Honey and Clover Anime Review

HONEY & CLOVER SCORE: 10.0

INTRODUCTION & SYNOPSIS

Honey & Clover is a slice of life (comedy/drama/romance) anime with characters that over time unveil their inner feelings and backgrounds, peaking your interest to hear more about the next character until it all finally comes full circle to create a masterpiece. If you want to laugh, to cry, to root for something, and above all else, to feel something, Honey & Clover is the anime for you.

Our story begins in a College for the Arts in Tokyo, where a boy who is trying to find his way in life, Yuta, resides on campus with his two roommates, the zany and mysterious Shinobou and the reliable and persistent Takumi. One day, their favorite professor Shuji brings a family friend to the Art School to get her out of the countryside to explore her brilliant artistic tallent. Her name is Hagu. Instantly, Yuta and Shinobou fall for her creating a little bit of a love triangle as the story rolls out; more characters are introduced to create even more fun, drama, and romantic webs. The story follows the group of friends from freshman year to graduation as they grow together and become who they are going to be.

PROS

This anime is amazing at portraying life, and that’s its stand-out quality throughout. From start to finish, the characters share moments and make memories together in a realistic fashion that creates a genuine feel to the anime. It’s this sincerity that made me so invested in the characters dilemmas and in their hearts. Speaking of, the characters are brilliant. All of them blend together perfectly to make for a funny, smart, and earnest cast. My favorite characters were Shuji and Shinobu. Shuji is the most selfless and genuine character I have ever seen in an anime. The way he cares for Hagu, and takes her in so that she can go to school in the city and develop her talents is amazing. He cares about all of the characters, and acts as a voice of reason as they try to find their way in life.  Shinobu, in great contrast, is the most over the top, hilarious, yet mysterious characters I have ever seen in an anime. For pretty much the entire anime we have absolutely no idea what he does for a living, but he is super loaded (sort of like Barney in How I Met your Mother). He disappears for weeks at a time and comes back with tons of cash in his pockets, dead tired, and passes out. It’s truly comical to see him try and make money off of anything he can and all of his wacky antics. On the flip side, how he acts around Hagu is much different and it’s really intriguing to see that as well.

While the characters were all amazing, what carries this anime for me are the stories and how they weave together. I loved how each character’s background was fully fleshed out, so we get to understand why they are the way they are. The anime even had excellent timing; knowing the order of which stories to reveal when, building in intrigue and saving the juiciest details for last. Speaking of, the ending. The ending blew my mind, and I didn’t expect it at all. I did not see these two characters ending up together at any time throughout, but when it happened, it all became clear. It was so beautiful and well done, yet in a realistic way. I loved that Honey & Clover stayed true to its tone throughout the entire anime. Many anime of this genre will completely change the tone at the end of the series and come out of left field in a bad way, or the ending will be all too predictable. On the contrary, I never knew what was going to happen in Honey & Clover and stayed interested the whole time. The characters remained true to their core and I can’t say enough good things about it.

Additionally, the animation was welcoming and artistic as you would expect for an anime set place in an art school; they really nailed the changes in animation for dramatic and comedic moments. I also thoroughly enjoyed the musical score of this anime, it was kind of indie and that fit the tone just right. I’ve never heard that style of music in an anime, so it really stood out to me.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I didn’t have any serious or minor cons for this anime. I became enthralled in the story and it ended perfectly.  I’m sorry I couldn’t say too much about the storyline, but it would spoil the experience for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. I would recommend anyone go watch it, especially if you are college age, I guarantee it will speak to you as it includes themes that people at this age go through of unrequited love, being lost in life, and more. Honey & Clover is a 10 out of 10; I highly recommend you check it out!

Watched on: dubs2go.net