Honey Honey no Suteki na Bouken

Lore & Background

The story begins in Vienna in 1907, where Princess Flora drops her precious gemstone ring into a cooked fish and throws it out the window after being insulted by the jewel thief Phoenix. A young orphaned waitress named Honey Honey has a pet cat, Lily, who eats the fish and swallows the ring. Princess Flora declares that whichever suitor returns the ring shall become her husband, leading suitors and Phoenix to pursue Honey Honey and Lily across cities including Paris, New York, Oslo, London, Monte Carlo, Tokyo, and Gibraltar. Honey Honey falls in love with Phoenix while trying to protect Lily from the vain princess. The series concludes with the revelation that Honey Honey is actually Flora's younger sister, a princess of a tiny Prussian country named Priscilla.

Reader's Guide

The anime version of Honey Honey, produced by Kokusai Eiga-sha and animated by Toei Animation, lasted 29 half-hour episodes and aired on Fuji TV and affiliated stations Saturdays at 18:00 from October 1981 to May 1982. It competed with popular Super Sentai shows in the same time slot, achieving low ratings and leading to early cancellation; several manga storylines, including one set in Hollywood, were not adapted. Despite this, the series achieved fair success in Europe and Latin America, where character names were changed (e.g., Honey Honey became Pollen in French, Fiorellino in Italian, Favos de Mel in Portuguese, and Silvia in Spanish). Dubbed into English by Sound International Corporation and distributed by Modern Programs International, it aired uncut on the CBN Cable Network (later The Family Channel) in 1984 and was partially released on home video by Sony. Enoki Films U.S. currently holds the American license. The series featured music by Akihiro Komori and theme songs performed by Youko Seri, a pop singer popular across Asia.

Did You Know?

• Honey Honey's pet cat Lily swallows Princess Flora's ring, setting off the entire adventure.
• The series finale involves King Kong capturing Princess Flora in New York.