Honey and Clover II ep.8

August 19, 2006 | 30 Comments

I supposed the question that most people have in mind is what actually happened to Hagu. This episode begins with a flashback to the event that caused it. During the scene, an insert song called 「リンゴジュース」- Ringo Juice (Apple Juice) by Suga Shikao is played on the background. I feel that the insert song is unappropriately upbeat for a shocking scene. The start of this arc also means that the end of the series is nigh. I'm starting to wonder now if the series will actually end in episode 12 or 13. I think 13 episodes is a bit too much considering the amount of stories the writers have covered thus far. On a related news, I stumbled upon another promotional trailer for the live action movie. If you remember, in the review I talked about Mayama and his ziplock bags. Well, I actually spotted said scene on the trailer so I screencaped it for your viewing pleasure. The trailer mentioned is also listed below.

Mayama and his ziplock bags
Honey and Clover movie trailer

The episode begins with Hagu saying that she saw God once when she was a kid. At that time, for the first time ever, she realised why she's drawing and what would happened if she can't draw anymore. Because of this Hagu prays to God, saying that if the day when she can't draw any longer arrives, she'd give her life back. After the credit, Hagu is seen starring at Takemoto's completed Tower of Youth. Takemoto appeared behind her, saying that the project has just been completed. Hagu looked at the structure and commented how from far away, it looks simple and yet when you take a closer look, it's actually a very elaborate structure. She believed that Takemoto must have spent a lot of efforts in it and claimed that the result is beautiful. Takemoto blushed upon hearing this and told Hagu that he's glad to know it. He then went on to inform her that he wants to become temple repairer who moves around and fixes temples and shrines all over the country.

Because the blueprints of most ancient building are non-existent, Temple restorer have to dismantle the real structure to see and figure out how it was made to begin with. Hagu found it hard to believe that once the Hamabi festival is over, all of them are going to graduate. This means Takemoto will be somewhere in Japan, Yamada will be in Tokyo, while Hagu will be in Nagano. She realised that it won't be easy for them to meet each other again. They will no longer be able to say things such as "What should we have for lunch?" or "Let's go together to buy bread from the Maruei department store's bakery". Upon hearing this, Takemoto asked Hagu if she's really going back to Nagano and if it's okay for things to be like this. He also wondered why Hagu won't tell Shuuji about her real feelings. Hagu explained that it's because she's afraid. She wondered which road she should take if she's about to change the important life of someone that she loves.

Moreover, what could she possible give to Shuuji in return? Because Shuuji will give her just about everything. At the same time, Yamada was surprised to see Shuuji so early in his office. She wondered if he did an all-night preparation for the festival. Shuuji denied this and told Yamada that he simply woke up early and decided to come here since today is the first day of the Hamabi festival. Yamada, however, made a comment that Shuuji does not look happy so Shuuji admitted that he's thinking about what he'll do after festival ends. Yamada is surprised to hear this since the festival will run for 3 days. While the two continued to converse, Hagu walked along the main University path while thinking about Takemoto's words. On a raised pavement above her, a student pushed a trolley containing a large glass panel. Back in the office, Yamada wondered if the Hamabi exhibition outside will be okay and urged Shuuji to take a look since a storm is coming.

Outside the building, the strong wind slammed the trolley carrying the glass into the stone wall nearby. The impact immediately destroys the glass, shattering it into pieces. The shards then fall on top of Hagu, who happens to be underneath the pavement. After a quick cut to Takemoto, Morita, and Yamada, a balloon floats into the sky and the final glass shards finally falls onto the ground, crushing it to small pieces. In Spain, Mac Carlos and Mayama are in the middle of insulting each other in their native language. Mac Carlos refers to Mayama as "useless watchdog" while Mayama calls Mac Carlos "Nice guy with unnatural hair". Not far from them, a woman called Ema greets Rika, saying that her complexion looks good today and wonders if it has anything to do with the guy who just came from Japan. Rika admits that Mayama's arrival does make things easier with Mac Carlos. The two end up as drinking rival, allowing Rika to get a good night sleep.

That night, Mayama comes back to his room at night but is dismayed when he finds out that he's locked out again. He believes the whole thing is a fraud. He thought the accomodation will be a "Two-bed room", as in two beds inside one room. Instead, he finds out that it's actually "Two bedrooms", as in two seperate rooms. And with key on top of that. At one point, Mayama entertains the idea of opening the door to Rika's room by force but if he does this, "The door of the heart" will be closed. Because of this, Mayama decides to bid his time and take it easy for now. He then laughs like a psycho, giving Rika, who's sleeping in her room, a nightmare. Back in Tokyo, the cactus that Mayama put up fell down. Yamada is worried about this, thinking that something happened to Mayama. Shuuji disagrees with her and thinks that maybe the cactus receives electrical waves from its owner. The thought scares Shuuji and makes him wonder if Rika is okay.

Yamada then overhears a group of students talking about an accident. All of a sudden, Shuuji receives a phone call on his mobile and looks shocked after he answers the phone. Outside, Takemoto hears the sound of ambulance while some students can be heard talking about a glass panel which fell and crushed a girl beneath it. One of the students described the girl as short in stature and has a long hair. Another student mentions that the girl's head is bleeding badly due to the glass shards. When one student points out that the girl in question is a fourth year oil painting student, alarm bell starts to ring in Takemoto's head and he begins to race towards the location of the accident. When Takemoto arrives at the location, he overhears people referring the victim as "Hanamoto-san". Takemoto refuses to believe this since not too long ago Hagu was in front of him. His doubt, however, is erased when Yamada runs towards him looking distressed.

Yamada informs Takemoto that Hagu has been injured. She is now inside an ambulance, accompanied by Shuuji. A trembling Yamada also tells Takemoto that Shuuji promised to update her through Takemoto's cellphone. Because of this, she wants Takemoto to inform her if he receives any update from Shuuji. Yamada then cries and wonders what they can do since apparently something has happened to Hagu's right hand. Takemoto realises that this is a reality and proceeds to put his arms around Yamada, trying to help her and possibly himself recover from the shock. After the incident, Takemoto and Yamada end up helping the staff picking up the glass shards and cleaning up the blood on the asphalt with water. The blood of the girl that he likes. Meanwhile inside Floyd Electric, an employee is giving report of the last sales earning to the President of the company. He reports a general 12-15% growth from last year except for products from one factory.

Upon hearing this, the President of Floyd Electronics decide that they should reduce labour cost. He argues that they probably don't need 120 people inside that factory. As he said this, someone opens the door and enters the room. The President, however, does not notice this and tells his employee that after they decrease the amount of employees in the factory, they need to increase the number of working hours for the remaining employees until cost performance target is reached. He believes there's nothing wrong about this but all of a sudden, Kaoru taps his shoulder and informs the President that this is one big mistake. He thinks the president is dumb for cutting down experienced people. Kaoru's arrival startles the President and he demands Kaoru to identify himself. Kaoru apologises for interrupting the meeting but he's arrived to bring a birthday present. He then motions Shiroyama to give the box in his hand to the President of Floyd Electric.

The President is confused about this since his birthday is supposed to be in July. Kaoru explains that today is the day when the President's life will start again from the beginning. He then mentions how the founder of this company, who is also the President's father, was once a splendid engineer. And just like his father, the President entered the field of engineering. However, he then forgot about the joy of creating products, abandoning it for the sake of profit. Kaoru then claims that his father left that kind of company and he wants it returned. He then announced his group as the new executives much to the relief of the employee who's also standing in the room. As it turns out, the guy's name is Matsuda and he's actually an acquintance of Kaoru. The President becomes angry and informs the others that he still has 35% of Lucas Digital Arts stocks. In reply, Morita pulls out a Peter Lucas t-shirt, saying that Peter Lucas wants to give the shirt to the President.

He also relayed the message from the director, saying that although the only size available is XL, the President can wear the t-shirt if he likes it. The President becomes worried upon hearing this and asks them what did he do and what pleasure they derive from this? He also asks them to consider his position and his family. In return, Matsuda shows the President a picture of the Morita Technical Research Institute employees and points out that there was once a family and everyone was there: himself, Tatsuo, Tsukasa, Shinobu, and Kaoru. Despite this, the President still does not understand and wants to know what happened to their family and what grudge they have on him. The words remind Kaoru how their father once told them that he claims all the rights to curse and have grudge on these people so he wants his kids to move forward. In the present time, the President pointed out that the incident was years ago. Kaoru, however, does not care either way.

He orders the President to look for a new house by the end of today because the guy's current residence is owned by the company. Kaoru also informs the guy that various compensation lawsuits will be conducted later so the President should prepare some cash for it. He wants the President to leave matters regarding his son and grandson to them and promises to take care of them right through the end. He also doesn't mind if they want revenge and challanges them to do so. As the President slumps his head in defeat, Morita remembers what his father said about Kabutan the robot. If you shine light on it, it'll face the light and walks towards it. A few hours later, Kaoru and Shinobu are walking together in the park. Kaoru seems to enjoy his victory and laughs in satisfaction of what he's just done. He, however, won't stop at this and swears to make the President's life even more miserable until the guy thinks it'd be easier to die.

Kaoru laughs again, saying that "you'll get what you deserve" but then realises the meaning of his sentence and breaks down in tears. He apologises to his father for not being able to keep his promise and protect the most important thing. He kneels into the ground and calls himself a beast as Shinobu looks on with concern in his eyes. Back at the uni, Takemoto narrates how in comparison to the dark, gloomy day, Hagu's exhibit is a painting of endless blue sky with golden rows of trees. That night, Takemoto and Yamada visit Hagu at the hospital after receiving a call from Shuuji. Hagu received 10 stitches on the head and 13 stitches on her right hand, where the injury is most serious. The surgery itself took more than 6 hours to complete. When asked by Yamada if she's in pain, Hagu claims that her head starts feeling the pain now that the anesthetic has worn off. However, her right hand is not in pain at all. She also believes that no bone was broken.

Shuuji then appears and tells them that they should go home since Hamabi festival will last for 2 more days. Takemoto tries to refuse but Yamada manages to persuade him to go home with her. After the two left, Hagu asks Shuuji to recall everything that the doctor said. Shuuji explains that the injury extends from the finger to the palm. Her tendon was also cut but today's operation managed to suture her blood vessel, tendon, and nerve. The stitches itself will be removed in 10 days. The biggest problem is the finger's nerve, which requires 2 months hospitalisation to prevent further damage. Upon hearing this Hagu tells Shuuji that she thought it was weird that her right arm does not hurt. She thinks that right now she'd prefer the pain. Unknown to Hagu and Shuuji, Takemoto and Yamada have been listening behind the curtain. Takemoto thinks that Hagu probably wanted to ask if she can be cured but her voice came to a halt as if it was crushed.

Impression

I felt nostalgic when I heard Hagu and Takemoto's conversation on how they will soon be seperated from each other. It's already one year now and yet I still can't forget the 3 months that I spent in Japan last year. Back then, I really enjoyed every single day and kind of took it for granted. It's not until all of us were about to go home that we realised how difficult it will be to see each other again. That means no more going to the local supermarket to buy lunch, biking for a few hours to go to the local beach, or spending late night studying at Mos Burger. Unfortunately, all of us have goals which requires us to be away from each other. The thing is, one of the things that I want in life is to spend time with people that I like so the seperation felt as if I was actually losing something. It makes me wonder how to tell if one goal is better than the other. Because if someone asks me now, I would say that I want those 3 months back.

Prior to reading the ending of the series, I always wonder why the producers decided to use Split as 2nd season ending. On a hindsight, the reason becomes apparent from this episode. Every characters are now living on a seperate path. They still see each other right now but the directions they are heading to will soon branch out to different places. Now that Takemoto more or less knows Hagu's answer to his 'question', he no longer has things that hold him down in Tokyo. Especially not when an attractive job offer has been laid out in front of him. I still don't understand Hagu's desire to go back to Nagano and I get the impression that she was thinking about it when she got into an accident. It makes me wonder how things would turned out if she had the chance to sort out her thoughts. Moving on to other character, I get the impression that Umino Chika is having fun writing Mayama's character. That's the only explanation why he is often portrayed as maniac.

The most interesting development here, however, belongs to Kaoru and to an extent, Morita. I thought I will enjoy seeing Kaoru dishing out cruel revenge on the Floyd Electric President. However, I didn't take into account that other people such as his son and grandson might get hurt in the process. One of the reasons why the series is so interesting is because it is capable of showing perspective from different characters, including peripheral ones. At the same time, the show is also realistic enough to remind us that there is a reason why someone would want to exact a revenge on a person. In the case of Floyd Electric's President, he's the kind of person who does not hesitate to fire people if he can make profits out of it. Even if Kaoru didn't exact his revenge, there is a likelihood that somewhere down the line another person will do it instead. I think that if you hurt a person either by words or actions then you'll get hurt similarly as well.

I think Kaoru realised this and this is why he cried when he said "you'll get what you deserve". At that point, he failed to fulfill the promise that he made to his father to run into the light and not to get caught by dark emotions. Having said that, I'm glad that the series shows Kaoru at his worst. In reality, even if a person realises that revenge is wrong, that person's heart won't be satisfied until he/she gets the revenge. Kaoru knows all along that what he's doing is wrong. He knows that he'll hurt others along the way and yet he did it anyway because he wants the President to feel the pain that he and the other employees felt when he took over his father's company. Having said that, I can't help but wonder if the son of the Floyd Electric will exact vengeance on Kaoru for taking over his father's company later on. Until someone is kind enough to forgive and let go those who wronged them, the cycle of vengeance will continue.

Preview

On next week's episode: My secret OTP, Takemoto/Yamada, are dating.....or at least that's what the preview suggested.

© memento 2003