Cutie Honey F

Classic yet refreshing, Cutey Honey Flash offers a totally different perspective on one of Go Nagai's biggest cult shows.

Cutey Honey (or Cutie Honey) made her first appearance back in 1973 and she is known for being the first ever Magical Girl who transforms to fight evil. Many people refer to her as Sailor Moon's great predecessor (or even grandmother), which is both correct and incorrect. Even though Sailor Moon did what Cutey Honey had already done two decades before, there is a great difference between the two franchises that often goes unmentioned. Sailor Moon was aimed at teenage girls, on the contrary Cutey Honey was ... aimed at teenage boys. But what happens when you take the Cutey Honey franchise and decide to turn it on its head and aim it at teenage girls? The answer is Cutey Honey Flash.

Cutey Honey Flash is a Magial Girl show, not a shonen, not an ecchi. It was made in 1997 to replace Sailor Moon in its time-slot, considering Sailor Moon Sailor Stars was reaching its end. Hence, it was conceived with the unmasked intention to appeal at the demographic of Sailor Moon fans, mainly made up of teenage girls, little girls, many young adults and many boys as well. Because of this, a big part of the creative team that worked for Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, directly went on to work on Cutey Honey Flash. Therefore, at a first glance many may think this is nothing but a direct Sailor Moon rip-off. You could not be more wrong.

Cutey Honey Flash has an identity of its own and what I like most about the show is its attentiveness to tradition. Aside from the basic stuff (teenage girl protagonist fights evil), nothing else in Cutie Honey Flash reads as rip-off or caricature of Sailor Moon. They took a lot of aspects of the original Cutie Honey show and pressed refresh. Honey Kisaragi is a 16 years old student and she is definitely not the girl next door (or, to say, not the lovable airhead clumsy protagonist that is so common in shojo shows). Honey is strong, determined, very agile and incredibly charming. She is also very sweet and considerate and though she could be snob or act superior, she is actually down-to-earth and extremely kind to anyone she meets. She possesses many great qualities that could make a character look completely flat and one-note, but this is not the case. Without giving out much, let's say that Honey can become very emotional very easily, and the way she always tries to hide this aspect of her personality makes her even more entertaining and it gives her depth. 'Entertaining' is a word that can be easily used to describe most characters on this show. The villains, the likeable love-interest Seiji, the caring friend Natsuko, the mysterious Prince of Moonlight, the comic relief Danbei, they each possess unique characteristics that instantly make them interesting and well defined. Even minor characters and episode-villains are interesting, well defined and amusing. There is not one dull moment around these people.

Aside from its likeable and interesting characters, Cutie Honey Flash presents a really well written plot. The show could easily be divided in three parts, three distinct narrative arcs. The storytelling is what makes it; it is rich in humor, action, great plot-twists and many intense moments. Cutie Honey Flash takes its time when trying to develop a character's path, but it never becomes boring or God forbid uneventful and bland. Aside from some minor parts, with which I had a problem or two, it is not rushed. It should also be noted how the storytelling often manages to do things the unconventional way. Sure, the evil organization Panther Claw wants to take over the world like it happens in most Magical Girls shows, but trust me when I tell you it's not as simple as that with this one. In other words, you know the writing is great when it manages to make you love and feel sympathy even for the most crazy and evil-willed characters.

The entertaining development of the story is enriched by the great visuals. I am simply so in love with the character designs and art-style all around. Honey can take multiple forms and she looks breathtaking every single time, her outfits are creative, fashionable and the color palette is always on point! What's even better is the character design of the villains. Most episodes feature new enemies that vary in style, colors and even form! It is incredible how much the character design can help enrich the writing of the characters. It is not just clothes and colors: the visual aspect of the characters is part of the storytelling. Most episodes (if not all, really) are well animated, especially during the fights scenes. Cutie Honey doesn't just stand there, she fights and she fights well. The lighting should also be mentioned. It is apparent that no choices were taken lightly while developing the show. The lighting plays a big part during the storytelling; some scenes have such great and intense lighting that really boost the moment and make the scene so much better. Hence, I feel the need to declare that I am absolutely amazed with the visual aspects of the show.

As if all of this wasn't enough, everything is accompanied by some great music. The opening theme for the show is the same used for (almost) every Cutey Honey production and this version is probably my favorite, it's just so catchy and it goes perfectly with the pretty visuals. The soundtrack really enriches the atmosphere of each scene and it really helps enhance and take out the intensity of the characters' emotions. Special shout-out to the transformation music, it really makes the moment ever so iconic!

One of the few things that bugged me was the way they treated the fan-service. If you know Cutey Honey at all you definitely know that it is a brand that heavily relies on fan-service, we could even say it takes pride in it. This version is definitely not as fan-service-y as other versions, but there is still some. That was the problem with me: the show doesn't really know what it wants to be when it comes to fan-service. Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's just another everyday Magical Girl show. It feels as if the staff hadn't really planned how far they wanted the fan-service aspect to go with each episode and it looks like the choice was for each episode director to make.

In conclusion, I would say that Cutie Honey Flash is a massively underrated show that deserves to be watched and I would suggest anyone to do so, especially if you like Magical Girls. Aside from the more technical aspects I referred to above, it all comes down to how enjoyable it is, and it was. The show knows how to find the right balance between intense moments and lighthearted everyday adventures and it keeps the watcher constantly entertained. I know I loved a show when I press play on the final episode and think to myself of how much I don't want it to end. Doesn't happen as often as I wish it did sadly! If you like adventure, a well-written story with interesting characters and great visuals, Cutie Honey Flash is absolutely a must-watch.

I'll start this review by pointing out that I sincerely don't understand why there is a claim circulating that this is some sort of Sailor Moon spin-off. The production team might have been the same talented one behind the absolute masterpiece of animation Sailor Stars, but there is nothing Sailor Moon specific here except some really tenous visual homages to that one like a one-and-done lips animation during a Cutie Henshin pose, or some barebone concepts similar to those present in that one. For the rest, this beast (in a good way) of an anime is a thing of its own, with the main character ... having a different modus operandi, che supporting cast being completely different, the ending being completely different, etc. etc. etc. With that out of the way, the Sailor Stars production team apparently was EXTREMELY TALENTED beyond belief because this not only is hands down the best product with the Cutie Honey brand slapped on it (including the fun Cutie Honey Live Action series and the Cutie Honey live action movie from Hideki Anno) but it manages to elevate what was the absolute worst animated product I've ever experienced in my whole life since starting to watch animes back in the early 90's - the original Hideous with a capital H Tokusatsu/Exploitation 70's Cutie Honey "anime" series by master of overrated hacks and wanna-be exploitation/porn director Go Nagai - to a really enjoyable, fun, engaging, heartfelt and cute series that you'll watch from start to end with no hickups, no will to drop it, amazed by the top-notch animation (incredible compared to the unwatchable and extremely dated by the time animation of the 70's crap), well choreographed and diverse fights, shoujo inserts that are friggin' loveable ecc. ecc. ecc. The only thing that might a bit bother you is the usual japanese sexism for which a woman's only dream in life is to marry and have kids which is not true in any way, but between treating a characters literally ONLY and not ALSO as a stimulant for sexual libido (there are indeed several shots in this series with Honey completely naked during the Cutie henshin sequence, but they don't feel like forcibly trying to elicit a wanking from you) in the most hamfisted, unpleasant and in-your-face way ever put on animated form and this kind of sexism I think I'll go safely with the latter if the result is an enjoyment over 9000. This series and the linked short OAV (an elongated episode) are literally the definitive version of the character, completely trumping everything with the direct intervention of sucky Go Nagai in all regards. Watch this and forget the godfriggin' awful nightmarish monster - I can't legitimately stress how bad it is, the spectator being a man or a woman it doesn't matter. I am a man, I HATE that thing with all myself - from the 70's ever existed in the first place.

I totally love Cutey Honey. She's tough and not afraid to be sexy. And even though she was one of the first magical girls, she stands out just as much as a unique character as she did in the 80s. Most versions of her story are pretty similar only to each other. There's one major outlier, though: Cutey Honey Flash.

As the series that took over Sailor Moon's timeslot when it first aired, Cutey Honey Flash is not the ecchi/action sort of magical girl series you'd expect from the franchise, instead following a more typical formula. It takes place in high school, it's totally family-friendly, and ... It's very episodic. In every episode, Honey and her friends start out doing something typical of teen girls (or at least what little girls wish that their teenage years would be like). Then (rather underdeveloped) evil strikes, and Honey has to transform and fight evil. There's an underlying plot, of course -- in this one, Honey is trying to rescue her missing father -- and a mysterious yet helpful man (sound familiar?). It's far from unpleasant, but it's very much your typical magical girl plot and atmosphere. Rather underwhelming, really, and while I understand that the intention was to give Sailor Moon a spiritual successor, Cutey Honey Flash doesn't bring anything new to the table to make it stand out from Sailor Moon and other similar series.

Still, Cutey Honey Flash retains a decent amount of the charm in other versions. While Honey is meeker in this version, she's still a strong character, both in the sense of being well-characterized and the sense of kicking a lot of butt. A version of the classic theme song is used as the opening, along with Honey's costume being a variation of the original. Honey still has her transforming abilities, too; she solves problems brought by the villains by transforming into different types of people. It can indeed fun to watch the traditional components of the original Cutey Honey mixed with your standard magical girl tropes, and I'm glad that even in a different genre, Cutey Honey Flash still has some of what makes other versions great.

Full disclosure: I only understand English, and this review is for those who are in the same boat as me and wondering if they should try out this series anyway. Cutey Honey Flash has only been fansubbed up to the ninth episode, with little sign of more coming up. It may become a very different show in the next thirty episodes, but for now they aren't available. For now, it's a solid but not fabulous watch for magical girl fans who don't mind seeing every 90s trope in the book, and Cutey Honey fans who also enjoy more traditional shoujo.