Honey and Clover ep.03

May 19, 2005 | 22 Comments

Okay, now that I have the chance to see episode 3, I have to say that I'm slightly disappointed with the anime adaptation. The anime seems to omit many of the manga's humor, especially the one about the ham guy. Having said that, it's hard to be unhappy when the execution for the rest of the series is quite flawless. The animators have done a good job of telling the dramatic part of the stories. I find it easy to identify with the characters' stories and problems to the point that sometimes I find it hard not to compare/project the characters' problem to my own. The anime is also better at making Morita a stand-out character. This mostly thanks to an awesome voice acting job from Ueda Yuji. Anyway, if you like the series, the DVD will come out this August with limited edition box illustrated by Umino Chika herself.

The episode itself begins with Takemoto, Morita, and Mayama on their way to Sento, talking about how it's been a month since Hagu returned to her hometown. Whilst on their way, Takemoto receives a phone call from Hagu who asks the guys what kind of Omiyage (present) they want from Nagano. The guys immediately vote for meat but Hagu's uncle decide that it's going to be Soba for the poor students. I think this scene would have been funnier if the ham guy story came earlier. By including that story, it'll be more obvious that these students really do crave meat and that they haven't eat any for a while. Once Hagu hangs up the phone, another cell phone rings and it turns out that it's Mayama's turn to get a phone call. It's interesting to see Moon River being used as a cellphone ring tunes for Mayama's phone. As most people know, this is the theme song for Breakfast at Tiffany's starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard.

What's interesting here is the comparison between the older woman/younger man pairing in that film to the relationship that Rika/Mayama has in this series. I have noticed that there are three types of women featured within this series: the mature/motherly type as represented by Rika, the hot-headed teen as represented by Yamada, and the child-like woman as represented by Hagu. It remains to be seen if this is some kind of commentary about how some men are looking for motherly figure in their wife or how some men refuses to grow up and keeps looking for that young nubile thing. And in a nice twist to the relationship that Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard has in Breakfast at Tiffany's, it seems that in this series, it is Mayama who has a difficulty of committing to someone while in Breakfast, it is Audrey Hepburn's character who is afraid of committing to anyone.

Anyway, upon receiving the phone call, Mayama apologizes to both Takemoto and Morita and tells them that he can't come to the Sento, much to Takemoto's surprise. When Takemoto asks Morita about the identity of the caller, Morita calmly replies that it's probably Mayama's girlfriend. The next day, Takemoto ends up visiting Hagu and her uncle for a reunion party alone because Morita has a last minute job waiting for him while Mayama is nowhere to be seen. Takemoto, Hagu, and Shuuji end up having barbeque party together, much to Takemoto's delight. I have to say that I'm a bit disturbed with how Hagu comes across as an 8 year old instead of 18 year old here. I personally never met an 18 year old girl who needs to be told to eat her veggies so the scene where Shuuji tells little Hagu to eat veggies weirded me out a little bit.

Anyway, after dinner, Hagu invites Takemoto to play in her room. No, not that kind of 'play', you perverts! She simply presents her doll collection and shows Takemoto her l33t sewing skill. One of these days, someone has to compile a list of anime characters with l33t sewing skills. Back to the series, Takemoto promises Hagu that he will help her building a dollhouse but is horrified when he realises that Hagu wants a Rococo-styled doll house. The next day, Takemoto sees Mayama being dropped at the school by a woman he never met before. Upon seeing the scene, Mayama immediately becomes the gossip of the school girls. To make things worse, Yamada suddenly appears and proceeds to do a scissors kick on Mayama, asking him to stop being a playboy. In reply, Mayama tells Yamada that it's none of her business.

Their fight, however, comes to a halt when Morita appears and takes a snapshot of their fight with his brand-new 4.32 megapixel camera. Immediately Yamada's wrath is transferred from Mayama to Morita and the two proceed to have verbal sparring that basically translate to 'chemistry' to me. Mayama uses the chance to escape from Yamada, leaving Morita and Takemoto to be at the mercy of Yamada. Let's just say that the result is hilarious. Later on, Takemoto realises that Rika, the woman that took Mayama back to school also knows Shuuji-sensei rather well. Rika and Shuuji end up talking about Rika's daily life and how it's been getting better ever since she receives help from Mayama. The background music that the series uses in this particular scene is really nice. It also reminds me of some of the best background music from Fruits Basket.

Meanwhile, Takemoto gets to meet Hagu inside the school cafeteria and ends up buying her some foods. While the two talk to each other, Takemoto realises that he has never seen Hagu with other female friends. Hagu seems to know this as well since she seems to be sad when she overhears a group of girls talking excitedly about their plans to go shopping. I have to say that I like the Hagu in this scene. She seems quite normal and I can understand her problem a bit better here. It's unfortunate that the animators revert her back to the SD form not long after this. Anyway, Hagu decides to run away from the cafeteria, leaving the now confused Takemoto. Since he's worried about her, he decides to visit Hagu's uncle and along the way gets an explanation about Mayama's relationship with Rika. It seems that their relationship is not as simple as it seems.

Elsewhere, Yamada finally gets to confront Mayama and ask him why he always runs away from his problem. She tells him that he should tell Rika if he really likes her. Mayama, however, asks Yamada not to be concerned about him, revealing that he knows that Yamada likes him. He asks Yamada to not spent too much time on him and to concentrate on finding a better person to be with instead. Their conversation then comes to a halt when Mayama once again receives a phone call from Rika. Yamada is then left alone crying and feeling helpless that she can't get involved in Mayama's life. Much to her surprise, however, Morita comes to hear her story, allowing Yamada to finally tell someone about how she feels about Mayama. How despite knowing Mayama's bad points, she can't help but feeling attracted to him. However, thanks to Morita's silliness, in the end Yamada seems to cope better.

Impression:

There's something about this series that is a bit unsettling. I think this is mostly because some of the elements are too close to reality. For example, I find the opening song to be a bit depressing to listen to at the moment because the lyrics precisely describe the situation that I'm in at the moment. Some of the friends that I made here in Japan have just left the country and soon, it'll be my turn to do so. We made a promise to keep in contact with each other but deep down I have to wonder if we'll ever see or hear from each other again. Based on my experience, long-distance friendship/relationship is hard to maintain. I find this unfortunate because I really like these people but I know that I have to be realistic. The fact is, we all live in different parts of the world and I'm not sure if the promise we made to each other will last for even a week.

Having said that, I am glad that the romantic problem that Yamada has with Mayama is quite realistic. In essence, Yamada loves Mayama but she knows she has no chance with him. Nevertheless, she still wants him to be happy so hopefully she can move on with her life. However, this is impossible because she cares a lot for him and despite the various things that she dislikes about him, she can't help but wanting him. Because of this, it hurts her a lot when he can't find happiness, and she is not even in the running as 'that person who can make him happy'. Well, I better stop there because once again the story hits a rather personal note with me. Personally though, I think Mayama and Yamada don't have the sparks that I like in anime couple. I think eventually Yamada will be paired off with Morita. Despite Morita's interest in Hagu, I feel that he's a better match for the more lively Yamada.

© memento 2003