Title: Honey and Clover Collection 3
Alternative Title: ハチミツとクローバー2
Published by: Madman Entertainment (Australia / New Zealand)
Based on: Manga Series by Chika Umino
Audio: English and Japanese Dubs
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen (16:9)
Runtime: 300 Minutes
Cost: $AUD 59.95
Classification: This title has been rated PG for Mature Themes and Coarse Language
Previous Reviews: Collection 1, Collection 2
Blurb: “The third and final collection of episodes of the Honey and Clover series, this time consisting of the 12 episodes from the sequel series Honey and Clover 2. Sporting the same cast as the previous episodes, the first half focuses more on the secondary characters and only at the end to the original characters get much chance to shine. Overall a satisfying conclusion to the series. Sporting the same visual and music quality as the previous two, if you have purchased the previous two collections, you have no real excuse to stop now.
Special Thanks: Special thanks goes to the Madman Entertainment PR Team for providing me with a review sample of this title.
I am aware that I said Chrome Shelled Regios would be my last Madman anime from May, however as I managed to get my hands on a copy of Honey and Clover Collection 3, I could not resist reviewing this promptly. For those that do not know about this series, I strongly advise reading my previous reviews, however this is a romance series that implements some degree of comedy and tragedy into it. Whilst it started out as an art college series surrounding a group of friends, it has since taken a route different from most similar series and spread out into the characters career life, whilst keeping the college life plot going. So, I reviewed Collection 1 (A-) and Collection 2 (B)…. will Honey and Clover Collection 3 improve itself this time around? Read on to find out.
Yura returns from his journey of self-discovery only to find everyone around him deep in their own struggles to shape their futures. Ayumi finds himself increasingly included in projects involving Takumi and Rika, and the strain is breaking her. Far away in America, Shinobu and his brother’s endless quest for money finally helps them achieve their ultimate goal, while back home, Hagumi must face the devastating consequences of an accident that could change her life forever.
You will notice in Episode 2 (Not episode 1 which is an early recap episode) that this is a set of episodes that are more based around the characters lives outside of Art School, and characters such as Yuta and Hagumi are essentially non-existant for the first half of the series, and as the synopsis above states, Shinobu is off in America and gets even less screentime. Either way, the first five or six episodes primarily surround three characters, Takumi and Ayumi, each living their own lives and giving their work colleagues some focus and Shuji to a much lesser extent. The writing for these episodes felt slow and dragged on a considerable bit, however, did a decent job at portraying the spontaneous nature of life and how regardless of this being a TV series, how there is not essentially going to be a happy ending to it. I will admit however, I did not warm to the new characters much, and I felt that whilst the series did try to develop them, they did not get enough attention in the first season (Collections 1 & 2) to warrant much development in this season.
With no intention to spoil what could be called the cliffhanger of this 36 episode series, the second half of this set brings back the charm of what the original series did well, got back to having the original group with less interference of extra characters, and also gave more of a focus onto the key characters in this series (Yuta, Hagumi and Shinobu). Whilst I would not consider it an ending I was expecting, it did a good job to bring a wrap to the series and the remaining love triangle between the three of them, however also displays more realistic drama which this series did so well in the previous season. If I were to be completely honest, I would have probably been satisfied with the second half of this season with elements of the first half added in as it really was a bittersweet moment, that as I stated above, does not necessarily lead to a Good or Bad ending, but more of a Normal satisfying ending.
The storyline overall dragged at the start, not aided by the recap episode that took up a precious episode space (Never been a big fan of recap episodes, even between seasons). That being said, the storylines specifically surrounding the main characters were very well done, and even though I was driven every episode to frustratingly hope Shinobu would return at some point to liven things up with his comedic antics, the background stories, especially surrounding Hagumi and Shinobu were both sweet and saddening and shows how their lives have been driven, and their desire to either follow or run away from their past. If you were to put up all three collections and watch them together, you would easily have a series with a strong storyline, provided you like this genre, however by itself, this season was comprised of both good, average and boring storytelling.
As this is the second season of Honey and Clover, I would usually be writing a description of the design, musical and voice acting elements of this series. However in this event, I will refer you to my previous reviews as despite the II in the title, everything essentially remains of the same high standard of design and musical talent. If anything, they do use more chibified character designs to portray the comedic scenes or to make scenes more light-hearted, which is used well in moderation. In terms of music, it is noticeable from the start that during the episodes, they use many more vocal insert songs during the episodes, of varying interest to me, but works out quite well overall.
Also included in this season is new opening and ending songs. The opening theme is Fugainaiya by YUKI, which with me, being faithfully loyal to the original opening theme, makes it hard to give it anything above an average rating in my books. Whilst it has the same artistic charms, in comparison to the food opening of the first collection, it simply doesn’t have anything to offer except a few statues and the like. The song doesn’t have that upbeat feel to it which captivated me in the original as well. The ending song is Split by SuneoHair which to be honest, is about as interesting as the other endings, in other words, not much interest either.
So, third and final part of the collection needs to have a good deal of bonuses included in it right? Well thankfully, they have included a few interesting things, including one that I haven’t seen on an Anime DVD yet. What is included is:
- Voice Acting Karaoke – I have never seen this on a DVD before, this allows you to take the role of a character and do the dubbing for them. I am not sure how much appeal this would have, but I am sure some people would gather round and have a few laughs doing this. Essentially you are given the choice of either English and Japanese dubs, then shown a scene, then given the role of dubbing the character in a repeat of the scene. For example: The Yuta/Hagumi Hiccup scene (Col. 3), Yuta watching Shinobu fly to America (Col. 1) and so forth.
- Cultural Terms – Unlike the previous two collections, it is only on the second DVD and covers the entire collection.
- Production Art
- Textless Opening and Closing
- English Production Credits
- The usual trailers, this time for Haruhi Season 2, Summer Wars, Nana and Evangelion 1.11
Finally, my final words on this Collection and Series. This collection delivers and appropriate conclusion to the series that has spanned over 36 episodes. Whilst it could have done with slightly faster pacing to allow more focus on the final plot, it does a good job at showing how life takes even the best of friends on different directions and how people must be willing to make sacrifices due to the spontaneous nature of life. This series has overall been a rewarding watch that I feel should be watched by everyone who is after a heartwarming series, yet doesn’t want the stereotypical experience.
Final Score
Storyline: B
Character Development: B
Design: A
Music: B
Voice Acting: A-
OP/ED Themes: C
Extras: A-
Personal Opinion: A-
Overall Score: B+
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