Michiko to Hatchin Review

Michiko to Hatchin (Michiko and Hatchin)
Genre: drama, slice-of-life, action, crime
Format:  22 episodes (22min)

Michiko to Hatchin is unlike other anime.

Take the setting, it's set in what appears to be a South American country. The characters are thus not Japanese and look and sound different. The voice acting is one of the first things which struck me. Most of the characters have refreshingly different voices.

There are loads of beautifully detailed scenes

The basic plot is simple. Michiko escapes from prison and rescues Hana from her abusive foster family. Hana is delighted to break free from that life but not everything flows smoothly from there. Michiko, despite her age, is often less mature than Hana. She obviously had a rough life before being imprisoned and usually resorts to taking physical and brash action to get what she wants. 

Hana, who Michiko prefers to call Hatchin, is more reserved and unwilling to break the law - something which is a bit of a habit for Michiko. Michiko claims to know who Hatchin's father is - a man named Hiroshi - and that is the foundation for the anime; a search for him. 

Visually, this is special. The artwork for the locations is beautiful and unique. It's not often that anime is set in a location like this and the cinematography will dazzle you from start to finish. It's one of those anime series where the visually arresting style is beautifully complimented by a masterful soundtrack, something which memorable anime like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo also do so well. The music itself is a brilliant and bizarre fusion of jazz, traditional and contemporary music. It works brilliantly.

Most of the episodes are separated into distinct arcs and detail the many challenges and characters Michiko and Hatchin meet while searching for Hiroshi. The interactions between Michiko and Hatchin and the way they approach the situations around them is a key part of the series. Michiko is street-smart, strong and wise to the way the world works while Hatchin tries to

be ethical but is naive.

The harrowing and realistic representation of crime is quite brutal and surprising. It's a reality of third world countries. People (even children) are forced into doing things that they wouldn't normally do just to survive. Michiko, and many of the main characters, come from a criminal background making this an important theme. The series does not hold back or try to overly romanticise this which makes for an even stronger impact. 

Quite often anime and manga is accused of being unoriginal, with cookie cutter scenes and characters repeatedly used in all sorts of scenarios. The fact that the overall scenario is original is not enough when stock subplots and characters are used as a kind of safety net. This is absolutely not the case with Michiko and Hatchin. It is a vibrant, mature and fresh production which stands well above all the conventional anime around it. More like this please!