[ANIME] Re:Cutie Honey [2004]

Title: Re:Cutie Honey (Re:キューティーハニー)
Type: OVA
Genre: action, adventure, comedy, sci-fi
Studio: Toei Animation, Re:Cutie Honey Production Committee
Released: 2004-07-24 ~ 2004-10-23 [PPV, SKY PerfecTV! (Perfect Choice)]
Episodes: 3
Length: 45, 50, 50 minutes
Original work: Go Nagai
General director: Hideaki Anno (Gainax)
Series composition: Kazuki Nakashima (Gekidan Shinkansen)
Character design: Tadashi Hiramatsu
Director: Imaishi Hiroyuki (Gainax, OVA 1), Takamichi Ito (Toei Animation, OVA 2), Masayuki (Gainax, OVA 3)
Scenario: Kazuki Nakashima, Takeo Kasai (OVA 2), Koichi Taki (OVA 3)
Animation supervisor: Tadashi Hiramatsu, Keiichi Ichikawa (OVA 2, assistance), Wase Emishi (OVA 3, special)
Episode direction/storyboards: Imaishi Hiroyuki (OVA 1), Takamichi Ito (OVA 2), Masayuki (OVA 3), Hideaki Anno (OVA 3)
Art director: Masaru Sato
Music: Susumu Ueda
Song: Kumi Koda
Executive producer: Re:Cutie Honey Production Committee
Production: Toei Animation
Cast:
Yui Horie - Honey Kisaragi/Cutie Honey (如月ハニー・キューティーハニー)
Junko Noda - Natsuko Aki (秋夏子)
Hideo Ishikawa - Seiji Hayami （早見青児）
Kazue Ikura - Sister Jill （シスタージル）
Noriko Uemura - Gold Claw （ゴールドクロー）
Mami Kingetsu - Cobalt Claw （コバルトクロー）
Hiromi Konno - Scarlet Claw （スカーレットクロー）
Yumi Toma - Black Claw （ブラッククロー）
Motomu Kiyokawa - Butler （執事）
Bin Shimada - Chief Clerk （万年係長）
Yuka Komatsu - Rinko Terada （寺田リンコ）
Tomoko Kaneda - Mayumi Takahashi （高橋真弓）
Kazuko Sugiyama - Kyoko Izumiya （泉谷京子）
Kazumi Tanaka - Detective Jimura （時村刑事）
Ryohei Nakao - Detective Mikami （三上刑事）

Theme songs:
-Opening-

·Cutie Honey (vocals: Kumi Koda, lyrics:Claude Q, composition: Takeo Watanabe, arrangement: h-wonder)
-Ending-

·Into your heart (vocals: Kumi Koda, lyrics: Miki Watabe, composition: Miki Watabe, arrangement: h-wonder)

Home video:
-DVD-

2004-09-21; Re:Cutie Honey Volume Heaven (「天」の巻), 1 disc, Toei Video, DSTD06628, JAN:4988101110742
http://www.buyuru.com/item_910705_1.html
http://www.jbook.co.jp/p/p.aspx/2439793/s/
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0002FQLFG
http://www2.gainax.co.jp/shop/index.cgi?rm=detail&id=644
http://shop.toei-video.co.jp/shop/ProductDetail.do?pid=DSTD06628
http://www.toei-video.co.jp/data/hs/vcatalog_dvd/item/200409/dstd06628.html
http://www.ea-wannabe.com/dvd/DSTD-06628.htm

2004-10-21; Re:Cutie Honey Volume Earth (「地」の巻), 1 disc, Toei Video, DSTD06629, JAN:4988101111527
http://www.buyuru.com/item_910741_1.html
http://www.jbook.co.jp/p/p.aspx/2443940/s/
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0002HV3OS
http://www2.gainax.co.jp/shop/index.cgi?rm=detail&id=646
http://shop.toei-video.co.jp/shop/ProductDetail.do?pid=DSTD06629
http://www.toei-video.co.jp/data/hs/vcatalog_dvd/item/200410/dstd06629.html
http://www.ea-wannabe.com/dvd/DSTD-06629.htm

2004-12-21; Re:Cutie Honey Volume Humanity (「人」の巻), 1 disc, Toei Video, DSTD06630, JAN:4988101112432
http://www.jbook.co.jp/p/p.aspx/2467989/s/
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0002T26BA
http://www2.gainax.co.jp/shop/index.cgi?rm=detail&id=648
http://shop.toei-video.co.jp/shop/ProductDetail.do?pid=DSTD06630
http://www.toei-video.co.jp/data/hs/vcatalog_dvd/item/200412/dstd06630.html
http://www.ea-wannabe.com/dvd/DSTD-06630.htm

2005-09-21; Re:Cutie Honey Complete DVD (includes Drama CD Volume Peace, 「和」の巻), 4 discs, Toei Video, DSTD02461, JAN：4988101120253
http://www.jbook.co.jp/p/p.aspx/2966095/s/
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0009XE92I
http://www2.gainax.co.jp/shop/index.cgi?rm=detail&id=751
http://shop.toei-video.co.jp/shop/ProductDetail.do?pid=DSTD02461

(rental)

2004-09-10; Re:Cutie Honey Volume Heaven, 1 disc, Toei Video, DRTD06628, JAN:4988101110544
http://store.tsutaya.co.jp/item/rental_dvd/081923779.html
http://www.toei-video.co.jp/data/hs/vcatalog_dvd/item/200409/drtd06628.html
http://rental.geo-online.co.jp/detail-17140.html
http://www.dmm.com/rental/-/detail/=/cid=n_618dstd06628/

2004-10-08; Re:Cutie Honey Volume Earth, 1 disc, Toei Video, DRTD06629, JAN:4988101111299
http://store.tsutaya.co.jp/item/rental_dvd/081934760.html
http://www.toei-video.co.jp/data/hs/vcatalog_dvd/item/200410/drtd06629.html
http://rental.geo-online.co.jp/detail-18456.html
http://www.dmm.com/rental/-/detail/=/cid=n_618dstd06629/

2004-11-06; Re:Cutie Honey Volume Humanity, 1 tape, Toei Video, DRTD06630, JAN:4988101112234
http://store.tsutaya.co.jp/item/rental_dvd/081943489.html
http://www.toei-video.co.jp/data/hs/vcatalog_dvd/item/200412/drtd06630.html
http://rental.geo-online.co.jp/detail-19467.html
http://www.dmm.com/rental/-/detail/=/cid=n_618dstd06630/

-VHS-
2004-11-21; Re:Cutie Honey Volume Heaven, 1 tape, Toei Video, VCTM03041, JAN:4988101112104
http://www.jbook.co.jp/p/p.aspx/2482035/s/
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0002VL6F0

2004-12-10; Re:Cutie Honey Volume Earth, 1 tape, Toei Video, VCTM03046, JAN:4988101112753
http://www.jbook.co.jp/p/p.aspx/2483137/s/
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00061QWAA

2005-02-21; Re:Cutie Honey Volume Humanity, 1 tape, Toei Video, VCTM03051, JAN:4988101114580
http://www.jbook.co.jp/p/p.aspx/2497675/s/
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0006M17NQ

(rental)

2004-09-10; Re:Cutie Honey Volume Heaven, 1 tape, Toei Video, VRTM03041, JAN:4988101110889
http://store.tsutaya.co.jp/item/rental_dvd/051923779.html

2004-10-08; Re:Cutie Honey Volume Earth, 1 tape, Toei Video, VRTM03046, JAN:4988101111091
http://www.buyuru.com/item_910741_3.html
http://store.tsutaya.co.jp/item/rental_dvd/051934760.html

2004-12-21; Re:Cutie Honey Volume Humanity, 1 tape, Toei Video, VRTM03051, JAN:4988101112050
http://www.buyuru.com/item_910786_3.html
http://store.tsutaya.co.jp/item/rental_dvd/051943489.html

Music:

2004-10-20; Re:Cutie Honey Original Soundtrack (Re:キューティーハニー オリジナル・サウンドトラック), 1 CD, Columbia, COCX-32944, JAN:4988001983545
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0002XVUGI
http://www.7netshopping.jp/cd/detail/-/accd/1300256646
http://www.jbook.co.jp/p/p.aspx/2478076/s/

Others:

2004-12-24; Re:Cutie Honey Perfect Book (Re:キューティーハニー パーフェクトブック [大型本]), Futabasha (双葉社), ISBN-13:978-4575297751
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4575297755
http://www.jbook.co.jp/p/p.aspx/2542705/s/

2005-04-08; Re:Cutie Honey: The animation works (Re:キューティーハニー アニメーション原画集), Gainax (ガイナックス), JAN:4984841018607
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0009I6HN2
http://www2.gainax.co.jp/shop/index.cgi?rm=detail&id=711
http://www.books-ruhe.co.jp/e/gn/back/index_200504.htm

Videos:




Images:



This is probably one of the best anime based in the works of Go Nagai. The OVA has the same premise as the other series, adding several touches for nostalgia and refreshing new ideas. It is one of my favorites, right alongside Shin Cutey Honey. My only complain is that there is no Panther Zora, which I believe is relevant to the mythology of Cutie Honey since both in the manga and the original anime, Sister Jill was the big boss, but not the real force behind the evil. But other than that, this is a wonderful series. It does not get confusing like other series and all plot points are neatly closed. The main characters have very good and refreshing depictions. It is nice to see the closeness of Natsuko and Honey, which was present in the original manga. It is also refreshing how Natsuko and Seiji are depicted in comparison with their previous incarnations. Also interesting how Honey uses nanotechnology instead of being a simple android. I really recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the works of Go Nagai as this one captures quite well the spirit of the original manga and at the same time adds new elements that make the anime more interesting.

You may be wondering why, despite being so good and released alongside the live-action movie, this OVA hasn't been officially released outside of Japan. While I have no concrete proof, I strongly suspect that this is linked to the same reason that has made impossible to have Grendizer in France or to have it completely released in Italy: the long-withstanding conflict that Toei and Dynamic have over the royalties of releases outside of Japan. Note that after Shin Cutey Honey (licensed by Toei Video, not Toei Animetion), nothing from Toei based on a license by Dynamic has been released officially in home video, with the exception of Grendizer in Italy, which is currently in impasse due to the disagreements of Toei with Dynamic. As seen with other 2000s series, licensing with Dynamic seems relatively easy, but not with Toei. Such a shame since this is truly a wonderful series that should be better distributed. Simply put, in my opinion, it is the best animation of Cutie Honey, only surpassed by the first four OVAs of Shin Cutey Honey.

Links:
http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://re-cutiehoney.com/
http://www.toei-video.co.jp/archive/re-cutiehoney/
http://www.gainax.co.jp/anime/re_cutie/
http://members2.jcom.home.ne.jp/yashiki_yashiki/eigainahani.html
http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://fu-ta88.hp.infoseek.co.jp/q/honey05.htm
http://anidb.net/a1662
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=3455
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0423041/
http://anison.info/data/program/6768.html
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/キューティーハニー
http://www.animeclick.it/anime.php?titolo=RE+Cutie+Honey
http://www.animeka.com/animes/detail/re-cutie-honey.html
http://www.anime-planet.com/anime/re-cutie-honey
http://anisearch.de/?page=anime&id=2500