Monday, July 24, 2006

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.

11 comments:

Mama Sarah said...

you treasure your 'friends' more than your wife, eh?

ayumi said...

Salaam..

Love this anime. It's beautiful in every single way.. and the colours that were used are just amazing. My favorite character would be Takemoto-kun.. Morita senpai makes the anime more memorable with his weird ways.. hahaha.. My favorite insert song is between Suga Shikao's "Sorosoro Ikanakucha" or Spitz's "Hachimitsu". I also love Takemoto's quote about when he finally understood why he kept on riding his bicycle..

mynn said...

"beautiful in every single way" <- EXACTLY. Speaking of favourite characters - all the characters are lovable. my least favourite character (at first) was Hagu-chan, but towards the end, even Hagu was not bad. I agree with what you said about Morita senpai - infact, I think Morita is the one who's most in control - he's like the "magical character" who knows what everyone is thinking and subtly leads everyone in more-or-less the right direction. He's also very funny. I like the "crossing the river styx" parts:D

there are so many choice quotes in this movie! for example when ayu said

"In movies and songs, everyone in love seems to be so happy, but why is mine so miserable...?"

many2222 more ...

ps
O-K & KKL, Afar, Nurul and Naz, you guys will love this anime, seriously!

Orangkilang said...

any big robots and killing involved??

Anonymous said...

Why is the title Honey and Clover? Any significance..?

mynn said...

LOL OK!!! no big robots is precisely why i like this series! i hate shows with big robots - because they're all a rip off of evangelion. (semua to do with end of the world and rebirth bla222222 <-- boring)

crimson
i partly know why the title is named "clover" because there's a scene around episode 10-13 (mid way) where the group was looking for a 4 leaf-clover. "Honey" i don't know why, but my theory is it refers to one of the main characters.

Anonymous said...

Eh i ok je ngan winter sonata tu. In fact I tak tengok habis pon. My favourite is My Name is Kim Sam Soon. The best Kdrama ever!! I recommend this drama.

mynn said...

naja
you lah yang recommend Full House kan? sapa yang cakap "best Korean Drama ever" huh? you lah jgk masa tu kan?? berapa "the best ever" yang you tengok ni naja??

... to naja all korean dramas are good.

dah fasih cakap korea?

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