May 07, 2005
Honey and Clover Chapter 4
Mayama muses on his relationship with Rika (the "disabled" woman), while coming into conflict with Shuuji, who has known Rika since college and still entertains feelings for her. Hagu suffers a massive panic attack after she gets picked on by some other students, so Takemoto looks after her while Morita totally doesn't grasp the situation.
Then, it's Christmas! Christmas is traditionally not a happy time for Takemoto, as his mother used to work all the time (as a nurse), but things perk up when Santa Morita invites everyone to a party (involving such Yuletide traditions as...spaghetti...), which ends with drunken antics for all - except Rika, who stands by an unknown grave, alone...
In a series of superlative episodes, this one stands out as the best yet. While none of them have thus far really totally captured the utter insanity of episode 1, Honey and Clover really hits a dramatic high here with backstory and angst a-plenty, even alongside Morita's bizarre antics (the "Moon River" section was brilliant, and SO appropriate!) and Yamada's Tetsujin displays. It'll be interesting to see how the Mayama/Shuuji situation plays out, but to be honest I find all the relationships in Honey and Clover compelling so that's not exactly saying much...
Seriously, though. Spaghetti at Christmas?
Posted by BluWacky at May 7, 2005 01:10 PM | TrackBack"Seriously, though. Spaghetti at Christmas?"
... yea, 5 kg (~10lbs) worth. That's nuts! Also the 8kg of croquettes... dang!
Anyway, pretty much agree with your assessment on this episode BluWacky. Love the various hints on the multi-layer relationship everyone has with each other. Morita-Takemoto-Hagu and Yamada-Mayama-Reika-Suuji, just so much to work with!
I also I really thought Yamada and Morita stole the show in terms of humor this time around (Tetsujin, mind explaining? That was over my head for some reason). I cracked at Yamada's er... "fan club"? hehehe
Posted by: moyism at May 7, 2005 06:07 PMTetsujin means "iron man" - the moniker was first used last episode, when it flashed up on screen at one point during Mayama and Yamada's fight about half way through the episode (it's the bit with the nuts and bolts). Tetsujin #28 is a very famous manga/anime series known as Gigantor in the West (I blogged the first episode of the remake, which is due out soon from Geneon in the US), and I suspect it's partly a homage to that.
They call Yamada Tetsujin because of how strong she is, basically. Although she's not strong against Morita's pants-spotting technique....
Posted by: BluWacky at May 8, 2005 12:42 AMI loved this ep too. Morita just plain ROCKS. The Moon RIver thing was really hilarious!! I think Yuuji Ueda is doing a fantastic role in this anime, and his singing voice rocks too :D (I was also laughing so much I had to stop the show because of Santa Morita)
The pants-spotting thing was hilarious too. I get the feeling that the seiyuu were really having fun with this anime.
I'm really glad at how the series balances comic moments and serious moments. They have spoiled some of Rika's backstory on the main site (but it's fairly obvious, I think - and I think they intend to make it obvious), but not a word on Takemoto's past.
I'm VERY interested in what that scene in ep 1 is. When Takemoto was cycling in the rain with a different hairstyle... I know ep 5 will be about him and his mother (I hope she's not going to die >_<), but hm...
Dang, I really am liking this.
Posted by: wao at May 8, 2005 04:26 AMBy the way, sorry for double posting but I'm REALLY, SERIOUSLY hoping Hagumi is retarded. I think that if she isn't, then there's really no explanation for her utter... stupidity (in terms of the impression I get from her anyway). She really doesn't say anything and she's a little unconvincing...
But on the other hand, if she's got some sort of disability (autism? inability to express herself to other people?) then that would be a *brilliant* touch of writing, to me anyway. Since when have we seen a show where someone with a *mental* disability is one of the main characters? It might explain her extremely short stature as well.
Good lord. I iwsh I could edit my comments. How many freaking comments do I have to make? I promise, this is the alst one.
I just wanted to mention, in order to satisfy my bloody ego, that I think Morita is quite friendly with Yamada. He's a lot more useful than Mayama in that sense, anyway. But the nice nice thing is that Mayama really doesn't hate Yamada, he's just being kind of stiff with her... I somehow think Morita and Yamada will just remain as great firends, but it's also possible that...
Posted by: wao at May 8, 2005 04:36 AMBluWacky... aahh... got it now. I thought it vaguely sounded familiar. Funny how I was showing Honey & Clover to a friend (he's an art student in college too) when screening ep 3 again, the Tetsujin line came up. I put two and two together (since it was the raw and I had to vaguely translate to my friend what was going on)... so yea ^_^;;
Posted by: moyism at May 8, 2005 07:57 AMGreat episode. I dont like Yamada though. In this episode she was funny. But i dont like how she takes out her unhappiness on everyone. And how she keep saying Mayama was stupid in epi 3.
Posted by: maru at May 8, 2005 06:50 PM"I'm REALLY, SERIOUSLY hoping Hagumi is retarded. I think that if she isn't, then there's really no explanation for her utter... stupidity (in terms of the impression I get from her anyway). She really doesn't say anything and she's a little unconvincing..."
Well wao, I really think that her inability to speak clearly comes from the fact that she probably has suffered a lot because of her height and was probably mocked and left alone...but it's just my opinion...
Anyway, I love love this show...so beautiful...Yamada and Morita are so funny!
Very nice
Posted by: Mira at September 2, 2005 04:27 AM