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.
