life line by line

Another “slice of life” anime series, Hachimitsu to Clover (Honey & Clover) follows the lives of three poor art college students Yuuta Takemoto, Shinobu Morita, and Shuuji Hanamoto as they deal with typical and not-so-typical college life. The lives of the three slowly but surely changes as they’re introduced to Hagumi Hanamoto, an lolicon looking 18 year old (yea right) who’s the daughter of a friend of Shuuji Hanamoto, their advisor of sorts. Watch, as the cast of Honey & Clover go through daily life while trying to cope and survive the thing called Real Life(TM) .

As is the case in most “slice of life” type series, the characters themselves are what drive and make the series a joy to watch. Honey & Clover is no exception as its down-to-earth and very quirky cast of characters easily puts the anime in my top three favorite series of the new season, along with Futakoi Alternative and Ichigo 100%. Along with its visuals, music, and vocal cast the series is without an doubt a must watch for all anime fans!

Opening Sequence

Poor College Life at its BEST

Ending Sequence

Surprisingly, only Matthew, BluWacky, and Garten are currently blogging the series but hopefully as fansubs come out, others will join on the fun! Since I’m not personally blogging the series, I’ll give my overal general impressions and whatnot instead.

I have to say, if it wasn’t for Garten I probably would not have known about the greatness that is Honey & Clover. There are just so many things going for the series that I currently cannot see it doing any wrong.

Reason 1: Genre. Slice-of-life series are one of my favorites. More so if the time presented is roughly near my age group as is Honey & Clover with its three “main” male protagonists living out college life. I can definitely understand the pains Morita, Takemoto, and Mayama go through as I’m sure all colllege students must have had an experience or two like them. Being poor with little food to live on or racing to classes so as not to fail (again) are definitely situations I’ve been into a few times in my four years at college. Anyway, the anime does a fine job portraying the day-to-day activities of the cast and what “crazy” situations they might get into.

Reason 2: seiyuu cast. I always look forward to series with Yuuji Ueda in it, mattering what type of role he’s playing. Seems this time around he plays the most quirkiest character of the series and manages to do an excellent job (as usual) playing Morita. Props also go to Hiroshi Kamiya as Takmoto, the “lead” character who usually ends up inbetween the guys’ problems and Tomokazu Sugita as Takumi Mayama, one of the more normal characters in the series. Can’t forget to mention Keiji Fujiwara and Mikako Takahashi as Shuuji Hanamoto and Ayumi Yamada respectfully. Fujiwara usually gets typecast in fatherly roles but it’s no question he does a fine job playing the three guys’ advisor of sorts. I always get a kick out of his “Spoiling Uncle” personality when dealing with Hagumi. Takahashi, on the other hand, is somewhat new to me as I’ve only heard her in Bakuretsu Tenshi and Grenadier. Either way though, I think she’s doing a fine job too in voicing Yamada especially in episode three as she lays down the law with Mayama. Good stuff!

Reason 3: visuals and music. The screencaps speak for themselves at how beautiful the series looks. The white-wash water color type of feel is what I think as I watch the anime as everything is mostly light with a very warm feeling to it. I don’t know how else to describe it but once you watch an episode or two, I think you’ll know what I mean. The music too feels perfect for the series; I’m especially liking the ending song and the various other background music/songs used in the series thus far.

Reason 4: Basically the same thing I mentioned with the seiyuu cast, the cast of characters definitely make the show a treat to watch. I have to say, however, Morita is hogging up any screentime he gets as anything he does almost always results in some comedy. Morita’s mystery job, his kickingboards (LOL!), and his sudden attachment to Hagumi are just some examples of this weird character. Honorable mentions also has to go to Takemoto and Hagumi. Takemoto since he always try to do the right thing, even if it leads to a lot of mishaps. And Hagumi because all her reactions are just too hilarious to watch (esp around Morita)!

I doubt I gave good solid proof on why I really love Honey & Clover but if there’s one thing I want you, the reader, to understand it’s simply this: WATCH THE DAMN SHOW! YOU’LL ENJOY IT, PERIOD.

Seriously, I mean it. Honey & Clover is one of the series to watch from the Spring anime selection. If one needs something relaxing and easy-going, with a good amount of humor than look no further. Honey & Clover is the answer. I just cannot stress how the visuals, music, vocal cast, and plot all intertwine to create the charm that is the anime. I can only hope the series will get picked up for US (or at this point at least fansub) release as it deserves to be shown to as many people as possible… Honey & Clover is just that good.