Honey and Clover Drama ep.05

February 19, 2008 | 17 Comments

To new visitors, this is the archive for the drama version of Honey and Clover. If you're looking for the anime archive, check the Honey and Clover archive. Anyway, this episode is actually not as bad as the previous episode. The episode retains the majority of the plot from the manga and for the first time and there is an interesting character development for Takemoto. His interaction with his stepfather is not as touching as the one in the anime but that's a minor point. Mayama and Yamada also still retain their complicated and messy relationship. The interesting here is that Nomiya is actually not as persistent as he was in the original story. He doesn't actually pay interest in Yamada until he saw her crying. The only thing that I don't like here is Morita and Hagu. These two seem like two completely different characters in the story. Morita doesn't seem to have any kind of motivation and it's disappointing to see him back so soon after only one episode. I also realised that showing Hagu without any kind of comic element makes her kind of boring. The one redeeming factor about Hagu in the original series is how she gets to be the target of Morita's prank.

It's been 4 rounds of springs ever since Takemoto came to the university. Hagu has become the youngest winner of international art grand prix. When being questioned by an interviewer as to which artist influenced her work, Hagu claims that it's Morita, who is now residing in New York. Takemoto explains that they haven't heard from Morita ever since he left for New York. Mayama still works for Fujiwara design company while Yamada is heading to a graduate school. Takemoto feels that while everyone has moved on, he seems stuck in time since that day one year ago. Takemoto, of course, refers to the day when he first met Hagu in front of the pond one year ago. When he looks into the pond this time around, however, he instead sees a man grabbing a turtle from the pond. Much to Hagu and Yamada's surprise, the man recognizes Takemoto and proceeds to hug him. The man then gives Takemoto his souvenir: a large Daruma doll and introduces himself to Hagu and Yamada as Takemoto's father, Kazuo. Takemoto becomes unhappy when Kazuo reveals that he's there to deliver Takemoto's belonging since he's moving to a new house and there's no enough space for Takemoto's stuff.

Later on, Takemoto lies on his bed only to be startled when a volley ball lands near him. It turns out Kazuo has dropped all of his belonging, including bed and drawers on the gymnasium. WTF? Takemoto suddenly panics when he realizes that the porn he hides underneath his bed is no longer there. When he asks Kazuo about it, Kazuo tells him that they are now placed inside a drawer....which Yamada opens. Yamada immediately screams in horror upon seeing the stacks of porn video and magazines, attracting everyone's attention. Takemoto manages to close the drawer before Hagu sees it but it's for naught anyway since Kazuo tells her that it's full of Ero magazines. To complicate matters, Shuuji orders Takemoto to come to his room immediately. Much to Takemoto's chagrin, Shuuji just want to know if he has an extra lottery ticket since he wants to win the trip to Onsen. Takemoto is just amused that the main prize is actually a mink coat. When Shuuji starts talking about what Takemoto plans to do to find a job, however, he becomes evasive. He claims that while he's interested in construction/architecture, that's not the reason why he came to this college.

Meanwhile, Hagu is seen putting an eye to the Daruma doll that was given to her (you basically put one eye when you wish for something and another when you get your wish). Kazuo tries to explain that she needs to do that after her wish is granted so Hagu explains that her wish was granted. She remember to buy eraser. She's weird. Kazuo, however, pretends that she's not weird and instead gives her another Daruma doll. Nearby, Yamada finds a composition that Takemoto did when he was younger. In that composition, Takemoto thanks his father for taking him to the hospital by bike when he was sick. When Shouda-sensei praises Kazuo, however, Kazuo tells him that the guy in the composition is not him but rather Takemoto's real father, who has passed away. At the same time, Takemoto tells Shuuji that if his mother didn't marry Kazuo, he wouldn't have come to this university. It's because Takemoto wanted to leave his house that he decided to study at Tokyo College of Arts. The truth is, he's really embarrassed when he sees people who are born to create artwork like Morita and Hagu. In response, Shuuji tells Takemoto not to make non-progressive excuses.

That night, Yamada's father celebrates his 60th birthday but instead of giving the presents to him, the Hamadayama shop owners try to give it to Yamada. Kazuo, who's also invited to party, reveals that lately his wife (Takemoto's mother) rarely smiles. Takemoto becomes unhappy when Kazuo reveals that he plans to stay over in his room. In response, Kazuo asks Takemoto to a duel. If he wins, he gets to stay, if he lose he'll go home. Since Takemoto doesn't respond to his challange, Yamada's father decides to represent him in the duel. In the end, Kazuo ends up staying at Takemoto's room, causing the later to grumble at Mayama. Mayama advises Takemoto that if he doesn't like it, he should have confronted Kazuo. Mayama also points out that this is typical of Takemoto. He thinks Takemoto should use Morita's disappearance to get closer to Hagu. Takemoto, however, claims that it's cowardly to do it that way. While sorting out which items from his home that Takemoto need or doesn't need, Lohmeyer arrives. He single-handedly manage to convince Takemoto not to throw away some items he thought he no longer needs.

The next day Mayama brings the Daruma doll to Fujiwara design. Much to his surprise, instead of objecting to it, Miwako believes that the doll is a first class product from Takasaki. She also shows Mayama a magazine featuring Morita and his artwork. Speaking of Morita, he's now in New York sculpting his latest creation. However, when his art buyer arrives, he tells the guy that he's bored or rather, he finds New York to be boring. Meanwhile in Tokyo, Kazuo takes Hagu and Takemoto around so they can help him making silly video that will hopefully make his wife smiles again. Much to Takemoto's horror, Hagu is willing to help his stepfather. Across the city, Yamada brings salted Salmon to Fujiwara design. Later on that day, Miwako introduces Yamada to Rika. As it turns out, Rika likes Yamada's hand-made bowls and plates. While inspecting Rika's place, Yamada notices that there's a timer in Rika's computer, one which has a 3 hours countdown. Rika claims that it's nothing important. However, there was a person who once said that when someone is troubled by his/her work, if that person can continue for 3 years, they would feel more at ease.

Back to Takemoto, he's now being forced to pose in front of the Tokyo Tower. While Hagu is fixing the camera, Kazuo asks her if she has someone that she likes. Much to Takemoto's dismay, Hagu admits that she used to but the person is now overseas and probably won't come back. Takemoto, that pain on your back? It's from the knife that Hagu used. Anyway, Takemoto thinks to himself that he'd like to be closer to Hagu but if he repeatedly unable to get any closer like now, that means within this year he hasn't moved a step. At Fujiwara design, Mayama shows Yamada the magazine which features Morita. Yamada, however, is startled by the same alarm clock which counts backward just like the one in Rita's computer. When Yamada asks Mayama about the clock, he simply tells her that it's 1 hour to Earth's destruction. What a bad liar. Despite this, Yamada decides to leave the office. Inside the car, Kazuo asks Hagu if she's used her second Daruma. Hagu tells him that she has not so Kazuo advisers her to ask for bigger wish since her last one was a small one. This causes Hagu to wonder if big wish will be granted.

In response, Kazuo tells her that it's okay if a wish seems unreachable. What's important is hoping that the wish will be granted one day. This causes Takemoto to remember that he too has a wish that he wished will be granted. The Daruma on top of his boxes was for his mother. After his father passed away on his sickbed, Takemoto realized that there's no one that his mother could rely on. Because of this, his dream was to buy a house for the two of them. However, after his mother married Kazuo, she told Takemoto that he can now live whichever way he wants to. This is why Takemoto blames Kazuo because he feels that Kazuo is the reason that his dream can't come true. Meanwhile, Yamada decides to come back to Fujiwara design. She arrives in time to see the timer reaching zero hours. At the same time, the timer on Rika's computer also reaches zero hours so it's beeping in synch with Mayama's computer. Yamada seems upset even though she doesn't know the meaning behind the timer and ends up running out of the Fujiwara design. Along the way, she almost bumped into Nomiya, who quickly realizes that Yamada has been crying.

Later on, Hagu bids goodbye to Takemoto and Kazuo and returns to the university. When she sees a light in one of the rooms, she decides to investigate and finds Yamada in the middle of making a pottery. Upon seeing the Daruma doll with one of its eyes colored, Hagu asks Yamada what she wished for. Yamada tells her that before this, there's one thing that she has to forget. The problem is, she doesn't know how to put it into practice. At the same time, Hagu notices the magazine which contains an article about Morita. That night, Hagu ends up creating a new painting. Back in New York, Morita is getting ready for his exhibition when he becomes interested in a painting that is delivered to the gallery. Much to his surprise, the painting was created by none other than Hagumi. Meanwhile, Kazuo decides to take Takemoto to a baseball training facility. Kazuo then uses the opportunity to ask Takemoto if Takemoto hates him. Takemoto doesn't answer the question and Kazuo doesn't say another word after he asked this question. Despite this, Takemoto seems to be a lot more appreciative of his stepfather after Kazuo manages to hit a home run.

That night, Mayama decides to have a drink and light chat with Kazuo. Takemoto who's cleaning up outside, ends up eavesdropping on their conversation. Kazuo admits that despite his attempt, he can't replace Takemoto's father in her life. Despite this, he doesn't mind as long as he can be near his wife and Takemoto. Takemoto seems remorseful but can't help himself from saying that it's Kazuo's fault that his dream is gone. Having said that, he admits that's just an excuse. The truth is, he's been blaming Kazuo as a way to escape the fact that he has no dream of his own. Kazuo is actually a person who's fulfilled Takemoto's wish of wanting to give his mother a house to live in. A person who regards his mother as the most important person in his life. The next day, after Kazuo goes home, Takemoto uses the Daruma doll to fulfil his own dream. Meanwhile, Kazuo is surprised when he sees Takemoto's message in his camcorder. Takemoto asks Kazuo to take care of his mother and although he doesn't know when he can do it, he'll practice calling Kazuo "Father". The episode ends with the gang about to eat Sukiyaki when Morita suddenly appears.

Impression:

Maybe I missed it but I don't understand the part about the timer counting down. It seems like a useless device and even if both Mayama and Rika have it, it doesn't look like there's any meaning to it. As for Takemoto, he gets a better storyline this week. I am not sure what to make of the opening scene. While I appreciate the humor of Takemoto getting caught with his porn, I don't know if I like the show making him look like a perv. Having said that, I don't want Takemoto to be portrayed as a saint either. I actually like the fact that this episode shows that he can be prejudiced and arrogant towards someone that he dislike. At the same time, it's also understandable that he feels this way because he did have a close relationship with his father and he feels that Kazuo tries to replace the guy. As far as resolution goes, I actually like this version better than the original. Takemoto unintentionally overhearing that Kazuo has no intention to replace his father is better than hearing Kazuo himself saying that he has no intention to replace his father. Since Kazuo was drunk and was talking to Mayama, Takemoto had no reason to doubt Kazuo's sincerity.

I wish I can be equally happy about Hagu and Morita but at this point, I have completely lose interest in them. Hagu is actually a lot more boring that she was in the manga/anime. Her quirk, which was amusing in the manga/anime just looks silly in this version. Morita is an entirely different problem. No matter how much I try, I can't help hating Narimiya Hiroki and his inability to act. It doesn't help that the writers don't seem to know what they want to do with his character. It's already 5 episodes and we still haven't seen Kaoru. Morita going to US doesn't even have anything to do with him wanting to make more money. Instead, it's just a way for him to run away from Hagu. In addition to this, he doesn't seem to have produced any kind of work while he was in the US. In the original version, he's an accomplished CG maker and ends up winning awards. In this version, the only accomplishment he got is having his work displayed inside an exhibition space. Last but not least, there's no chemistry whatsoever between Hagu and Morita. At least in the film version, the actors who play Hagu and Morita have chemistry by bucketloads.

© memento 2003