This is the show that taught a generation of kids that cartoons are allowed to hurt. Tatsunoko opens with peace in Honeybee land and then takes it away in a single wasp raid, and the queen does not get a reprieve, a rescue, or a last-minute miracle. She dies, and what she leaves behind is a will, which means Hutch and his sister Ahya are now walking through a hostile insect world carrying an obligation instead of a childhood. The 1974 run leans harder into the road than the tears, one dangerous stop after another, each with its own small tragedy that ends before anyone gets comfortable. It looks like a bug show for six-year-olds and plays like exile literature. If you grew up on this, you remember Ahya's face more than any of the battles.

Hutch is a honeybee whose homeland has known only a short stretch of peace. When the cruel wasps strike again and the queen dies in the fighting, Hutch and his sister Ahya set out on a perilous journey to carry out her wish: bringing order and security back to their home. A sequel to the earlier Hutch the Honeybee, the 1974 TV series runs for 26 episodes and blends adventure and comedy with dramatic moments.