Cutey Honey

Real Name: Honey Kisaragi

Identity/Class: Android with a soul (Cutey Honey, New Cutey Honey), Human Magic user (Cutey Honey Flash).

Occupation: School girl (Cutey Honey, Cutey Honey Flash), Secretary (New Cutey Honey).

Affiliations: Natsuko (best friend), Seiji (love interest), Danbei (dirty old man that helps her out, father of Seiji)

Enemies: Panther Claw organization

Known Relatives: Professor Kisarari (father)

Aliases: Cutie Honey (2004 live action movie)

Base of Operations: Japan

First Appearance: 1972

Powers/Abilities: Through the airborne elemental condenser, also called "Air alchemy", which reforms the surrounding particles into something else, by shouting out "Honey Flash!" Honey Kisaragi can transform in many different personas, each one with a unique look and skills, all some sort of stereotype. She can basically be anything she needs to be: secretary, nurse, chinese street fighter, samurai, geisha, angel, dominatrix, nun, ballerina, mermaid, etc...but her main two shapes are Honey Kisaragi (long blonde hair) and Cutey Honey (short magenta hair). The transformation process shreds her clothes, temporarily exposing her naked body, before the clothes once more reform around her. As Cutey Honey she is a very skilled sword fighter and her sword the Silver Floret can project a beam of energy; she also has a bracelet that turns into a boomerang and she is extremely agile, fast and has superhuman strength.

History: When Professor Kisaragi's daughter died in a tragic manner, the scientist created an android girl in her image. Within her body he hid his greatest invention, the "air alchemy" (a device able to transform anything into anything), and then he raised his creation as if she were human. Unaware of her true nature she lived believing she was just an ordinary girl, but when her dad was kidnapped by the evil organization Panther Claw (directed by Panther Zora, the goddess mother of all demons and her sister, the immortal transgender she-he-what Sister Jill), Honey discovered her true identity. She also learned that shouting out "Honey Flash" allowed her to transformed into a battle mode, Cutey Honey, enabling her to fight the different female demons Panther Claw sent her way in their search for the air alchemy, which the jewel-fixated Panther Zora desired for her collection.

Comments: Created by Go Nagai, creator of Devilman and Mazinger Z, Cutey Honey was the an early "Magical Girl" opening the door for such ones as Agent Aika, Patrini, Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, etc etc years later (but not the first such show, as Erick Meyer has written to correct me on - that honour falls to Mahoutsukai Sally (Sally the Witch) by about seven years). She was also the first manga with a female as lead and incorporated a lot of nudity, dirty jokes, gorish violence, and other things that though in Japan don't seem to shock too much, in US wouldn't have seen as positive.

Cutey Honey has had 5 versions so far: the 70's version (Cutey Honey); the 90's version which took where the original left off with much more boobs and ultra-violence (New Cutey Honey); the late 90's that was made to replace Sailor Moon, much more toned down with no gorish violence and more prudish transformation and much more slimmed down characters (Cutey Honey Flash). Recently there was the live action movie that came out May 25th 2004, where the heroine was played by Eriko Sato, and the oft-overlooked RE: Cutey Honey, a three episode OVA series which came out around the same time as the live-action movie.  This last  shortens the Cutey Honey vs. Panther Claw conflict immensely; it was made by Gainax, the animation company best known for shows such as FLCL and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Thanks to "Magnuno2K" for the above profile and images, and to Erick Meyer for additional information.

CLARIFICATIONS: None.

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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