Cutey Honey or Cutie Honey (キューティーハニー, Kyūtī Hanī?) is a widely known anime and manga series created by Go Nagai in 1973.
Cutie Honey first appeared to the public on volume 41 of the 1973 edition of the manga "Shōnen Champion". Volume 41 was the October edition of the manga and was released 13 days prior to the start of the TV series.
The Cutie Honey TV series began on the 13th October 1973 and ran until 30th March 1974. The series was aired in France in the late 1980s under the title Cherry Miel (Cherry Honey).
Although an android, the main character Honey is considered a prototype for the transforming magical girl character (previous "magical" girls were characters who had "magical" powers, and/or used magic, such as Sally the Witch, another Toei series), with a few key differences.
Being an android, Cutey Honey's powers are mechanical rather than magical (a device known as the Fixed System of Air Elements).
However, in the 1997-98 shōjo anime adaptation, Cutey Honey Flash, Honey Kisaragi does transform by magical means, though she is an android.
In the live-action Cutie Honey movie and its animated adaptation, Honey's transformation powers come from the Imaginary Induction System, called the I-system for short. The English letter "I" also sounds like the Japanese for "love" (愛; ai).
Despite its elements of nudity and sexuality, the original 1973-74 Cutey Honey was intended for all audiences in Japan.
Cutey Honey is considered to be the original template for the group of magical girls who are active fighters, particularly in the "darker" magical girl series aimed at male audiences rather than female. Honey herself is referred to and parodied overtly in many manga and anime series over the years, perhaps most famously in Sailor Moon. Like Cutey Honey, Sailor Moon has a tendency to "speechify" before a fight in an amusing way. This would occur as a three stage speech, recapping whatever alternate forms she had taken earlier in the episode, and culminate into her transformation into Cutey Honey and announcing herself as Ai no Senshi! Cutey Honey! or "The Warrior of Love." She was also known for fighting attractive, yet bizarre, exclusively female monsters as well.
In 1994, the first OVA sequel (Shin Cutey Honey, known as New Cutey Honey in English) was released. To date, this is the only version of Cutey Honey to have been licensed and released in the US. Jessica Calvello, the voice actress who plays Honey in the English-language dub was hand-picked by Go Nagai [citation needed].
In 1997, a new shōjo version of Cutey Honey assumed the timeslot that the long-running magical girl anime Sailor Moon had recently vacated. Cutey Honey Flash was a cuter, gentler version aimed at the young female audience that Sailor Moon had kept entertained for five years. This is the most popular version of "Cutey Honey."
In 2004, Studio Gainax released a live-action tokusatsu film version starring Eriko Sato in the title role along with a new OVA series (Re: Cutie Honey) animated by Gainax.
At Anime Expo 2006, Bandai Entertainment announced they will be releasing the live-action Cutey Honey in the US in 2007.
Honey is an android girl created by an elderly scientist to be his "daughter". She had no idea she was an artificial being, and she also attended a Catholic school. She found the truth about herself on the day her "father" was killed by members of a villainous organization called the "Panther Claw". She discovered that by saying "Honey Flash!" she could transform into a red-haired female superhero, with great strength and agility, as well as a sword. In fact, she had several other forms, all beautiful women with different abilities. (Her "real" form has long blonde hair.) She was able to transform with the device in her body, Fixed System of Air Elements. Honey continued to get revenge against the Panther Claw (and its woman-android agents) while attending school, until defeating them. Aiding Honey in her quest for revenge is the Hayami family. Hayami Danbei, his two sons Seiji, Junpei, and later on his nephew Naojiro. The organization "Panther Claw" is ruled by Panther Zora, and her younger sibling Sister Jill. Their main goal is unlimited wealth, and obtaining the Fixed System of Air Elements Device. The original series ending leaves the story open-ended, with Honey defeating Sister Jill and discovering Panther Zora is the true leader of Panther Claw.
Cutie Honey first appeared to the public on volume 41 of the 1973 edition of the manga "Shōnen Champion". Volume 41 was the October edition of the manga and was released 13 days prior to the start of the TV series.
The Cutie Honey TV series began on the 13th October 1973 and ran until 30th March 1974. The series was aired in France in the late 1980s under the title Cherry Miel (Cherry Honey).
Although an android, the main character Honey is considered a prototype for the transforming magical girl character (previous "magical" girls were characters who had "magical" powers, and/or used magic, such as Sally the Witch, another Toei series), with a few key differences.
Being an android, Cutey Honey's powers are mechanical rather than magical (a device known as the Fixed System of Air Elements).
However, in the 1997-98 shōjo anime adaptation, Cutey Honey Flash, Honey Kisaragi does transform by magical means, though she is an android.
In the live-action Cutie Honey movie and its animated adaptation, Honey's transformation powers come from the Imaginary Induction System, called the I-system for short. The English letter "I" also sounds like the Japanese for "love" (愛; ai).
Despite its elements of nudity and sexuality, the original 1973-74 Cutey Honey was intended for all audiences in Japan.
Cutey Honey is considered to be the original template for the group of magical girls who are active fighters, particularly in the "darker" magical girl series aimed at male audiences rather than female. Honey herself is referred to and parodied overtly in many manga and anime series over the years, perhaps most famously in Sailor Moon. Like Cutey Honey, Sailor Moon has a tendency to "speechify" before a fight in an amusing way. This would occur as a three stage speech, recapping whatever alternate forms she had taken earlier in the episode, and culminate into her transformation into Cutey Honey and announcing herself as Ai no Senshi! Cutey Honey! or "The Warrior of Love." She was also known for fighting attractive, yet bizarre, exclusively female monsters as well.
In 1994, the first OVA sequel (Shin Cutey Honey, known as New Cutey Honey in English) was released. To date, this is the only version of Cutey Honey to have been licensed and released in the US. Jessica Calvello, the voice actress who plays Honey in the English-language dub was hand-picked by Go Nagai [citation needed].
In 1997, a new shōjo version of Cutey Honey assumed the timeslot that the long-running magical girl anime Sailor Moon had recently vacated. Cutey Honey Flash was a cuter, gentler version aimed at the young female audience that Sailor Moon had kept entertained for five years. This is the most popular version of "Cutey Honey."
In 2004, Studio Gainax released a live-action tokusatsu film version starring Eriko Sato in the title role along with a new OVA series (Re: Cutie Honey) animated by Gainax.
At Anime Expo 2006, Bandai Entertainment announced they will be releasing the live-action Cutey Honey in the US in 2007.
Honey is an android girl created by an elderly scientist to be his "daughter". She had no idea she was an artificial being, and she also attended a Catholic school. She found the truth about herself on the day her "father" was killed by members of a villainous organization called the "Panther Claw". She discovered that by saying "Honey Flash!" she could transform into a red-haired female superhero, with great strength and agility, as well as a sword. In fact, she had several other forms, all beautiful women with different abilities. (Her "real" form has long blonde hair.) She was able to transform with the device in her body, Fixed System of Air Elements. Honey continued to get revenge against the Panther Claw (and its woman-android agents) while attending school, until defeating them. Aiding Honey in her quest for revenge is the Hayami family. Hayami Danbei, his two sons Seiji, Junpei, and later on his nephew Naojiro. The organization "Panther Claw" is ruled by Panther Zora, and her younger sibling Sister Jill. Their main goal is unlimited wealth, and obtaining the Fixed System of Air Elements Device. The original series ending leaves the story open-ended, with Honey defeating Sister Jill and discovering Panther Zora is the true leader of Panther Claw.