Watching Cutie Honey is something akin to pouring an entire packet of sweets into your mouth: it’s incredibly sickly and you know it should be bad for your health, but at the same time it is oh so good! I make no claims for this being a quality film on any level, other than pure, unadulterated fun. Cutie Honey, adapted from the popular manga and Starring one of Japan’s top swimsuit models the delectable Eriko Sato, follows the eponymous ‘warrior of love’ and super-heroine as she battles the Panther Claw gang, who are abetting Sister Jill, the eternal lord of darkness. At the same time she is desperately attempting to befriend the somewhat serious police officer Nat Chan and the ultra cool journalist Seiji.

Whilst not clad in ultra tight pink PVC and suspenders Cutie tries to hold down a normal office job, much like Clerk Kent, but is completely incapable of doing anything with out her ‘Honey Flash’ powers. These are based on a genetic system developed by her late father and coveted by Sister Jill, who has had about as much boredom as he can stand sitting in his giant golden tower lording it over everyone. In the way they deal with immortality Cutie and Sister Jill represent two

different outlooks; whilst Sister Jill has set himself apart from the world that he endeavours to dominate as a superior being, Cutie draws her strength from being wrapped up in human emotion and love. Reading anything more philosophical than this into what is essentially a deliriously absurd and outrageous film would be doing it an injustice. That said the director Hideaki Anno is no stranger to marrying profound themes to quirky plots, having been the man behind the legendary anime Neon Genesis Evangelion.

A more recent comedy starring Eriko Sato, Funuke: Show Some Love you Losers (reviewed here), sees her playing a character who is somewhat more rounded, though equally as deranged. In Cutie Honey her status as a swimsuit model is hard to avoid, as the film takes every last opportunity to photograph her lolling on the floor in her underwear playing with her cat (I can’t help but feel there’s a dirty joke there somewhere) or lingering on her luscious curves in inappropriate low angle shots. But for all the film’s voyeurism and kinky jokes Cutie Honey remains stubbornly clothed (although in the hilarious opening sequence she does find that she doesn’t have enough energy to transform and has to venture out crime fighting dressed only in a garbage bag). Despite being housed in a bright pink case Cutie Honey is sadly no pink film (Japanese softcore – see our feature here), but none-the-less this is certainly a guilty pleasure that you may well be hiding under the bed with all those other dodgy DVDs.

Indeed, at some points it feels like you might be watching an episode of Power Rangers whilst on several illegal substances, especially during the sequence in which the elaborately costumed Gold Claw and his army of cat-masked hoods wielding golden guns take on the entire Tokyo police force. Here and elsewhere in the film the special effects have a delightfully flimsy quality that just adds to the outlandish humour.

In short Cutie Honey is perfect if you’re looking for something utterly wacky to enjoy of an evening. If you need any more recommendation to see the film just type Eriko Sato into Google image search – hubbah hubbah!

Words > Andrew Wensum