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is a Japanese shōnen
manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. First appearing in '' Weekly Shōnen Champions 41st issue of 1973, the series ran until April 1974. It follows an
android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
girl named Honey Kisaragi, who transforms into the busty, red or pink-haired heroine Cutie Honey to fight against the assorted villains that threaten her or her world. One of the trademarks of the character is that the transformation involves the temporary loss of all her clothing in the brief interim from changing from one form to the other. According to Nagai, she is the first female to be the
protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
of a ''shōnen'' manga series. The ''Cutie Honey'' franchise spans many works, including numerous manga series, three anime television series, two OVA series, two drama CDs, three live action adaptations, and four stage plays. The first anime aired in 1973 and is considered a
magical girl is a subgenre of Japanese fantasy media (including anime, manga, light novels, and live-action media) centered around young girls who possess magical abilities, which they typically use through an ideal alter ego into which they can transfo ...
series in retrospect. In addition, the theme song of the series has become one of the most famous theme songs in the history of anime, and is widely known in Japan, even to those unfamiliar with the series. Despite the many different Cutie Honey works made, this theme song continues to be sung in all live-action and animated works except ''
Cutie Honey Universe ''Cutie Honey Universe'' is a 2018 anime television series directed by Akitoshi Yokoyama at Ashi Productions, Production Reed (now Ashi Productions). It is the fifth animated project based on Go Nagai's ''Cutie Honey'' manga franchise, celebrat ...
'' and '' Cutie Honey: Tears'', with different arrangers and singers. According to a Bandai survey, Cutie Honey ranked first in the "Favorite Characters" surveyed in April 1997 in two categories: girls aged 3 to 5 and girls aged 6 to 8.


Plot

Honey Kisaragi is a regular, 16-year-old Catholic schoolgirl, until the day her father is murdered by the "Panther Claw" organization. After his death, she learns she is actually an android created by him and within her is . With her cry of "Honey Flash!" she can use the device to transform into the sword-wielding red-haired superhero, Cutie Honey. This device, or similar devices, have been used to explain her powers in all later ''Honey'' versions. While attending the Saint Chapel School for Girls-(in ''Cutie Honey Flash'', the school is co-ed instead of being an all-girls school), Honey seeks revenge against the Panther Claw organization, which is ruled by an ancient primordial evil known as Panther Zora and her younger sibling Sister Jill. Zora wants "the rarest items in the world" and seeks to steal the device within Honey created by her father, which would allow them to "create an endless supply of jewels". Meanwhile Jill, leader of the group's division in Japan, "only wants the finest riches" and has a crush on Honey. Honey is aided in her quest by Danbei Hayami and his two sons, journalist Seiji and young Junpei. Danbei is based on the character Daemon from Nagai's prior work ''
Abashiri Family is a Japanese manga series created by Go Nagai that originally ran in the magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Champion''. Some of its characters returned with different names as part of other series, such as ''Cutie Honey'', ''UFO Robot Grendizer'' an ...
''. Nagai's manga also borrows the character Naojiro from that series (in a ''female'' form named Sukeban Naoko), while the anime borrows the Paradise School along with the characters Naojiro and Goeman (a teacher at the school) from the series. Naojiro is here the boss of the school's delinquent boys before being joined in the job by Honey. Honey is mischievous for a Japanese female hero, often teasing her male friends and mocking her enemies in combat. When transforming into Cutie Honey, she gives a brief rundown of the forms she has previously taken in that particular episode, and then declares, "But my true identity is ..." before yelling ''"Honey Flash!"'' and transforming. At school, Honey is something of a "class clown" who enjoys teasing and pranking her teachers Alphonne and Miharu. Much of the comic relief in the series comes from Honey's exploits at school. Miharu initially sees Honey as an incorrigible pest, but Alphonne is attracted to Honey and goes out of her way to be nice to her. Honey's best friend at school is the cute, freckle-faced Natsuko "Nat-chan" Aki. In the manga, Nat-chan, as well as the other students, had a crush on Honey; this crush was downplayed in the TV series. Honey has a large array of transformations in the series, her most common personae including: *Hurricane Honey ( biker). A woman who is "cool" with her motorcycle, anytime she needs to escape. *Misty Honey ( singer). A rockstar with a dusty voice, who uses her microphone as a weapon. *Idol Honey ( stewardess). A woman disguised as a flight attendant. *Flash Honey ( cameraman). A reporter who blinds her opponents with her camera's "flash". *Fancy Honey ( model). A classy model who uses a long-stick cigar as a weapon. *Cutie Honey ( heroine). A sword-wielding pink-haired warrior of love.


Production

In 1992, Nagai wrote that the idea to create a hero with seven transformations was pitched by a Toei producer. His inspiration for this character came from classic shows that featured protagonists who took seven different forms, including the '' Bannai Tarao'' mysteries. and '' Warrior of Love Rainbowman'' (1972).''Rainbowman'' and '' Seven Color Mask'' (1959), both created by Kōhan Kawauchi, were two tokusatsu (live-action) shows involving transforming superheroes (another Kawauchi creation, " Gekko Kamen", is parodied in Nagai's '' Kekko Kamen''). His decision to make the protagonist a " female android" came from female characters from his previous works, '' Harenchi Gakuen'' and ''
Abashiri Family is a Japanese manga series created by Go Nagai that originally ran in the magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Champion''. Some of its characters returned with different names as part of other series, such as ''Cutie Honey'', ''UFO Robot Grendizer'' an ...
'', and from the character Maria from '' Metropolis''. The series' working title was ''Honey Idol'', as stated by Go Nagai the booklet of a DVD release. Nagai revealed in the afterword of a recent manga rerelease, that Honey Kisaragi's name is a reference to the 1965 American TV series '' Honey West.'' Originally, ''Cutie Honey'' was meant to be a shōjo series like the later '' Cutie Honey Flash'', and was planned to focus more on the relationship between Honey and Shun Kazami (renamed to Seiji Hayami for the final series) as well as lacking any nudity or excessive violence. A great deal of merchandising was initially planned, such as 'changing' dolls of Honey. The manga was slated to run in the monthly ''
Ribon is a monthly Japanese manga magazine published by Shueisha on the third of each month. First issued in August 1955, its rivals are ''Nakayoshi'' and '' Ciao''. Its target audience is girls roughly 8–14 years old. It is one of the best-s ...
'' magazine, and the series was set to air Mondays at 7:00pm on NET TV (now TV Asahi), a timeslot previously held by
magical girl is a subgenre of Japanese fantasy media (including anime, manga, light novels, and live-action media) centered around young girls who possess magical abilities, which they typically use through an ideal alter ego into which they can transfo ...
series. However, the timeslot was given to ''
Miracle Shōjo Limit-Chan is a Japanese magical girl anime television series consisting in 25 episodes. It was directed by Takeshi Tamiya and Masayuki Akehi, and it was first broadcast on TV Asahi (then NET) in 1973. Based on an original story by Shinji Nagashima and ...
'' instead and Cutie Honey was set to air Saturdays at 8:30pm on the programming block ''Majū Kaijin Daihenshin!!!'' which previously aired ''Micord S'' and '' Devilman''. Because of this, Cutie Honey retooled into a '' shōnen'' series, making it the first magical girl series for teen boys.


Media


Manga

The original work of the franchise was the ''Cutie Honey'' manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai that ran in '' Weekly Shōnen Champion'' magazine from October 1973 to April 1974. During the same time, other short manga series were published in different magazines than the original, and by different creative teams. These included two manga made by Ken Ishikawa, another two by
Yū Okazaki is a Japanese manga artist and a former member of Dynamic Productions. His real name is , which he has used in some publications. After finishing high school, he joined Dynamic Productions and while working as Go Nagai's assistant, he debuted wi ...
, one by Chizuko Beppu, one by Yoshiko Suganuma, and another by Masatoshi Nakajima. Nagai's 1973 manga was republished in 1985 as a single volume, but no further manga versions of ''Cutie Honey'' were produced until 1992.In 1992, Nagai created a new ''Cutie Honey'' manga, simply titled ''Cutie Honey''; set 30 years after his original. The manga ran in ''Weekly SPA!'' magazine from July 1992 to April 1993. It was released in the United States in 1997 by the now-defunct Studio Ironcat, as ''Cutie Honey '90''. It has received criticism for having "bad quality" and "clumsy" looking characters. The story begins when Honey Kisaragi and the Hayami family found the Hayami Group thirty years after Panther Claw was defeated, in order to prepare for the wicked organization's future comeback. When Sister Jill is resurrected and leads a reformed Panther Claw to assault the globe, Honey battles Sister Jill with new talents and abilities in order to finally defeat Panther Claw. Several manga adaptations of 1997's '' Cutie Honey Flash'' anime were published between March 1997 to April 1998 in various magazines. These included three manga made by Yukako Iisaka, another three by Shinko Kumazaki, and one by Kazushi Sasaki. Running from August 2001 to July 2003, was written and illustrated by Go Nagai and published in '' Weekly Manga Action'' magazine. Set in 2005, Seiji Hayami's daughter, Seiko struggles with apparitions of monstrous beings, including the Panther Claw terrorist organization, which she must defeat with the help of Hisashi Hanyu, who is Cutie Honey in disguise. ran from November 2003 to July 2005 in Tokusatsu Ace magazine. Two volumes were planned, but only one was released. The manga was not fully released until October 2007, when a complete edition was published. An omnibus volume was released in March 2018 by Seven Seas Entertainment. In this version of the tale, Natsuko Aki is a squad leader for the public safety bureau. Natsuko takes it upon herself to arrest Honey, but Dr. Kisaragi asks Natsuko to befriend Honey and help her become more human. ran from June 2004 to February 2006; it was "written by Go Nagai, but not drawn by him", and tells the story of a boy named Yuuta, a ''Cutie Honey'' fan, who meets an alien with powers similar to those of Honey. ''Honey & Yukiko Hime: Cutie Heroine Daisakusen'' was a digital manga published in 2008 that was written by Go Nagai and illustrated by Kazuhiro Ochi. The manga is a crossover between ''Cutie Honey'' and another Go Nagai manga, ''
Dororon Enma-kun , also known as ''Satanikus!'', is a Japanese horror-comedy anime and manga series created by Go Nagai. It's one of Nagai's most famous works in Japan, although not very well known in the rest of the world. In 2006, it would ge ...
''. ''Cutie Honey vs Abashiri Family'' was a manga published in ''Weekly Shonen Champion'' magazine in 2009 that was written an illustrated by Go Nagai. Made to celebrate ''Shonen Champion'''s 40th anniversary, the manga is a crossover between ''Cutie Honey'' and '' The Abashiri Family'', another Go Nagai manga. ''HoneyVS'' was a
one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...
manga published in '' Grand Jump'' magazine in 2012 by Masaki Segawa. The manga is a crossover between Cutie Honey and '' Getter Robo'', another Go Nagai manga. ''Oedo Honey'' was a one-shot manga published in ''Grand Jump'' magazine in September 2012 by Masakazu Yamaguchi. The manga is a story about Honey and Sister Jill traveling back in time to the Edo period. ''Cutie Honey vs Devilman Lady'' was a manga published in ''
Champion RED Ichigo is a monthly Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine, published on the 19th each month by Akita Shoten since August 19, 2002 (cover date October 2002), initially published as a ''shōnen'' magazine. Since 2015, the magazine slogan is . was a sp ...
'' magazine from June to October 2013 that was written and illustrated by Go Nagai. The manga is a crossover between ''Cutie Honey'' and Nagai's ''
Devilman Lady ''Devil Lady'', known in Japan as , is a 1997 manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai, and the sequel to ''Devilman''. It was originally serialized by Kodansha from January 1997 to July 2000 in the magazine ''Weekly Morning'', and l ...
''. ''Gekiman! Cutie Honey-hen'' was a manga published in '' Weekly Manga Goraku'' magazine from July 2016 to September 2017 that was written and illustrated by Go Nagai. Autobiographical manga about the development of Cutie Honey released to promote '' Cutie Honey: Tears''.


Anime


1973 TV series

Toei Animation produced an anime television series titled ''Cutie Honey'', simultaneously as the manga was being drawn. It was broadcast on NET (now TV Asahi) on October 13, 1973 and ran for 25 episodes until March 30, 1974. The TV series is much tamer than the manga version, removing much of the violence, gross out humor and lesbian undertones, but retaining Miss Alphonne's attraction to Honey. While the manga was marketed as "" ("science fiction comics"), the Toei anime is considered, at least in retrospect, a
magical girl is a subgenre of Japanese fantasy media (including anime, manga, light novels, and live-action media) centered around young girls who possess magical abilities, which they typically use through an ideal alter ego into which they can transfo ...
series. Character designs were done by Shingo Araki, musical score by Takeo Watanabe, scripts by Masaki Tsuji,
Susumu Takaku Susumu is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: * Susumu Akagi (born 1972) Japanese voice actor *Susumu Aoyagi (青柳 進, born 1968), Japanese baseball player *Susumu Chiba (born 1970), Japanese voice actor *, Ja ...
, and Keisuke Fujikawa, while episode directors included Tomoharu Katsumata,
Osamu Kasai is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Osamu can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *治 "reign" *修 "discipline" *理 "logic" *収 "obtain" *紀 "chronicle" *統 "rule" The name can also be written in hir ...
and
Hiroshi Shidara is a common masculine Japanese given name. It can also be transliterated as Hirosi. Possible writings Hiroshi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *浩, "meaning" *汎 *弘, *宏, *寛, *洋, *博, *博一, *博司, ...
. The series stars Eiko Masuyama as Honey Kisaragi. Outside Japan, the original ''Cutie Honey'' TV series was released was France, where it aired under the title ''Cherry Miel'' ("Cherry Honey") from August 1988 to February 1989, On November 26, 2013, Discotek Media released a DVD boxset of the complete series in North America. The series was also dubbed and broadcast in Hong Kong during 1988. For an anime television series, the original ''Cutie Honey'' achieved respectable ratings in Japan, and some of its cast and crew have worked on other major titles. The series achieved a peak rating of 11.6% for episode 18 (broadcast February 11, 1974) and generally scored ratings of around 8–10%.


''New Cutie Honey''

The
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
series ''New Cutie Honey'' was released in 1994 and ended with eight episodes in 1995. The series stars
Michiko Neya is a Japanese voice actress. Prior to 1998, she was affiliated with Arts VisionAffiliation with Arts Vision in the 1990s:* 1998 profile: * Roster as of January 1998: * Roster as of May 1998: and is currently freelancing. Some of her major roles ...
as Honey Kisaragi. 100 years after the decisive battle with Panther Claw, Honey Kisaragi now works as the mayor's secretary in the crime-prone metropolis of Cosplay City. One day, after being attacked by minions of the Demon King Dolmeck, who dominates the city, Honey regains her former power and memory and awakens as Cutie Honey. Honey faces a new battle against Dolmeck who is planning to revive her former nemesis, Panther Zora. The series staff planned to make at least twelve episodes, but it ended with eight in 1995. A 2004 DVD release included a scripted but unfilmed ninth episode—a Christmas story—as a drama CD. The eight filmed episodes were released by
ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gre ...
in the United States. Jessica Calvello, the voice of Honey in the English language version, was hand-picked by Nagai, though he originally wanted Winona Ryder. Until Discotek Media picked up the first anime, this series remained the only Cutie Honey anime to be commercially released in the US. Discotek Media released the series on Blu-Ray in August 2019.


''Cutie Honey Flash''

Toei Animation also produced a '' shōjo'' ''Cutie Honey'' series, known as ''Cutie Honey Flash''. It began broadcasting on TV Asahi on February 15, 1997, and aired until its conclusion on January 31, 1998. Employing many of the same animation staff as the recently-finished '' Sailor Moon Sailor Stars'', including Miho Shimagasa, ''Flash'' features very similar character designs and fits the more traditional mold of magical girl series. It uses hand-drawn animation; according to Shimagasa, the use of digitally animated characters on hand-painted backgrounds was planned and tested, but later rejected. The series stars Ai Nagano in her debut, as Honey Kisaragi. The series was dubbed and aired in Germany and South Korea. The series is unrelated to the previous anime productions, being more of a reimagining of the story. All the characters from the original TV series return, with the exception of Junpei, Naojiro, and the staff of Paradise School. The anime also introduces Misty Honey, a rival and self-proclaimed younger sister of Cutie Honey, whose name was chosen through a contest in Japan. Honey has a larger array of transformations as well, including versions of her original forms Hurricane Honey and Cutie Honey. An anime film, ''Cutie Honey Flash: The Movie'', was released in July 1997. The film takes place between episodes 19 and 20 of the television series.


''Re: Cutie Honey''

Gainax Gainax Co., Ltd. (stylized as GAINAX; ja, 株式会社ガイナックス, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ) is a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'', ''Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise, Roya ...
, along with Toei Animation, produced ''Re: Cutie Honey'', a three-episode OVA series that adapts and expands on the 2004 live-action film, '' Cutie Honey''. It was first shown on the Animax satellite television network, with the first episode airing on July 24, 2004, two months after the live-action film was released. DVD releases for each episode followed, with the first on September 21. While Hideaki Anno directed the series in general, each episode also had its own director and the three episodes differed in style. This time, Honey is portrayed by Yui Horie. The Re: Cutie Honey Complete DVD, released on September 21, 2005, includes a CD drama starring the four voice actresses that have voiced Honey up to then: Eiko Masuyama (the '70s series),
Michiko Neya is a Japanese voice actress. Prior to 1998, she was affiliated with Arts VisionAffiliation with Arts Vision in the 1990s:* 1998 profile: * Roster as of January 1998: * Roster as of May 1998: and is currently freelancing. Some of her major roles ...
( New Cutie Honey), Ai Nagano ( Cutie Honey Flash), and Yui Horie ( Re: Cutie Honey).


''Cutie Honey Universe''

On December 28, 2017, a new anime television series titled ''Cutie Honey Universe'' was announced as part of creator Go Nagai's 50th anniversary as a manga artist and premiered in April 2018. The series, with its storyline and character designs closely patterned after the original manga, was directed by Akitoshi Yokoyama at
Production Reed Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...
with Natsuko Takahashi handling series composition, and Syūichi Iseki designing the characters and credited as chief animation director. The series stars Maaya Sakamoto as Honey Kisaragi. After Panther Claw holds hostages at a jewelry store, Honey teams up with the Panther Claw Criminal Investigative Services to fight against them. Unbeknownst to Honey, the group's key investigator, Inspector Genet, is really Panther Claw's leader, Sister Jill


Live-action films

The 2004 live-action film '' Cutie Honey'', produced by
Gainax Gainax Co., Ltd. (stylized as GAINAX; ja, 株式会社ガイナックス, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ) is a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'', ''Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise, Roya ...
and directed by Hideaki Anno, stars popular Japanese model
Eriko Sato is a Japanese actress. She is also a former gravure idol and made her debut in 1998. Early life Sato was born in Sapporo, Hokkaido, and raised in Tokyo. Career Sato starred in Hideaki Anno's 2004 comedy film ''Cutie Honey (film), Cutie Honey'' ...
as Honey. The tokusatsu film loosely retells the story of Cutie Honey's battle against the Panther Claw to defend humanity and avenge her father. It was released direct-to-DVD in the United States on April 17, 2007 by Bandai Entertainment. It is very popular in Thai culture, and was distributed by Sutida Inc media conglomerate. The film was not successful at the box office in Japan, leading to the bankruptcy of the production company, Towani, in September 2004. In this film, there have been frequent cases of mass robbery of precious metals and disappearances of young women in Tokyo. Police inspector Aki Natsuko suspects Panther Claw's involvement in these incidents and begins chasing Cutie Honey, who was seen battling them. Honey Kisaragi, who works in an office, joins forces with reporter Seiji Hayami and Natsuko to defeat the evil Panther Claw and their leader, Sister Jill. Another film, '' Cutie Honey: Tears'', was released in the fall of 2016. Unrelated to the previous film, it stars
Mariya Nishiuchi is a Japanese model, actress, and singer-songwriter who is affiliated with Rising Production. She is the younger sister of model, actress, and BeForU member Hiromi Nishiuchi. Filmography TV series Films Discography Singles Magazines * ' ...
as a new version of Honey (here named Hitomi) in a cyberpunk world. In the future, abnormal weather, as well as a virus, have caused a decline in the human population. In this world, the rich and powerful dominate the world and live above the poor, who suffer on the polluted streets below. One man from the upper area, Dr. Kisaragi, plans to change the world for the better by creating an android using the brain patterns of his deceased daughter. The android, Hitomi Kisaragi is brought down to lower areas at the cost of Dr. Kisaragi's life. On the surface, Hitomi pairs up with reporter Seiji Hayami and the resistance leader Kazuhito Uraki to fight against the oppressors of the world, controlled by the evil android Jill.


Live-action TV series

Made to commemorate Go Nagai's 40th anniversary as a writer, a live-action TV remake, '' Cutie Honey: The Live'', premiered on TV Tokyo on October 2, 2007. Starring gravure idol Mikie Hara as Honey, the series focuses on a set of three transforming girls with different personalities and a Panther Claw run by four leaders. Dr. Kisaragi is portrayed by Go Nagai, the creator of the Cutie Honey series. Honey Kisaragi, a second-year high school student who attends Shirobara Gakuen, hides her android status and lives a human life as an ordinary high schooler. She fights the mysterious secret society Panther Claw with the private detective Seiji Hayami. Meanwhile, Honey meets Miki Saotome and Yuki Kenmochi, but after several clashes with Panther Claw together, Honey gets know to the others, and their friendship deepens, forming a team of Cutie Honey, Sister Miki, and Sister Yuki.


Video games

*, was developed by Datawest and released by NEC in 1995 for the PC-FX. The game has an original story. The player becomes a private detective and investigates mysterious disappearances alongside Honey. New Honey transformations "Fantasy Night Honey", "Wrestler Honey", and "Command Honey" were added. It is packed with over 40 minutes of animated scenes, using over 10,000 animation cels. *''Cutey Honey F'', also known as ''Cutey Honey Flash'' (キューティーハニーフラッシュ), is a Sega Pico game released in 1997, based on the anime series of the same name. Sister Jill kidnaps Natsuko to lure out Cutie Honey. Honey investigates Natsuko's disappearance while having to deal with the Panthers stationed around her school and community. By helping her classmates and defeat the Panthers. Honey fights against Jill after tracking her down and wins rescuing Natsuko. Players control Honey by moving around various areas and interacting with other characters. At certain points, Honey can assume alternate forms to play mini games that advance the plot, most of which involve the Panther grunts and after the games are over, Honey becomes Cutie Honey and finishes them off. Every time one of these minigames are played, Honey loses a heart point and to recover them she interacts with certain NPCs in conversation and going on dates with some of them. *''Cutie Honey Love Flash'' is a mobile phone game developed by DeNA that was released in 2011 as social game offered through Mobage for feature phones. Dynamic Planning had a hand in the development including the animation designing. The game introduces new characters alongside familiar faces. It functions similar to other phone games that use digital cards in its gameplay. Players select an avatar that uses the Airborne Element Fixing Device, effectively becoming a Cutie Honey. To advance the game, players collect jewelry and makeover cards in the story mode quests in the fights against Panther Claw. Once enough is collect, the player performs a Honey Flash gaining new forms and abilities (e.g. Kung Fu Honey and Maid Honey). *''CR Cutie Honey'' (CRキューティーハニー) is a 2017 pachinko game manufactured by
Newgin is a privately owned Japanese manufacturer of pachinko and pachislot machines incorporated in May 1968 in Nagoya, Japan. The company slogan is . History The company was founded in October 1949 as Marushin Bussan, then was reorganized into in 1 ...
. The game character designs and forms for Cutie Honey in the game are loosely based on past incarnations of the character, with RE: Cutie Honey being the strongest influence as Cutie Honey's superhero costume in this title is a revamped version of the 2004 design.


Stage plays

Several stage plays based on the ''Cutie Honey'' franchise have been produced, the earliest of which being in April 1997, when ''Cutie Honey F Show'' was performed. The next time Cutie Honey would be seen on stage was in 2003, when ''Cutie Honey Magical Stage'' was held at the Bandai Museum from July to August of that year. ''Cutie Honey Emotional'' was performed in February 2020 at the Sunshine Theater in Tokyo. Cutie Honey is portrayed by former NMB48 member,
Kei Jonishi is a former member of the Japanese idol girl group NMB48. She was a member of NMB48's Team N. Biography Jonishi passed NMB48's 1st generation auditions in September 2010. Her audition song was SCANDAL's Shunkan Sentimental. Her debut was on O ...
. The play was written and directed by Ichidai Matsuda. ''Cutie Honey The Live Autumn Cultural Festival !!!'' was performed from September to October 2020 at Tokyo Theater 1010. ''Cutie Honey CLIMAX'' was performed in June 2021 at Tokyo Theater 1010. The play is a sequel and final chapter to ''Cutie Honey Emotional and Cutie Honey The Live Autumn Cultural Festival !!!.''


Theme song

The ''Cutie Honey'' opening theme, which appears throughout all of the ''Honey'' anime and live-action versions, except for ''Universe'', is known for its lyrics by ADV's ''Essential Anime Collection'' release of ''New Cutie Honey'' contains two different opening sequences: the one for episodes 1 through 4 credits the theme's lyrics to "Krodo Q", and the version used in episodes 5 through 8 credits them to "Clode Q". describing Honey and her body. The 1973 series' theme, originally intended for Linda Yamamoto to perform,. was sung by Yoko Maekawa. In ''Cutie Honey Flash'', it is performed by SALIA. In the ''New Cutie Honey'' OVA, the original song is performed by les-5-4-3-2-1, (English subtitles) and the English language version by Mayukiss. Opening sequence. Kumi Koda performed it for the ''Re: Cutie Honey'' OVA and its live-action adaptation. In '' Cutie Honey: The Live'', the theme is sung by Minami Kuribayashi as part of Wild 3-Nin Musume. Other artists have also covered the song, including GO!GO!7188 for their
Tora no Ana is a 2002 cover album by GO!GO!7188. The name translates in English as ''Tiger's Lair''. The album's cover art is similar to Revolver (Beatles album), Revolver by The Beatles. Track listing

# Yōkai Ningen Bem (妖怪人間ベム) - from ...
album, Masami Okui in the ''Masami Kobushi'' album, and a version by
TWO-MIX Two-Mix (temporarily known as II MIX⊿DELTA) is a Japanese pop duo formed in 1995 by Minami Takayama (vocals and composer) and Shiina Nagano (synthesizer, composer and lyricist). Their style is fast electronic pop. History They met in the earl ...
. Animetal Lady also did a cover of the song for their 1998 album ''
Animetal Lady Marathon is the first album by Animetal unit Animetal Lady, featuring Mie of Pink Lady as the vocalist in place of Eizo Sakamoto. Released through Sony Records on February 21, 1998, the album consists of a non-stop marathon of metal covers of shōjo a ...
'', with the lyrics sung by Mie of the Japanese pop group Pink Lady. Pop star
Ahyoomee Lee Ayumi (born August 25, 1984), professionally known as Ayumi (previously Ahyoomee) in South Korea and Yumi Itō (previously ICONIQ) in Japan, is a Japanese-born South Korean singer, actress and entertainer based in Japan and South Korea. Sh ...
's solo debut was a Korean adaptation of Koda's version; it became highly popular online, despite controversy over her pronunciation of the lyrics and her "unambiguously Japanese" outfit in one performance. Harp player Mika Agematsu covered the theme—and songs from '' Lupin III'', '' Candy Candy'', and others—in her album ''Anipa'' (UCCS-1088); it was released by Universal Music in June 2006 in Japan, and in February 2009 in the United States. In the fourth edition of her 2016 "BELIEVE" single,
Mariya Nishiuchi is a Japanese model, actress, and singer-songwriter who is affiliated with Rising Production. She is the younger sister of model, actress, and BeForU member Hiromi Nishiuchi. Filmography TV series Films Discography Singles Magazines * ' ...
recorded a "CUTIE HONEY -TEARS- version" of the song for the B-side; "BELIEVE" is the theme song of the live action movie CUTIE HONEY -TEARS-, in which she played the title character. The song can also be heard during episode 27 of the 1974 magical girl TV series '' Majokko Megu-chan'', when the main character Megu watches Honey, in her pop idol persona (Misty Honey), perform it on TV.Yoko Maekawa performed the opening themes for both ''Cutie Honey'' and ''Megu-chan''. In the seventh episode of the 2006 series '' Princess Princess'', the Princesses also perform it, singing a few lines from the theme for an opening to a choir concert. A "self cover" CD, ''Cutie Honey (21st century ver.)'', with new versions of the opening and ending themes by Maekawa herself, was released on February 27, 2008.


Connections to other works

Since its creation in the 1970s, ''Cutie Honey'' and its heroine have been referenced and parodied in various works by Nagai and others.


Manga

Honey appears as a secondary character in Nagai's '' Violence Jack'' manga. There, Honey is the younger sister of Ryou Asuka and is living in New York City. When she hears of the earthquake that devastated Kantō, Honey and several of her friends go to Japan to search for Ryou, who has become the pet of the Slum King. Honey's friends are alternate universe versions of her transformations in the 1973 series: *Cutie ( fencer) *Hurricane (military) *Idol ( stewardess) *Flash (photographer) *Misty (police officer) *Fancy ( bodybuilder) In the last volume, Flash, Misty, and Cutie are killed when they fall into a spiked trap when they try to free a chained up Miki Makimura. Honey is electrocuted when she tries to rescue Ryou from the Slum King. Idol, Fancy, and Hurricane die in an explosion. The spirits of the seven women come together to form Angel Honey, whom Ryou sees in his dreams. When Ryou returns to his true form, as
Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...
, he fights in his sister's memory. Also, Honey's best friend Nat-chan (Aki Natsuko) – or a girl strongly resembling her – appears in the '' Devilman'' manga. Her appearance is brief before she is killed by a demon.


Anime

Honey makes an appearance in the last episode of the OVA adaptation of '' Kekkō Kamen'' as a student; her teacher from the 1973 TV series, Alphonne, also makes two brief appearances there. Danbei is a main character in Go Nagai's 1975 anime '' UFO Robo Grendizer''; in episode 50 of ''Grendizer'', Seiji Hayami appears taking pictures in a crowd. This scene also featured cameos by Hayato from '' Getter Robo'' and Babel II from '' Babel II''. In the Japanese opening of ''
Super Milk Chan is a Japanese anime television series directed by and produced by Genco, Suplex, framegraphics and Geneon Entertainment for the 24-hour Japanese animation channel called Animax. The show pre-began as 14 eight-minute segment episodes which a ...
'', there are moments that directly parody the 1973 series' opening sequence.


Video games

A strategy video game, '' Majokko Daisakusen: Little Witching Mischiefs'', was developed by Toys for Bob and released by Bandai in 1999, and features Cutie Honey and other magical girls from the animation studio Toei. An
RPG RPG may refer to: Military * Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon **''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...
, ''Legend of Dynamic Goushouden: Houkai no Rondo'', was developed and released by Banpresto in 2003, and features Honey and other characters created by Nagai.


Notes and references

;General * ;Specific


External links


Cutie Honey anime (original)
at Toei Animation
Cutie Honey F (anime)
at Toei Animation
Re:CUTIE HONEY
at Toei Video * * {{Tomoharu Katsumata 1973 anime television series debuts 1973 manga 1992 manga 2001 manga 2003 manga 2004 manga ADV Films Akita Shoten manga Android (robot) comics Discotek Media Fusosha Publishing manga Futabasha manga Ken Ishikawa Kodansha manga Magical girl anime and manga Manga adapted into films Science fiction anime and manga Seinen manga Seven Seas Entertainment titles Shōjo manga Shōnen manga Shueisha manga Toei Animation television Tokuma Shoten manga TV Asahi original programming