Michiko e Hatchin
Was the last Sarah Connor Chronicles awesome or was it AWESOME? I've really been loving SCC this season, in terms of characters, action, cinematography and metaphors it's easily been one of my favourite show on TV mininova lately. I think it's time I find myself some SCC icons, minorspoilers:[especially one with that's I'm a bad bitch quote]endminorspoiler. Do you folks know where I could get some good SCC icons?
But today I want to tell you about my other favourite show right now. Much like SCC, it does not just pass the Bechdel test, it passes it with flying colours and while doing a tap dance. And above SCC, if there's an equivalent to the Bechdel test for characters of colours, it passes that one too:
That's Michiko e Hatchin:
Produced by Mangaglobe, the studio otherwise known for Samurai Champloo, and directed by Sayo Yamamoto, Michiko e Hatchin takes place in a nameless country which is basically Brazil with the serial numbers removed and features more references to the 70s exploitation genre than a Tarantino movie, and revolves around one woman and a little girl travelling around searching for the girl's father while cops and gangs try to capture/kill them. So far 18 episodes out of a total of 22 have been broadcasted and can be found fansubbed easily.
This is Michiko Malandro:
Michiko has been in prison for more than 10 years when she escapes and finds Hana. I'm more than a little bit in love with her. It's not only that her chaarcter design is really lovely. She's badass, temperamental, sexy, cocky, impulsive, and tends to insult people first, ask question later. She's also still hanged up on Hiroshi, a guy she loved before, and thought of as dead until she found out that had had a girl after the supposed date of his death. Both her and Hiroshi used to be part of a gang named the Monstros.
This is Hana, soon to be nicknamed Hatchin:
Hana is a 9 year old going on 10 orphan girl raised by the family of a pastor who all abuse her horribly. The first episode is hearbreaking in its depiction of Hana's day to day life, but this soon stops when Jean Valjean kicks the Tenardier's ass Michiko drives her fucking bike through the window and asks Hana to come with her. Hana's interesting because she's not just a cute little girl along for the ride; she's a very angry little girl - for good reasons - but also has a big responsible streak and sense of morality which balances out Michiko's temperament but also complicates her relationship with her.
This is Atsuko:
Michiko's childhood friend and sometimes victim of bullying, Atsuko is the cop who initially captured Michiko and is now charged with finding her again. She and Michiko have a... complicated relationship, to say the least. Me I think she's in love with Michiko ^_^
This is Batista:
An old childhood friend of Hiroshi, currently the leader of the Monstros.
This series is easily the best I've seen since Serei no Moribito. With a great balance of action, comedy, drama and atmospheric moments, it's a really fun and enjoyable ride; but the big draw is the characters and their relationship.
Michiko and Hatchin's relationship is never very easy - they argue and bicker a lot, and occasionally hit each others - but they also desperately care and look out for each others in a very compelling way. The other big draw is the setting - I don't know enough of Brazilian culture to properly judge how faithful the picture is, but the anime at least really give you a great sense of texture of the country, both visually, with the soundtrack, and through the characters we often see in only one episode but who are nonetheless extremely well realised and awesome on their own. Storylines tend to alternate between a focus on Michiko's PoV - usually high on action and the driving storyline of the search for Hiroshi - and Hana's - more low key but often fascinating in the way it portray her run-in with random people and how she connects with them. Unlike in Samurai Shamploo, I really loved the storytelling in every episode, even the most standalone ones.
Last but not least the opening is really awesome. Judge yourself:
But today I want to tell you about my other favourite show right now. Much like SCC, it does not just pass the Bechdel test, it passes it with flying colours and while doing a tap dance. And above SCC, if there's an equivalent to the Bechdel test for characters of colours, it passes that one too:
That's Michiko e Hatchin:
Produced by Mangaglobe, the studio otherwise known for Samurai Champloo, and directed by Sayo Yamamoto, Michiko e Hatchin takes place in a nameless country which is basically Brazil with the serial numbers removed and features more references to the 70s exploitation genre than a Tarantino movie, and revolves around one woman and a little girl travelling around searching for the girl's father while cops and gangs try to capture/kill them. So far 18 episodes out of a total of 22 have been broadcasted and can be found fansubbed easily.
This is Michiko Malandro:
Michiko has been in prison for more than 10 years when she escapes and finds Hana. I'm more than a little bit in love with her. It's not only that her chaarcter design is really lovely. She's badass, temperamental, sexy, cocky, impulsive, and tends to insult people first, ask question later. She's also still hanged up on Hiroshi, a guy she loved before, and thought of as dead until she found out that had had a girl after the supposed date of his death. Both her and Hiroshi used to be part of a gang named the Monstros.
This is Hana, soon to be nicknamed Hatchin:
Hana is a 9 year old going on 10 orphan girl raised by the family of a pastor who all abuse her horribly. The first episode is hearbreaking in its depiction of Hana's day to day life, but this soon stops when Jean Valjean kicks the Tenardier's ass Michiko drives her fucking bike through the window and asks Hana to come with her. Hana's interesting because she's not just a cute little girl along for the ride; she's a very angry little girl - for good reasons - but also has a big responsible streak and sense of morality which balances out Michiko's temperament but also complicates her relationship with her.
This is Atsuko:
Michiko's childhood friend and sometimes victim of bullying, Atsuko is the cop who initially captured Michiko and is now charged with finding her again. She and Michiko have a... complicated relationship, to say the least. Me I think she's in love with Michiko ^_^
This is Batista:
An old childhood friend of Hiroshi, currently the leader of the Monstros.
This series is easily the best I've seen since Serei no Moribito. With a great balance of action, comedy, drama and atmospheric moments, it's a really fun and enjoyable ride; but the big draw is the characters and their relationship.
Michiko and Hatchin's relationship is never very easy - they argue and bicker a lot, and occasionally hit each others - but they also desperately care and look out for each others in a very compelling way. The other big draw is the setting - I don't know enough of Brazilian culture to properly judge how faithful the picture is, but the anime at least really give you a great sense of texture of the country, both visually, with the soundtrack, and through the characters we often see in only one episode but who are nonetheless extremely well realised and awesome on their own. Storylines tend to alternate between a focus on Michiko's PoV - usually high on action and the driving storyline of the search for Hiroshi - and Hana's - more low key but often fascinating in the way it portray her run-in with random people and how she connects with them. Unlike in Samurai Shamploo, I really loved the storytelling in every episode, even the most standalone ones.
Last but not least the opening is really awesome. Judge yourself:
Click to view