CUTEY HONEY EP. 2: THE SWEET TRAP... (review)

Series Title: CUTEY HONEY
Episode: 2 THE SWEET TRAP OF THE JEWEL PRINCESS
Premise: A female guardian fights for justice by transforming from one bad-ass fighter into another to better fit whatever scenario she is facing.

ThePete's Review: Now that the pesky introductions of the characters are out of the way we get a little more contrivance in the way that Cutey Honey, Chokkei and his parents move in with Grandpa--with no explanation beyond that they do. As most girls do, ;), Cutey Honey decides to go shopping in the city and they stop at a jewelry store where she gets a mysterious ring. Meanwhile, there are women being kidnapped and turned into statues. What's the connection between Cutey Honey's new ring and the women statues? Watch the ep or check out the spoilers below to find out.

Over all, this is another episode that is incredibly imaginative, but still some how shallow and stupid. It's still fun, but as usual, don't expect ESCAFLOWNE from this series. This particular episode was a lot of fun thanks to the uniqueness of the badguy. However, it also has this weird "violence towards women" undertone that I didn't care for. Watching a naked woman is fun, until she's put in a glass cylinder and turned into a statue while she's screaming bloody murder. (This happens in the very first scene, so I don't consider it a spoiler.) So, while the ep is fun, as was yesterday's episode, it's definitely a little disturbing for anyone who doesn't like to see women, helplessly murdered. :)

That's what's so odd about this show, in my opinion. There's this great, silly-fun atmosphere that is jerked to it's polar opposite, helpless naked women being killed. The silliness makes me want to like this show, but the killing of women just turns me off.

Keep going for spoilers.



SPOILERS: Well, as I mentioned above, this ep opens with a naked, screaming woman being turned into a statue. From there, we cut to Chokkei who has woken up in bed with his mom who has accidentally climbed into bed with him in her sleep. (Nice glimpse into the writer's soul--YEESH!) Chokkei freaks out and we get a quick recap of the last ep. Then, Cutey Honey decides to go shopping. Chokkei and Grandpa go with her. They wander the bizarrely (but interestingly) designed city and come upon a jewlery shop. CH can't afford anything inside, but decides just to window shop. The woman who runs/owns the place feels Honey's ass (seriously!) and then feigns embarassment when Honey is offended. The shop-owner then offers this beautiful ring to her to make up for her rudeness. Honey isn't sure if she should, but with predictable (and somewhat illogical) encouragement from Grandpa, she takes it.

That night, the ring begins to glow and suddenly there is a nearly 100% naked visitor outside Honey's window. It's the jewelry shop keeper and she is here to kidnap Honey and bring her back to her cavernous lair where she will turn her into a statue. She is now covered only by these jewels that cling to her private parts (and not all of them) and can will these jewels to leap from her flash and hurl themselves at her enemies. In my opinion, even without the obvious nudity, this is a pretty cool super-villian.

Honey yells her trademark "HONEY... FLASH" and becomes a dominatrix so she can properly kick this bejewelled bitch's ass. Which she does, but still manages to let the woman, dressed only in jewels, get away. Honey and pals recognize her as the woman from the jewelry store, so they go back to investigate. They are ambushed by one of Dolmeck's henchmen who delivers them to the Jewel Princess. Cutey Honey escapes transforming into her standard, hot, sword-wielding, red-head and is about to attack JP when JP threatens to kill Chokkei and Grandpa. Honey then gives herself over to the JP and allows herself to be encased in a special plastic, thus, turning her into a statue. She then uses her, uh, Cutey Honey powers to smash out of the plastic just as JP releases Grandpa and Chokkei, kills the JP and destroys her underground lair and the other women-statues. Honey does stop and wish aloud that there was something she could do to save them, but she doesn't actually try to save them, which is more women-hating stuff that I don't like. The show is mostly fun, but then there's this polar-opposite tone shift with people (and naked women) dying ruthlessly. Not cool, in my opinion.

Still, generally, the show is fun, somewhat imaginative and generally well made. It's better than some anime I've seen.