Honey and Clover

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Honey and Clover

A promotional image for the Honey and Clover anime series, featuring its characters
ハチミツとクローバー
(Hachimitsu to Kurōbā)
Genre Comedy-drama, Romance
Manga
Author Chika Umino
Publisher Flag of Japan Shueisha
Demographic Josei
Serialized in 'CUTiEcomic (ch. 1–14)
 Young YOU (until 2005)
 Chorus (2005-2006)
Original run June 2000 – 28 July 2006
Volumes 10
TV anime
Director Ken'ichi Kasai
Writer Yōsuke Kuroda
Studio J.C.Staff
Licensor Flag of the United States VIZ Media
Network Flag of Japan Fuji TV (Noitamina), Animax
Flag of Malaysia Flag of Singapore Flag of Thailand Flag of Indonesia Flag of South Korea Flag of the Philippines Flag of Hong Kong Flag of India Flag of the Republic of China Animax Asia
Original run 14 April 2005 – 26 September 2005
Episodes 26
TV anime: Honey and Clover II
Director Tatsuyuki Nagai
Writer Yōsuke Kuroda
Studio J.C.Staff
Network Flag of Japan Fuji TV (Noitamina), Animax
Flag of Malaysia Flag of Singapore Flag of Thailand Flag of Indonesia Flag of South Korea Flag of the Philippines Flag of Hong Kong Flag of India Flag of the Republic of China Animax Asia
Original run 29 June 2006 – 14 September 2006
Episodes 12
Live action film
Director Masahiro Takada
Writer Masahiro Takada
Masahiko Kawahara
Studio Asmik Ace Entertainment
Released Flag of Japan July 22, 2006
Runtime 116 m.
TV drama
Director Masaki Tanamura
Hiroaki Matsuyama
Writer Shigeki Kaneko
Network Flag of Japan Fuji TV
Studio Fuji TV Drama Seisaku Centre
Original run January 8, 2008 – ongoing
Time slot Tuesdays 21:00
Episodes 10

Honey and Clover (ハチミツとクローバー Hachimitsu to Kurōbā?) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Chika Umino. It is also known as Hachikuro (ハチクロ?) and H&C. The first fourteen chapters of the manga were serialized in Shueisha's CUTiEcomic magazine from June 2000 to July 2001, and was serialized in Young YOU thereafter. With the demise of Young YOU in 2005, the series moved to the magazine Chorus, where it has formally ended its serialization, running until July 2006 with chapter 64. In 2003, the manga won the 27th Kodansha Manga Award for best shōjo manga.[1]

The series was adapted into an anime series by J.C. STAFF, first premiering between April to September 2005 across Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block. A second and final season, Honey and Clover II, premiered from June 2006. The series was also adapted into a live action movie, which was released across theaters on July 22, 2006. A Japanese television drama series adaptation began broadcast on Fuji TV from January 8, 2008, and is currently airing on every Tuesday at 21:00 JST.

Contents

[edit] Outline

The title of the series, Hachimitsu to Kurōbā, stems from Chika Umino's two favorite albums: Hachimitsu by SPITZ and Clover by Shikao Suga, due to which Spitz and Shikao Suga's songs are featured prominently in the anime.

The story takes place in a fictional art college that is based on Musashino Art University, Kodaira-shi, Tokyo, in which SPITZ vocalist Masamune Kusano was also once a student.

Both the anime and the manga feature ferris wheels prominently. All the wheels featured in this anime exist in reality. Episode 3 featured the wheel in Izu Bio Park, Higashiizu city. Episode 10 featured the Great Ferris Wheel of Diamonds and Flowers in Kasai Rinkai Park, Edogawa, Tokyo, and Episode 19 had Cosmo Clock 21 in Yokohama Cosmo World, Yokohama city.[2]

[edit] Story

Yūta Takemoto, Takumi Mayama and Shinobu Morita are three young men who live in the same apartment complex and are students at an art college in Tokyo.

One day, one of the art professors, Shūji Hanamoto, introduces his cousin's daughter, Hagumi Hanamoto, who has come to live with him and is a first year at the art school. Upon introduction, Takemoto and Morita fall in love with her. Morita expresses his love for Hagu in ways that scare her, especially calling Hagu 'mousey' and constantly photographing her, while Takemoto hides his feelings and tries to be a friend to Hagu. Hagu herself, though initially timid and afraid of company, gradually warms up to the three.

The group also includes another female: Ayumi Yamada. She is a master of pottery, and is well known by her name "Tetsujin" (Iron Lady). When not at school or hanging out with friends from the college, she helps run the family liquor store. She is very popular with all the guys, whether they are from the shopping district the liquor store is in or the other male pottery students, but Mayama is the only man she is in love with.

Unfortunately, although Mayama considers Yamada a friend, he does not return Yamada's love and is busy chasing an older woman, Rika Harada. Rika runs an architecture studio which she used to run with her husband, Harada before he died in a car accident which also left Rika disabled. Rika Harada and Shūji were very close friends and roommates in college. Mayama is sent by Shūji to help Rika, who has a hard time taking care of herself and running her business.

The story follows these five characters in their love triangles, graduating from college, finding jobs, and learning more about themselves.

[edit] Characters

See also: List of Honey and Clover characters
Hagumi Hanamoto (花本 はぐみ Hanamoto Hagumi?)
Aged 18 years old (at the beginning of the story), she is affectionately nicknamed Hagu or Hagu-chan by her friends and starts the series as a first year student. She has the appearance of a young child, and acts like one to an extent, even though she is 18. Despite her appearance, she is a gifted artist and her work is highly praised by art professionals. She tends to get very nervous when interacting with people and often becomes physically ill from stress. Hagu is very shy, and because she is so nervous when interacting with people, the other art students think that she is strange. Raised in a sheltered environment by her grandmother, she reflects the outside world she sees in her artwork.
She is from Azumino city, Nagano-ken. Upon seeing her, Morita and Takemoto fall in love with her, although both express it in different ways. Hagu doesn't know about their feelings for her, but sees them as friends, or even brothers.
Yūta Takemoto (竹本 祐太 Takemoto Yūta?)
Aged 19 (at the beginning of the series), Yūta Takemoto is a second-year student at the art college. He is from Annaka city, Gunma-ken. He lives in the same apartment complex as Mayama and Morita in room 202. His floormates are Morita and Hasegawa.
Takemoto is one of the more mellow characters in the series. He falls in love with Hagu immediately after being introduced by his professor but keeps his feelings to himself throughout most of the series. His love for Hagu and his inability to act upon his feelings as freely as Morita causes some internal problems for Takemoto. For example, when Hagu received a bird brooch that was made for her as an anonymous present, Takemoto couldn't bring himself to say that Morita was the one who had made it for her. Instead of acting on his feelings, Takemoto decides to be more of a brother figure to Hagu, giving her friendly support when needed. For example, Takemoto accepts Hagu's requests to build her sophisticated dollhouses and the like. Takemoto is very close to her.
Episodes are often narrated from Takemoto's point of view. At first he questions why he is in art school and feels that he is not good at anything but he gradually matures and becomes comfortable with himself. The greatest change in his character comes after he spends days riding on a bicycle all the way to the Northernmost point in Japan. After this he feels that he can tell Hagu how he really feels and stand up to Shinobu.
Shinobu Morita (森田 忍 Morita Shinobu?)
24 years old and a 6th year student in the beginning of the series, Morita occupies room 203, his floormates being Takemoto and Hasegawa. Morita is unable to graduate, as he can never wake up on time to go to classes. This is mainly due to the work that he does, which forces him to go missing for periods of time. What he does for work though remains a mystery. When Morita comes back from his mysterious job, he immediately falls asleep for at least 48 hours, due to the amount of work he does. He also returns with a large sum of money in his back-pocket and brings a food item to share with his flat mates. Although the flat mates believe he does it to mock them, such as when he brings a bag of croquettes instead of meat, Morita does care deeply for his friends such as Takemoto and Mayama.
Morita is a very mysterious person. He does many random, crazy things for his personal enjoyment, such as creating a twister game with a little too many colors, which resulted in horrific pain for him and Takemoto (and later Shuji). Morita often picks on people, for example he accuses Mayama of secretly stalking Rika, which in this case is actually true, although Mayama is in denial.
Takumi Mayama (真山 巧 Mayama Takumi?)
22 years old and a 4th year student at the start of the series, Mayama is from Kanazawa, Ishikawa-ken. He lives in the same complex as Takemoto and Morita. He occupies room 101, sharing the floor with an unknown individual and formerly Lohmeyer-senpai. He acts as a senior to Takemoto and tries to help Morita get up for early morning classes. At one point, Takemoto and Morita are seen sleeping alongside him in his futon. Morita also borrows Mayama's shirts from time to time because it's more comfortable.
Mayama helps Rika out with various errands at the start of the series and helps her complete various orders. It is during this time that Mayama develops feelings for Rika. It is unclear whether Rika ever reciprocates the feelings that Mayama has for her, but various flashbacks imply that Mayama and Rika have 'fooled around', or that Mayama may have taken advantage of Rika's disability to fulfill his desires, although this is later cleared up as not being the case. Rika suggests that Mayama find another job so that she won't have to continue hurting him, as she realizes how much he cares for her, and is unable (and perhaps unwilling at that point) to allow him to enter into her life. Mayama's relationship with Rika is very delicate, but even though they don't talk much, this is shown through a conversation Yamada has with Hanamoto to be a sign that she likes him.
Mayama doesn't return the feelings that Yamada has for him, despite her at times throwing herself at him. This is due to his love for Rika. Instead he sees Yamada as his close friend. Mayama becomes very protective over Yamada when his colleague Nomiya, who has a reputation for playing girls, develops an interest in her.
Ayumi Yamada (山田 あゆみ Yamada Ayumi?)
21 years old at the beginning, Yamada is well known by her peers at the art college. First, she is good at pottery, and second, she is nicknamed Tetsujin (lit. Iron-lady) for running 6km to school every morning with her dog during freshman year in order to help the dog lose weight. Due to her good looks, she also catches the attention of her male friends/coworkers at the shopping district she works with. Yamada is deeply in love with one of her friends, Mayama. Mayama, however, doesn't return her feelings, asking her why she is in love with him and encouraging her to go find someone else. Even though Yamada recognizes that her love will bear no fruit, she continues to love him. She can't manage to move on and find another man. While Mayama doesn't love her in that sense, Mayama sees Yamada as an important friend, a feeling that Yamada recognizes later on when she cannot return the love of her coworkers, but still thought of them as her precious friends. Mayama's protectiveness of her causes Yamada to get angry at him when he tries to protect her from his former boss, Nomiya.
Shūji Hanamoto (花本 修司 Hanamoto Shūji?)
Shūji is a professor at the college that Morita, Mayama, Takemoto, Yamada and Hagu attend, serving as the father figure for the group. He is also Hagu's relative and the person that Hagu is really closest to, and gets very overprotective of her at times. Shūji is a close friend of Rika and her late husband who was his roommate.
When Rika's husband died in a traffic accident, he took care of Rika so that she wouldn't try and join her husband in death, but sometimes Shūji really wonders if Rika would've been happier if she died alongside her husband. Because of this, Shūji recommends Mayama as Rika's new assistant; he thinks Mayama's companionship would be a healthy change for Rika.
Rika Harada (原田 理花 Harada Rika?)
Rika is the founder and manager of Harada Design. She also ran it with her husband until he died in a car accident that happened on the opening night of one of the stores they designed. This accident also left her badly scarred on her back, and has damaged her legs so she is unable to walk for long periods without the help of a cane and medicine. She is good friends with Shūji, for they, along with her late husband, were all very good friends in the past. It was her husband that befriended both her and Shūji, having joined both of them in their apartment. She is from Otaru city, Hokkaidō.
Mayama tends to Rika's injuries and develops feelings for her. Rika knows that Mayama likes her, but pushes Mayama away because she doesn't want to hurt him and still remember her late husband. It is unclear whether Rika reciprocates the feelings that Mayama has for her, but later chapters of the manga and the first episodes of the second series seem to imply that she does.
Later in the series, it appears that Rika finally opens her heart to Mayama after a shock ending sequence where Mayama's feelings finally flood out.

[edit] Manga

The first fourteen chapters of the manga series began serialization on June 2000 across Shueisha's CUTiEcomic magazine till July 2001, after which it was serialized in Young YOU. With the demise of Young YOU in 2005, the series moved to the magazine Chorus, where it formally ended its serialization, running until July 2006 with chapter 64. In 2003, the series won the 27th Kodansha Manga Award for best shōjo manga.[1]

The manga series has also later been licensed for distribution across numerous international regions, including North America by Viz Media and Germany by Tokyopop.[3]

[edit] Tankōbon volumes

Published by Shueisha

[edit] Anime

See also: List of Honey and Clover episodes

The first season of the anime series, directed by Ken'ichi Kasai, aired between 14 April to 29 September 2005 across Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block. It spanned 24 episodes. Two special episodes continuing the first season, Chapter L and Chapter F, were released with the series' 5th and 7th volume DVDs published in December 2005 and March 2006 respectively. [4]

A second and final season, Honey and Clover II, directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai, premiered on June 29, 2006, and finished airing on September 14, 2006. It spanned 12 episodes.

Both seasons of the anime series were later aired in Japan by the anime CS television network Animax, which has also later broadcast the series across its respective networks worldwide, including its English language network in Southeast Asia from August 1, 2006 (where the series received its English language television premiere), as well as its other networks worldwide, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and other regions. [5]

The anime, especially in its second season, often showed Weider in Jelly, as it was one of the sponsors.

[edit] Staff

First season
  • Director: Ken'ichi Kasai
  • Screenplay: Yōsuke Kuroda
  • Character supervision: Chika Umino
  • Character designs: Shūichi Shimamura
  • General animation director: Takahiko Yoshida
  • Prop design: Yukako Tsuzuki
  • Art director: Chikako Shibata
  • Color setting: Miyuki Ishida
  • Video design: Nobuo Ōkouchi
  • Photography director: Yutaka Kurosawa
  • Editing: Shigeru Nishiyama
  • Sound director: Jin Aketagawa
  • Sound production: Magic Capsule
  • Music: Yuzo Hayashi & Salon'68
  • Music production: Aniplex
  • Opening video: Nagi Noda (1-12 episodes), Yuichi Kodama (13-24 episodes)
  • Clothing supervision: Kazuki Kuraishi
  • Producers: GENCO
  • Animation production: J.C.Staff
  • Production: Hachikuro Production Committee (Asmik Ace Entertainment, Shueisha, Fuji Television, Dentsu, Genco)
Second season
  • Supervisor: Ken'ichi Kasai
  • Director: Tatsuyuki Nagai
  • Series composition and screenplay: Yōsuke Kuroda
  • Character supervision: Chika Umino
  • Character designs: Shūichi Shimamura
  • General animation director: Masaru Heiwatari
  • Prop design: Yukako Tsuzuki
  • Art director: Chikako Shibata
  • Color design: Miyuki Ishida
  • Photography director: Yoshio Ōkouchi
  • Editing: Shigeru Nishiyama
  • Sound director: Jin Aketagawa
  • Sound production: Magic Capsule
  • Music: DEPAPEPE, Yuzo Hayashi & Salon'68
  • Opening image: Fumiko Hirano
  • Music production: SME Records
  • Producers: GENCO
  • Animation production: J.C.Staff
  • Production: Hachikuro Production Committee (Asmik Ace Entertainment, Shueisha, Fuji Television, Dentsu, Sony Music Entertainment, Genco)

[edit] Cast

[edit] Theme songs

Opening themes
1. "Dramatic" (ドラマチック) (First season, episodes 1 - 24)
Lyrics and performance: YUKI, arrangement and music: Kouichi Tsutaya.
2. "Fugainaiya" (ふがいないや) (Honey and Clover II, second season, episodes 1 - 12)
Lyrics and performance: YUKI, music: Kouichi Tsutaya, arrangement: YUKI, Kenji Tamai, Atsushi Yuasa.
Ending themes
1. "Waltz" (ワルツ) (First season, episodes 1 - 12 + 24)
Arrangement and performance: Suneohair, lyrics and music: Kenji Watanabe.
2. "Mistake" (First season, episodes 13-23)
Performance: THE BAND HAS NO NAME, music: Tamio Okuda, lyrics: Shinichi Yaguma.
3. "Split" (スプリット) (Honey and Clover II, second season, episodes 1 - 12)
Arrangement and performance: Suneohair, lyrics and music: Kenji Watanabe.

[edit] Insert songs

First season:

  • Episode 1: Hachimitsu (ハチミツ) by Spitz
  • Episode 2: 8-gatsu no Serenade (８月のセレナーデ) by Shikao Suga
  • Episode 3: Tsuki to Knife (月とナイフ) by Shikao Suga
  • Episode 4: Hakou (波光) by Shikao Suga
  • Episode 7: Tamagawa (多摩川) by Spitz
  • Episode 10: Sakana (魚) by Spitz
  • Episode 13: Sorosoro Ikanakucha (そろそろいかなくちゃ) by Shikao Suga
  • Episode 14: Y by Spitz
  • Episode 15: Your wo Kakeru (夜を駆ける) by Spitz
  • Episode 18: Yubikiri (ユビキリ) by Shikao Suga
  • Episode 19: Ougon no Tsuki (黄金の月) by Shikao Suga
  • Episode 22: Tsuki ni Kaeru (月に帰る) by Spitz
  • Episode 23: Room 201 by Shikao Suga
  • Episode 24: Spica (スピカ) by Spitz

Honey and Clover II, second season:

  • Episode 1: Nakayoshi (仲良し) by Spitz
  • Episode 2: Pool (プール) by Spitz
  • Episode 3: Koko ni Iru Koto (ココニイルコト) by Shikao Suga
  • Episode 4: Honoho (ほのほ) by Spitz
  • Episode 5: Je t'aime (ジュテーム?) by Spitz
  • Episode 6: HAPPY BIRTHDAY by Shikao Suga
  • Episode 7: Natsukage (夏陰～なつかげ～) by Shikao Suga
  • Episode 8: Ringo Juice (リンゴ・ジュース) by Shikao Suga
  • Episode 9: Kazenagi (風なぎ) by Shikao Suga
  • Episode 10: Namida (涙) by Spitz
  • Episode 11: Futari no Kage (ふたりのかげ) by Shikao Suga
  • Episode 12: Inaka no Seikatsu (田舎の生活) by Spitz

[edit] Movie

The live action movie adaptation of the series was first released across Japanese theatres on July 22, 2006. The DVD for the film was released on January 12, 2007.

[edit] Staff

  • Director: Masahiro Takada
  • Screenplay: Masahiko Kawahara, Masahiro Takada
  • Producers: Shinji Ogawa, Keiko Imamura, Maho Tada
  • Photography: Keiji Hasegawa
  • Lighting: Kimihiko Yamazaki
  • Art: Momoko Nakamura
  • Sound: Makio Ika
  • Recording: Tadao Tasai
  • Stylist: Haruhisa Shiroyama
  • Music Producers: Toyohiko Kinhashi, Kyoto Megei
  • Music: Yoko Kanno
  • Hagumi's Painting Work: Maya Maxx
  • Morita's Sculpture Work: Taisho Morita
  • Production: Hachimitsu to Kurōba Film Partners
  • Distribution: Asmik Ace

[edit] Cast

  • Yūta Takemoto: Shō Sakurai (Arashi)
  • Hagumi Hanamoto: Yū Aoi
  • Shinobu Morita: Yūsuke Iseya
  • Takumi Mayama: Ryō Kase
  • Ayumi Yamada: Megumi Seki
  • Shūji Hanamoto: Masato Sakai
  • Rika Harada: Naomi Nishida
  • Luigi Fujiwara: Keisuke Horibe
  • Mario Fujiwara: Tomu Miyazaki
  • Kōda-sensei: Ginpunchō
  • Repairman: Shidō Nakamura
  • Master of Teahouse: Tsuoyoshi Toshishige
  • Policeman: Junichi Haruta
  • TV Reporter: Yumi Shimizu
  • Designer: Tetsuhiro Ikeda
  • Art Student: Kei Majima
  • Student: Kenta Hamano (Sakerock)
  • Harada: Seiichi Tanabe

[edit] Theme song

  • Mahō no Kotoba (魔法のコトバ?) (performance: Spitz)

[edit] Insert songs

[edit] TV drama

Honey and Clover was adapted into a live-action Japanese television drama series called Hachimitsu to Clover, which premiered on Fuji TV from January 8, 2008 to March 18, 2008. It was aired every Tuesday on the network at 21:00 JST.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Theme songs

  • Ken Hirai's "Canvas" (キャンバス Kyanbasu?) (Def Star Records)

[edit] Staff

  • Written by: Shigeki Kaneko
  • Producers: Madoka Takiyama, Tsugi Shikanai
  • Directors: Masaki Tanimura, Hiroaki Matsuyama
  • Music: Shōgo Kaida, Keiichi Miyako (SOPHIA), Shin Kōno
  • Production: Fuji TV Drama Production Centre

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ a b Kodansha Manga Award. Retrieved on 2007-05-21.
  2. ^ Umino Chika interview by s-woman.net
  3. ^ Honey and Clover (manga). Anime News Network. Retrieved on 2007-06-22.
  4. ^ Honey & Clover official website (Japanese)
  5. ^ Official Animax Asia Website - Retrieved August 1, 2006. Animax Rave, July 2006 Issue, Official Animax newsletter, July 2006 issue, Animax East Asia official website, retrieved July 2006.

[edit] External links

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