Toonzone Anime of the Month (10/2013) - Michiko & Hatchin

[JShaggy]

This month's Toonzone AotM is the long-awaited anime series to finally arrive on our shores: Michiko & Hatchin.

The complete 22-episode series, from the brilliant minds behind Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, is available now from Funimation.

Synopsis:
Watch Michiko & Hatchin - Watch Anime & Live Action Streaming Episodes & Video Online

After escaping from prison, the sexy criminal Michiko rescues an abused girl known as Hatchin. The two are about as opposite as they come, but their fates become intertwined through the connection of a man from both their pasts. On the run from the police and Hatchin’s abusive foster parents, the unlikely duo set out to find this man and ultimately discover their freedom.

Discuss your thoughts about Michiko & Hatchin while keeping any and all potential spoilers to a minimum. Also, do not forget to rate the series when you're done.


Enjoy!

 

[Lord Dalek]

I've only seen the first two episodes. Too much shameless Cinderella metaphor abuse, nasty unrelatable characters, and blatant Bebop thievery for my liking and this is before the show allegedly jumps the shark (which I probably will not stick around for).

Also if you go by Michiko E Hatchin's initials you get M.E.H.

 

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Aside from the music and the intro, M & H is nothing at all like Cowboy Bebop. And the director of Cowboy Bebop is the music director here anyway, so he's entitled to steal from his own stuff. Cowboy Bebop certainly can be accused of stealing as well--its opening may be legendary, but the Gunsmith Cats OVA did basically the same thing about 5 years before it, and there have been a number of anime prior to GS that had Saul Bass inspired openings as well.

For the record, I did enjoy M & H more than Cowboy Bebop. It ultimately had more heart--the mother-daughter dynamic between the two leads is quite touching, and that kind of relationship just isn't explored enough in anime. There was always something about Cowboy Bebop that left me a little cold and aside from Faye's storyline, the emotional punches of that show often felt unearned to me, as much as I admired it from a style and technical standpoint.
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