Cutie Honey Universe

Episode 8

Given the gravity of what occurred in episode 6, it's understandable that Cutie Honey Universe might need multiple episodes to recover from that excitement. This episode focuses on Honey getting back on an upswing after all her downer moments last week, while Natsuko and company drive elements of that progression. This all results in a more emotionally complex and ambitious episode of Cutie Honey Universe than ever before, and even more surprisingly, it works out to a satisfying experience!

Natsuko is the focal character this week, and I've always liked her in that role. It's amusing that she's the only person who's figured out that Genet is a villain, yet she wasn't able to notice that her best friend was a superhero, but she's all business this week anyway. She even preempts Danbei and Junpei's antics and thankfully shoos them away. Her feelings over the attack on the school were alluded to in the previous episode, but now that they've crossed over to her feelings on Honey, Natsuko's emotions get more focus. Weirdly enough, this also intersect with Tarantula Panther figuring things out and getting some focus of her own.

Tarantula has been another appealing character in this show, she gets some development and backstory this week. There seems to be some decent exploration of codependency in the depictions of the Panther Claw members, each of them strongly desiring attention and validation from Jill that they don't ever receive as she keeps her focus on Honey instead. Tarantula working through that disconnect is a central element of her conversation with Natsuko at the turning point of this episode. Both of them realize they need to be direct with the object of their affections instead of trying to help out too selflessly in their orbit. Interestingly, Tarantula isn't able to take her own advice, still not addressing Jill directly, even as Natsuko commits to helping Honey in her own way.

Natsuko's forward way of asking Honey out on a date kick-starts the good times that puts our heroine's spirits on an upward trajectory (and I also appreciate how frank this show has been regarding girls just being mutually attracted to each other). Honey's side of the equation has been explored well these past couple episodes, as we saw her suffering from panic attacks when she can't find her friend. It makes sense since Natsuko was the sole survivor of the disaster, and it also rounds back to that codependency element powering Jill and Panther Claw's side of the plot. There is the question of how emotionally honest it is for Honey to lean on Natsuko, seeing as she might be relying on this connection more as a stabilizing point to avoid confronting her trauma. Pointedly, even with Natsuko's entertaining day-trip influence, we see Honey being unable to disconnect from PCIS information on the attack.

If this is meant to be read as a parallel to Sister Jill being unable to focus on anything but Honey, we still don't have any information on Jill's Honey fixation, though the show at least frames it in more compelling ways this episode. Jill completely ignores and forgets Octopanther, a soldier who unconvincingly sells herself as Panther Claw's ‘secret weapon’. Tarantula's shaken reaction to Jill's dismissal seems to indicate that Jill's losing her grip on reality.

All these plot threads converging around Natsuko do clearly foreshadow that some bad stuff is about to happen to her, though thankfully she's just captured by the end of the episode. This plot turn does an effective job of leveraging Honey's PTSD reactions to sell the gravity of the situation. Her frantic fight with Octopanther also has some cool animation moments, even with the CGI stuff of Honey on her bike. There are also some enjoyable visual gimmicks such as Octopanther ‘bleeding’ ink, though the blacked-out screen during the final blow could be construed as either a clever flourish or a budget-saving maneuver, given this show's uneven history.

I don't want to pre-emptively credit this episode of Cutie Honey Universe with kicking things into gear, given how hit-or-miss the show has turned out to be each time I got my hopes up. But I can say that it felt like this episode succeeded far more than it failed. There was an attempt to make Seiji part of Natsuko's development that mostly rehashed information we already knew and didn't really land. And despite Natsuko's best efforts, the episode wasn't totally free from Junpei and Danbei's antics. But the mantra is progress, not perfection, and Cutie Honey Universe has definitely been making progress lately.

Rating: B

Cutie Honey Universe is currently streaming on HIDIVE.