Cutey Honey Collection #2 (DVD)

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The "Cutey Honey" universe has several components. There was a manga (graphic novel) as well as an associated TV show in the 1970s, followed by a new manga series in the 1990s called "Cutey Honey 90". Then there was an OVA series, "New Cutey Honey". Most recently, a new TV series called "Cutey Honey F" (F for Flash), was created. The OVA series loosely follows the original TV series. However, you can watch this DVD without having seen the contents on the first OVA DVD and not miss too much. You can definitely watch the OVA series without having seen or read anything else from the "Cutey Honey" universe.

Originally released in Japan starting in 1996, the "New Cutey Honey Collection 2" DVD was released in the US in 2000. The disc contains the last four OVA episodes of the series. Each episode title begins with the words "Dark Army Story", and I believe that these episodes were intended as a continuous plot arc. However, the episodes are largely unrelated to each other and don´t begin or end any major plot arc that I could notice.

At the end of the first collection, Panther Zora´s ultimate fate was left up in the air. Although Honey´s arch enemy had been reborn, Panther Zora was also on a flying ship that exploded. By the end of this DVD, her fate still isn´t exactly settled.

The first episode, "Challenge! The Fangs of the Evil Sky Monster", begins with the main non-Honey character, Chokkei, reminiscing about events on the first DVD. The action then shifts to Cosplay City where, because Dormeck is dead, every criminal is now trying to claim the spot of head criminal. A gang of four women have stolen a bomb that could blow up most of Cosplay City, so it´s up to Honey to stop them. Another criminal tries to take the bomb from the girl gang and even uses a red ampoule to transform into a monster. However, one of the girls transforms without any visible aid and takes the monster out as well as two from her gang. The last human gang member, Natsuko, is saved by Honey. The gang member who transformed did so with the aid of Panther Zora, in a way never explained, although it seems to relate to the boast from the previous OVA that, no matter how many times she was defeated, Panther Zora would always return as long as there were people in the world.

One thing I noticed immediately was that the plot was actually interesting. It wasn´t Masterpiece Theatre, but it was good enough to keep me involved. There were still plenty of naked changing scenes for Honey, but the story no longer seemed like a weak thread that just tied those scenes together. Also, the design of Cosplay City changed--the buildings look like normal sky scrapers now, unlike their organic look in the first couple of episodes.

The other three episodes, titled "The Evil of Revenge", "Prison is the Nest of Evil", and "Temptation Shines Like Gold", all follow the same villain-of-the-week pattern. In "The Evil of Revenge", the heroes are swept into a closed theme park by a mysterious woman who controls an army of mannequins. "Prison is the Nest of Evil" involves the humorous idea of a Bully Alumni Alliance, which used to have Chokkei´s mom as the president. A perverted, mad scientist makes a teleporting machine that is stolen by his lovely assistant in "Temptation Shines Like Gold". In all of these episodes, the primary villain is a woman who gives in to some inner darkness and gains power from Panther Zora. Honey defeats them after undergoing several transformations herself. Also, the secondary characters--Chokkei´s parents, Natsuko, and Grandpa Denbei--kept the story moving with laughs and some light support during the fights.

The plot in each episode has little to do with the previous story except for the addition of Natsuko to the group after the first episode on this DVD. The only unifying plot thread is that Panther Zora seems to continue to exist in some way and is giving people evil power. This wasn´t made clear in the series, although I suppose it doesn´t really matter. The important thing is there are still plenty of villains for Honey to fight.