- Last OnlineSep 23, 2023 7:18 PM
- JoinedSep 12, 2017
No friend yet.
RSS Feeds
|
Sep 23, 2023
Wholesome, light hearted, with moments of drama, it’s a good slice of life anime. When it gets interesting is when we look at Mitsumi adjusting to the dynamics of more complex relationships with some of the other students acting in less than honest ways than her.
I did wish that it delved into this part more. Mistumi’s pure heart wins people over, but it would’ve been interesting to see more exploration in this realm. It’s touched on a bit with one slightly antagonistic character, but that’s it.
Shima’s storyline is somewhat interesting, yet I know it’s part of the wall he puts up, it would be nice
...
to see him and other characters break past the facade of politeness.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
 0
Love it
 0
Funny
 0
Confusing
 0
Well-written
 0
Creative
 0Show all
![]()
Jun 1, 2021
It took me a while to get into the series, the episodic nature and the aimless feeling the episodes had made me feel as if the series had no purpose.
But as the various lives intersected, and the seemingly disconnected lives connect, I begin to get a sense about what this series is about: friendship.
The series focuses on finding comedy, drama, and romance in seemingly every mundane interaction be it losing one's wallet to someone accidentally reading your pornographic manga.
As the series moves towards its end, it begins to bring together the four friends that become the heart of the show and make me smile uncontrollably.
...
Wherever these friends go from here, who knows, but these collection of random of events at this high school, in this moment, there is friendship. It's a beautiful thing.
Other things: the fact that Hakase made Nano and that there are no parental figures around save for the "older" Sakamoto, is in some ways melancholic. Hakase, a child genius, must've been so alone before Nano. Where are her parents? This is never really addressed and though Hakase comes off as happy go lucky and constantly comes into quarrels with Nano over childish things, I can only imagine that the problems before Nano were much more lonely.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Feb 7, 2019
Was recommended this anime by a comment on Asobi Asobase. To be honest, this anime has stronger callbacks and character arcs than Asobi, which I still love. Very episodic in nature, there are still some episodes that build on the history and relationships (Literary Girl, Archdemon, Rubber Shooter, etc...) which I found engaging.
This show elevates the mundane lives of high school boys to the level of myth, heroism, and absurdity. It's great.
My only gripes are minor ones such as...Tadakuni! He totally disappears for a few episodes and he's the most relatable and straight character. The women in the series are all portrayed as physically stronger
...
and desperate for the boys' attention, it would've been good to see some balance, e.g. the boys pining for girls' attention.
Overall a very strong 9 for this series, a great fun series to watch with a sting of nostalgia for us older men out there recalling the lost, mundane, boring, exciting years spent as a high school boy.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Jan 23, 2019
Such a joy to watch this series. Wish there were more episodes. The voice acting is incredible: personal favorite is side characcter Fujiwara-san, the Heian-styed classmate, voiced by Uchida Shuu. It's been a while since I've laughed this hard from anything.
I loved how the series showed middle school girls with all their cuteness, pettiness, anger, humor, and friendship. The series did not shy away from making fun of itself, the high school girl anime tropes, and the creepiness that older men exhibit towards school age girls.
The series is very much episodic, each snippet fairly self contained, however they do do some callbacks (the enigmatic
...
Aozara, the Occult club, Maeda's butt cannon, etc...) that are hilarious. If I have any critique, it would be to have 1) more story arcs that last longer than one episode, 2) a last episode with some sort of closure.
However, the series as is is still incredibly hilarious and actually touches on a number of tropes in Japanese anime and critiques aspects of Japanese culture (kabedons, sex dolls, blonde people being perfect at English, etc...). 9 out of 10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Sep 12, 2017
I enjoyed this series. At the time, I was in the last semester of my graduate school and the uncertainty of the future that Takemoto was going through towards the end really spoke to me.
Some issues: the comedic segues were at times rocky and the men chasing after an adolescent-looking girl is a little troubling.
However, the series is at it's strongest when it focuses on the internal life of Takemoto, the earthy protagonist we can relate to in contrast to Hagu's ethereal nature.
The metaphor of the bicycle turning and (SPOILER ALERT AHEAD) the ending scene with Takemoto professing his love to Hagu is just
...
beautiful.
He expresses his love from a place of such strength. Having just completed his spiritual journey (bike riding to the top of Japan), he knows himself better and knows that regardless of the outcome, he has worth and he has to express his love for Hagu. This is an incredibly mature character study. When he says I love you and she says thank you, it leaves me breathless. If the show ended here, it would still be a great ending. However, I REALLY LIKE part two.
(See my review for Honey and Clover II after you've finished).
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Sep 12, 2017
NOTE, SPOILERS BELOW:
This is when the series finally ties down it's themes with each of the characters:
Takemoto: the poor, average-skilled artist accepting a love that never existed and cherishing it, letting it push him to follow another passion. The wheel of his bicycle is the wheel of the memory of him and his friends searching for a four leaf clover. This memory is the vehicle that pushes him forward.
Mayama: Finally consummates his love with Rika and she accepts him. He finds his place with her, her protector, friend, occasional lover, but is still left in that gray area. He's ok with that.
Ayu (Yamada): She learns
...
to accept that she loves Mayama, but he doesn't love her. Eventually she opens herself up to letting another love her, someone she grows to love.
Hagu: The boxes, waiting to be opened...this analogy really spoke to me. As a creative person myself, I feel a similar way. I only have so much energy and time on Earth to open these ideas and see them through. She chooses Sensei, not out of love for him in a romantic level, but as someone she knows will help push and help her open as many boxes as possible. She loves Morita, but she knows that the best possible combination is her and Sensei which lets Morita to pursue his dream working for Peter Lucas.
Morita: the talented artist with no work ethic finally ends his mysterious arc with his brother and recapturing their father's company. But to him it's more about being there for his brother. Morita reminds me of the artist that wants to love but lacks the practical skills to sustain such a relationship with one such as Hagu. Although they're both incredibly talented, they would make a bad match since what they excel in artistry, they lack in practical, day to day matters. He's super rich but that doesn't change his character. In a way he reminds me of the artist David Choe, who knowing this disadvantage, surrounds himself with nuts and bolts people (for Morita it's his brother).
Sensei Hanamoto: this character has the arc with Rika and Harada and I get why Rika cries when he finally gets out of school - he was stuck in the past. The other sensei tells him: by saving Hagu, he is saving himself. It's true. It's just troubling to me that the older Sensei would fall in love with his cousin who he's known as a baby and looks like an adolescent. I appreciated that the animators made Hagu look more mature in this season.
Other thoughts: I'm glad that Takemoto and Morita, polar opposites of each other, are able to find their own path and still respect each other at the end.
Issues:
- Sensei sacrificing everything for Hagu is a common anime trope. This idea that one must give up everything to save another is troubling and can be damaging. I did appreciate how they tempered this towards the end with the Sensei saying he can take care of himself, that this is his choice. Maybe its a cultural concept I have yet to grasp fully, though I understand in part due to being an Asian-American.
Overall:
Thank you for reading thus far. As you can tell, this series gave me a lot of feelings and thoughts. Having just graduated myself, I'm in a similar boat and feel disenchanted with going back into the work force. Series like these remind me to cherish the friendships and memories I have made and give me hope that things will work out. Takemoto is my spirit animal and Morita my creative demon and I'm so glad that an online date told me about this series.
"Honey and Clover" is about how even if things don't work out with the fairy tale ending (guy gets the dream girl, vice versa), it's ok. All one can do is do their best and time will flow in the direction that it will. Though things may not turn out the way you wanted, the memories and relationships you've created make you who you are and as you learn to cherish them, you learn to cherish yourself.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
|
