[Anime] Honey & Clover

[elfs]

Finally.

After bemoaning the lack of things worth watching on Japanese television, there is finally a series worth watching this season. It's kinda sad that Bleach continues to pull down over 100,000 hits while Honey & Clover has a viewerships in the mid-thousands, but that's life.

Honey & Clover is an anime in an old genre that live-action television handles poorly: going to college and falling in love. American television handles it even worse because we have expectations that series will run until it burns out; Honey & Clover has a definite end-run. The series focuses on two romances, one between the innocent and introspective Takemoto and the short, awkward Hagumi, and the other between the more mature Mayama and Yumi. The catalyst for all this is Morito, a shady guy with more energy than brains.

It's hard to say that "not a lot" happened in the first episode. We met many of the main characters and got a feel for their personalities. Tons of things happened, mostly all Morito's fault, but they just set up for more to come. But the show is screamingly, drive-you-to-tears funny, especially when Morito's on the screen. The backgrounds are picturesque hand-drawn watercolors and the action is done in a realistic style that explodes into animesque surrealism with perfect comic timing. It's a joy for the eyes and a delight for the soul.

Comments

[woggie.livejournal.com]

I guess I must look at it, then. I still haven't finished downloading My Hime, but while I was trying to find a site for torrents for it, I saw Honey & Clover and wondered whether it was any good. The title sounds promising anyway. It doesn't sound like some Adolescent Giant Robot Fantasy. :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/dominic-m-/]

::scowls at the bleach comment::

But I like honey & clover too and wish it the best ratings wise. Im not a BIG shonen fan but I like bleach.

side note: I like the bleach manga much more due to its lack of ecchi and more of a focus on the storyline.