Ask John: How Much Cutey Honey Is There?

Question:
What is Cutey Honey, was it a manga or anime? And what is it about?

Answer:
Through various media ranging from manga to live action film, the story of Cutey Honey has always been the same. Honey Kisaragi appears to be a normal teenage girl, but she’s actually an android with the ability to instantly change uniforms, with each new outfit bringing its according abilities including Nurse Honey, Ninja Honey, Police Honey, Scoop Honey (a newspaper reporter), and Hurricane Honey (a motorcyclist). Honey’s duty is to protect the world from the nefarious goals of Panther Zora, a monstrous organization bent on world domination.

Go Nagai’s unique take on the magical girl genre premiered as manga in the pages of Shonen Champion Magazine from 1973-1974. During that same period, from October 13, 1973 through March 30, 1974, Toei Animation produced a 25 episode long anime TV series adaptation of the manga serial. Although toned down from the original manga source, the Cutey Honey animation still caused quite a controversy in Japan for its violence, and for being one of, if not the first mainstream broadcast television anime to include full frontal nudity. Honey appeared nude briefly between costume changes. On a side note, in 2003 TV Asahi named the 1973 Cutey Honey TV series the 10th greatest anime ever produced.

Go Nagai’s creative collaborator Ken Ishikawa took over Cutey Honey, writing and illustrating a manga serial for Bouken Oh Magazine. Ishikawa’s Cutey Honey was published from November 1973 until May 1974.

In 1992 Go Nagai revived his famous heroine for a second manga series published in SPA! Magazine. This second Go Nagai created manga series was originally published between July 8th and April 7, 1993 under the name “Q-tey Honey.” In June 1995 the series was re-released in two collected manga volumes under the revised name “Cutie Honey.”

A year after the conclusion of the second Cutey Honey manga series came the 4 episode long Shin (New) Cutey Honey OAV series. The first two episodes were released on April 21, 1994, and the second two episodes were released on August 21, 1994. Beginning on July 21, 1995 the series was expanded with an additional four episodes, sometimes referred to as “Shin Cutey Honey Flash.” This risque and exciting 8 total episode OAV series, released in America by AD Vision, is the series largely responsible for reviving interest in Cutey Honey and first exposing many American and European viewers to the franchise.

Cutey Honey received her one and only video game installment with the November 10, 1995 release of the “Full Animation Adventure Game” Cutey Honey FX for NEC’s PC-FX console system.

While the original Cutey Honey was reportedly originally intended to be a shoujo magical girl program for young girls then changed to a cheesecake filled action series for boys at the last minute, The 1997 Cutey Honey F (Cutey Honey Flash) television series actually was a shoujo show. The successful 39 episode Cutey Honey F TV series took over the timeslot of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Sailorstars and targeted the same viewers that had faithfully followed Sailor Moon. The Cutey Honey F TV series is notable not only because it was unmistakably a shoujo romance/adventure series that ended with Cutey Honey defeating Panther Zora, getting married, and settling into family life with her new baby daughter, but because the middle of the series introduced the new character Misty Honey, Cutie Honey’s dark and sadistic polar opposite “sister.”

The Cutey Honey F TV series also spun off an hour long Cutey Honey F side-story motion picture that opened to Japanese theaters on July 12, 1997.

Also virtually simultaneous with the debut of the Cutey Honey Flash TV series in February 1997, manga artist Yukako Iizuka created the Cutey Honey Flash manga serial published in the pages of Chao Magazine, and later collected into 4 manga volumes beginning in May 1997. Ken Ishikawa and co-author Kazuyuki Sasaki also created their own “Cutie Honey & F” manga serial for Koro Koro Comics Magazine from April 1997 through February 1998. While Iizuka’s Cutey Honey F manga was similar to the anime TV series, the Ishikawa and Sasaki produced story was an original continuity that notably did not include Misty Honey.

The Cutey Honey franchise then again went into semi-retirement until original creator Go Nagai began the Cutey Honey: Tennyo Densetsu manga serial in the pages of Weekly Manga Action Magazine. As of March 2004, there are nine collected volumes of Cutey Honey: Tennyo Densetsu manga.

In the summer of 2003, director Hideaki Anno announced his intention to direct a live action Cutie Honey motion picture. The campy, groovy film is scheduled to open in Japanese theaters on May 29, 2004.

Following up on the anticipated success of the Cutie Honey movie is Re: Cutie Honey, reportedly a new anime series to be directed by Hideaki Anno.

I think it’s also worth noting that in 2001 AD Vision announced plans to co-produce a full CG rendered Cutey Honey television series for Japanese and American release. Since no further announcements about this project have been made in the past three years, it’s probably safe to assume that the plan was either scrapped or placed on indefinite hiatus.

Thanks are extended to Tama83 and Chieko Cranley for providing some of the information included in this article.