Spotlight Anime: Honey and Clover II MAL Anime Information Page: Honey and Clover II MAL Score – 8.62 (by 7295 users) Ranked - #33 Popularity - #282 For the next week I would like to have a discussion about the anime that focuses on the key elements that we here on MAL use to critically rate an anime: Animation, Sound, Characters, Story, and Enjoyment. I would like everyone to approach this thread as if you were going to write a review and structure your initial post like this: Animation - insert rating Sound - insert rating Characters - insert rating Story - insert rating Enjoyment - insert rating Animation - discuss any pros and cons of the animation styling used in the series, try to include some specifics. Sound - describe any of the things you liked or didn't care for in regards to the music and sound effects used in the series etc... If you are having trouble writing up a review or coming up with specific pros and cons, please don't worry. Just do the best you can with it and if you can only write two or three sentences about any of the 5 elements then that's OK. Not everyone here is currently at a level which will allow them to articulate their thoughts and opinions. After your initial post is made you can feel free to civilly discuss issues of contention. I am sure there will be many opinions expressed here that some of us will disagree upon and criticise and it is for that reason that this entire club exists. So I hope everyone has fun and I am really looking forward to watching this discussion unfold. Due to voting rule changes, this series is permanently inducted from its first poll data. RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE POLL: Honey and Clover II was inducted into the club Anime list: 33 Yes - 91.6% 3 No - 8.4% 53 Don't Know - 59.5% of the total number polled On 3/26/2010, Honey and Clover II will have to be voted on for a second and final time |
Dark-EvolutionNov 4, 2010 2:40 AM
| You do not beg the sun for mercy. |
| Vote no and you suck. |
 |
| One of the best sequels I've ever seen. It almost has all the amazing factors of the first season; Great art and animation, great music (Suga shikakao and SPITZ are amazing as usual), great story and lovable characters and etc. In this series the characters get the chance to develop more (specially the ones that didn't get the chance to shine in the first series). The only main difference between the first and the second series is the amount of focus on the romance. I see the first half as a slice of life anime more than the second half. Second half is closer to a romance anime and I have yet to see a romance anime with this kind of quality in all its aspects. Enjoyment 10/10 Story 9/10 Characters 10/10 Music 9/10 Animation and art 10/10 If I had time I could have written a more detailed review on this anime but if you've seen this anime you already know how GREAT it is ;) |
     |
| I have one word to describe this anime- G R E A T. Enjoyment - 10 Story -10 Characters - 10 Music - 10 Animation and art - 10 Everything was perfect. The sequel was much better than the first one. |
 [/url]  |
| The first Honey and Clover series seems to be much appreciated because, even if many of the situations are implausible, if not in themselves then at any rate when taken together, people apparently could relate to it. The major reason for this is that, at the end of that season, there is a clear lack of resolutions as characters act without the overblown characteristics of your typical fictional account, instead making compromises, disengaging when things get too heated and accepting it when things don't work out. To many, the questions on purpose and value asked also reminded them of their own student days (I, myself, was once more reminded how much I hated those years). Then came the second season, which, though probably only revealing what was intended all along, turned much of the effect of the first season around. Suddenly, resolutions are sought after and found, characters act with relatively uncharacteristic vigour and decisiveness, and for good measure some high drama is added in the second half which seems completely out of place when compared to the more subdued first season. While these changes in pacing and mood do not necessarily result in situations that are altogether implausible, even if, again, there seems to be too much going on with too limited an amount of characters, and some issues may still be eminently recognisable (one storyline in particular coming far too close to something I mostly want to forget all about, although the anime has a more happy ending), this second season drifts more towards a soap opera than anything else, with rather too many 'troubled person of the week' plot lines. Perhaps, when taken on its own, Honey and Clover II can be considered a prime dramatic show, but when seen as the continuation of a series it is, being set rather soon after the first season, the sudden shift in focus reflects ill on both this sequel and its prequel. One could say that this doesn't matter, that both seasons should be considered on their own merits. For the second season, this means that it could use characters already introduced, meaning that no time needs be wasted on their basic depictions, and play their individual stories. The stories are more tightly focused and actually get somewhere. At first, this pays off. The depictions of the one-sided loves of Mayama and Yamada, though hardly original and infused with too many additions used to garner sympathy, is played well, mostly because the two are properly displayed as wavering between what they know is right and what they want. From there on, though, backgrounds are added that only add to the improbability of it all, that removes the relative tightness of setting and size, and that start to take themselves far too seriously. Morita's story was just plain unnecessary (while undermining some of the earlier scenes that were clearly introduced as comical nonsense) while the happenings around Hagu's injury fully conform to a standard girl-in-hospital drama. This results in characters that are ostensibly developing but actually continuously getting closer to archetypes. Art and music really aren't too different from the first season, though things are a touch more polished. Much of the world still lacks detail, being painted in broad strokes in a limited palette, and it is apparent that there still was a lack of budget to more convincingly portray animation, in particular the movement of vehicles (often a sore point in anime). Quality of voice acting remains rather high and is, for once, partly the result of good scripting: the characters know full well when what they're saying is cheesy or highbrow and reflect on this themselves. In all, Honey and Clover II is a charming drama that is at its best using already established characters for some dramatic story lines that are themselves rather trite but pretty well-crafted. It seems clear that the direction chosen in this season was what originally was intended for the series. Yet, this original intention results in resolutions that feel rather forced, following as they do on how the first season went on its way, and isn't the height of story-telling in the first place. The show is heavily dependent on its characters, mostly to its betterment, but especially in the second half veering close to having them become clichéd. For the moment I remain undecided, leaning towards 'No': 'Yes' for many of its characters and the still somewhat subdued pacing, 'No' for the useless additions, sudden shift in style and forced resolutions. |
| You do not beg the sun for mercy. |
More topics from this board
Sticky: » The End of Critics and ConnoisseursHiroM_ - Dec 31, 2022 |
31 |
by danz
»»
Nov 10, 2023 1:08 AM |
|
» Challenge You Decide: Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (Anime) (1/1)HiroM_ - Dec 3, 2022 |
44 |
by 25saix
»»
Dec 30, 2022 3:10 PM |
|
» You Decide: Golden Kamuy 2nd Season (Anime) (12/4)HiroM_ - Dec 2, 2022 |
42 |
by 25saix
»»
Dec 30, 2022 3:10 PM |
|
» Resurrected You Decide: Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica (Anime) (12/4)HiroM_ - Dec 2, 2022 |
47 |
by 25saix
»»
Dec 30, 2022 3:09 PM |
|
» Blue N Rescue Mission: Eikoku Koi Monogatari Emma (Anime) (12/4)HiroM_ - Dec 3, 2022 |
24 |
by Dramaddict
»»
Dec 28, 2022 6:02 PM |