Hachimitsu to Clover Specials

Chapters F and L were two bonus episodes released on the DVDs. Chapter F covers Mayama's work place and, peripherally, Ayu, and Chapter L covers Lohmeyer, a fellow tenant of Mayama, Takemoto, and Morita's.

They succeed in taking the crazy-ass humor of the series to new levels, and cover some material from the manga that wasn't covered in the series.

Overall, a nice addition to the series to tide you over till the second season.

A surprisingly insightful addition to the anime, it's a shame they're not aired along with the original series. If there's any difference the specials devote a greater proportion to comedy than in the originals, giving you more or less a Honey and Clover experience, but relatively lightheartedly.

Chapter L sees the flashback to a new character who brought a lot of laughter and joy to the students in the apartment complex living on a tight budget. It is also nice to see Mayama back in a period when he is still a college student. Packed with action and comedy, this episode may at first feel lacking in any revelations or insights compared to other episodes in the anime, however Takemoto's narration near the end draws you to reminisce about the insecurity brought forth by adolescence, once again reminding me why this is one of the best slice-of-life anime out there.

Chapter F is split into two shorts, but they are not cut explicitly as there is a tie-in of the first half into the second. The first half is a glimpse into life at Fujiwara Design before Mayama's time. More screentime was given to Yamasaki's and Miwako's relationship, which I find immensely enjoyable, not just because of the laughs but also that we get to know Yamasaki better as a character, who I feel has been sorely neglected amid the large cast in H&C. The second half we see lives of the usual gang at the art college after school, strung by a conversation between Mayama and Hanamoto-sensei. I thought this is an excellent short as it touches on many themes in H&C (unrequited love, misunderstandings and time) among its jokes, and manages to include bits of every character. Special mention must be made about the reference to Yamada's impression of Mayama being fickle at the start of the series, which is explained in this short, something I hadn't expected and was pleasantly surprised (it took me a while to recall this scene from the original anime, as it seems insignificant then). Also, the two men's frustration with the amount of time they spent in a standstill on Japanese chess in the end reminds me of Takemoto's concern of himself going nowhere while the wheel of time moves on; I may be over-thinking it, but I think it is a great symbolism.

In short, if you enjoy the allusions to the emotions in adolescence in the original Honey and Clover, then this is definitely a bonus you will enjoy. You get to see Takemoto in the short, disheveled hair he sports at the beginning of the anime, and revisit both versions of the OP and the two EDs. As usual artwork and music is great, no worries there.

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