![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
My nose is twitching.
I saw Speed Racer this weekend. About an hour into it I wanted to kill myself. I had a migraine for like 48 hours afterward. That movie was not only bad, but apparently it was also bad for my health. For the record, the only other movie that ever gave me a massive pounding migraine was Peter Jackson's King Kong. I didn't like that movie either. And it wasn't because of the migraine, which didn't settle in until about thirty minutes after the end credits rolled, but because it was just. plain. bad.
Now, here's an annoyance of mine. Over and over again, I see reviews calling Speed Racer a "live-action cartoon." And calling it the first of its kind. "The closest thing I've ever seen to a live-action cartoon," blah blah blah.
Clearly these plebes areincredibly fortunate sadly misinformed, because the title of the closest thing I've ever seen to a live-action cartoon is won, hands-down by the amazingly godawful brilliant 2004 Cutie Honey movie.
Now, for those of you unfamiliar, Cutie Honey is Japan's first female superheroine, created by Go Nagai in 1973. Her trademark shticks are that A) she's a master of disguise and B) her clothes get torn off. A lot. (Hey, don't hold it against her. Wonder Woman got tied up a lot, and Cutie Honey got her clothes torn off a lot. Oh well.) Over the past thirty-five years Cutie Honey has starred in three TV series, two OAV series, and one movie. The movie... Oh god, the movie. The 2004 Cutie Honey film, directed by none other than Hideaki Anno (no seriously), was the first time that Cutie Honey made the leap from comics/animation into live action. And Anno, of course, realized that it would be a nearly impossible task to translate Go Nagai's awesomely cheesetastic retro visuals completely into the "real world." So what did he do? He made a live-action film that looks like an animated cartoon.
And he managed to accomplish this with a budget of about twenty US dollars. Or thereabouts.
AWESOMELY LOW-BUDGET MOVIE IS AWESOME:
BTW, an aside about the Cutie Honey theme song: It rocks. And it hasn't really changed since 1973. And it is apparently a legal requirement that every karaoke party in Japan MUST, at some point, include a drunken rendition of the Cutie Honey theme song. I'm not kidding. I have never been to a karaoke party where the Cutie Honey theme song wasn't sung at least once. And, mostly against my will, I have been dragged to a lot of karaoke parties.
Anyway, to demonstrate exactly how cartoony this film looks, here's a clip from the opening sequence. I'm sorry that there aren't any subtitles, but here's the gist of what's going on: Gold Claw, a member of the organization Panther Claw and subordinate of Sister Jill (Honey's archnemesis), has kidnapped Professor Utsugi (Honey's uncle), and somehow ends up in a standoff against like a bajillion members of Japan's Finest. Leading the charge against Gold Claw is Chief of Police Natsuko Aki (soon to be Honey's lesbian love interest). Ready? Okay, here we go:
Link, in case the High-Def Embed decides not to work.
BTW that's supposed to be widescreen and I can't figure out why the Youtube embed is stretched out to fullscreen size. Dammit, Youtube. Thanks for making everyone look all skinny and distorted.
Check out the cinematography in the sequence that begins at 4:11. Awesome.
CARTOONY BIZZARO GOODNESS:
And, okay, fine, here's another scene, from towards the end of the film: Honey's fight against Black Claw. (While Seiji frees a bunch of girls that Sister Jill had kidnapped, and Natsuko attempts to save Professor Utsugi. Sorry that I couldn't edit out those parts.) I'm including this one solely because that's Mitsuhiro Oikawa playing Black Claw. No, seriously. And I can't figure out what part of this scene I love more: Is it Oikawa's awfultastic singing? The look on Honey's face when he's done? The part where Honey kickshim his stunt double in the balls? (In my humble opinion, any film can only be improved by a shot of Mitsuhiro Oikawa getting kicked in the balls.) Is it the part where Honey gets sucked into a giant tornado along with a bunch of random cows? Is it the part where Oikawa spins on his head like a top? Or is it the beautiful single emo tear that Black Claw cries after Honey blows a hole in his chest?
Link, in case the High-Def Embed decides not to work.
Nah, none of the above. The best part is Go Nagai's cameo at 3:13. Like someone else that we know, Go Nagai tends to have a cameo in most of the films based off his comics.
Anyway, so that's basically it. That's the Cutie Honey movie, which beat Speed Racer to the punch in terms of being a true live-action cartoon, by about four years. And it managed to accomplish this on a shoestring budget. And, finally, the biggest advantage that Cutie Honey has over Speed Racer: While Speed Racer is just unwatchably bad, Cutie Honey is so godawful that it actually crosses the threshold into AWESOMELY ENTERTAINING.
And since this is a Cutie Honey post I'm going to stick this here just because it's awesome:
If you only see one version of Cutie Honey, the 2004 Gainax OAV series RE: Cutie Honey is the one to see. It is THE definitive animated version of Cutie Honey. Er, despite the fact that Cutie Honey is wearing about 80% less skin covering in than she does in any other series. Anywhoo. I will say, however, that my heart will always have a special spot for Cutie Honey F, which was my first exposure to Cutie Honey and which is also seriously gorgeous and awesome. Cutie Honey F is the only shoujo version of Cutie Honey to date, and because it was created for a teen girl demographic, a lot of the more sexist and exploitative elements present in other versions were significantly toned down. Not eliminated, unfortunately, but at least toned down. So yeah, if the blatant fanservice of RE: Cutie Honey is too much to bear, then Cutie Honey F is an excellent alternative. It's not perfect, but it's better.
Now, here's an annoyance of mine. Over and over again, I see reviews calling Speed Racer a "live-action cartoon." And calling it the first of its kind. "The closest thing I've ever seen to a live-action cartoon," blah blah blah.
Clearly these plebes are
Now, for those of you unfamiliar, Cutie Honey is Japan's first female superheroine, created by Go Nagai in 1973. Her trademark shticks are that A) she's a master of disguise and B) her clothes get torn off. A lot. (Hey, don't hold it against her. Wonder Woman got tied up a lot, and Cutie Honey got her clothes torn off a lot. Oh well.) Over the past thirty-five years Cutie Honey has starred in three TV series, two OAV series, and one movie. The movie... Oh god, the movie. The 2004 Cutie Honey film, directed by none other than Hideaki Anno (no seriously), was the first time that Cutie Honey made the leap from comics/animation into live action. And Anno, of course, realized that it would be a nearly impossible task to translate Go Nagai's awesomely cheesetastic retro visuals completely into the "real world." So what did he do? He made a live-action film that looks like an animated cartoon.
And he managed to accomplish this with a budget of about twenty US dollars. Or thereabouts.
AWESOMELY LOW-BUDGET MOVIE IS AWESOME:
BTW, an aside about the Cutie Honey theme song: It rocks. And it hasn't really changed since 1973. And it is apparently a legal requirement that every karaoke party in Japan MUST, at some point, include a drunken rendition of the Cutie Honey theme song. I'm not kidding. I have never been to a karaoke party where the Cutie Honey theme song wasn't sung at least once. And, mostly against my will, I have been dragged to a lot of karaoke parties.
Anyway, to demonstrate exactly how cartoony this film looks, here's a clip from the opening sequence. I'm sorry that there aren't any subtitles, but here's the gist of what's going on: Gold Claw, a member of the organization Panther Claw and subordinate of Sister Jill (Honey's archnemesis), has kidnapped Professor Utsugi (Honey's uncle), and somehow ends up in a standoff against like a bajillion members of Japan's Finest. Leading the charge against Gold Claw is Chief of Police Natsuko Aki (soon to be Honey's lesbian love interest). Ready? Okay, here we go:
Link, in case the High-Def Embed decides not to work.
BTW that's supposed to be widescreen and I can't figure out why the Youtube embed is stretched out to fullscreen size. Dammit, Youtube. Thanks for making everyone look all skinny and distorted.
Check out the cinematography in the sequence that begins at 4:11. Awesome.
CARTOONY BIZZARO GOODNESS:
And, okay, fine, here's another scene, from towards the end of the film: Honey's fight against Black Claw. (While Seiji frees a bunch of girls that Sister Jill had kidnapped, and Natsuko attempts to save Professor Utsugi. Sorry that I couldn't edit out those parts.) I'm including this one solely because that's Mitsuhiro Oikawa playing Black Claw. No, seriously. And I can't figure out what part of this scene I love more: Is it Oikawa's awfultastic singing? The look on Honey's face when he's done? The part where Honey kicks
Link, in case the High-Def Embed decides not to work.
Nah, none of the above. The best part is Go Nagai's cameo at 3:13. Like someone else that we know, Go Nagai tends to have a cameo in most of the films based off his comics.
Anyway, so that's basically it. That's the Cutie Honey movie, which beat Speed Racer to the punch in terms of being a true live-action cartoon, by about four years. And it managed to accomplish this on a shoestring budget. And, finally, the biggest advantage that Cutie Honey has over Speed Racer: While Speed Racer is just unwatchably bad, Cutie Honey is so godawful that it actually crosses the threshold into AWESOMELY ENTERTAINING.
And since this is a Cutie Honey post I'm going to stick this here just because it's awesome:
If you only see one version of Cutie Honey, the 2004 Gainax OAV series RE: Cutie Honey is the one to see. It is THE definitive animated version of Cutie Honey. Er, despite the fact that Cutie Honey is wearing about 80% less skin covering in than she does in any other series. Anywhoo. I will say, however, that my heart will always have a special spot for Cutie Honey F, which was my first exposure to Cutie Honey and which is also seriously gorgeous and awesome. Cutie Honey F is the only shoujo version of Cutie Honey to date, and because it was created for a teen girl demographic, a lot of the more sexist and exploitative elements present in other versions were significantly toned down. Not eliminated, unfortunately, but at least toned down. So yeah, if the blatant fanservice of RE: Cutie Honey is too much to bear, then Cutie Honey F is an excellent alternative. It's not perfect, but it's better.
no subject
It looks SO AWESOME :O Also Cutie Honey completely kicks butt! :D She's my new hero XD She is awesome :O
Also the little smiles and thumbs up and the V signs! :D Which as you know I greatly approve of! xD
I have the theme song too :O I knew it came from that movie but that was about it :\ I liked it so much, that I used it for an audition for an online DJ spot once :D
no subject
I know that there's a bilingual DVD release (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=3061) floating around out there, so it shouldn't be too hard to find or rent.
(Somehow I kinda thought you would like it!)
no subject
no subject
That said, this would so need to be used as a torture advice for some people I know who think the best anime ever is Hokuto. He has a bunch of MUGEN videos he made parodying it. It's amazing I've never actually seen this, then again, given that the people influencing me was Samsho fighting game players who were huge fanboys of Marmelade Boy and Cha Cha, I'm not surprised.
no subject
This is 100% legitimate. (I know, it's crazy!)
no subject
Seriously, it looks hilarious. It seems I need to watch it somehow.
Oh, and when it comes to live-action cartoons, don't forget about Sailor Moon live. :)
no subject
Sailor Moon was meant to look like a "real" show based on a familiar anime; Cutie Honey, on the other hand, is composed frame-by-frame to look as much like animation as possible.
Er, I'm probably not explaining this very well. ^^;;
no subject
no subject
I was wondering. I thought perhaps they filmed it that way on purpose to add to the overall anime quality.
no subject
no subject
It's amazing how much of the entertaining animated-value they kept in, like when Honey was dragging that police officer lady. It reminds me of similar effects used in Shaolin Soccer and such.
no subject
no subject
On the other hand, though, I really like the Cutie Honey costume that they made, because it looks so much like her classic manga costume.
Mmmm, maybe I'll give it another shot.
no subject
no subject
I am subjecting
no subject
(OMG am I going to see you next week?)
no subject
So. Um. When's the next time you're in the states? Or do I have to get myself over to Japan? ^.~
no subject
Granted, my position on this issue is currently not sitting well with one of two parental units.
no subject
no subject
Well, everyone has different tastes, I guess. My coworkers, back when I worked at McDonald's, were raving about how awesome the Transformers movie was, but I didn't see how it was that special. I guess it's because I'm not the giant robots type person. :D
Another one I'm looking forward to is Get Smart. :)
no subject
Well, I didn't think so. But other people apparently loved it, so you might like it too. I don't know!
no subject
I'm sorry to hear you had a headache. I wonder if you get them often...I've known people with migraines. It's awful.
no subject
Of course, the same can pretty much be said of ANYTHING CUTEY HONEY, EVER.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2008-05-20 06:03 pm (UTC)(link)http://www.dailymotion.com/JapanWorld/video/xcnr_koda-kumicutie-honey