Michiko to Hatchin (Ep 1- 6) – deculture!

Beyond that road, someone will come for me.

I’ve meant to start reviewing a new anime series for quite some time now. To be honest though, I haven’t seen all the Fall ’08 animes as most of them are still cliched Harem/Shounen/Moe/Tsundere shows that I’m simply too tired of. I won’t deny that what drew me towards Michiko to Hatchin initially was the character design.

To put it simply, the show is about…

...a mother...

…and…

...a daughter.

The only mother/daughter series I’ve seen before this are Witchblade and Allison to Lillia. While the former was an interesting scifi with the whole mother/daughter relationship done in a typically cheesy way, it was also oozing with unflattering fanservice. The latter, I just managed to get past the half way point and couldn’t be bothered watching anymore, it felt too happy-go-lucky for my tastes. Neither of the series I finished to the end as I was never (and still ain’t) complelled to do so.

In my earlier years of watching animes I would finish even a crappy series just for the sake of completion, for instance Rah Xephon and Bakuretsu Tenshi to name but a few. Nowadays however, shit needs to be highly entertaining for me to spend time on it. Cherry picking the good stuff is easy though, as most of the anime industry seems to be producing quite a disspointingly high amount of crap.

Enough with my ranting though, we’re here to look at Michiko to Hatchin. Now let’s start with why this anime kicks so much ass. Michiko is introduced in the first few minutes of the first episode as escaping a high security prison…

...Mission Impossible III style!

And before I forget, the OP quite simply…

...ROCKS!

Anyways, back to the programme. As explosive and awesome Michiko’s entry was, Hatchin’s is completely…

...dull and pitiful.

Living in a foster home filled with utter bastards, her life is that of Cinderella. Cleaning and cooking aren’t enough, as everybody in that God awful family physically abuses her and berates her at every moment of her waking life. Unlike Cinderella however, she retaliates. Unfortunately she realises that the world is even more cruel and that she can’t survive on her own. Gathering her courage she comes back to her foster home. Thankfully, her fairy Godmother Michiko…

...comes to the rescue!

From then on, the rest of the story just follows…

...the dynamic duo on their wacky adventures.

Or so would be the case under any other production, but this is manglobe we’re talking about; producers of the famous Samurai Champloo and the infamous Ergo Proxy. What follows is a simple quest of these two finding Spike Spiegel Hatchin’s…

....father.

In the previous six episodes, we see flashes of…

Michiko's life in the past.

In one such episode we see Michiko and her friend someone she knew from childhood arresting her for numerous crimes. Then (i.e. way back in the day) the two divas have a…

...nice little chat.

Locked up at the time, these two cross each other’s paths once again. As was the case back then, Michiko is made fun of again at how pitiful she is, but what really pissed her off is when her friend makes fun Hatchin. Clearly…

...a dosage of pwnage was in order.

The rest of the episodes take a nice pace, which may seem a bit slow to some, but character development is what we see instead of fast plot advancements and furious action sequences. Rest assured, the latter is adequately peppered throughout the series. The anime certainly doesn’t see to put style over substance as one might think at this point. Heck, even the…

...one filler was handled with class.

The last two episodes took place in the town where Michiko grew up, which was also the place where she met Hiroshi (Hatchin’s father). It certainly was…

...love...

...at first sight.

Not to delve too much into the details of what happened, let’s just say that getting into the neighbourhood controlled by gangs thirsty for your blood isn’t exactly a good thing. You really have to watch the episodes to understand just…

...what the hell is going on here.

Needless to say that in the end, the two get out safely, leaving old friends behind and…

...continuing their search.

You might have noticed that I have refrained from referring to Michiko and Hatchin as mother and daughter except for the intro. The reason being that even in the anime itself, the only time Michiko actually calls herself Hatchin’s mother is when she calls up the foster parents in the first episode. Never is it said explicitly that Michiko and Hatchin are mother and daughter, and the implication itself is pretty vague. That said, their relationship is certainly that of a very caring parent and child.

So there you have it, a somewhat unique anime with a good story and beautiful art design and direction. The characters are completely adorable and the pacing is fun. In terms of action, the only anime in recent memory that had this raw feeling to it was Black Lagoon. This, dear readers, is exactly the kind of entertainment I’m looking for!

And with that…

...see you next deculture!