Honey and Clover II ep.5

July 28, 2006 | 34 Comments

This episode basically marks the end of volume 8 of the manga and next week's episode is the beginning of volume 9. At this rate, the anime will complete the entire volume 9 by the time it reaches episode 9. I am glad that the producers decided to limit the episode count to only 12 this season because now they don't have to come up with filler materials. Story-wise, this episode marks the return of Takemoto and Morita's storylines. Now that Yamada's roller coaster ride is about to wind down, the focus will once again return to both Takemoto and Morita. As a side note, this week's insert song is 「ジュテーム」- (Je t’aime) by Spitz. The song comes from an album titled 「ハヤブサ」 (Hayabusa). And in case you're interested, included below are pictures of Honey and Clover books that I bought and the freebies that came with them.

No Movie No Girl Film Book, Manga volume 9, animation guide book
Clear plastic file and Midori-chan pin

The episode begins with Yamada and Miwako working together choosing colours for Yamada's potteries. When Miwako asks Yamada what is on her to do list after this, Yamada tells her that she's currently working on vase for a newly re-constructed old private house in Kamakura. The awesome job was apparently introduced to Yamada by Rika and this leads Miwako to gush about how Rika is now in Spain and works at the Valencia art museum. Yamada looks slightly melancholic as she hears this and thinks to herself how Rika has gone to spain since last week and yet Mayama didn't come with her. She has no idea what transpired between the two of them prior to Rika left for Spain. However, she believes that the way Mayama converse to Rika has been different lately. His voice is now calmer and deeper. Since Miwako and Yamada have completed their work, Miwako decides to take Yamada to a health spa called Kenko Land.

Before Yamada realises it, she's already inside a rose and fruits bath and getting Akasuri treatment performed by two masculine-looking women. After these, Miwako and Yamada change into a Muumuu outfit. Yamada thinks that wearing this dress makes her want to laugh so Miwako tells her that while wearing this dress, it's hard to think about sad things. As the two sit down to drink Draft Beer and eat some Edamame, Yamada wonders if Miwako brought her to this place to cheer her up. Yamada's thought, however, is interrupted when Miwako tells her to take a look at Kinmokusei (Sweet Olive) flowers which emit some pleasant smell. Yamada realises that when this scent filled the city every year, it means that the time for inter-faculties preparation has arrived. It is during this time that Yamada often walked along a particular area repeatedly so she can look at the back of the person that she loves.

Yamada thinks that even if it's just for a brief moment, she wants to see his form and hear his voice. Miwako tells Yamada that she likes this flower the most and asks Yamada if she likes Kinmokusei as well. Yamada, who tries to hold back her tears, tells Miwako that she loves the flower. Miwako tries to cheer Yamada up by asking her to drink up and telling her about the activities they're going to do next. However, Yamada can no longer stops her tears and lets herself cry in sadness. The two then return to Miwako's place and Yamada immediately props herself into the bed and falls asleep. All of a sudden, Nomiya makes a phone call so Miwako tells him that he calls at the right time. Nomiya is surprised to hear this and asks Miwako if Yamada is there as well. Miwako explains that Yamada is now sleeping after a full course at Kenko Land. She also tells Nomiya that Yamada is crushed once more because of her memory of Mayama and Rika.

When Nomiya asks Miwako to take care of Yamada and Miwako doesn't mind, Miwako realises that the situation is the same for Mayama. Even though he is not interested in Yamada's attractive figure, he still considers her an important individual. After the conversation ends, Nomiya is pissed off that Yamada did not call him even though she was sad. Yamazaki who overhears this wants to know if something happened to Yamada and if Nomiya will go there to answer her SOS-signal. Nomiya refuses to go and tells Yamazaki that Yamada can cry on her own. As it turns out, however, Nomiya knows that he can go back to Tokyo soon. Because of this he hopes that Yamada doesn't cry on her own but he also doesn't want her to cry in front of other people. Meanwhile, in the midst of her sleep, Yamada wonders why she can't forget about Nomiya's face and his words back in Tottori. As the thought flood her mind, Yamada cries during her sleep.

The next day at the university, Takemoto is seen throttling Morita for eating his foods. He tells Morita that he just spent all of his money on the driver license and therefore is broke for the rest of the month. With only 100 Yen left, the only thing he could afford was a bag of bread crusts which is supposed to last till next month and yet Morita is now eating it. Upon hearing this, Hagu feels sorry for Takemoto and offers up her Mushi Pan (steam bread). Takemoto is embarassed about this and refuses on the ground that is supposed to be Hagu's lunch. Morita, on the other hand, has no qualm about eating it and proceeds to gulp the bread along with Hagu's own hands. Hagu becomes disturbed because of this. She cries and washes her hands while saying that her hands are dirty. Upon seeing this Morita asks Takemoto if he's really that dirty to the point that Hagu violently washes her hands off. A pissed-off Takemoto simply agrees with Morita's self-assessment.

Morita is not happy to hear Takemoto's answer and proceeds to throttle Takemoto. Their argument, however, is interrupted when Shuuji appears and grabs their heads. He asks them not to make a noise here and threatens to kill the two if they get in the way of Hagu trying to produce her work. Shuuji then chucks the two boys out of the window, causing all of the money that Morita hides inside his shirt to scatter all over the place. Morita immediately panics and tries to gather as much of his money as possible. Takemoto becomes angry to see all of the money and asks Morita why he ate other people's foods if he has all of those money. After calming down, Takemoto wonders what kind of part-time job that Morita does. He notices that Morita rarely uses his money and therefore he wonders why Morita works hard for it. Before Morita can answer Takemoto's question, however, his cellphone rings. Morita apologises for not answering Takemoto but he has to go now.

That night Morita arrives at his brother's office. Upon seeing Morita, Kaoru immediately tells him that he wants to show Morita something right away. He claims that it's finally completed: a perfect system which will take 50 Yen from children all over the world everyday on a permanent basis. Karou believes that his assistant, Shiroyama, is so impressed that he is crying. Morita thinks that Shiroyama is crying for an entirely different reason. Maybe because Kaoru has lost his mind? Kaoru eventually decides to be serious and asks his brother if he can go working for one more time next month. Morita wants to know what is the projected amount that Kaoru wants him to earn and upon finding out that it is 100 million Yen, he tells Kaoru that it's impossible. Upon hearing this, Kaoru opens his laptop again and asks Shiroyama to shorten "on a permanent basis" to "one year" and to substitute "Children" to "Single people under 30 years old".

Morita, who understands that his brother won't take "No" for an answer, agrees to fulfill the work request. Upon seeing the eyebags under Kaoru's eyes, he also wonders if Kaoru gets enough sleep. Kaoru tells Morita that he slept for 4 hours. Morita asks his brother to sleep a little bit more but Kaoru doesn't want to hear this from Morita. Because of this Morita wonders how much longer will this go on. Kaoru can only tell his brother that they only need a little bit more. Meanwhile, Mayama is in the middle of giving Takemoto some food since the later is too poor to afford some. He, however, wants to know why Takemoto wants a driving license so badly. Because of this Takemoto tells Mayama about the time when Shin from the temple restoration group told Takemoto to get a driver's license if he wants to work with them. Mayama, who is impressed with Takemoto's goal, decides to treat him to a bath at Sento and an ice cream from the combini later on.

On their way to the Sento, Takemoto decides to ask Mayama why Mayama is still living in this apartment. He thinks that Mayama should be able to afford a much better place to stay since he's already working now. Mayama tells Takemoto that it's because he tries to save the money in case he'll need it. As a kid, Mayama once read a book that said that each person only gets three chances. When you're an adult and a chance comes along, it is up to a person to decide whether or not he/she wants to have or not have money. This makes Takemoto wonders if Mayama has a lot of money saved. When Mayama confirms Takemoto's guess, Takemoto becomes depressed because he's the only one who's poor. But Mayama assures him that it's okay since he's still a student. Mayama then gives another example where if something happens to the woman that he loves, he wants to be able to tell the woman to take a rest and not to think about anything else.

Mayama quickly realises the cheesiness of his words and becomes embarassed about this. He asks Takemoto to forget about what he said. When the scene shows Takemoto and Mayama inside the Sento, Takemoto narrates how back then he simply nodded his head in agreement with what Mayama said but he didn't understand yet what he was agreeing with. Cut to a shot of Hagu painting inside Shuuji's office. Meanwhile inside Fujiwara design, Takaida apologises to Yamada because she has come all the way here and yet Miwako is nowhere to be seen. Yamada, however, doesn't mind waiting. She takes Leader in her arms and tells herself that she had fun yesterday at Kenko Land, drinking beer under Kinmokusei flowers. The memory of Kinmokusei, however, brings back the memory of Mayama and Rika and makes Yamada sad once more. She looks at the phone and remembers how Nomiya once told her to give him a call if something happens.

Yamada decides not to call Nomiya and instead goes over to the door when she hears the door bell rings. Much to her surprise, the person who appears from the door is but Nomiya himself. Nomiya proceeds to hug Leader, strokes Yamada's hair and tells her that he's back. Yamada screams in terror and pushes Nomiya back to a wall before running out of the office. As she runs in tears, she admits that the truth is she wanted to call Nomiya since there are many things she wants to tell him. But when she thought about it, she felt that by thinking like this, her feelings for Mayama would turn into lies. Even if others think that she's miserable, she treasures this warm and bright feeling. Yamada who now stops at the bridge, hears Leader barking at her. When she turns around she notices that Leader carries a leash in its mouth while Nomiya walks not too far from the dog. Yamada tells herself that she doesn't want to be saved by anyone because she's always thinking and crying for Mayama. Because of this she wonders why she's both happy and sad about Nomiya's return.

Impression:

Despite my attempt to prepare for the inevitable Nomiya and Yamada pairing, I still can't find myself rooting for the two. It's not that I want Yamada to end up with Mayama either but it's more like I feel this unpleasant vibe coming from Nomiya from time to time. I admit that this is the guy who travelled 18 hours from Tottori to Tokyo and vice versa in order to see the woman he loves. However, this is also the same person who got pissed off when Yamada didn't call him so he can be the person who comforts her. I think when he was being selfish when he said that Yamada should not cry alone and yet she also should not cry in front of others. They are not even a couple yet and so I don't think Nomiya was entitled to this kind of dedication from Yamada. I just think that if you truly care about someone, it doesn't matter which person can comfort that someone. Although Nomiya looks like he's in love with Yamada, his love is borderline possessive.

Speaking of Yamada, I actually was a bit tired to see her crying again after she saw the Kinmokusei. I was wondering if she'll cry everytime she sees something that reminds her of Mayama. But then I remember that this is a rather normal behaviour for someone who's deeply in love with another person. It feels as if almost every single thing that you see, hear, and experience reminds you of the person that you love. I also understand why Yamada refuses to let go of her feelings for Mayama no matter how painful it might be to others. Once she lets go her feelings, she'll most likely able to move on with her life. But the chances are, she will also forget all of the intense emotions that she felt while she was hopelessly in love with Mayama. This is probably why Yamada didn't want to call Nomiya and why she feels both happy and sad about his return. She knew that Nomiya's return could lead to what is possibly the end of her feelings for Mayama.

The most interesting story from this episode, however, belongs to Takemoto and his miserable life. I can't help but liking his story because his goals and outlook in life are very easy to identify. The part where he decides to go starving so he can reach his goal to work with the temple restoration group is an example of this. I did wish that the anime writers had included a scene from the manga where he contemplates the idea of eating a raw vegetation because it looks like cabbage. Mayama is so horrified to see this that he ended up giving Takemoto food just like in this episode. Speaking of Mayama, he's a lot more likeable in this episode mostly because he acts as an older brother to Takemoto. Come to think of it, Mayama can be quite funny when he interacts with both Takemoto and Morita. I also like the way the writers use his cheesy speech about saving money to give a hint of future storyline that will involve Takemoto, Hagu, and Morita.

Morita himself finally gets a rather large role in this episode. We finally find out that he's been working hard for a large sum of money but never gets the chance to use it himself because he has to give it to his brother. Kaoru looked a bit dictactorial in this episode but it's best not judge his character yet because it'll be revealed soon that just like Morita, he has to make some sacrifices in his life all because of their father. Either way, next week's episode will shed a new light on both characters. What I am keen to find out, however, is Hagu's feeling for Morita. She seems, understandably, rather put off when he bit her hands but I think there's more to the story. Anyway, the only thing that is missing from this episode and the ones that came before it is a scene where all 5 main characters gather together. It's been a while since I saw this kind of scene and I kind of miss it. It feels as if these characters are drifting apart from each other.

Preview

Next week's episode is the start of the Morita Brothers' arc. I can't wait for it. This means that the story is close to catching up with the manga's storyline.

© memento 2003