Cutie Honey [1973]

I don't want to make a completely unsubstantiated claim when I say this, but much like the Simpsons, when it comes to a lot of magical girl tropes, Cutie Honey did it first.

Who needs shame when you're the warrior of love?

Penned in 1973 by a guy known for his wild and often controversial stories, Cutie Honey stands at the intersection of magical girls, tokusatsu-style superheroes, and casual fan service. And while Honey is far from the first to do any of these things individually, the unique blend of these elements left a long and influential legacy that still carries over into some of our favorite anime to this very day. I mean, it's not hard to believe that Cutie Honey is likely the reason all magical girl transformations still involve some level of nudity.

Thank you magical girls, for everything you sacrifice for us (including your clothes).

What makes Cutie Honey such a timeless series is that you can enjoy it (or hate it) for a whole host of different reasons. It's a fun action show with a female lead. It's a fashion show with dozens of cute and cool outfits. It's notable for the clever and heavily stylized ways it worked with limited animation to create a colorful, psychedelic vibe. It's got panty flashes and ripped clothes once every few minutes. It's easy to just watch it in passing without even starting from episode 1. It really is a show that anyone can reasonably enjoy.

Easily one of the funniest gifs in my entire collection.

Circling back for a minute, I want to talk about limited animation. Most of us in America remember the days of early Hanna-Barbera. Many of its most famous cartoons are not exactly notable for being marvels of animation, but became classics all the same. They managed to do this by focusing on solid, easily-recognizable character designs, and finding neat ways to use their limitations to their advantage. A great example is the Scooby Doo gang being chased in and out of a hallways of doors, or giving action heroes weapons that shoot laser beams to save on complex fighting animations and skirt the network censors for cracking down on violence in cartoons.

This is exactly how I picture the "vicious mockery" spell in DnD looks.

Cutie Honey works within its limitations by reducing a lot of the detail in its backgrounds to minimalistic patterns and cranking up the saturation on the colors, giving it a poppy, 60s psychedelic vibe that is also easy to animate, especially in panning action shots. And aside creating a bitchin rad art style, it also serves as an inspiration to burgeoning or newbie artists and animators (like myself for example) who have difficulty with detailed backgrounds. It's an anime that really showcases what kind of creativity can still be borne of strict limitations!

I can appreciate realism as much as the next person, but I'm sure Persona fans will agree, heavy stylization will always be cooler.

With that settled, let's talk about underwear. I'm sure the constant stream of random fan service will be a turn off for some, but it definitely wasn't a problem for me. For a show about an android created to fight the evil demons of a shadowy organization that specializes mostly in petty jewel theft and capturing our hero's power morpher, it definitely doesn't take itself seriously in the slightest. This is a costumed crimefighter type show with lots of slapstick and a funky soundtrack. With no regard to realism or practicality, the pantyshots and booty sightings all feel like part of the charm, and really don't detract from the overall flavor of the show at all. Better get used to it!

I think we lost our way as a society when we started wringing our hands over bare butt gags.

Cutie Honey has come a long way since 1973. I've watched several various incarnations of the show, all out of order (and still have a few yet to go), but even then, it's easy to see why it's been such a long-lasting franchise. The premise is playful and saucy, and the presentation absolutely oozes with character and style that really lends itself to multiple adaptations and different takes on the theme. Whether it's punchy and extra horny (Re: Cutie Honey), more magical girl and story focused (Cutie Honey Flash), or nicely balanced (New Cutie Honey), it's readily apparent that the original '73 series really struck gold and deserves a spot in the history books as a major inspiration for many other anime out there.

Now if only we could convince the puritanical American studios to ever once in their lives try something so bold!

Just imagine if this sort of gag wasn't considered "obscene", and we could have had cartoons like this as kids.