In Defense of Honey
by Edgard Angelo Aedo
August 1, 2001
Sleazy. Raunchy. Pornographic.
Those are but a few of the ways some people describe Cutey Honey. I recall conversing with someone in a line at Anime Expo 2000 - when I mentioned Cutey Honey is one of my favorite series, he responded by so eloquently quipping, "Oh, that porno one...". There was only one way I could respond - "I BEG YOUR PARDON?!"
Go Nagai has a reputation for packing his stories with generous amounts of violence, nudity and sexual humor. Hence, some of his creations tend to be written off as nothing more than hentai - but none is more undeserving of this label than Cutey Honey. While it certainly is ecchi, Cutey Honey is NOT hentai.
The key distinguishing characteristics of hentai are scenes of explicit sex punctuated with a generous, if not gratuitous amount of T & A and sexual humor. While Cutey Honey features an abundant amount of Go Nagai's signature T & A and sexual humor, there are NO scenes of explicit sex (and certainly no tentacles).
Most hentai rely on scene after scene of explicit sex to hold the audience's attention. As such, the plotline is not a very important element in hentai. Cutey Honey features a lot of superhero action and a rather interesting take on the classic "non-human savior of humanity" storyline.
Because Honey always triumphs in the end, many complain that the outcome of every story is too predictable (as is the case with most superhero stories). But don't we always expect Superman to thwart Lex Luthor? Or Batman to catch the Joker? While the final outcome is predictable, the fun is in watching how it is attained - and Cutey Honey has its share of plot twists.
Most importantly, we must examine the title character - Cutey Honey. While she is best known for her Honey Flash, Honey is NOT some mindless sex toy. She is a truly larger-than-life character who embodies the noblest ideals of love and courage. On top of that, she really kicks ass.
I call upon my fellow anime fans to look beyond Cutey Honey's obvious T & A, and to think twice before writing it off as just another mindless hentai series.
Ecchi? Yeah. Hentai? Hell no.