(1) Honey and Clover (ハチミツとクローバー, Hachimitsu to Kuroubaa?), or Hachikuro for short, is a manga by Chika Umino which has been adapted into an anime series, produced by J.C.STAFF.

Yūta Takemoto, Takumi Mayama and Shinobu Morita are three young men who live in the same apartment complex and are students at an art college in Tokyo. One day, one of the art professors, Shūji Hanamoto, introduces his cousin’s daughter, Hagumi Hanamoto, who has come to live with him and is a first year at the art school. Upon introduction, Takemoto and Morita fall in love with her. Morita expresses his love for Hagu in ways that scare her, especially calling Hagu ‘mousey’ and constantly photographing her, while Takemoto hides his feelings and tries to be a friend to Hagu. Hagu herself, though initially timid and afraid of company, gradually warms up to the three. The group also includes another female: Ayumi Yamada. She is a master of pottery, and is well known by her name «Tetsujin» (Iron Lady). When not at school or hanging out with friends from the college, she helps her family run the liquor store. She is very popular with all the guys, whether they are from the shopping district or the other male pottery students, but Mayama is the only man she is in love with. Unfortunately, although Mayama considers Yamada a friend, he doesn’t return Yamada’s love and is busy chasing an older woman, Rika Harada. Rika runs an art business which she used to run with her husband, Harada before he died in a car accident which also left Rika disabled. Rika Harada, and Shūji were very close friends and roommates in college. Mayama is sent by Shūji to help Rika, who has a hard time taking care of herself and running her business. The story follows these five characters in their love triangles, graduating from college, finding jobs, and learning more about themselves.

(2) The series takes a glimpse into the lives of five students of an art university and allows you to view how these students slowly mature in their thoughts, feelings and relationships. Honey and Clover is a very heartwarming, touching, funny and poignant as it deals with the many issues college aged youth know best. It is not your ordinary slapstick, magic, robot war, cutesy or fan service anime. If you want that, look elsewhere. Honey and Clover has heart, a bit of comedy, beautiful animation quality, style, excellent voice actors, and a wonderful accompanying soundtrack. This series is certainly not for everyone. In fact, this is geared towards the college aged youth, but if you are looking for something deeper and heart felt, I highly recommend this series as well as its soundtrack and original manga.

Cast

Haruka Kudou as Hagumi Hanamoto
Hiroshi Kamiya as Yuuta Takemoto
Mikako Takahashi as Ayumi Yamada
Tomokazu Sugita as Takumi Mayama
Yuji Ueda as Shinobu Morita

Directed by Kenichi Kasai
Written by Chika Umino
Genres: Animation / Comedy / Drama / Romance / Slice of Life
Country: Japan
Original run: 14 April 2005 – 26 September 2005
No. of episodes: 26
Links: Official Site || @IMDb || @Wikipedia || @AnimeNewsNetwork || @DesignChronicle || some screenshots
Download: @Torrentz [torrent search] || @TorrentsNetUA [torrent; UA-IX] || @Animezis [FTP] || OP&EDthemes@InfoStore [UA-IX] || OP&EDthemes@UploadComUA
Grade: 5/5

Открою вам большую тайну как я выбираю аниме для просмотра: насохранял из разных авторитетных источников топ-списки и выхватываю то, что чаще всего в них упоминается. “Honey & Clover” значится почти везде и абсолютно заслужено. Потрясающий сериал. Очень добрый, нежный, красивый, смешной и ироничный. Опять же персонажи, да и место действия – колледж искусств. Аниме о жизни и человеческих взаимоотношениях. Супер. При этом прорисовка двойственная: более серьёзные сцены изображены, скажем так, «нормально/привычно», а комедийные – в преувеличено пародийном ключе, и смотрится это убойно ;) Хотя меня такое напрягало в других мультфильмах, а здесь почему-то выглядит хорошо. Наверное, потому что атмосфера у сериала правильная. «Душегрей», как сказал бы один мой знакомый.

Кстати, только что узнал, что в дораме по мотивам данного сериала играет Yû Aoi, сыгравшая Алису, в упоминавшемся недавно фильме «Hana and Alice». И здорово, что изображает она очаровательную Hagumi ;) Очень интересно посмотреть, надеюсь, дорама эта ко мне попадёт когда-нибудь.