Michiko to Hatchin

Under the unrelenting heat of the South American sun, hardened criminal Michiko Malandro breaks out of a high security prison for the fourth time in search of a man from her past. Michiko finds a clue in the form of Hana Morenos, a young girl trapped under the fists of her abusive foster family. In her powerlessness, Hana fantasizes about the day when she is finally whisked away from her captors by her very own Prince Charming. Little does she know that her fated prince would turn out to be the buxom and husky convict who charges in atop a stolen motorbike, claiming to be her mother.

The unlikely duo chase down their dreams in the sun-drenched land of Diamandra, navigating through the cacophony of betrayal, poverty, and child exploitation rings hiding in plain sight. However, wind of Michiko's manhunt soon reaches the ears of criminal syndicate Monstro Preto, and a storm of gang warfare begins brewing over the horizon…

Michiko to Hatchin is the story of vibrant people and their clashing agendas, and of all the unlikely human connections drawn together by one elusive man.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Malandro, Michiko Main

Maki, Yoko Japanese

Morenos, Hana Main

Ohgo, Suzuka Japanese

Jackson, Atsuko Supporting

Sakai, Maki Japanese

Batista, Satoshi Supporting

Miura, Masaki Japanese

Lima, Pepê Supporting

Kohinata, Shie Japanese

Lee, Vanessa Supporting

Yoshitaka, Yuriko Japanese

Rodriguez, Shinsuke Supporting

Murakami, Jun Japanese

Jair Supporting

Kiyokawa, Motomu Japanese

Sasha Supporting

Shimizu, Risa Japanese

Lenine Supporting

Ono, Kensho Japanese

Watanabe, Shinichirou Producer, Co-Producer

Cook, Justin Producer

Yamamoto, Kouji Producer

Kouchiyama, Takashi Producer

Reviews

Mar 21, 2009

Archaeon

Recommended

What would you get if you crossed Thelma & Louise with City of God? You may get complete drivel, or you may, if you're very lucky, get something like Michiko to Hatchin.

Manglobe, the production company (and the brains behind), Michiko to Hatchin, have really pushed the boat out with this anime. But then again, they're no strangers to success or quality, especially as they are the company responsible for Ergo Proxy and Samurai Champloo. The series was directed by Yamamoto Sayo and is effectively her first full time at the helm of a production, and whilst this may have been a gamble on the part ... of Manglobe, it's one that certainly paid off as Michiko to Hatchin has a certain "fresh" quality that I haven't seen in anime in a long time (not since Cowboy Bebop in fact).

The tale is about an escaped convict named Michiko Malandro and her quest to find her lost, and supposedly dead, lover Hiroshi Morenos. In order to achieve this, she "kidnaps" a girl who is supposedly Hiroshi's daughter, initially thinking that she would know where Hiroshi is. However the world has changed during her years in prison, becoming at times more brutal and less forgiving.

The decision to set this tale in a quasi-South American (Brazilian), country was a stroke of genius as the creators and director could do things that would never have been included had the show been given a more staid setting. In addition to this, the characters themselves are able to have that little bit more "flair" about them because of the setting, something that initially detracts from some of them until one realises that the gaudiness is all simply part of that character's persona - more on that later though.

Now fans of Ergo Proxy and Samurai Champloo will know that Manglobe are able to produce some stunning visuals, and Michiko to Hatchin is no slouch in this department. From barren deserts to lush jungles, from slum shanties to sleek factories, the level of detail is excellent, and well above that of many recent titles. In addition to this, the various settings in which the story takes place have a certain realistic quality about them that belies the fact that this is an anime.

In addition to the great scenery, the characters are extremely unique and well designed, again, adding to the sense of realism about the show. The leads and immediate supporting cast are individuals to a tee, with each character possessing a certain lifelike quality that many anime would find difficult to match.

One area where the show really excels is with the animation. It's rare to see such lifelike movement in anime, and in many ways the fluidity and natural motion in Michiko to Hatchin represents a step up from that of Samurai Champloo.

Sound is another area where this show works very well. The effects are extremely well chosen and choreographed, and while some may be overwhelming, this is actually purposeful because of the situations the characters may find themselves in. The music used throughout the series is atmospheric and refreshing, and is reflective of the Latin-American feel of the show. The OP, a track called "Paraiso" by the Japanese jazz band Soil & "Pimp" Sessions, is an excellent piece that harks back to the classic "Tank!" of Cowboy Bebop fame. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the ED, "Best Friend" by Karutetto, as it is a bit too "boy-band" for my tastes.

One of the truly great things about Michiko to Hatchin is actually the cast. Manglobe and Yamamoto took the somewhat surprising, move when they chose the actors, opting not for established traditional seiyuu but for established screen actors. However, this seemingly risky choice has paid off in spades for the series. Maki Yoko (Battle Royale II: Requiem, The Grudge), is extremely versatile as the sexy, pouting, hotheaded, and somewhat childish Michiko, whilst Ohgo Suzuka (Year One in the North, Memoirs of a Geisha), is truly excellent in the role of Hatchin as she provides a depth of character that is rare to find.

Which neatly brings us to the characters themselves. Michiko is willful, headstrong, selfish in the extreme, and very childish. Hatchin is somewhat shy and nervous, but also responsible, tidy, and hates laziness. Both leads are extremely well defined from the outset, something which is reinforced as the relationship between the two is extremely combative (the pair are effectively polar opposites). Others like the terrifying Satoshi Batista or the terrier-like (i.e. always chasing Michiko), Atsuko Jackson are also well defined from the start, and through the first few episodes it may be difficult to see how any of the characters are actually developing because of the strength of the characterizations.

One reason for this is because both Manglobe and Yamamoto decided against using normal anime practices for developing characters, and instead chose a far more realistic and subtle approach. One needs only to compare the relationship between Michiko and Hatchin (or even Michiko and Atsuko), at the beginning of the series, with their behaviour towards the end to see exactly how much they have developed as characters. An example of this is the fact that Michiko is initially very much an annoying, sexy, pouting, selfish jerk, however at the end of the series she reminds me of Balsa from Seirei no Moribito. Hatchin, Atsuko and Satoshi also undergo this extremely subtle development (you'll see how much by episode 20).

I thoroughly enjoyed this series for many reasons, the main one being the fact that this is a show that is not afraid to show the casual brutality of its setting. There will be some out there who didn't like the way the series ended, however I found the conclusion to be very much in keeping with the essence of the series, whilst at the same time being far more realistic than the endings of most other anime.

Michiko to Hatchin is a rarity in the medium, and should not be prejudged on the basis of one or two episodes. The complexity of each character, the harsh, unforgiving setting, the sometimes brutally real actions of individuals, and the extremely subtle development all serve to make this one of the best shows of 2008, and one of the best anime to appear in the last decade. At times Thelma & Louise, at times City of God, at times Laurel and Hardy, this anime possesses a style and flair that surpasses that of Samurai Champloo - a feat by any measure.

Given the quality of this series, and its previous titles, I'm rapidly becoming a fan of Manglobe.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jun 23, 2016

gwern

Mixed Feelings

_M&H_ is an adventure anime featuring a young orphaned girl Hatchin who is kidnapped from her foster parents by an escaped felon to look for her father, Hiroshi McGuffin. They travel from town to town in a quasi Mexico-Brazil, searching for him while evading the police; invariably, they discover the princess is in another castle and must leave town under hot pursuit. Every episode, someone beats Hatchin, scams her, tries to sell her, kill her, abduct her, or lie to her, while no plot happens. This goes on for 22 episodes.

To be blunt, _M&H_ is an astonishingly mediocre anime. The plot is astoundingly boring as ... Michiko and Hatchin kill time in random cities until something bad happens and they have to leave. The initial plot, finding Hiroshi, seems like it will be resolved within a few episodes and the series will get serious and deal with the incipient gang warfare, except, that turns out to be the *entire* series, dragging out endlessly as they miss Hiroshi skipping out on them like 4 times. Characters are brought in only to never play any particularly meaningful role (what was all that stuff with Satoshi Batista? it never went anywhere until he's casually killed off at the end). More time is spent ogling Michiko's breasts and stomach than trying any world-building so most of the time we're stuck watching the same Martian desert hellscape we've been watching for 15 episodes before. There is no dramatic suspense as we know that no matter how much Michiko screws up and no matter how many cops are after her, she will never be hit by their bullets and will somehow jump over all their cars in her motorcycle in sequences that have approximately 1.2% as much excitement or interest as a _Lupin the Third_ escape sequence. Did I mention that Hatchin is just treated absurdly badly by everyone in the whole series (including Michiko, and excluding the Chinese singer, who as far as I can tell is literally the only person in the series who actually treats Hatchin well - because even her 'friend' Rita somehow neglects to mention that the circus will sell her off).

The series is produced by Shinichirō Watanabe and created by Manglobe (Ergo Proxy, Samurai Champloo), but while I kind of guessed as much since I was getting a _Cowboy Bebop_ vibe, _M&H_ highlights by contrast just how great _Cowboy Bebop_ is: CB was regularly punctuated by unforgettable music and scenes, from "Green Bird" to the finale; _M&H_ has totally forgettable themes except for the mildly interesting animation of the OP; CB had a hallucination episode which, aside from being amusing, deepened the characterization of the main characters and added foreshadowing, while _M&H_'s hallucination episode was just some wacky images; CB had semi-realistic combat scenes and jeet kune do inspired martial arts, while M&H just leaves us eyes rolling at a woman in high heels yet again beating up some burly men; CB had a spaceship which bled and suffered with the main cast, while M&H has a motorcycle which keeps breaking yet mysteriously keeps showing up; CB had a thought-out yakuza backstory driving the central conflict, while M&H has some random stuff in the early episodes which turns out to not even matter once Satoshi gets killed off; CB had distinct locations and worlds, from Mars to Earth to Ganymede, while M&H has just two locations, a seaside town and dusty baked-dry slums. M&H just comes off as bizarrely half-baked, as if some notes were taken on a possible anime but then the anime studio had to turn them into an anime overnight without any time to research locations or come up with interesting places to go or things to do. Whether it's bizarre Japanisms like ear-cleaning (I am pretty sure girlfriends in Mexico do not clean their boyfriends' ears with giant fluffy q-tips) or the lack of any understanding of racial politics or identities in Latin America/Brazil (no matter the color, everyone interacts the same) or rendering pointless character arcs (the cop Atsuko, Michiko's masochist lesbian friend, who is hunting Michiko but keeps assisting her and letting her escape, finally definitively breaks with her at the end, declaring Michiko dead to her, in one of the few moving scenes: 'the next time we meet, it'll be as strangers'. So *of course* in the final episode, Atsuko will go and free her again!) (Satoshi, the gang boss, seems to have some sort of goal or grudge, although he remains mostly a cipher despite enormous amounts of screentime, but of course he is killed before meeting Hiroshi) or bring out sudden swerves in plots (in a brief timeskip at the end, we find Hatchin living and working on her own... as a single mother. Despite Hatchin having been the only sensible character who worked hard or planned ahead in the series! Can we believe this? No, we cannot. Nor can we believe that Michiko somehow escapes from jail without anyone noticing and spends weeks refinding Hatchin, who is then going to go on wild road-trips with Michiko and her baby.) or are just pointless (Hiroshi, far from being some sort of Jay Gatsby figure, turns out to just be a loser who keeps scamming people and disappears as soon as they find him) (if Michiko isn't Hatchin's mother, who is? No answer is ever given and hardly anyone even asks) (what was up with those tomatoes anyway?).

The only two episodes which were any good was the bull-fighting episode, and the aforementioned Chinatown episode where the 'actress' rescues Michiko for Hatchin. (I was surprised to learn there were Chinatowns in Latin America: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatowns_in_Latin_America I hadn't known there was significant Chinese emigration to any of those countries.)

So: the plot is boring and nonsensical; most of the characters uninteresting or undermined; the art would be OK if it ever changed; the music totally forgettable. It is a waste of an anime and worse than season 2 of _Kaiji_ or _Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro_.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Aug 30, 2018

Angry_Anime_Nerd

Not Recommended

The plot is inconsistent, like there was a subplot where Hatchin was chasing after a thief who took her shoes in episode 3 but by midway episode 4, that subplot is completely thrown out the window. Though, the main plot is a buddy road trip show about two young girls who clash a lot, the writer did put a fresh twist on it but it ended up being executed pathetically.

Michiko and Hatchin’s relationship is cliched, starting off not really liking each other but then growing to genuinely care for each other. None of the characters are particularly likeable, Michiko, while a refreshingly cool, badass black ... lady is really hot-headed, immature, and irresponsible and Hatchin is aloof, dense, and bratty. They tend to fight a lot like young sisters, though that’s toned down by the middle of the series. The characters are overall, mediocre.

The only redeeming values are some of the comedy in it (though there are some corny ones). The music has a more latin/brazilian vibe to it, some of it is jazzy but it’s nevertheless catchy. The voice actors did a fairly good job bringing fresh life to their characters (I watched the english dub) though the only downside is Hatchin sounds a little too whiny but it’s not too big of a problem since she has a whiny, emotional personality. But she does sound like a 10-year-old instead of an adult trying to sound like one. And the charmingly beautiful art and animation.

Good quality production values, fairly decent animation, fresh voice acting, and groovy music is wasted on a poor script. Too bad Watanabe is only part of the music department in this anime. If he had a more major staff role, this anime probably would’ve been a lot charming. I can see why this anime was never that popular: It’s too forgettable to be recommended. If you want something better by Watanabe, go check out Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, they are much more memorable with a more creative story, clever jokes, and likeable, realistic characters.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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