Anime Review : Honey and Clover

It is very rare when an anime series would make me feel sad by the fact that after episode 24 that would be the end of the series. Honey and Clover, is one of those anime. I haven’t seen such a good series in years, and I’m going to tell you straight up that this anime gets a 5/5 from me. I’ll try to explain why:

I was hooked watching this anime from episode 4 onwards. It’s like a book I couldn’t put down. I haven’t done an anime marathon* in years, but with Honey and Clover I just couldn’t stop watching.

Honey and Clover is about a group of 20 year olds going through their college years. It’s partly a love story, and partly journeys of self-discovery. Philosophical, touching, educational, beautiful and completely funny at the right points.

It made me reminisce so much of my own college years, especially my A-levels and final year at University where I had a similarly close group of friends. If you watch this anime, chances are, you’ll be able to relate to a similar time in your life too …and that’s what makes Honey and Clover so very endearing.

The characters are so well designed and realised that towards the end, I felt as if the characters are my friends who I’ve known all my life. It’s easy to sympathise with the characters and their journey becomes the viewers’.

The soundtrack, by Spitz and Suga Shikao is also very special and I can’t wait to get the OST. Almost every other episode would have a unique soundtrack of its own. It’s just beautiful.

Funny, philosophical and heart-felt. 5/5. By all means: Watch this!!

The characters are so lovable (and funny!)

My favourite character in the series: Ayu. I also like Takemoto.

PS

1. In half Malay: Group yang terjemahkan anime ni, was so in love with it that at the end of episode 24 they expressed how sad they are that it’s the end and gratuitously thanked the creators!
2. *An anime marathon is when you watch episodes of a continuous series (normally 24 episodes, each of them 20 minutes long) back to back to back to back from start to finish.
3. Another review
4. To me, this anime series is BETTER than Winter Sonata (Sorry Naja and Naz :p) However, I can't help but think the creators were influenced by that particular Korean Drama. In fact, one of the theme songs sound eerily similar to Winter Sonata's.