Michiko to Hatchin

Michiko to Hatchin was a fun romp through the various slums and deserts of fictional Latin American locales as Michiko and Hana press on their journey to find Michiko's ex-lover and Hana's biological father, Hiroshi Morenos. The series proved to be quite realistic in its exploration of the various locales within the series where crime and poverty are rampant with the police not able to do enough in halting both. Town streets are worn-down and derelict as a result of the nonstop crime and poverty faced within such slums and people resort to crimes such as child smuggling and drug trafficking to get by within the world of Michiko to Hatchin. Considering the harsh details I've heard about life within Latin and South America, I was quite impressed with how believably this series explored such issues. In terms of characters, Michiko to Hatchin does do enough in fleshing out the show's prominent characters (Hana, Michiko, Atsuko and Satoshi) and whatever conflicts they face as they become connected to Hana and Michiko's search for Hiroshi. In particular, Hana and Michiko's bond is the central focus of the series making for both humorous and touching moments as they are frequently at odds with one another due to how different they are in personality and thinking, yet are the best thing both have had in their lives due to their harsh pasts. Adding to the show's comedy are episodes where the duo encounter some over-the-top characters within town slums such as a crackpot doctor, an eccentric Chinese restaurant cook and a cross-dressing opera singer. The show's plot is mostly linear as Hana and Michiko journey in finding clues pertaining to Hiroshi's whereabouts, as well as some fillers where the two encounter said crazy characters and some focus on Atsuko's past. The show isn't afraid at making things become intense as Michiko and others get into some dangerous territory while confronting thugs, the police, assassins and mobsters leading to some crazy action sequences with car chases and gun fights. These scenes are quite fluid and jaw-dropping to see onscreen as vehicles and characters move smoothly enough during intense moments. As for the rest of the presentation, the visuals of Michiko to Hatchin are bright and full of detail in depicting the various town slums and deserts that Michiko and Hana travel through. Such detail also went into character designs as they were designed in various ways, from being black to Mexican to fat to ugly to attractive. The soundtrack consisted of Latin and Carribean style musical choices such as salsa and jazz that fit perfectly well with the show's Latin American-like setting. The show isn't without its imperfections. The show's first episode had the annoying habit of overemphasizing Hana's family abuse problems and the ending felt rather lackluster in addressing Hana's new life with Hiroshi due to the lack of background on his character. There are also some plot holes that the show doesn't bother to address such as who Hana's mother was, how Hana got her stomach tattoo and what ever happened to an assassin that helped Michiko towards the end of a later episode. Despite these gripes, Michiko to Hatchin made for a fun and touching comedy-drama thanks to the chemistry between Hana and Mitsuko, as well as their encounters with various criminals and crazy characters within various Latin American slums. This was one of the better unlicensed anime titles I've had a chance of seeing as of late.

There's a lot of style here, from the fairly uncommon setting, to the unique (if hit or miss) soundtrack, to the distinctive character designs, to engaging action sequences and relatively high production value. The first episode and the last 2 episodes are especially good, so it starts and ends well. The thing that ruins it is that the creators left pretty much nothing for the characters or plot. The show clearly is trying to do too many things and it really needed to cut some of the content off so everything was more cohesive. If they cut the kid, the show could be more focused on the crime drama and action. Cut some of the crime and drama instead, and we get a more interesting found family adventure. As it is, the show is very distracted and constantly feels like each part is trying to push the others out of the way. A major failing of the show is that the main pair never really develop. From the description, it's clear that they are going to have a rough start, but over the course of the journey, the two will learn from each other and become family. We've all seen the setup about a million times before. The problem here is that the show doesn't even attempt to portray this development whatsoever, but still pretends that it has happened by the conclusion. Actually, it's worse then that - the shows actively portrays their relationship as completely dysfunctional up until the plot requires otherwise. Even as far as the latter half of the show, Michiko completely ignores Hatchin and any of her problems, leaves her out of the loop for all of the dangerous things she might be doing, and more than once slaps her to shut her up. There's very little of the show where Michiko shows genuine concern for Hatchin, or any tender moments that would make it seems like this is anything more than a kidnapping. Hatchin has absolutely no faith in Michiko, despite Michiko's commitment to Hatchin's well-being is one of the only consistent traits she has - she will ultimately do right by Hatchin, even if it's in a way Hatchin doesn't like. Hatchin runs away at least 2 distinct times in the show and ends up joining back up with a mostly-unbothered Michiko. Once makes sense. Twice means nothing meaningfully changed. How this relationship manages to suddenly becomes the sort of relationship where Hatchin is sobbing when they part ways requires you to imagine that a whole lot of bonding happens off screen. Just 1 episode out of 22 where Michiko takes Hatchin out for a day of fun would've made a world of difference here. Speaking of those 22 episodes, the show would be much better if it had half the episode count. It would probably have been best if it were a movie. So many of the episodic plots are slow and just forgettable. Many members of the supporting cast are completely unnecessary and should have been cut so the ones that remained could get more screen time. The goal of finding Hatchin's dad is constantly alluded to, but is almost never developed on any given episode. It's fairly clear that each episode in the middle was written to the premise independently, rather than being carefully ordered so that there's regular progress towards the goal or towards any specific character development. When the show is nearing the end, it just suddenly points the cast in the right direction and makes sure all the pieces are where they need to be (often without explanation). Whether you'll like this show ultimately comes down to why you're interested. If you just want a strong female lead, or you're looking for an action adventure with found family elements, you'd probably be a lot happier watching Moribito. If you're mainly here for the setting, the action/crime tags, or the staff and studio, you'll probably find some value here, but you might find that the 10 year old tends to get in the way of the action.

This show started off iffy, but the characters definitely grew on me over time. "Is it interesting?" Well, the story is somewhere inbetween a linear continuous story and a purely episodic one. The story is told similar to the the pace of the characters; fast and furious one moment, and slow and thoughtful the next. In the end, it was alright. 1.5 out of 3. "Was it memorable?" The artwork and animation were really good at parts, but wouldn't stay consistant. The character motivations were a little too mysterious for my taste. The ending wasn't too original and somewhat disappointing. 1.5 out of 3. "Was it entertaining?" The fighting, chases, and various action was great all through. Voice acting was top notch. The text could have used some translation though. 2 out of 3. Starting with 1 (because), 1+1.5+1.5+2=6 There were few episodes that could be cut out, but the series still felt too long. I wouldn't mind more, but would not get excited if there were.

Sayo Yamomoto, now somewhat well-known for her more recent show, Yuri on Ice, had her directorial debut with Michiko to Hatchin. After her infatuation with Latin American film and a trip to Brazil, she unleashed her creativity with a show about an escaped convict trying to reunite a gangster's daughter with her mysterious father. While there is an overarching plot, many episodes are spent in an unrelated locale, developing the characters and the setting and allowing the show to truly feel alive. The art is stunning, both with its fluid animation and color composition (particularly in the OP). Action scenes are well-choreographed, and backgrounds suit each episode well. The characters consistently change outfits (sometimes multiple times in a single episode), again helping the show feel true to life. The OST of this show is top-notch, blending club bangers like "Papo Cafajeste" with mellow, bossa tunes like "Ritmo suado" seamlessly. The OP is jazzy and colorful, the ED a feel-good tune to soothe the viewer after any particularly emotional episodes. In addition, the voice actors made each character feel alive, helped in large part by enlisting live-action actors (Ohgo Suzuka for Hatchin, Sakai Maki for Atsuko, etc.) Every character served a purpose, whether it be for the development of the main cast or simply to inject yet another dose of realism into the show. Any character shown on-screen is unique and has their own moral dilemmas and motivations, but the viewer is often left to interpret these for themselves, a nice touch. I haven't enjoyed a show as much as this in actual years, anime or otherwise. The strong female cast, the unorthodox setting (for an anime), the stellar script-writing from Ujita Takashi, it all coalesces into a near-perfect show. I have extremely minor qualms with it (namely deus ex machina that occurred several times), but I'm willing to overlook these in sense of the larger focus on the cast and their journey. TL;DR: Highly recommended to fans of compelling female casts, Sayo Yamomoto, and loosely episodic series (a la Samurai Champloo)

*Light-medium character spoilers ahead!* (speaking of their development and personality throughout the show) Quite a few reviews praise the ability of the female cast, but I just had to say that I found them rather flawed, honestly, the entirety of the cast is flawed. It seems that in order to make characters w/o stereotypes, they just used characters that had strong personalities and very little to no grow for multiple episodes, which bothered me. Michiko is no doubt "strong" but extremely stubborn, and as others have mentioned, fails to move the plot forward in any way until someone has a lead on "Hiroshi" and his whereabouts. My favorite part of the show was when Satoshi Batista started to come into the forefront. Unlike a majority of the cast, Satoshi does whatever he sets out to do, and does not vocalize his regrets. I originally enjoyed seeing the human-"ness" of characters when they would express their disappointment in themselves vocally, but it got old rather quickly, part of the reason why I felt why the characters didn't grow is because they didn't learn anything from these mistakes. Satoshi is actually quite smart. He is extremely aware of his surroundings and the inability of being able to become boss of Monstro without help from Hiroshi. It seems they wanted him to be disliked at first, but later found some room to script sympathy for him. Hatchin is super cute, and is probably the character with the most growth in the show. Her stubborness comes head to head with Michiko's quite often which is annoying after it happens the first few times. Atsuko is.. disappointing. She just can't decide what kind of character she wants to be. She's alot like Michiko in that where Michiko can't get Hiroshi off her mind, Atsuko is always ironically there to bail Michiko out of all her sticky situations, basically the personification of plot armor. *END OF SPOILERS* TL;DR, Characters can be kinda frustrating!! ;( Honestly the sub characters are better than the main ones. Music is amazing (love soil & pimp), Art is gorgeous, Dub is great. 7/10 should watch if you're bored and looking for something different.

I remember seeing this as a recommendation a while ago, and didn't really look much into it. I only started watching it after I found out Manglobe had filed for bankruptcy, just to see if they had gone completely belly up. How wrong I was! This feels like the tryptic entry to Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, they all have a similar enough feeling to them and an incredible soundtrack to keep everything together. Michiko no Hatchin came out of the gate as quickly as Samurai Champloo, the first episode had me begging for more. The style is so similar, from the fluid movements and incredible fight scenes to the snappy dialogue between snarky characters bound together on a journey. It also had a wonderful english dub, with a top notch cast that put an incredible performance into it. I'm starting to see how Manglobe put themselves into that much debt, because this show had a fantastic budget. You know a show has money to burn when the backgrounds on driving shots are just as good as the static ones. The entirety of the show is this: Hatchin travels with Michiko to search for Hatchin's father, set in fake Brazil. It's largely episodic, with a Bebop "getting into hi-jinx at every possible turn" feel to it, from run ins with the police to shoot outs with slum kids and gang violence. The episodes are all entertaining in their own right, but where Michiko no Hatchin really shines is right there in the name, the two main characters and how they revolve around each other. In the beginning, both of their reasons for travelling together are completely selfish, and neither of them can stand each other. Through their misadventures and escapades, the two start to become friends and rely on each other more and more, but they'd never admit it. By the end, they honestly care about each other and in a way they need each other. Honestly, I think this might be an even stronger series than Champloo, because there's less filler, and the finale is a lot more satisfying. The only problem with it is what do you do when it's all over? Please tell me if you figure that out

After watching the ending tonight, I can finally say that this is a fantastic piece of work that is fresh breath of air in the anime industry. This came from the same studio who did Samurai Champloo, and if you're familiar with that you can expect about the same from Michiko to Hatchin. The main story line being: it's not the destination, it's the journey. This anime is so multicultural with beautiful art and flawless character designs, seiyuus, the list goes on and on. You will have an attraction to almost every character in this show, that goes for the antagonists/cruel natured characters, and the ones that stick around for one episode or less than that. The only thing I'm on the fence about with this show is the ending, it's difficult to express my feelings about it without spoilers but basically; where I felt the end results were in character it just came across as a lot more than what I expected it to be. But in a way, that's a good thing. It makes it more interesting, as it's a hard to predict show in general. It truly draws you in and keeps you entertained, and we need a lot more of these shows in anime that's for sure. Lots of 9 and 10 ratings from me.

Michiko to Hatchin is one of the shining examples of anime that can cater to mature audience. This one is a whole package of laughs, tearjerkers, romance, camaraderie, grittiness, silliness and most of all, quirkiness. It's pacing brisk throughout the show. Although it does suffer from a general lack of direction in the beginning. Episode 11 onward, the series cranks it up a notch with a unique blend of gritty realism and trippy surrealism. It then ends with a bang as it eventually finds its way to a near perfect ending. The visuals are great in this show, probably one of the best. Not surprising considering the fact that the same creators were also behind "Cowboy Bebop" and "Samurai Champloo". I love how the show is set in Latin America and love it even more for being realistic about this setting, showing the wild, harsh world of the common folk. But the real crown jewel of this show is the soundtrack. Wow, this show would lose most of its luster without the accompaniment of the absolutely wonderful music. I generally don't enjoy most OP and ED tracks in most anime, but this one has got a few pretty good ones. All in all, a great production. You'll have to remember that, Michiko to Hatchin is not really plot-driven. Instead, the characters and setting will keep you entertained once you get into the groove. It's main protagonists are a woman (Michiko) and a girl (Hatchin). It is their journey that forms the central theme, as against their destination. Both are great characters, unlike most of the one-dimensional female leads you'd find in most anime. Michiko is hot-headed, badass and a straightedge with a kind heart. Hatchin is polite, gentle, brave and determined. The best part is how they grow as the series progresses. Even the other characters were pretty good, save for one. The only reason I won't give a higher rating is because of it's relatively weak plot that is weighed down by flimsy motives. But don't let that bother you, since the characters and the atmosphere will keep you so entertained, you'll not be bothered by its flaws If you are looking for a brisk, mature, bittersweet drama, then Michiko to Hatchin will fit the bill. I'd advise watching 1-2 episodes a day at the start so you can gradually ease into binging it towards the end

Michiko is a gun crazed, foul mouth badass who might not actually be as awful as she seems at first. She rescues Hatchin, an orphan with a horrible foster home and takes her with her on her journey. To find a man named Hiroshi. Hiroshi is Michiko's long lost love and the birth dad of Hatchin. As they venture from town to town in a Latin based world. Like Mexico or Peru. Michiko is so hell bent on finding Hiroshi that she puts Hatchin in danger in almost every episode. But that seems to make Hatchin grow as a character. She goes from this little innocent girl in the first episode, to this powerful female character and almost takes over the last third of the show. Stealing it from Michiko who becomes a second breath. The show is episodic, meaning it has this underlining story that gets sidetracked by little stories. You see this a lot in anime. Where there is a all around theme and goal the characters try and accomplish, but little side missions get in the way. Think like Cowboy Beebop. Spikes overall mission was to find Lucious, the man from his past and see his long lost love. But was sidetracked by mushrooms and floating fat men. Anyway, this is the same with Michiko and Hatchin. They stop in town after town meeting various characters that have nothing to do with the actual plot, but are interesting enough to keep you fully engaged and liking that each character has their own personality and are flushed out. Characters like Satoshi Batista to the circus girl who befriends Hatchin are all really good characters I had fun watching. The show all around wasn't that great for me though. It didn't have anything that made it stand out from the crowd, just another comedy/action anime with a big boobed girl and cursing and to be honest, the animation was kinda ugly. Even though it had one of the best last episodes of any anime I've seen that was so gut wrenching and beautifully told. That was enough for me to give it eight stars. Because watching a really good show makes you feel like you've gone on this incredible journey with its characters. I 100% felt that with Michiko and Hatchin.

This is the first anime, I will recommend to anyone looking for something new but impacting to watch! Michiko To Hatchin has a part in my heart now, and will forever remember it. The story of an abused girl, named Ana, is soon to be taken by a sassy criminal named Michiko. Together they embark on many adventurous, dangerous ones especially, in order to find Ana's father. Not only that but soon they discover they really care for each other when it was far from that in the start. It is a very touching story. And super unique as in setting, making the characters stand out from many anime series. The animation was great, nice colors, clear, great details! The sound was amazing! Especially music wise. Suited the anime and theme perfectly, the ending song became one of my favorites! There was great character development in every episode, even with supporting characters, they captured your attention with their stories. Please watch if you love action filled dramas! Bit of humor as well

2008 Anime by Manglobe Directional Debut of Sayo Yamamoto Review from my POV (w/personal biases) Spoiler-ish Pros: + Finally, an Anime with a South American setting!! it even has that City of God vibe to it (From the dark moments and hard truths to even some of the humor) ^__^ + Who doesnt like that catchy opening? :P + Hatchin is very likable and to see her grow throughout the show is very appealing. + The interaction between characters is involving and almost every character gets their shining moment. + NOW THAT IS HOW YOU WRITE AN ANTAGONIST!!!! Badass Satoshi is Badass. Cons: - Some transitions between episodes can be a bit rough. Sometimes you're you're just thrown into a new situation with M2H and other times you wonder how they got from point B of the last episode to Point A of the next. - The last episode seems to make the main protagonists' goal not worth it, considering what hey had to go through throughout the series. - Hiroshi Morenos, not cool dude. Final Note: I recommend this to anyone looking for something out of the ordinary with similar enjoyment of other shows and movies ( Champloo/ Bebop/ City of God). Take a break from your Moe marathon-ing and Watch this show.

I just finished watching this series and I found it strangely addicting. Once i hit the fourth or fifth episode i couldn't stop myself from watching. Michiko, an escaped convict from a high security prison, breaks into the house of Hatchin(Hana) one day and tells her to come with her. When i say break in, i mean actually break through a wall on a motorcycle too! That is the kind of eventful action that occurs throughout the whole series, it was definatly not lacking in that department. The two then go on to find a man, Hiroshi, who is Hatchin's father and Michiko's lover. The story follows them through what seems to be a south american style country while being chased by cops and gangsters. The art is a unique mix of a lot coloring while maintaining a dark and gritty atmosphere. This show actually reminded me of a mix between Black Lagoon and El Cazador de la Bruja...even Michiko was reminiscent of Revy, though not as violent. The music was fantastic. It really made you feel the spanish/south american setting. The character's were also great. The two main protagonist's are fun to watch together, whether arguing or running from gangsters and cops. Also the side characters were very interesting, appearing and disappearing within one or two episodes. Each personality was unique though giving spice to the interactions they had with the protagonists.

I love this series, it is very diverse and entertaining. The main character Michiko Malandro who is a beautiful bad ass rebellion, takes you on a high-end journey. Lots of action and drama. Storyline keeps you asking what's next. It feels good to take a break from all the animes that are taken place in schools with the bubble gummy looking like characters. Artwork is kick@ss and the character develop was great you cant help to fall for some of the characters, Im definitely going to add this series to my collection!

One of the few anime with a vividly realised foreign setting (South America, complete with a swingin' latin soundtrack), also unusual for its serious feminist veiwpoint. The road-trip storyline is rather disjointed, and nothing extraordinary in its premises, but the two leads are flawed and strong willed girls you can't help but admire. At its best, this show is wonderfully detailed, and shows thought patterns hardly seen before in anime, astutely. Hatchin's voice work ozes character, and a raw edge pervades the best scenes. Other plot elements, especially earlier, seem sadly ludicrous, and male characters are almost uniformly weak, but the leads manage to steer the show to an excellent conclusion.

This anime is a pure deception. It is a technically good Seinen, with great and fluid animation, good music, great voice acting (with actors from movies instead of seiyus). The atmosphere is similar to Samurai Champloo from the same studio, it is chill, with a lot of boring conversations between the characters, and then sudden well animated actions scenes. The plot is just an excuse to make the characters travel in various cities without clear objective. The pace is chaotic (there is even an episode where a main character is captured, and at the beginning of the following episode she's free without any explanation), the plot is episodic, each episode has new (underdeveloped) characters, most of these episodes are useless and bring nothing to the plot nor the development of the characters. The main issue is that the "adventures" in half the episodes are absolutely unrelated to the issues of the main characters or the main plot, and there is zero consequence to these adventures. About the characters, they only have one behaviour without any subtility. For exemple, the mother is a bad ass criminal, stupid and always getting out of situations with her pure strength. Her daughter is annoying, naive and throwing tantrums in all episodes. After 12 episodes, it gets really annoying to watch them interacting exclusively according to the behaviour previously mentionned. It is impossible to like them or identify to their problems. The main antagonists are underdevelopped too, because they are obscured by many minor antagonists characters who appear every episode. None of them are memorable. Story : 2/10. The plot is pretty average, and the conclusion of the story is stupid and without emotion. They hyped the ending during the whole anime and the conclusion is absolutely bland. Art : 8/10. The characters are really well drawned. The animation is way above average, but sometimes the backgrounds are poor, and the lightning and tones are far from perfect. I didn t like the tones and colors of a lot of scenes, which didn 't fit the atmosphere. Sound : 9/10 Characters : 1/10. The characters were absolutely annoying, one sided, and they don't really evolve in 22 episodes. They don't behave like humans. Also, their relationships and motivations are always unclear. Enjoyment : 2/10. With a different story in each episode, there is nothing that makes you want to watch the next one. it gets really boring because a lot of episodes bring nothing to the plot, they are useless and unrelated to the issues of the main characters. I recommend this anime for the fans of Samurai Champloo, and people who wants some action. This anime has nothing memorable. If you feel bored, do not hesitate to skip a lot of passages, you'll still understand the main plot.

Michiko to Hatchin starts out and finished strong and offers one of the most realistic, and believable portrayals of Latin America, Brazil in particular, that I've seen in anime. If you're on the fence about watching, don't hesitate, stop reading, and go watch! Since I've watched Samurai Champloo fairly recently and Manglobe produced both, I'll be referencing and making comparisons to Samurai Champloo throughout this review. The story is engaging and thrilling from start to finish. The basic plot is quite simple and fairly reminiscent of Manglobe's prior original animation, Samurai Champloo, and also involves a series-long epic journey with the end goal of finding a missing person. Also just like Samurai Champloo, the series is somewhat episodic by nature, with entertaining mini-sub plots and memorable one-time characters. I'd say the main complexity of this series is generated from character interactions, rather than convoluted and confusing plot devices or conflicts, which definitely helps give the story a very human-like perspective that at times could confuse the reader as to the motivations of certain characters. The pacing is done quite well and rarely feels forced thanks to the many moments of refrain and reflection weaved in-between the frantic and speedy, yet fluid action scenes. The interactions between the brash Michiko and well-mannered Hana are enjoyable, comedic, and touching to watch. While both possess fairly different personalities and approaches to life, advances in character development are subtle, meaningful, and believable. The supporting cast is filled with strong, diverse, and unique characters that are rarely irritating or distracting. The ending, as another reviewer pointed out, is definitely bitter-sweet, but offers a very believable and realistic outcome, which is most fitting for a series with realism at its core. As for visual and sound aspects, Manglobe has done it again and created an artistic masterpiece. Diamandara is as faithful an animated reproduction of the architecture and landscapes of Brazil that I've ever seen. Everything from the character models and clothing to the buildings, vehicles, and furniture is detailed and accurate. The use of spacing and colors are tastefully done and further reinforce the atmosphere. The setting is fairly dynamic and rarely feels dull with Michiko and Hana visiting cities, tropical forests, slums, market places, highways, Chinatown, and small towns. As mentioned before, action scenes are consistently fluid and well-animated, with good special effects. Characters have fluid movements and background scenes feel lively. Facial expressions are well-portrayed, subtle at times, and rarely over-done or over the top. Along with the strong art, the music melds in perfectly with each scene, with touching vocal Latin inserts, blood-pumping action beats, heart-thumping build ups, and soothing Latin-inspired acoustic tunes. Not quite the unique, contrasting, hip-hop type of soundtrack that Samurai Champloo had, but definitely enjoyable and worked very well throughout all 22 episodes. Voice acting is well-done across the board, with the quality being high initially and masterful mid-way through the series. Each major character had endearing voices that fit with their visual depictions and emotions were well-conveyed. Overall, I gotta say, don't hesitate to watch this series, especially if you enjoyed watching Samurai Champloo! You won't be disappointed. Sit back and enjoy the wild, yet touching ride that Michiko and Hatchin has to offer!

The main story of Michiko and Hatchin is relatively simple, but it has several subplots to fill it out. M&H has several stand alone episodes that range in quality from great to "where is the rest of the episode?" M&H is really good at creating questions that arouse the viewers curiosity; however, it also tends to leave a lot of questions without answers. Those questions, while not necessary for the story, leave the viewer wanting to know more at the end of the show. I think the show took the appropriate amount of time for the story the creators wanted to tell, neither too short to create viewer investment, nor so long that the show would drag on. M&H has both a lighthearted side to it and an ultra dark and violent side that somehow manage to maintain a balance with each other. The art for this show is great. The characters and setting look different from just about every other anime because of the show's South American style backdrop. The animation is smooth and the CG is barely noticeable. I didn't particularly like the opening and ending songs but they suited the show. The dub was great and none of the characters looked mismatched with their voices. There is no heavy use of music to manipulate the viewers emotions either. The characters are the real gem of this show. Some are only seen for a couple of episodes and others are there for most of the show. Michiko Malandro - One of the stars of the show. She is as badass as it gets. She constantly gets the crap kicked out of her and is like a greased pig. She is not the perfect parental figure and never becomes one but her interactions with Hatchin are great to see. Hana Morenos - The other star of the show grows from a shy and awkward kid to someone who has clearly been around Michiko for a while. She tends to take care of Michiko more than the other way around but she never gets to be annoying or obnoxious--completely the opposite of most child characters. Atsuko Jackson - I think that her character can be pretty confusing at times. Her goal is to catch Michiko and apparently dislikes her for some reason that I feel never gets explained well enough to make sense. Satoshi Batista - An old friend of Hana's father and a gang boss. He is an interesting character that walks a line between complete asshole and human being. I could never bring myself to completely hate him in spite of all his deeds. I really enjoyed this show. I never felt the need to put it down or take a break from it. Its definitely different from most anime but if you like stuff like Cowboy Bebop and Black Lagoon there is a good chance you might like M&H. I recommend to anyone who enjoys seeing character relationships grow.

Summary of review: A beautifully animated road trip that failed its characters and relationships. Nowhere near as good as Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, or Samurai Champloo ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- During our COVID lockdown, my father and I have been trying to go on a "classic" anime binge. We found Paste Magazine's top 30 anime series of all time list and Michiko and Hatchin was number 10. Having liked Cowboy Bebop and Trigun, Michiko and Hatchin seemed like an excellent find. However, Michiko and Hatchin lacks the charm, nuance, and depth that makes those shows outstanding. Story (45/100): Michiko and Hatchin is mostly episodic so the plot varies from episode to episode. The overall story is nothing terribly special: a convict escapes from prison to find her lover (who is presumed to be dead) and "takes" his child on her adventure. While not terribly unique, It is fun and has great potential to develop a relationship between Michiko and Hatchin (which it fails to do, but we'll get to that soon). There is also a subplot of gang power struggle (which is probably the most interesting part of the show), but it is not executed in a unique or interesting way. Since it is mostly episodic, the quality of each episode varies by episode, where some episodes (like episode 1) are terribly boring and poorly written and some are actually good (like episode 21). The suspension of disbelief is necessary for many episodes as well. Bullets never seem to hit anyone, Michiko never seems to kill anyone (which I guess is nice but she does some pretty violent things), someone enters a bullfight with just a ladle and doesn't die. I like suspending disbelief, but it got to the point where I was (figuratively) rolling my eyes. The show also suffers from parts of the story taking place off-screen. Some shows do this well, this show doesn't. For example, Hatchin gets attached to a traveling circus mostly off-screen and Michiko somehow finds where she is offscreen. We know she is there but it feels jarring and like it deserves one more episode than it got. If this was the only example it wouldn't be as jarring but at some points, it felt that every 2-3 episodes had something I was missing. Character (20/100): The characters were the worst aspect of this show, which is unfortunate since good characters and relationships are the most important part of a funky road trip story. Here are my problems with each of the characters and the relationships: 1) Michiko: She is a hot-headed, violent "badass" who has trouble expressing her feelings. And that's it. There is nothing else to her character. We don't get a lot of knowledge about why she does what she does. Why does she love Hiroshi so much that she would break out of prison and kidnap his daughter to find him? She is also quite annoying as she is somehow not afraid of guns or violently confronting gangs or the police and then (realistically) loses those fights. Other annoying traits: she steals other people's property for no good reason, she gets jealous easily (like episode 4). 2) Hatchin: Hatchin spends the first 17 episodes being very annoying. She is either just kinda "there" or she is complaining about Michiko and throwing a tantrum. Sometimes those tantrums aren't wrong, like when she gets upset about Michiko not paying for food. And when we have the select few episodes where she is the primary focus, she rarely acts in a way that is either interesting or likable. Normally she just is kinda "there" with a side character her age. 3) Michiko and Hatchin's relationship: It is undeveloped. It doesn't change until episode 17. Or rather, it changes and then reverts back to normal. Michiko is essentially inattentive to Hatchin, Hatchin throws a tantrum and runs away, Harchin comes back, rinse and repeat. And even after episode 17 when the relationship is kinda "changed" it doesn't feel organic. We aren't given many real reasons on-screen why the two love each other and stay with each other. Overall, their relationship was a real disappointment. I watched the show because I thought it would be a character-driven relationship with the two learning to love each other and accommodate to one another. It wasn't. 4) Atsuko: Atsuko is a cool-headed badass cop who is in league with both the police and local gangs. And that's it. I thought she could have been the most interesting character, but the show really doesn't care about giving her any unique or interesting traits (aside from a cool blond afro). She is obsessed with catching Michiko but that's about all she is there for 5) Atsuko and Michiko's Relationship: Underdeveloped. These two have such an intriguing relationship. The problem is, I don't know what it is. Atsuko dedicates her entire life to catching Michiko. And then she wants to release Michiko. And then she gets annoyed with Michiko and chases her again. And sometimes she actually arrests Michiko. This relationship is cool but I don't know why it exists. It doesn't seem that Atsuko takes pleasure in the chase either. An episode that showed more than a few clips of them being poor would really have made this relationship interesting. As it stands, it just feels like lost potential. 6) The minor episodic characters: Many of these characters are just flat caricatures. The priest's family Hatchin stayed at was laughably bad and felt like Disney villains. The mobsters/gangsters are just sadistic thugs who want money and power. Finally, not only do plot elements happen offscreen but so does character development. Hatchin becomes more tolerant of breaking the law. When? Hatchin starts believing her father to be a scumbag. When? The only character I thought was handled well was Satoshi. He was a sadistic brute, but you felt like he had a reason to be. You hated what he did but in a twisted way didn't want him to die. You understood his love of Hiroshi. Animation/Art (95/100): This is where Michiko and Hatchin shines as a show. The colors are extraordinarily warm, lively, and vivid, giving a wonderful sense of South America. The backgrounds are beautifully detailed. The characters are expressive. This is a high-quality production and I have almost nothing but praise for its animation. I especially love some of the "trippy" scenes, such as Michiko's fever dream in episode 12, since they add almost a layer of magical realism to an otherwise fully grounded anime. Sound/Music (65/100): The OST consists mostly of south American inspired low-fi hip-hop but does have some south American inspired folk-pop. I don't really like low-fi music which means I don't love the OST. It is moderately effective at conveying the tone of scenes and developing a south American atmosphere but I won't be listening to it anytime soon. I didn't really love the OP or ED songs either; they were relatively forgettable even if they were unique for an anime. Setting/Atmosphere (90/100): Very well done. You feel like you are in a gang-ridden, crime-infested country. Everyone is corrupt. There is a decent effort in world-building, giving us gang relationships with one another. There is also this sense of true freedom and liberation you get when following Michiko and Hatchin around. They aren’t bound by societal structures (for better or for worse). While this is not necessarily unique, anime rarely tackles south American settings. Ideas/Intellectual Effects (50/100): This could have been amazing. Throughout different episodes, we see child slavery, the brutality of bullfights, promiscuous and emotionally distant men and women, abuse in foster homes, etc. Michiko and Hatchin places these as side issues that just come packaged with the overall setting. This is a good narrative technique for addressing issues without dedicating your show to them and their drama. It also adds a layer of moral relativism to the show, since there seems to be a lack of judgment. But somehow, Michiko and Hatchin is able to…

Michiko and Hatchin follows a rebellious woman and her foster daughter as they cut a swath through a South American community in search of Hatchin's father (who was also Michiko's lover). The main protagonists, Michiko and Hatchin were well rounded characters that were relatable, strong and interesting. It was also nice that Michiko was a black character. As for the world around them, it was extremely colorful with myriad characters who made the setting feel vibrant and alive. The setting was pretty nasty and reminded me strongly of Black Lagoon and Kekkai Sensen with how dangerous it was. The dynamic between Michiko and Hatchin felt almost abusive sometimes, but when you take into context the type of people they were and the world around them, it made a bit more sense. Also, the music and animation of this series was top notch and it immediately gave me Cowboy Bebop vibes. So it wasn't surprising to find out that it was made by the creators of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. On the downside, the episodic nature of the show didn't do it for me. This was mostly because Kekkai Sensen and Kino no Tabi which were also episodic just did it better in my opinion. Therefore, the individual episodes didn't hold my attention as much as I would have liked. With all of that said, this is still an amazing anime that I'd recommend for anyone who wants a show with a strong female lead and so decent action.

Right from the start, you cannot miss the colours, the dynamics and the ability to make you empathetic towards the main characters. Music is Shinichiro Watanabe's (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo) passion. Since he tested it fully in Mind Game, it's only natural this dual combination of boisterous & loud, warming & slightly vintage, trying to push & pull the audience as if in a tango. It's a serious, raw & sensual story through which we follow the rites of passage of a girl taken away from abusive environment becoming an adventurous free woman, beautiful and fearless, whofaces society in the same brutal fashion as society deals with its citizens. You'll find character growth, introspective moments, great lines & dark sense of humor, ethical issues and 9 years later, I can still remember all her impatient journey as well as the music.