Honey and Clover Collection 1 – Review

Title: Honey and Clover Collection 1
Alternative Title: ハチミツとクローバー
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: 325 Minutes
Cost: $AUD 59.95
Classification: This title has been rated M for Mature Themes
Blurb: In the recent years, the art school theme has been used many times in anime, especially surrounding the genres of comedy, romance or a mix of both. Honey and Clover is no exception however their unique characters and plot twists ensure an interesting watch throughout the series.
Special Thanks: Special thanks goes to the Madman Entertainment PR Team for providing me with a review sample of this title.

This is not a genre I would usually go for, with me opting for more serious and faster paced anime series then this, however from the look of the cover design (Yes, I do sometimes judge a book by its cover), I thought it might make a rather interesting watch, especially considering the fanbase it seems to have acquired over the years. Out of all the anime for this month, this was the first one I grabbed from the pile to watch, curious to if it would be a worthwhile watch or fall into the category of “Romance Animes that tried something different and failed”. I can safely say I was not disappointed, but as to how good it was? Read on to find out in my review of Honey and Clover Collection 01. 

What do you get when you cross CREATIVITY with SELF-DISCOVERY and UNREQUITED LOVE –> ART SCHOOL!

Yuta Takemoto has no idea what’s in store for his life when he enrolls at a Tokyo art college, but he finds out right away it’ll never be dull! Love triangles form as fast as friendships when both Takemoto and senior classmate Shinobu Morita fall hard for shy artistic prodigy Hagumi Hanamoto. And while architecture student Takumi Mayama secretly pines for an old woman, dazzling ceramicist Ayu Yamada pines for him!.

Confused yet? Welcome to the bittersweet world of Honey and Clover…..

A lot of animes, especially more recently, have tried the art school approach and I have always questioned why they chose art schools in particular…. why not a law school, or a medical school or something like that (Both of which I don’t recall there ever being an anime series for – more western series styles possibly?)  This anime series was originally published in 2005 therefore pre-dating most of the “art school animes” therefore you could consider it setting a sort of standard for similar series in the future.

The Comedy

This series relies on three key storyline plots. The first of these would be the comedy aspect of the series and I would consider the comedic element to be present, but not overpowering as to ruin the storyline. Most of the comedy comes from Shinobu, who from the first minute the series starts, starts putting the other main characters under stressful, but without a doubt comedic moments. Some of these are short lived, however a few of them, such as Shinobu’s desire to photograph Hagumi in cute scenes and inability to stay awake are moments that are not dominant in the series, but appear spontaneously at random moments in the series. That being said, not all the characters have that sense of comedy, and really, only Shinobu and at times Ayu have much to offer in the area, however it is without a doubt enjoyable.

The Love Triangle

Also present in the series, however in Hagu’s case, appearing much later in the series, are the two strongly evident love triangles, which each consist of people who treat the person the triangle relates to very differently. The first person who has a love triangle around herself is Hagumi, with Yuta playing the big brother role to her and having a crush on her since day one. Shinobu on the other hand also has a thing for Hagu, however it is often misrepresented as him being a creep, often with him making her dress up and have her pictures added to his website. The second triangle isn’t so prevalent in this set of 12 episodes, however the triangle focuses around Takumi, who could be perceived as playing the “Person of Common Sense” role in the series. He has feelings for a woman who is much older then him, however does not share these feelings, whilst his close friend Ayu acts both serious and lovey-dovey to him at the same time.

The triangles are the main driving force behind the progression of the storyline, however I think that in the terms of Yuta, his feelings are made evident and after the first few episodes, I actually found it annoying how he didn’t confess any feelings by the end of the first episodes, and it felt like it dragged on a bit too long for nothing.

and the Miscellaneous Storylines

The series actually has a fair few off-topic random storylines included in it that do not have anything to do with comedy or the primary storyline as a whole. These storylines almost always follow Hagu or Yuta and include backstories for both of them (Eg. Relationships with family etc), and just random silly events such as when the owner of a mysteriously empty apartment returns bearing the dorms favourite food… meat and them planning for a Christmas party for Hagu. The whole art school setting is included among all three primary storyline categories however does not play an overpowering role in the series as one might expect.

The major issue I had with the entirety of the storyline was Hagu herself. She is a character that without a doubt has the most character development and progresses the plot the most. However, whilst she is 19 at the start of the series, they seem to have forgotten that fact and seem to attempt to make her into a younger, perhaps more Chiyo (Azumanga Daioh) figure. This might have worked well for the cuteness of the series, but it would have been nice if she wasn’t posed as being one dependent on others all the time. Also, yes, it is sort of creepy having two guys idolize a girl who whilst being 19, looks like she is 9.

The character design focuses less on actual realism and more on anime-styled cuteness. The softer colour choices for the character designs, makes them look better in my opinion and goes well with the art-school theme. The animation designs of the characters look fairly realistic however they also opt for more chibified animations at times, usually for Hagu and Shinobu and characters moods can also be personafied through normal expression and animation choices, which are often made to look like they were drawn with crayons and art supplies. The backdrop designs are also bright and colourful. The environmental designs often being less on little details and more on the picturesque landscape as a whole. The interior designs on the other hand vary, with some interiors being sparce and bare, whilst others have a nice design which shows detail have been put into them.

Opening Theme
Dramatic by Yuki

This takes the cake as being one of the more fun anime openings ever. The fact is that not a single ounce of animation went into this opening sequence, instead they utilized several plates of various artistic creations made to look like everything from a skeleton, a nature scene, soiled panties and so forth. It is something you need to watch to fully understand. The song was also an enjoyable listen, and is one I wouldn’t object to listening to over and over again with or without the animation.

Ending Theme
Waltz by Suneohair

The song, after the rather awesome opening theme was bland and boring to me, with nothing to set it apart from all the other ending themes available. The animation choice isn’t the best, however it is a lot better then others I have seen lately and the windmill motif is rather effective.

The music in this series is fairly good. It primarily consists of piano and string instruments which are not too overpowering, but instead complement the many storyline sequences well. In an anime about art school students, as with the graphics, music is always an important element to consider and the music worked well, even to someone like me who usually doesn’t care much for music such as this.

Heather Halley is the voice actress behind Hagu, and I have never heard of her before, so a quick check on ANN showed that this was one of her first anime dub titles, and I must say, she played the role of the child-like Hagu well, I wouldn’t mind her playing a few female child roles in future anime titles. Sam Regal who played Shinobu, Cam Clarke who played Takumi and Julie Ann Taylor who played Ayu all played their roles well, and their voices were well suited to the character designs and personalities. The only actor whose voice I wasn’t too crazy about was Yuri Lowenthal who voices Yuta. I have heard Yuri in countless of his previous works including Durarara!!, .hack//G.U and Bayonetta to name a few, however I didn’t think his voice suited his respective character as well as the others (Do note, his voice acting is good, but not suited to the character all the time). It is early on in the series, so hopefully it improves in the next set of episodes.

There are a fair few extras included in this DVD set overall results in a fairly nice compliation for people who like the bonus goodies. Included in this collection is:

• A bonus 13th episode, titled L: Face to Face with a Legend
• Cultural Terms for each episode – More animes should have this I think, it is a handy little tool to have on the DVD after watching the episode.
• English and Original Production Credits – *Shrugs*
• Production Art – Quite a nice little complication.
• Textless Opening and Closing
• A ‘Making Of’ the Animated Opening – Very interesting watch, I remember using similar methods in Grade 6 and thought it was really professional, seeing this makes me realize how little I did….”
• Trailers – They didnt actually show me the names of each individual series as they showed the trailers like they usually do (Often at the classifications presentation screen they will have the title underneath them).

Overall it is a fairly nice set, even if it is just to see how the opening sequence was made.

Personally, this first set of 13 episodes is to start the plot building for the rest of the series and introduce all the characters that will be playing a role in the series. The series starts off rather slow, however progresses more and more as the series continues. I was able to enjoy watching all the episodes in one sitting, and have no problems recommending this series to people who like the genre and are willing to make an investment into three collections of this series.

Final Score

Storyline: B+
Character Development: B
Design: A
Opening / Ending Sequences: A-
Music: B
Voice Acting: A-
Extras: B+
Personal Opinion: A-

Overall Score: A-