What is love? What is adulthood? What is the true meaning of life?
Those are the questions Honey and Clover tries to explore, and in my humble opinion, it definitely succeeded.
At first glance, Honey and Clover seems like your average slice-of-life series with a little bit of romance and comedy. However, what starts out as a light-hearted story of a group of art students living and interacting with each other turns into a full blown romantic drama. And, at the heart of that drama, lies a poignant look at what it really means to grow up.
Honey and Clover follows these young protagonists as they find love, suffer tragedies, and gain wisdom. Along the way, they discover many little insights about life that most people will also find at some point. Although the series starts out slow, and dare I say, a little bit boring, the characters soon endear themselves to the audience, so that when they laugh, we laugh, and when they cry, we cry along with them.
The animation is very simple, in light pastel colors that fit the series well. The soundtrack was very beautiful and enhanced both the comedic and touching scenes, and the voice acting was top-notch. Everything that wasn't the story and characters only helped, not hindered, the story and characters.
But what really captured me most about this show was that the characters seemed so...human. They were selfish and stupid at times, but they made realistic mistakes. They were reflections of ourselves, and our own insecurities.
Many people will complain that Honey and Clover had an unsatisfying ending; that certain characters didn't get what they deserved; that other characters should have gotten more. However, I though the ending was perfect, as it portrayed how real life often works. Not everyone has a happy ending in the classic sense, and not every issue is resolved, but people still manage to find joy in what they do have.
In the end, Honey and Clover became one of my favorite series because of this. Never before have I watched or read anything in which I've been able to relate to the characters so well. I was struck by the simple humanity of this show, and I have a feeling most other people who watched this show were as well.
