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dantastic's review against another edition
4.0
Professor Kisaragi creates a cute android named Cutie Honey and sends her to an all girls school for her education. When he is killed by an evil organization, Panther Claw, Cutie Honey swears revenge!
My dive into the early days of manga continues with Cutie Honey. If I was looking for a manga that perfectly illustrates the differences between Japanese and American comics of the early 1970s, this is it!
Cutie Honey is an android that resembles a cute teenage girl. Thanks to Professor Kisaragi's airborne elemental solidifier, she can switch between seven different forms, each with different abilities by shouting "Honey Flash!". And she's briefly naked between each transformation because why wouldn't she be?
So yeah, while this is largely a super hero style comic, it also has a pervy streak a mile wide, chock full of boob and butt shots, mostly of Cutie while she's between transformations but also when she's showering or taking a bath, which she does quite a bit.
Also, most of the female characters at the boarding school are lesbian, either cute like Honey or brutish and hairy. The cultural differences between American and Japanese comics are very apparent.
All that aside, the book is a lot of fun and action packed. Cutie Honey tears through the Panther Claw like a katanna through a watermelon, switching forms, kicking ass, and winding up in situations where she is naked and almost powerless.
The characters have interesting designs, Honey being the standout. I was surprised how much attention was given to developing the women in Panther Claw since most of them were cannon fodder for Honey. The art was better than Devilman, also by Go Nagai, and Captain Harlock from around the same time period.
A few oddities I want to mention but couldn't work in elsewhere:
- a guy gets karate chopped in the bleeding hemorrhoids four or five times.
- While Cutie Honey eats food for energy, she's too shy to reveal if she pees or poops.
- One of the ladies in Panther Claw is named Breast Claw. Of course.
Of all the classic manga Seven Seas has released so far, Cutie Honey: The Classic Collection is the best. No regrets on this purchase, either for its place in manga history or pure entertainment value.
4.5 out of 5.
My dive into the early days of manga continues with Cutie Honey. If I was looking for a manga that perfectly illustrates the differences between Japanese and American comics of the early 1970s, this is it!
Cutie Honey is an android that resembles a cute teenage girl. Thanks to Professor Kisaragi's airborne elemental solidifier, she can switch between seven different forms, each with different abilities by shouting "Honey Flash!". And she's briefly naked between each transformation because why wouldn't she be?
So yeah, while this is largely a super hero style comic, it also has a pervy streak a mile wide, chock full of boob and butt shots, mostly of Cutie while she's between transformations but also when she's showering or taking a bath, which she does quite a bit.
Also, most of the female characters at the boarding school are lesbian, either cute like Honey or brutish and hairy. The cultural differences between American and Japanese comics are very apparent.
All that aside, the book is a lot of fun and action packed. Cutie Honey tears through the Panther Claw like a katanna through a watermelon, switching forms, kicking ass, and winding up in situations where she is naked and almost powerless.
The characters have interesting designs, Honey being the standout. I was surprised how much attention was given to developing the women in Panther Claw since most of them were cannon fodder for Honey. The art was better than Devilman, also by Go Nagai, and Captain Harlock from around the same time period.
A few oddities I want to mention but couldn't work in elsewhere:
- a guy gets karate chopped in the bleeding hemorrhoids four or five times.
- While Cutie Honey eats food for energy, she's too shy to reveal if she pees or poops.
- One of the ladies in Panther Claw is named Breast Claw. Of course.
Of all the classic manga Seven Seas has released so far, Cutie Honey: The Classic Collection is the best. No regrets on this purchase, either for its place in manga history or pure entertainment value.
4.5 out of 5.
dcommet's review against another edition
4.0
Tonally and narratively, Nagai's Cutie Honey is a complete mess. It is completely nonsensical the way he shifts from a tragic character death into immediately pervy peeping tom gags - but honestly I think its a large part of the charm? And I think it works really well here with Honey specifically. The whole conceptual idea being that of cute girl who everybody wants sexually (the entire school being lesbians is very fun imo even if it is just Nagai trying to push what he can get away with) being paired with the narrative plot being her body IS the macguffin the evil Panther Claw organization is after mixes together well thematically. People always will want Honey and her body. The reason I think the tonal shifts work for Honey is that I honestly feel like its kind of sad that she can't even have a moment to mourn without people trying to touch her again. I've seen Nagai way more transgressive than this and way less transgressive than this, but that doesn't mean this is palatable to a wide audience. There's a reason this didn't sell well in the west and its because its very strange and does not have mass market appeal. But I do think its very special especially if you give it your own charitable read like I do and don't think too much about how much Go Nagai just loves drawing naked girls and gore lol
hakutaku's review against another edition
4.0
Good on Seven Seas for not censoring this manga. It definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoyed it.
buffybelmont's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
I went into this book because I love Hideaki Anno’s adaptation. Unfortunately, the first Cutie Honey is Go Nagai at his perviest. I’m fine with the idea that she’s naked in the middle of her transformation but it gets A LOT worse than that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape
Moderate: Pedophilia and Misogyny
oliviak07's review against another edition
4.0
This collection has pretty much everything that a serial comic/manga could have to appeal to young adults of the 20th and 21rst centuries: action, comedy, girl power, cats, fashion, androids, more cats, as much tasteful and humorous nudity a teenager would want, and of course more cats.
While some might find this collection to be 'below their reading level' in terms of the previously mentioned, give it a chance. I would normally give this series a single read, but due to the way Nagai goes with the plot, and of course the dated look of the illustrations, I would read it all over again.
While some might find this collection to be 'below their reading level' in terms of the previously mentioned, give it a chance. I would normally give this series a single read, but due to the way Nagai goes with the plot, and of course the dated look of the illustrations, I would read it all over again.
totalhenry's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
itsvikiduh's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
1.5
Not my vibe at all, too rapey, too much molestation
darumachan's review against another edition
3.0
Wellllllll, I can see why it’s a cult classic: the art and character design is actually pretty genius but the premise and (extremely thin) narrative is straight up polarizing. Glad I read it, though.