キューティーハニー [Kyūtī Hanī] 1

Cutie Honey #1

by Go Nagai

Original run October 1, 1973 – April 1, 1974
Volumes 2

Genres: Manga, Shonen, Comics

216 pages, Paperback

About the author

Kiyoshi Nagai (永井潔 Nagai Kiyoshi, born September 6, 1945 in Wajima, Ishikawa), better known by the penname Gō Nagai (永井 豪 Nagai Gō?), is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy, horror and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with Meakashi Polikichi, but is best known for creating Cutie Honey, Devilman, and Mazinger Z in the 1970s. In 2005, he became a Character Design professor at the Osaka University of Arts. Since 2009, he is a member of Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize's nominating committee.

Reviews

[Alexandre · Rating 2 out of 5]

goes from weird to messed up !

[Zim · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Tony Calder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cutey Honey has been a very successful franchise in Japan, spawning two (at least) manga series, two (at least) anime series, and a live action TV show and movie. This is where it all began.

The initial manga ran from 1973-74 and I don't know enough about manga of the period to say whether or not this is typical of that period. The art is clean, and would not look out of place in a modern manga, the story is relatively straightforward - Japanese schoolgirl (who is actually an android) is being pursued by an evil organisation who want to use her technology for their evil plans. And there are plenty of sexual overtones.

From my understanding, this was not a revolutionary concept at the time, so I am not sure what made this manga so popular compared with its contemporaries, although it hasn't had widespread penetration of the market outside Japan.