This site is designed for accessibility. Content is obtainable and functional to any browser or Internet device. This site's full visual experience is available in a modern browser that supports web standards. Please consider upgrading your browser.
ファイト／ステイナイト 
While I wish that Honey and Clover can go on and on, like all good things, it will eventually have to end. Thankfully the Autumn Anime season is about to arrive soon. Having said that, as usual the pickings seem to be rather slim for me. Maybe I'm just bored with anime, or maybe I'm just a bit jaded after so many disappointing series these last few seasons, but either way, I'm not too excited about this season's offering. Well, maybe I'll change my mind later on but in the meantime, here are a few series which I may be interested in. As usual, the question is simple: which of these new series are you interested to watch? If there is a show that I haven't mentioned here, feel free to mention it. The full list of the new season can be obtained from Moonphase.
The items that I ordered from Amazon Japan has finally arrived. The main thing that interest me here is, of course, Honey and Clover R2 DVD. I have to say that I'm not disappointed with this order. The entire package looks as if it's been made carefully with a lot of thoughts put into it. To begin with, the digipack is nicely designed with some kind of wallpaper-like texture. At the front of the digipack, there's a nice hand-drawn picture of Yamada and Hagu created by Umina Chika herself. The main extra of this volume is a hardcover book containing various facts about the series from singers to the place where the characters live. I also can't help but being amused when I first found out that you can buy the clothes that the characters use. Anyway, here are some scans of the package:
Digipack Front Cover
DVD Front Cover
DVD Back Cover
Hardcover book, Front Cover
A page from the Hardcover book
Again, a quick double-feature review, since the subs are already out. In general, episode 7 had deplorable art sinking to new all-time lows. Check my comments on the thumbnails for three examples of absolutely nonprofessional work. In fact, it has gotten so bad that I was started to giggle about it instead of being annoyed. The episode itself showed Yamato in a fairly bad light too, so the enjoyment factor was quite limited. Contentwise, however, it was a necessary followup to the surprise ending of episode 6.
Episode 8 on the other hand was very good again. The art was back to decent levels, and some frames were actually really pretty. Also, with the introduction of the last major character, Hashiba Miki, the story gains one key role: A smart and likable friend of both Suzuka AND Yamato who is finally able to give Suzuka some much-needed reality checks. This alone will make the story much easier to enjoy already. Finally, we have some very well-done character development for Honoka. She's having it tough, but she is doing what she can to deal with it. I like the girl alot!
Episode Ratings (7/8): o/+
This episode provides a good example as to why background songs have been an important part of this series. When used appropriately, as opposed to having one just for the sake of having it, the song ends up making the episode much stronger than it otherwise will be without one. For example, when Ougon no Tsuki begins to play as Yamada and Nomiya run across the street in this episode, the scene is suddenly elevated into something that is more akin to high-budget, live-action film. It is therefore, unfortunate, that this episode is marred by a slight nosedive in its animations and character designs. But I guess it's inevitable since there are still 7 episodes to go and the animators probably want to use the bulk of the budget on the main arc that will probably begin around episode 21 or 22.
As mentioned by James in the talkback for episode 18 recap, apparently there will be a Honey and Clover live action adaptation in the form of a movie. The announcement was made on the 24th of this month and apparently principal photography will begin this October. I'll be interested to see this one if this is as well-executed as its anime counterpart. In the meantime, here's the link and rough translation:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/hochi/geinou/aug/o20050824_20.htm
"It was announced on the 24th of this month that the popular Young You comic series, Honey and Clover will be made into a movie. Sakurai Shou (23 years old) from popular idol group "Arashi" will star in his first starring role. Honey and Clover is a romantic love story set within an art college. The 8 volume manga itself has reached a total sales of 3,600,000 copies thus far. The series was recently adapted into animation in Fuji TV and has achieved an unprecedented high ratings despite its late night timeslot."
Well, this episode turns out to be a full-on acid trip. Of course, that is to be expected with Morita returning to the series. Nevertheless, I was quite surprised to see the amount of film and video games references included in this episode. For example, I can't be the only one who thinks that Space Titanic and its director, Peter Lucas, are references to a certain movie director. Then there is Morita's hilarious "I'll be back" line which of course, refers to Terminator. Two of the most memorable gags in this episode, however, comes from the Street Fighter II games. I really thought that the nurse's kick was some kind of freaky spoof of Cammy's cannon drill. And there is no denying that Yamada was trying to channel Chun Li and lightning-kicked Mayama to oblivion.
Sheesh, I hate doing backlogs. It doesn't help that one of the episodes I have to cover here is an original filler episode (translation: completely unnecessary and doesn't further the plot whatsoever). And to top it off, this particular episode is filled with some of the worst character designs/animation I've had to endure as of late. For example, just when I thought Yukino couldn't look scarier, she manages to do so in episode 29. The problem is, I have no idea if this is intentional or if it's just part of the lousy animation quality. Having said that, I hope the presence of this filler means that the animators have been given the greenlight to produce more episodes. Anyway, please forgive me if this recap comes off a bit short and rushed. I am just keen to get into the Monaco arc episodes as soon as possible.
Well, I finally managed to obtain the CD single for this song. Damn, if the song doesn't bring a lot of memories. I can't believe that it's been more than a month since I last hear this song playing as the ending theme of Honey and Clover. Thanks to a friend, I also finally managed to get a hold of the PV. This sure is one of the weirder PVs I've seen in a while. It doesn't help that the girl in the PV looks as if she'd rather be elsewhere than in the PV. Oh well, at least it includes the not-so-subtle Ferris Wheel imagery that has become so synonymous with the series.
Honey and Clover 1st ED Theme
Performed by Suneohair
Kanji/Kana version
あかない瞼こすって見える
パステル模様の未来に
散りばめられた記号を辿る
たぐり寄せた表情
ねえ、何だっけ 探していた物
あれは、そうね いつだっけ
僕等が引力に逆らいながら 出会った頃
それはワルツの様だね 不思議さ
ささやく様な木漏れ日の交差点で
二人ワルツの様にね 廻りながら
描き出してゆくもの
温めすぎた想いを全部
吐き出して見えるランドスケープ
半年以上くすぶらせてる
イメージに灯を燈して
何だっけ失くしてしまった物
それでもいいんだって
僕等の引力で引き合い 求め合うのだろう
それはワルツの様だね 素敵さ
呟くようなさえずり聞きながら
まるでワルツの様にね 二人が
描き出してゆくもの
あぁ、とぼけた現実も
原色で塗り替えてしまえ
引き寄せてあげるから ねえ
そこから踊り続けよう
二人だけのワルツ
それはワルツの様だね 不思議さ
ささやく様な木漏れ日の 交差点で
二人ワルツの様にね 廻りながら
描き出してゆくもの
I know, I'm late. However, some major real life work constraints have forced me to hold off on major sequential time investments (a blog entry usually costs me around 4 hours), and the fact that I knew where episode 6 would end made commenting on the events leading up to it particularly difficult. When do comments end and spoilers start? Also, the airing date for the second season of Mai HiME (Mai Otome) has been set, with the first episode airing at October 6th. This show is SO mine to blog, but I will hardly be able to manage two full entries in one week.
Nevertheless, I'll not drop Suzuka, since the show _is_ very enjoyable. However, I will postpone my entries to around 2 days after the release of the subbed version, and I will not summarize the contents anymore, but only add comments to those spots I consider noteworthy. This should be done for slow-subbed shows with a major raw audience, not for quickly and reliably subbed series. It should also make the entries a bit more concise and interesting.
Especially episode 6 of Suzuka was excellent. It was the very episode which convinced me to work on the anime when I read the manga version, because it goes against so many iron romance anime rules that it's amazing. After a very generic and harem-ish year, Suzuka is a breath of fresh air. Oh, and spoiler warning: If you haven't watched episode 6 yet, don't spoil yourself!
Episode Ratings 5/6: o/++
Animedia shows a picture of a new Rozen Maiden doll which will join the rest of the group in Rozen Maiden: Träumend. This means that there will be at least 2 new dolls appearing in the new series. The first one, as most people already know is Canaria. The other, is a creepy-looking doll called Barasuishou (Rose Crystal). At the moment, there is not much information given about Barasuishou except that her power/attack style is crystal-based. In addition to this, apparently, she is the strongest Rozen Maiden doll that has appeared thus far.
Honey and Clover official OST will be released on the 7th of September. Some of the songs that will form parts of the soundtrack include Dramatic by Yuki, Waltz by Suneohair, Mistake by The Band Has No Name, Hachimitsu by Spitz, and Tsuki to Naifu by Suga Shikao. There's no information whether or not other background songs will be included in the soundtrack. However, it seems background music written by Yuzo Hayashi and Salon 68 will be included as well. As a side note, the first press edition of the CD will include a digipack to house the CD case.
It's a great feeling to realise that even after 17 episodes, this series is still capable of producing stories that are interesting, powerful, and relatable in many ways. I'm also still amazed at the ability of the writers in juggling the comedy and the serious part of the story. Prior to watching this episode, I was actually a bit worried that the anime will cut short Takemoto's storyline in favour of the funnier part of the story. Thankfully that is not the case here. The writers somehow managed to give Takemoto's arc a main priority while carefully utilised the comedic scenes to lighten up the episode. On top of this, the episode comes with a surprise cliffhanger ending which I'm sure will make some viewers happy.
The items that I sent to myself from Japan has finally arrived here after 1.5 months. That will teach me not to use SeaMail to send anything from Japan but I was kind of strapped for cash back then. As a side note, this post is probably a lot easier to understand if you read a related post I wrote in Kongetsu. There are few shops reference which I didn't bother to elaborate here but did so in the other post. I realise that I haven't been using that blog for a while but now I think I'll continue writing on that one as well. I'll mostly just going to use that blog to record my experince back in Japan. I realise that the content will not be up to date anymore but if you're interested, feel free to read it.
What an excellent episode this one turns out to be. The two storylines presented here are so well-written and easy to relate to. I'm glad to see the Yamada/Mayama/Rika triangle finally reaching some kind of a resolution. This may not be a permanent one but at least there's possibility that the characters will be able to move on from their current situation. Another thing that is equally interesting here is Takemoto's storyline. This storyline is actually the beginning of a major arc for the character. I do wonder, however, if the anime will be able to cover that arc. Judging from the official site, there are only 24 episodes scheduled for the series. That means there are only 8 more episodes to go before the anime reaches its completion.
I think I miss the group interaction between the 5 regular characters. They used to be doing things together all the time and now they rarely talk to each other. I realise that this is a rather realistic portrayal of how friends sometimes drifted apart when they enter the workforce. But that doesn't make it any less unpleasant to watch. I also dislike the fact that the new characters effectively cut down the amount of screen time that used to be given to the regulars. On the positive side, at least the animation quality hasn't taken a nosedive again. I really hope that the poor animation in episode 13 was the only exception within this series. Anyway, for those who are interested, the timeline for the series has now been updated to include both episode 15 and 16.
It's good to see the animation returns to fine form here after the previous episode's mediocre effort. The storyline itself is equally interesting especially now that the Yamada/Mayama/Rika triangle is heading towards a new direction. Having said that, lately I've been wondering if there will be a happy ending for everyone if things are progressing this way. Meanwhile on the comedy front, it looks like Takemoto has taken on some of Morita's character traits without him realising it. I can't help but laughing when I first saw Takemoto sleeping in Mayama's room. That is exactly what Morita used to do. The only thing more amusing than this is the sight of Takemoto clinging to Mayama, begging the guy to get him Whip-chan. Before this, I was worried that Morita's departure may made the series less funny but thankfully that doesn't seem to be the case.
Unfortunately, there are many things that I don't like about this episode, starting with the changes that have been made to the opening and ending animation. Despite what some people said about the claymation, I really like the original opening animation. The first OP was highly unusual and it always gives me the impression that the series is indeed about art students. The new opening is actually quite quirky as well but it doesn't hold candle in comparison to the original. The real downer here, however, is the ending animation. I think that the new song, Mistake is a very poor substitute for Waltz. To make things worse, the animation quality in this episode seems to have taken a nosedive. In some of the scenes, the characters' faces even look oddly-shaped for some reason.
I think this is the most beautiful episode within the series. The shot of Mayama's car covered with water droplets and Sakura petals is a good example of some of the most drop-dead gorgeous scenes found in this episode. I also like the way the animators portray the busy nightlife of the Hanami festival. The food stalls and the picnics shown in this episode remind me so much of Tokyo during the Hanami season. In fact, I think the episode in general does an excellent job of depicting the sensation of being in Japan during Spring time. I'm also amused to hear Morita performing traditional Japanese song to a group of old ladies. I can't help but being reminded of this folk song competition TV program that I often saw during lunch time while I was there.
This episode is another favourite of mine. There are so many things to like about this from the never-ending comedy to the thought-provoking stories. Speaking of the comedy, this one probably has the highest number of comedic scenes in comparison to the other episodes. The highlights have to be the Morita and Mayama's argument about outdoor showers and Hagu's coming of age photograph. I also like the part where the guys look dumbfounded after Shuuji gives them some crappy souvenirs. The greedy/exasperation look on their face as they try to raid Shuuji's bag for more sounvenirs is completely priceless. I think it's been a while since I laughed this much while watching an anime.
Well, I guess sooner or later there will be some episodes that I don't like so may as well start with this one. The reason is simply because I hate recap episodes and this episode is partly a recap episode complete with reused images from previous episodes. Admittedly, in comparison to other series' recap episodes, this one actually does the job a lot better. The recap only last for a few minutes and is incorporated as part of the episode instead of taking the entire episode completely. Oh well, since this turns out to be a recap episode, I may as well use this review to do a rough timeline guide for the series. If you're interested, here is the timeline. The explanation can be read in the spoiler area of this review. I'll try to update the timeline as I review more episodes.
These episodes prove that one of the strength of this series is the inter-correlation between some of the characters in the series. I am surprised to see how the connection between the characters actually shed a light on many of the series' mysteries, such as why Johan knows so much about Karl and Schuwald. It is unfortunate that the pacing in these 3 episodes are so uneven. It was annoying to see one of the episode feels really slow and stretched out while the others are so tight and jam-packed with events and characters. I also think that some of the transitions between two different storylines are too abrupt. There was a point in episode 52 where I thought a flashback actually belongs to an established character when it turns out that it belongs to an entirely new character.
One of the things that I like about this series is the the different relationship that each character has with another character. For example, prior to this episode, I always wondered if Takemoto gets along with Yamada. So it was interesting to see the two interact with each other here and in the previous episode. Yamada's friendship with Takemoto is also shown to be quite different from the one she has with Morita. It seems to be more casual and relaxed. On the other hand, while Morita can't seem to talk to Yamada seriously for more than 10 seconds, he does provide some kind of a confidant role to Yamada. Anyway, this is another great episode. I'm glad to see the "Mayama, Suki!!" scene here. It reminds me of a similar scene from chapter 3 of the manga that didn't make it into the anime.
After I watched this episode, I realised that there is another area of the series that the production staff have done a good job at: sound design. If one watches closely, the painful Twister game that Takemoto and Morita are engaged in are mostly left to the imagination. Having said that, the animators gave clues as to how painful the game is through the use of other characters' expression as well as those sickening sound bytes. When I first heard the cracking noise, I actually winced in pain before the characters managed to do the same. The manufactured sounds may sound a bit unrealistic but that makes me even more convinced that Takemoto and Morita are indeed in great pain. It makes me wonder what kind of devices did the sound engineers used to create such sickening bone-crunching sounds.
TiA - Promise (MP4,30.3MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
I was actually rather apprehensive when I first heard the 2nd opening theme for Yakitate!! Japan. After all, Houkigumo was already ingrained in my mind as the opening theme for the series during the first 29 episodes. Now all of a sudden there is this new song that I have to get used to. But much to my surprise, it didn't take long for me to warm up to the song. Anyway, this is one of those rare PVs that fits the song. The PV's bright color scheme conveys the mood of the song really well. TiA is also absolutely captivating here. I am not normally this enthusiastic about watching a singer's performance on a PV because most of the time they look like a wooden prop on a set. But TiA looks like she's really enjoying the song and as a result, she gives the song the convinction it needs.
Yakitate!! Japan 2nd OP Theme
Performed by TiA
Kanji/Kana version
輝く君の瞳に誓った
小さな窓から 青空が見えた午後
逃げることなんて もうしたくはないよ
背中にあたたかい 手のひらを感じている
傷つくよりもつらいのは
明日をあきらめて
自分に嘘つき続けること
大事な夢をひとつ ココロにいつでも
信じて守って 乗り越えて行こう
大事な夢があるから もっと強くなれる
思い描いた未来を抱きしめて
これからも
少しだけ前を歩く肩ごし
おんなじ歩幅で 白い雲追いかけた
選んだ道が正しいかなんて
誰にも分らない 迷うときもあるけれど
つまづくことを怖がって
待っているだけじゃ
昨日と何も変わらないから
大事な夢をひとつ ふたりでいつでも
信じて守って 歩き続けよう
大事な夢があるから 前だけを見つめて
もっと遥かな未来を目指してく
これからも
傷つけて傷つけられて
くやしくて泣いた日も
次のドア開く勇気を
君がくれたよ
大事な夢をひとつ ココロにいつでも
信じて守って 乗り越えて行こう
大事な夢があるから もっと強くなれる
思い描いた未来を抱きしめて
これからも
