen.

There a couple of other remakes around and hopefully I'll get around to watching them some day. It is almost certain that there will be more remakes in the future. Just a feeling I have.