heidenreich.julie - 2017-06-17 17:53:02

Michiko and Hatchin is a spotty, daring and charming series.
Starting off very eccentric and interesting, but dropping balls all along its 22 episode run. Even so, it’s one hell of a unique series, one with few downright likeable characters. Everyone’s got their own motives, their own interests. Everyone’s a shit in their own special way, which is refreshing.

I’m no expert on South America, nor the culture(s) which make it what it is.
Even with some Japanese names, the series managed to stay true to a setting where law and order is often thrown aside for street justice. I think it portrayed the gang culture and infighting within these factions quite well.
Not only that, but the general sense of distrust it exemplifies is great.

It doesn’t pull too many punches with the explicit language and violence, which is a big boon considering what it’s trying to portray.

All in all a unique series, one with its fair share of ups and downs.
An unrefined gem to some, a lost opportunity to others.

dustin68 - 2016-06-30 01:27:56

I love this anime, it was very entertaining, and had a touching ending. It is worth watching

ben68 - 2015-10-10 18:35:12

Going into this show I was a bit skeptical. I thought it was utterly impossible to enjoy this more than I had enjoyed Cowboy Bebop. Obviously, I was totally wrong. From the very first episode, Michiko and Hatchin had me completely hooked. With its amazing characters, great story, and outstandingly beautiful animation, it's truly an anime that  will never, ever forget. I'm so happy that I watched it!!!

ephraim.murray - 2014-08-31 16:35:32

As the number of series I complete increases it seems as though anime grows more bland and repetitive; at points I feel like I am going to burn out. Shows keep repeating the same Tokyo settings with the same high schools and the same cultural festivals. When I first gained an interest in anime I was drawn to the fact that it came from the strange land of Japan, a culture and setting I knew nothing about besides Pearl Harbor, Samurai and Walkmen. Anime was a fresh breath from seeing the same themes and settings regurgitated in western media: the New York/ LA setting and scruffy white dudes stopping the terrorists. As anime became a normal part of my life I noticed that no medium is free from this trend and I got used to all of the Japaneseness of anime and it no longer interested me.
I initially discovered Michiko and Hatchin for pretty shallow reasons; I was watching Ninouh's video on top Black people in anime and he mentioned the character of Michiko and I thought hmm, I'm black, she's black, I'll watch it. The fact that it had brown characters was enough of a difference from most anime to grab my attention and it was well worth it. The Brazil-like setting may be the most unique place an anime has ever decided to take place.
The story of Michiko and Hatchin is simple, but sweet. It is the simple tale of escaped convict Michiko helping 10 year old Hatchin to find her legendary father with a few bumps in the road--so basically Samurai Champloo. However it is not the actual story that makes Michiko and Hatchin great, it is the themes it presents. Japan suffers from being too good of a country economically and I have never seen an anime portray poverty in a realistic way or even explore the theme until Michiko and Hatchin. Throughout the course of the journey Michiko and Hatchin meet many people from many backgrounds and classes. Each of those characters find their own way to survive rather they have to steal and kill or if they were simply born with wealth. It portrays this without pulling a Miyazaki and preaching some kind of morality to you, it simply presents a reality. It also has a strong theme of female independence as they constantly seek out a legendary man. Take all of these elements and add it to one of my favorite anime endings you have a pretty solid story save a few boring episode arcs that are bound to happen with an episodic show.
All I can say about the animation of Michiko and Hatchin is it is good. It is expressive and stylized in a way similar to Samurai Champloo (a lot of the staff worked on that show). The show has a lot of movement and you don't find a lot of still frames. A possible complaint could be how over-the-top and silly the action sequences are. Whenever there is a fight of sorts it separates from it's gritty and realistic setting into a high octane shounen fight. Some may find this to be an awkward juxtaposition that dilutes the realism of the series, but I would argue that it is still a cartoon and it just wants be fun; it really comes down to preference.
To add to the list of things this show does well, the audio of Michiko and Hatchin is a thing of beauty. I watched the show dubbed and enjoyed it a lot. I think they captured the attitude of the show well with the English script using gritty and down to earth language. Though I will admit there were some moments of cringe when the dub would use bad ebonic, chinese, russian etc accents. This could be a huge turn-off, but it made me laugh and enjoy the show more so once again it is back to specific taste. If you do not want to sit through the dub, the sub is solid and I have no complaints about it at all.
When it comes to music Michiko and Hatchin is the master. In my opinion this is one of the greatest anime OST's. It cut out all of the cheesy and generic Jpop and Jrock and replaced with the work of Kassin: an actual Brazilian musician. His use of Bossa Nova, Samba, Hip-Hop, and Jazz sang in Portuguese complimented the South American setting perfectly. These songs are also of a high enough quality to listen to on their own and I find myself listening to the OST all of the time. The opening Paraiso is one of the most hype openings in anime.
There are really only two real 'main' characters in this show. The most obvious of those characters are Michiko and Hatchin. You see these characters develop well throughout the episodes, though the show does focus a lot on the development of Hatchin. Throughout the story Hatchin turns from a pretty little girl to a strong and mature woman while still being 10 years old. However she is not alone in the terms of character development. Even though the show is episodic in nature and most of the side characters don't stay around for long, throughout their arcs they still develop. In fact a lot of the side arcs are about the development of the characters after meeting the two protagonists. A good thing about the episodic format is that if you don't like a character, they'll be gone forever after 1 or 2 episodes. Finally I must talk about my favorite arc in the show: the part near the end of the series where we truly meet the 'antagonist' Satoshi Batista. His arc is crafted so well that you actually begin to feel sympathy for such a horrible human being.
Michiko and Hatchin is a fun ride that has moments of hilarity and moments of crude sadness. With solid and high octane animation it potrays excellent themes of poverty, and the independence of women using the interaction between its great characters. It also carries one of the best OSTs in anime. The idea of focusing a show on something not Japanese is an idea that could improve the medium so much and by choosing not to explore the rest of the world the anime industry is ignoring so much potential good material. This is a show I recommend to anyone, I understand it is a little bit of a selective taste, but I think it is worth the try.