Michiko e Hatchin • ミチコとハッチン
Season 1, Episode 1
Adeus, Paraíso Insensivo! | さらばだ!非情のパラダイス
"Someone is going to come for me - It's what I wished for, all this time. On the morning of March 17th that person came. The only problem is I have no idea who she is!!"
Original Air Date: 15 October 2008
Running Time: 22 minutes, 37 seconds
Language: English
Michiko Malandro breaks out of a high-security pound to see her long-lost love, Hiroshi. Elsewhere, Hiroshi's daughter, Hana Morenos, lives the life of Harry Potter among her adoptive family, waiting for someone to come and take her away from them.
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| Too hot - HOT DAMN! Call the police and the fireman (no seriously she's a wanted criminal) |
Now, I've seen a little of this anime before, but I got so distracted and busy with other shit that I never finished it. Now I'm determined to watch all of this series. I came across this anime somewhat by accident. I'm a huge fan of Shinichiro Watanabe's works, and I saw him listed as the music producer for this and also The Woman Named Fujiko Mine, so I thought I ought to check it out. The character designs, music, setting, and vibe give this work a flavor that's very Latin-American, which is no surprise considering the director, Saya Yamamoto was inspired by her time in Brazil. Either way, this anime stands out from the crowd.
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| "Little wager? - Like on how far the bitch gets?" |
It throws you into a pretty epic jail break right at the beginning, with Michiko, one of our protagonists making her way out of prison. So far we don't get much about her and her situation, because it serves more as an intro as it then switches to Hana. We learn more about her completely unfair shit life with her adopted family, who only keep her around for child support. The girl suffers out right abuse from her foster siblings who are tiny psychopaths and the entire fucking family should be arrested for how they treat her.
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| WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK GET THESE KIDS A GODDAMN PSYCHOLOGIST NOW |
I have never wanted so see a little girl in glasses get her ass handed to her this much before in my life. I really hope they never appear beyond this episode. The way everything has been presented so far is a bit like a diary entry, as we get Hana giving us the date, weather, and some of what she's doing/suffering through that day, but also with extra snippets of what (probably criminal) activities Michiko may be doing in the meanwhile.
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| In order to pay for her future wardrobe changes, of course. |
Either way we all feel pretty bad for Hana, and wonder what she has to do with a dangerous wanted criminal. Their paths finally cross in the ending and their adventure together starts, and I can't help but wonder exactly what's in store for this odd couple. So far a good start to what already presents itself as a an interesting series of misadventures.
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| "She's just staring at me, mouth hanging open. Not ladylike at all..." |
As far as a more technical aspect, this anime so far is pretty stylish, with it's strong latin setting. The music is not only produced by Watanabe but composed by a notable Brazilian composer. The opening is bright and vibrant in a way that fits well with the cultural setting, both audibly and visually. The animation is pretty good, and I haven't noticed anything terrible about it yet. The designs for the backgrounds and scenery is detailed and works well with the vibe of the series and enforces the setting, and the characters appear like they'll be from a pretty diverse lot. Even the background characters have differing skin tones instead of using some sort of base default. Hana's design is pretty cute and kinda bifauxen (and I'll admit I love androgynous character designs), while Michiko makes a pretty awesome biker babe (yes I know it's a scooter but you're getting the same effect).
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| In fucking style |
I've only seen the English dub, and part of me is pretty surprised with it, mostly because it's
Monica Rial - known for her roles as young cutie-patooties - playing badass hottie Michiko. It's a pretty good Funimation dub overall, and I don't see any major problems with it. I think part of me finds it a bit weird that
African-American speaking styles and accents are used since this is set in
Brazil an ambiguous Latin-American country, but I can still keep watching this despite the fact I can't really wrap my head around it. Also the Japanese version apparently has some major VA's playing the characters, though once again, I haven't seen that version yet. I might look for it later
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| Prime example of a big damn entrance |
Either way this is shaping up to be a pretty wild ride.
"My name is Hana, and this is how my days usually start. And pretty much how they end."
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