[edit] # 21:12 (1) comments

Otaku Magnet

CUTIE HONEY directed by Hideaki Anno, starring Eriko Sato and based on the manga by Go Nagai follows the travails of an android named Cutie Honey.

She's a superhero who needs to constantly eat onigiri (rice balls) to keep up her strength and battle evil. In this case it is Sister Jill who hopes to capture the secrets of everlasting life and beauty. She is after Cutie Honey because the villains (and the audience) learn that Cutie Honey's amazing feats to rescue her kidnapped uncle is because of her robot nature.

The back story is that a year prior, the 100% human Cutie Honey died in a car accident and her father, a scientist, saved her life by implanting her with the I-System. Fusing human and robot in a way, that made her a superhero, yet still enabled her to feel - to have heart if you will. He figured a way to give Cutie Honey everlasting life and beauty as she would always stay the same age.

Some of the most interesting parts of the movie were the costumes. The four claws that do Sister Jill's bidding (Gold Claw, Scarlet Claw, Black Claw, and Cobalt Claw) all have some fetishistic element to their elaborate costumes. Scarlet Claw is dressed as a geisha, Cobalt is dressed in a multi-zippered vinyl catsuit, Black Claw looks very Phantom of the Opera-esque and Gold Claw look sort of like a lobster in metal.

The story is a typically thin one about the nature of love and friendship, but the whole thing is amusing for a light comedic romp. The staging and filming of the piece gave me the impression it would appeal to otaku and a certain set of single men, purely for the eye candy. Not a must-see, but a fun film.