Forum - View topicMichiko and Hatchin (TV).
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Alestal
 Posts: 605 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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It all depends on what your opinion of what a masterpiece is and if you'd cared enough to pay enough attension to the plot to be able to understand the characters.
Would I call it a masterpiece? Yes, because it was a beautifully imagined story and a great tale of friendship. The characters were detailed and I really got to like them as people, especially because of Michiko's decion to *MAJOR SPOILER*spoiler[turn herself in] it really showed she wasn't just a rebel hothead. 
At any rate, I was happy with it, and I will continue to promote this series whenever possible because I don't think enough people have appreciated it. |
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solot58
 Posts: 53 Location: ATL GA |
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Man, all I can say is that M&H was one of those series that got me through the fall season because there wasn't too many other breakthrough titles this past fall.
Anywho, my only complaint was that as a viewer I didn't get to say goodbye to Michiko because the epilogue was entitled to Hatchin, anyone else feel like that? |
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ace52387
 Posts: 61 |
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I don't think the guy was a bum a champloo. He was a good person still, just not the spoiler[strong, dashing, physically admirable kind of person fuu remembered him as] In Michiko to Hatchin, spoiler[ Hiroshi is a real bum. I feel like the message with this is that romance can dupe you and hide some truth's about people. Michiko was so convinced when she said, "Hiroshi's not that kind of person," I naturally believed her as well. In Champloo I feel like the message or feeling was much more positive, highlighting the natural bond between family, even when they haven't seen each other for a long time.] The plot seems kind of boring to me. The build up to the climax is sudden and not particularly interesting. The subplots in the "filler" episodes are hit or miss. Some of the new characters introduced are really strange and not really affecting. The climax itself is also not nearly as dramatic as I had pictured it. I really like Hatchin and her spats with Michiko. She feels like a genuine preteen child to me, going back and forth between maturity and childishness. I couldn't find any consistency with atsuko and satoshi though. A lot of what they do feels forced by plot, or if not that, then just not in line with who they were made out to be. |
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bin1127
Posts: 148 |
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Just finished ep 22 a moment ago. The first episode got me hooked mainly cause Hana was such a cute character. Suzuka Ohgo did an amazing job voicing Hana. Wouldn't mind having suzuka do more anime roles in the future.
I was expecting more of a plot besides chasing after Hiroshi for 22 eps, but even though it went on that way, none of the episodes got boring. There's always something going on between Hana and Michiko that makes me laugh and follow with whatever (mostly just random nothing) they were doing. Still remember at the beginning of ep7 Hana smelled her hair and slightly grinned. Then you found out she hasn't washed her hair in days and Michiko slapping her telling her to go buy shampoo. Quite hilarious. A lot guns and gangster stuff but that seemed to fall quietly to the background as I was mostly interested in the pair's journey. And the art and break inserts are always beautiful. I'd recommend this to other people for sure. |
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Alestal
Posts: 605 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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Will this show ever be licensed?
The animation quality (for the majority of the series) was spectacular! They can't just let this go to waste. |
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hissatsu01
 Posts: 963 Location: NYC |
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The show did quite poorly in Japan, so it should at least not be very expensive to license. Though these days whether or not something goes to waste is of little importance. I'd expect a sub only release if this gets licensed, and Funi would probably have picked it up already if they were actually interested. |
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Alestal
Posts: 605 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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BunnyCupCakes
 Posts: 224 Location: The Sunshine State |
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^Same here.
I wouldn't mind a sub-only but a dub would be nice too. Plus it's Manglobe. You can never go wrong with Manglobe (ok, maybe The Sacred Blacksmith wasn't all too great plot-wise but that all depends) I still need to finish this series though. (I've been stuck on episode 10 for the longest time lol) |
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Andrez
 Posts: 67 Location: Tokyo |
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Actually, I really enjoyed this series; the anime style was quite the treat at times, and it had an edge that was quite different from the other stuff more popularly screening over here in Japan... like Precure.
I did a spotlight on the show for Anime Insider mag right before they went under earlier this year, which meant that the story wasn't published in the U.S. (we ran with it instead in Impact mag in the U.K.). For the article I interviewed Manglobe president Shinichiro Kobayashi, so he had some interesting nuggets to say; here's the story itself, if anybody here is interested: MAIN STORY If Fuji TV wanted to kick off their 50th year on air with a sizeable bang, they certainly picked the spot-on anime series to do so: Michiko & Hatchin sizzled when it first hit screens back in October, and it’s continued to be a solid ratings-puller for the terrestrial station that also airs Japan’s longest-running anime series, Sazae-san. The new series has proved to be one of the unexpected anime viewing highlights over the past six months, as much for its exotic locale (the principle action takes place in Brazil) as for the superb cast and crew at play behind the animated cells. It’s a insightful spotlight on people of Asian decent who live in South America, like the nikkei burajiru-jin: descended from a wave of Japanese workers who emigrated to Brazil a century ago, making the country home to the largest Japanese population outside Japan. But don’t think this is some kind of travelogue. It’s a stunning mixture of styles and sounds, influences and moments, and the energetic, action-packed, sexy, funny, savvy, and strangely poignant story of the burgeoning relationship between central characters, Michiko Malandro and Hana ‘Hatchin’ Morenos: the former a wild criminal on the lam after a prison escape, the latter a girl oppressed by abusive foster parents. When the two hook up following a motorcycle drive-through and the discovery of identical tattoos, they begin a search for the same elusive individual: Hatchin’s dad, who happens to be Michiko’s old flame. In between are an array of the good, the bad, and the downright ugly, including police officer, Atsuko Jackson, and crime syndicate head, Satoshi Batista, with whole caboodle has been packaged together in mesmerizing fashion by Manglobe Inc.—the animation studio set up in 2002 by Sunrise producers, Takashi Kochiyama and Shinichiro Kobayashi, and the subsequent powerhouse behind Ergo Proxy and Samurai Champloo. Now you can add Michiko to Hatchin to that stunning C.V. Shinichiro Kobayashi, the president of Manglobe, obviously wasn’t content to rest on the laurels of two previously revered anime titles. “I wanted to make a fusion of the road movie with diva action carnage, within the realm of a totally Latinized world,” he explains. Kobayashi also sees a clear delineation between this new outing and the two prior titles, which were both directed by men. “This time it’s the female director’s view,” he says, referring to the head of an exceptional cast and crew. Director Sayo Yamamoto has tweaked the storyboards on Eureka Seven, Death Note, Ergo Proxy and Samurai Champloo, and directed episodes of all of these classic series, save for Death Note. So don’t think anything vaguely girly here—some of the action and domestic violence encountered by our heroines is hair-raising, yet it skips the voyeurism some of her male counterparts indulge in. On script honors is Takashi Ujita, a writer who’s previously worked on an array of independent live-action movies, while character designer Hiroshi Shimizu previously moonlighted in key animation on FLCL, Fullmetal Alchemist, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Millennium Actress, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, and Hayao Miyazaki’s Porco Rosso (Crimson Pig). Mecha designer Shigeto Koyama was previously involved in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society as well as Gurren Lagann. Then there’s the additional crew member’s name that jumps right out here, in the atypical role of music producer: Shinichiro Watanabe, the illustrious writer/director of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, co-director of Macross Plus, and responsible for two segments from The Animatrix. Breathless yet? Well, hold onto your eyeballs, because this series also just so happens to be a Japanese acting train-spotter’s delight, since most of the voice actors are themselves established and respected live-action actors. Kanji Tsuda, cast in the role of Hatchin’s father, Hiroshi, is a veteran from classic ‘Beat’ Takeshi Kitano movies like Sonatine, Hana-bi and Dolls, and featured in movies by famed directors Yojiro Takita, Katsuhito Ishii, and Takashi Shimizu. Yoko Maki (Michiko), who was cast in the American version of The Grudge, started her career in the 2001 remake of Lady Snowblood (renamed Princess Blade), while Suzuka Ohgo (Hatchin) popped up in Memoirs of a Geisha—in which she played the childhood Zhang Ziyi—then also costarred with Ken Watanabe in Kita No Zeronen (Year One in the North). Jun Murakami (Shinsuke Rodriguez) was one of the stars in the ninja live-action movie, Red Shadow (2001), and Takeshi Wakamatsu (Father Pedro) appeared in the far better ninja romp, Fukuro no Shiro (Owl’s Castle, 1999). The skill of all these people, from art and image through to dulcet vocal tones and spot-on dialogue, works just right. Dark and cute all at once, there are recurring themes throughout the series. There’s the search for Hatchin’s father (and Michiko’s former lover), Hiroshi, who abandoned his child and may be dead, but perhaps isn’t; there are the eccentric cameo inclusions, some heavy emotional development for the key characters involved—most strikingly the love-hate/mom-daughter relationship between our two heroines. And there’s Michiko’s ongoing hot water escapades, and the joyful obsessions with food, music and fashion. “About the fashion,” Kobayashi reports, “We had an up-and-coming designer here in Japan do the fashions. For the art we practically went to Brazil, and that experience is reflected in the animated vision we created here. And for the music I invited on board Kassin, a very popular musician from Brazil. It’s a plus.” There’s also the inclusion of teen romance, drug-addled hitmen, a doctor lugging fish out of people’s tummies, motorcycles crasging through windows, and one character’s attempts at bullfighting with a soup ladle—all of which up the ante and make this perhaps the best animated series I’ve watched this year. By Andrez Bergen |
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wizardz199
Posts: 112 Location: Hayward, CA |
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I loved this series! I found the fact that the series is set in Brazil was very unique and I found the character design to be gorgeous (especially in the regard for Michiko). I also liked the fact that the series was also by the same production company that made Eureka 7.
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hissatsu01
Posts: 963 Location: NYC |
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It wasn't. Michiko to Hatchin was done by Manglobe. Eureka 7 was done by BONES. |
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Andrez
Posts: 67 Location: Tokyo |
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I think in this case it's better to give kudos wizardz199 for his/her opinion rather than just be picky about an error - belated Christmas spirit, and all that...
I agree with the sentiments; this was a great series that unfortunately received the short end of the fan/otaku stick here in Japan. |
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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It didn't feature enough crippled retard girls who spout cute phrases for them to care about it. Nor did it have angsty homosexual young men who suddenly find themselves part of a militia who primarily use giant robots to some painfully evil empire. |
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hissatsu01
Posts: 963 Location: NYC |
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Well, it wasn't an attack after all. Manglobe is a studio that (prior to the really disappointing Seiken no Blacksmith) does pretty interesting work, with a lot of variety from one title to the next, so they do deserve the recognition. It's a shame Michiko to Hatchin sold so poorly - I don't think releasing a 2 cour anime at 2 episodes per disc helped when it didn't register at all on otaku radar. |
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Andrez
Posts: 67 Location: Tokyo |
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Yep, agree - bad case of marketing and audience targeting, p'raps...
Manglobe def. is a studio to look out for. |
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