Hachimitsu to Clover (Honey and Clover)

Yuuta Takemoto, a sophomore at an arts college, shares a cheap apartment with two seniors—the eccentric Shinobu Morita, who keeps failing to graduate due to his absenteeism, and the sensible Takumi Mayama, who acts as a proper senior to Takemoto, often looking out for him.

Takemoto had not given much thought to his future until one fine spring day, when he meets the endearing Hagumi Hanamoto and falls in love at first sight. Incredibly gifted in the arts, Hagumi enrolls in Takemoto's university and soon befriends the popular pottery student Ayumi Yamada. Ayumi is already well acquainted with the three flatmates and secretly harbors deep feelings for one of them.

Hachimitsu to Clover is a heartwarming tale of youth, love, soul-searching, and self-discovery, intricately woven through the complex relationships between five dear friends.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Hachimitsu to Clover was the first anime to air on Fuji Television's noitaminA block.

Episode Videos

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Hachimitsu to Clover
Side story:	Hachimitsu to Clover Specials
Sequel:	Hachimitsu to Clover II

Aono, Takeshi
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Kasai, Kenichi

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Aketagawa, Jin

Sound Director

Nagai, Tatsuyuki

Episode Director

Tachibana, Hideki

Episode Director, Storyboard, Animation Director, Key Animation

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Opening Theme

"Dramatic" by Yuki (eps 1-12,24)

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Ending Theme

	1: "Waltz" by Suneohair (eps 13-23)
	2: "Mistake" by THE BAND HAS NO NAME

Reviews

Apr 26, 2022

squish

Recommended

Unrequited love. Wishing the person you love felt the same way about you. Falling for someone you know you can't have. Channeling your pain into art. The uncertainty of adult life. The pain and guilt you feel when someone has feelings for you that you just can't return.

At its core, this anime is about cherishing the good times with the people you love in the here and now, because someday they will be mere memories.

Honey and Clover is one of the most realistic portrayals of relationships I have seen in an anime. The main characters are all young adults, trying to figure out ...

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Aug 20, 2018

Seelly

Mixed Feelings

Funny

Monologues.. a lot of them.
Sad piano music... a lot of that too.
They are very sad... and they like to show it.
Hagu is sad... the main character (don't recall his name) is sad cause she sad.
the idiot (also don't remember his names, i think he won an oscar?) is just an obnoxious idiot (pls go away).
the other chick is also sad (she makes a lot of plates) cause she likes guy that likes other sad woman with crutches (she wears heels...),
but he also sad cause other chick is sad.
professor says stuff... sometimes (i don't know what he teaches)
he also smokes (not the bicycles).
Bicycles
...

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Mar 25, 2023

lastnameEver

Not Recommended

Funny

Watching, force-feeding, succumbing to Honey and Clover has been the most boring experiences I’ve had watching anime. The show is more thoughtful, more sensitive, more real than anything seen in mainstream anime, and at the same time is the least enjoyable, most dull, most tedious anime I have ever watched through all the way. Only after several attempts was I capable of finishing, the end result leaving much to be desired. It has flashes of brilliance, genuine warmth at times, and an insane amount of baggage and neurosis. It's like sitting in on someone’s therapy session.

The start’s very good, the first episode is a treat ... to enjoy, perfectly sets up the college setting, the artistic characters, and the world they live in. It has a great music montage. One of the best first episodes in anime. Provides the best possible launchpad for the story to take off into the stratosphere. Instead it goes downhill.

I don’t like the subject matter. There’s so much bitching and moaning. All anyone ever does is in Honey and Clover is bitch and moan! “Oh, I’m so uncool, woe is me, I have no talent, I love this guy but he loves this girl, I love this girl but this other guy loves this girl and this girl probably loves this guy more than me” – Holy shit! Shut up!

And don’t even get me started on the ending, do not even get me started. Ain’t no way a show ends like that and gets called a classic nowadays, ain’t no way – but do not even get me started.

But back to the start. After the first episode, nothing else happens. There is no overarching narrative driving the story. Stories instead are told on a semi-episodic basis. Episodic shows only work if every single episode is enjoyable in itself. Needless to say, that isn’t the case with Honey and Clover. We get introduced to far too many irrelevant characters, like the silver-haired guy’s step-dad, and countless other nobodies, and as a result there’s not enough time for the main cast to spend time together.

Another issue with Honey and Clover is that the show ends before it even begins. The messy-haired guy with glasses already leaves college before we have a chance to get to know him, Hagu’s cigarette-smoking guardian goes off on some trip to Africa, and Morita is hardly ever around – and yet immediately, the story thrusts itself into these sad feelings without even having laid the necessary groundwork for the viewer to become attached to these characters. The end result – I don’t care! Silver-haired guy’s feeling sad about not having enough talent? Don’t care! Pottery girl’s still hung up about her crush, messy-haired guy with glasses who loves the depressed office woman? Don’t care! Pottery girl’s crying? What? Again? Already? Time sure does fly when you’re not having fun!

Staring at the washed-out watercolour palette isn’t doing anything for me either. The artwork not having defined outlines, and the generally lacklustre animation made for a soporific viewing experience, I had a hard time focusing on the screen. It hasn’t aged that badly, but it’s not pretty, outside of a couple spots.

Obviously, there are parts, little snippets, that I like. Silver-haired guy’s bicycle trip, and his eventual return capping off the first season, where he finally gets the better of Morita, is a satisfying moment. The scene at the very, very end where Takemoto opens up the good-luck charm Hagu gave him is inspired. In general I appreciate the maturity of the writing and its attempts at realism. All the characters are very likeable so long as they aren’t whining. Morita, by himself, possesses the type of magnetic personality that makes viewers want to keep watch just so you can see more scenes with him. He alone serves as sufficient proof that this is the same author who would later make 3-gatsu no Lion.

But this is no 3-gatsu no Lion. It may have the same comedy style and unique artwork, but Honey and Clover’s subject matter is joyless, and watching it was an exercise in tedium. The phrase ‘watching paint dry’ could not be more apt. If you can stomach boredom and have a high tolerance for bullshit, there is plenty to appreciate, but I’d rather fall asleep.

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Poll: Opening I_0_dont_0_know - Apr 10	3 replies	by mikorinismyson »» Apr 11, 2:46 AM
Poll: Hachimitsu to Clover Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Kayro - Mar 17, 2008	126 replies	by whereswisteria »» Mar 29, 2:43 PM
Poll: Hachimitsu to Clover Episode 24 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Fentastic - Oct 5, 2008	124 replies	by anti0taku »» Sep 14, 2023 4:50 PM
Poll: Hachimitsu to Clover Episode 16 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Kayro - Mar 21, 2008	61 replies	by anti0taku »» Aug 3, 2023 2:42 PM
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Morita, Shinobu

Takemoto, Yuuta

Yamada, Ayumi

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Nomiya, Takumi

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