Bandai Entertainment has announced the April 17th release of Hideaki Anno's live action adaptation of Go Nagai's Cutey Honey manga on April 17th.  Bandai plans two versions, a Regular Edition ($29.98) and a Limited (to 5000) Edition ($49.98) that comes in a Cutey Honey lunchbox.

Known in the U.S. primarily for his Devilman series and in Japan for Mazinger Z (the first giant robot series in which the robot is piloted by a human), Go Nagai also created one of the first magical girl manga with Cutey Honey, which debuted in 1973. 

Although Anno's Cutey Honey is a live action film, the veteran anime helmer appropriates many of the visual techniques of anime to bring this magical girl saga to life -- and most important of all, he makes the film a real fast-moving romp filled with campy action and fan service.  But Anno, whose specialty is bringing some depth to characters in what otherwise might be considered standard genre films, manages to create a few special moments in Cutey Honey that remind the viewer that this film was made by the director of Evangelion.