7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Hatchin is a girl raised by strict foster parents who has long given up her dreams of freedom. Michiko is a sexy criminal who escapes from a supposedly inescapable prison. When she suddenly enters Hana's life, these two very different women set off on a journey across a lawless land in search of a missing man from both their pasts.
Starring: Yōko Maki, Suzuka Ohgo, Kanji Tsuda, Maki Sakai, Masaki MiuraForeign | 100% |
Anime | 99% |
Action | 7% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (2 BDs, 2 DVDs)
DVD copy
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Did you ever fantasize as a child that your parents were not your actual parents, and that in fact you obviously had been adopted? There’s probably not a kid alive who hasn’t looked at his parents and wondered (to himself or actually out loud), “I came from you?” My own personal childhood fantasy involved none other than Elliott Gould and Elizabeth Montgomery, and I still am convinced at times that I am the unknown (even to them) progeny of a long forgotten affair. As that old adage goes, you don’t get to pick the family you’re born into, but sometimes you also don’t get to pick the family that adopts you, and so we come to hapless little Hana in the unusual and often wonderfully compelling anime Michiko and Hatchin. Hana has had the misfortune to have been adopted by a martinet minister and his equally outrageous family, and the poor little girl is regularly subjected to a variety of abuses that will probably have most viewers’ blood boiling by the end of the first episode. Not only is Hana subjected to Cinderella-esque demands that she keep the house clean, she’s beaten up by her step-siblings, including a really obnoxious older girl and an equally obnoxious younger boy. The parents have adopted Hana for the simple fact that they receive a child support stipend from the government, something which of course they don’t deign to spend on Hana. Meanwhile a female convict named Michiko has managed an elaborate escape from the prison where she’s being held, and after having robbed a bank in broad daylight, she sets off to find Hana. The minister and his wife think that Michiko might be Hana’s long lost mother, who is presumed to be dead, but that may or may not be the case, as this slowly unfolding story proves. Michiko does show up at the decrepit parsonage where Hana has more or less been held as a prisoner herself, and Michiko does free Hana from that life of servitude. But what happens next is a bit surprising.
Michiko and Hatchin is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This Manglobe Studios production (Samurai Champloo, a series also directed by Michiko and Hatchin's helmsman Sayo Yamamoto). This production may not have quite the visual ingenuity of some of the production house's other efforts, but it often comes close. Characters have an unusually realistic look to them, and line detail is sharp and precise. The locations, often fetid favelas and other crowded urban environments, are usually delivered with a nice degree of precision and at least occasionally beautifully popping colors. The series is a bit drab in the palette department, which keeps things from being overly vivid a lot of the time, and several flashback scenes are peppered with "grain" to differentiate them from the contemporary moments. There's also a tendency to artificially soften some scenes, especially those that take place in extremely hot environments (where faux heat waves and shimmer are added to basic animation). But generally speaking this is a great looking high definition presentation that, aside from a handful of very brief instances of banding, looks sharp, well detailed and artifact free.
Michiko and Hatchin features a rather good English dub delivered via Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and the original Japanese language version in Dolby TrueHD 2.0. While the English language version has a much more pronounced low end (as should be expected) and nice surround activity when for example Michiko and Hatchin tool around on their little scooter, curious fans may want to at least check out the Japanese language track since it features two fairly well known actresses, Yoko Maki (or Magi, as she's identified in an extra in the second volume), who starred in The Grudge and Suzuka Ohga, who starred in Memoirs of a Geisha. The series features an exceptional music score, which is opened up considerably in the 5.1 mix. Fidelity is excellent on both of these tracks, and dynamic range gets a workout courtesy of elements like gunshots and car chases.
Disc One
Michiko and Hatchin is a really fun and interesting series that offers two incredibly distinctive lead characters and, perhaps just as notably, a really unusual set of locations for an anime outing. The series frankly may ultimately not completely fulfill its potential, but this is one series where the journey is probably more important than the destination. Recommended.
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