Characters / Honey and Clover

The characters of the manga and anime series Honey and Clover:

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Main Characters

Yuuta Takemoto

Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya (JP), Kenji Nojima (JP, Season 2, last episode), Yuri Lowenthal (EN)

• Anguished Declaration of Love: At the end of the first part of the series he manages to tell Hagu he loves her, even if he knows it's unrequited.
• Betty and Veronica: He's the Betty to Morita's Veronica.
• Big Brother Instinct: Towards Hagu. Since he realizes that she'll never love him any other way.
• Cannot Spit It Out: For the first half of the series, until he completes his Character Development.
• Character Development: After his Journey to Find Oneself, he shows he's not an Extreme Doormat anymore by resisting Morita's antics.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: As his graduation gets close, he starts being more and more anxious as he has no idea what he really wants to do with his life, since he spent most of it helping his ill mother. He finds his purpose after his Journey to Find Oneself.
• Did Not Get the Girl: He realizes he won't get the girl at the end of the first part. During the second part he has to come to terms with it.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Not only towards Hagu, but towards everyone. Especially notable at the beginning.
• Extreme Doormat: At the beginning, which makes him a perfect victim for Moriya's antics.
• Hopeless Suitor: Hagu never sees him as anything more than a good friend.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: After Hagu's accident, Takemoto considers devoting his life to her even if she doesn't love him. In the end, he realizes this would still be selfish and that he has to move on with his life.

• Journey to Find Oneself: Overcome by his fears about the future, he runs away from his own house on a bicycle and just keeps going, hoping he'll realize "something" along the way. Other characters Lampshade this, even mentioning the trope by name.
• Love at First Sight: He falls in love with Hagu as soon as he sees her for the first time.
• Naïve Newcomer: The youngest of the three main guys and the latest to join their shared house.
• Nice Guy: He's extremely nice to everybody, to the point of sometimes being an Extreme Doormat.
• Race for Your Love: He races on a bicycle against Morita in a car!
• Unlucky Everydude: Especially during the first part, when he still hasn't found anything he's really good at.

Shinobu Morita

Voiced by: Yuji Ueda (JP), Sam Riegel (EN)

• The Ace: While other characters are busy with graduating and/or their jobs, he wins an Oscar award.
• Always Someone Better: To his older brother Kaoru, and to Takemoto.
• Anger Born of Worry: Morita snaps at Yamada for worrying him and Mayama when she went out with Nomiya and failed to contact anyone for the rest of the night.
• Artists Are Attractive: Despite chasing her into a terror initially, Morita's excellent artistic skills eventually manage to catch Hagu's attention.
• Betty and Veronica: Veronica to Takemoto's Betty.
• Birds of a Feather: While Morita has a bad habit of overwhelming Hagu with his personality, Morita and Hagu come to have a sort of understanding of each other: They're both socially awkward and somewhat immature, and due to them both knowing what it's like to constantly have a stream of ideas, they end up serving as motivation and inspiration to each other to work hard on their pieces.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Morita is considered to be an eccentric but highly talented artist by his peers and teachers, which makes his flippant personality and constant failure to turn in his final assignments to graduate all the more infuriating to his advisor. From the start of the series, Morita has repeated his senior year three times. It eventually is revealed that part of this is because he's keenly aware that his supposed talent has made others, and particularly his brother, resentful of him, so Morita feels an obligation to help his brother out even at the cost of his schoolwork.
• Cannot Spit It Out: He falls in love with Hagu just like Takemoto. He takes quite a while to realize it and even more to state it.
• Cloudcuckoolander: He just doesn't care about social customs. This sometimes makes him a bit of a jerk, but he's usually very likeable.
• Did Not Get the Girl: Morita may have gotten Hagu's affections, but Hagu ultimately decides to stay with Shuuji because she knows he can take care of her after her accident.

• The Gadfly: He loves to steal things from under peoples noses, pull pranks, tell tall tales, and other various means of stirring trouble or getting people riled up.
• Genius Ditz: He's The Ace in everything that has to do with art, and... not very good at anything else.
• Held Back in School: At the start of the story, he's 24 years old and in his sixth year of art school, still unable to graduate since he constantly skips class to work at various odd jobs.
• Hidden Depths: Morita comes off as a flighty goofball who only makes trouble for others, but he can make surprisingly perceptive comments regarding his friend's situations, and he gets genuinely concerned when Yamada leaves a festival drunk with a guy she barely knows and he gives her a talking-to about it next he sees her.

• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Morita backs down (mostly) gracefully when Hagu tells him she's decided to stay with Shuuji to work on recovering her hand function, as opposed to going with Morita himself. His response is to give Shuuji a huge box of cash and telling him to use it and make sure she gets to paint again.
• Last Girl Wins: Subverted. Hagu does indeed fall in love with "last guy" Morita, but in the end she chooses her art career over both her suitors, in spite of her feelings for him.
• The Lancer: He and Takemoto have an Odd Friendship, despite being total opposites.
• Loving Bully: Morita quickly develops an attraction to Hagu, but at first is only able to express it by chasing her around and turning her into a living art project, which bewilders and terrifies her.
• Older Than They Look: Morita's often outlandishly immature personality makes him seem a lot younger than he really is, but he's actually 3-4 years older than the rest of his friends due to his failure to graduate when he was supposed to.
• Manchild: He is wild and unpredictable, often pulling childish stunts like stealing his friends' food and belongings, or pulling crazy pranks without a second thought to how it affects others. His crush on Hagu also manifests in childish ways, like whiplashing between tormenting her and giving her thoughtful gifts, yet being incapable of actually discussing it with her.
• Money Fetish: He bluntly states he loves money, and has a habit of disappearing for days on end to do mysterious odd-jobs and then suddenly returning with large wads of cash in his possession that he doesn't share with anyone (except once to buy a present for Hagu). It later is revealed that he was obtaining the money for the sake of his brother's plan to buy back their father's company, which had been sold without their father's knowing out of their uncle's envy.
• Mysterious Past: Behind his Cloudcuckoolander attitude he hides a pretty dark history, which gets unveiled only towards the end of the story.

• Ridiculous Procrastinator: He manages to be three years behind in college despite his skill because he just can't help but miss deadlines.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: In a sense, this is what becomes of his relationship with Hagu. They do have feelings for each other, but ultimately decide leading separate lives and cheering each other on in their artistic endeavors is what's best for them. Mostly, it's a result of Morita not really being suitable to take care of Hagu's needs in her hand recovery, and her wanting to continue watching him create.
• Troubled, but Cute: Morita would like to be as carefree as he tries to appear, but he can't bring himself to stop helping his brother, who's obsessed with getting revenge on their father's enemies.

Hagumi "Hagu" Hanamoto

Voiced by: Haruka Kudō (JP), Heather Halley (EN)

• A-Cup Angst: Mostly when she's around Ayumi, who is said to have a perfect figure.

• Birds of a Feather: While Hagu is often overwhelmed by Morita's wild personality, when it comes to art they understand each other, and find motivation and inspiration to work hard and show each other their pieces.
• Break the Cutie: During the first part she manages to make some friends and starts to very slowly overcome her social anxieties... then she suffers a horrifying accident involving a glass panel that leaves her dominant hand almost completely numb.
• Cloudcuckoolander: As a genius artist, it's not surprising that she's often lost in her inner world.
• Country Mouse: She used to live alone with her grandmother in a small village.
• Cry into Chest: Happens a lot with her and her protector figure, Shuuji. Due to her height, she usually doesn't reach his chest.
• Cutesy Dwarf: She's not a teenager anymore, but she looks like she's not even a teenager yet.
• Dude Magnet: By the end of the series, three men have fell in love with her.
• Friendless Background: Before she moved to the Art college. Partly due to Intelligence Equals Isolation, intelligence in this case being her unbelievable artistic skill.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She's a pure and nice young girl, both in appearance and personality.
• The Ingenue: She hasn't had much of a social life, so she's often rather innocent in her behavior.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Early on shows this attitude towards Morita, who she eventually proves to have developed feelings for. When he suddenly leaves for the United States without warning, her wish is more that he do all the things he wants to do there before coming back, rather than wanting him to come back right away. In the end this sets precedence for the final volume where they don't start a relationship and instead promise to always support each other in their work.
• Lethal Chef: When Hagu and Ayumi start cooking, other characters start finding excuses to be somewhere else.
• Manchild: Subverted. At the beginning it may seem Hagu is one of these, as she is 18 years old and not only looks like a child, but tends to be very innocent and childish in her behavior as well. As time goes on, though, other character realize she's actually pretty mature in her own way and is probably the one in the main cast who's best at tackling her problems head on.
• Older Than They Look: Most people mistake her for a middle-school student or even an elementary student. She's actually 18 years old when she's first introduced, and even when the other characters know how old she is, they're still shocked when she mentions that she had her coming-of-age ceremony after turning 20.
• One-Track-Minded Artist: Being shy and raised in a sheltered environment, Hagu learned art by drawing sketches of her porch everyday up until her grandmother's death.
• Sensei-chan: When she teaches a summer art class to elementary students, despite looking barely older than them.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: In a sense, this is what becomes of her relationship with Morita. They do have feelings for each other, but ultimately decide leading separate lives and cheering each other on in their artistic endeavors is what's best for them. Mostly, it's a result of Morita not really being suitable to take care of Hagu's needs in her hand recovery, and her wanting to continue watching him create.
• Train-Station Goodbye: Non-romantic version at the very end with Takemoto: it's not romantic love, but she loves him very much and does her best to show him.
• Wife Husbandry: One possible interpretation towards Hagu staying with Shuuji, who she knows she can depend on, rather than with Morita, who she is in love with.

Takumi Mayama

Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita (JP), Cam Clarke (EN)

• The Cameo: In Umino's later work, March Comes in Like a Lion. Along with Nomiya, he participates in a work team shogi tournament, eventually addressing what some of the characters have been up to after their series ended.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Pretty notable in that he's the most confident and well adjusted of the main cast... except when the woman he loves is involved.
• Hopeless Suitor: For a long time, he's this to Rika. In the end, she eventually starts returning his love.
• Nice Guy: He's a pretty good guy towards everyone, without taking it to Takemoto's extremes.
• Office Romance: He fell for Rika while working with her. It eventually becomes a full romance, since they keep working together after she reciprocates.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted. While they're both referred to by their surnames to tell them apart, he shares the given name 'Takumi' with his coworker Nomiya. Fittingly the two of them are frequently compared to each other.
• Rejection Affection: After the first rejection he tries to get over her and fails, so he decides to just keep trying.
• Romancing the Widow: One of the biggest problems with his unrequited love for Rika is that she's still not over her deceased husband.
• Second Love: He eventually manages to become this to Rika.
• The Smart Guy: The main characters consider him this (despite his Stalker with a Crush moments).

• Stalker with a Crush: He tries to deny it, but he can't do it for long. It's always Played for Laughs, as he never does anything really bad.
  Mayama: I'm not a stalker! I just somehow always pass by her apartment while going home, so I stop to buy a soda from the vending machine there and I sit on the bench for a couple of minutes, looking at her window and wondering what she's doing... Wait, that's what stalkers do!
• There Is Only One Bed: On the train to Hokkaido with Rika. He plays the Chaste Hero role and goes for sleeping in a chair, though. On the return journey, things get a little different.

Ayumi Yamada

Voiced by: Mikako Takahashi (JP), Julie Ann Taylor (EN)

• Beautiful Dreamer: Nomiya watches her sleep twice. Luckily, fantasy unicorns are there to protect the maiden's chastity with threats of violence.
• Betty and Veronica: She's the Betty to Rika's Veronica.

• Ferris Wheel Date Moment:
  • Morita decides to be a Shipper on Deck and pushes her into Mayama's car. After he just refused her. He does manage to give them a chance to talk about it, at least.
  • Later, she has one with Nomiya, which seems more significant.
• Hopeless Suitor: She's in love with Mayama, basically the only guy she knows who is not an Hopeless Suitor for her.

• Kick Chick: She likes to kick people when they make her angry or in her Tsundere moments, but it's Played for Laughs.
• Lethal Chef: When she or Hagu start cooking, other characters start hiding.
• Maybe Ever After: In the end, with Nomiya: she seems to be slowly opening to him and getting over Mayama, but we see nothing definite.
• Second Love: In the end it's implied that Nomiya will be this for her.

• Tomboy: When it's not about romance she's confident, often takes charge and kicks the ass of whoever annoys her.
• Unrequited Love Lasts Forever: For the first part of the series she feels that moving on from Mayama would somehow demean her love. Towards the end, she starts breaking out of this.
• Yamato Nadeshiko: When she's not studying she's usually helping her family run a liquor store. Offical art often depicts her in kimono.

Secondary Characters

Shuuji Hanamoto

Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara (JP), Christopher Corey Smith (EN, credited as "Chris Kent")

• Amicable Exes: with Rika, in a platonic variant. Shuuji was inseparable friends with Rika and her husband Harada, but that changed after an accident killed Harada and crippled Rika. They still share a close bond, but the pain of the memories from before the accident makes it difficult for them to be around each other now.
• The Caretaker: Of Rika in the past, and presently of Hagu.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Harada and Rika meant the world to Shuuji, as thr former was a close friend so the accident that took Harada's life and left Rika crippled and depressed was very traumatizing for him, though he tries not to show it.
• Did Not Get the Girl: In the backstory, it could be potentially interpreted that he was in love with Rika, who was married to his best friend Harada.

• I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Rika and Harada were both people Shuuji loved, but he recognized deep down that he was a Third Wheel in their relationship and felt the only thing he could do was support their happiness.
• Kissing Cousins: What his relationship with Hagu will be if she returns his feelings.
• Living Emotional Crutch: To Hagu, especially at the beginning of the story where she's extremely introverted and shy. Shuuji is one of the only people Hagu is completely comfortable to be around and being without him for long periods of time in unfamiliar situations can be difficult for her.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: Shuuji is extremely protective of his cousin Hagu and tries to ward off any attention she gets from her male peers, especially Morita and Takemoto who he recognizes are crushing on her. Near the end of the series however, it's revealed that this is because he's actually in love with her too.
• Sensei-chan: Even if he isn't a perfect example, his students do take unusual liberties around him and act more like friends than students.

• Third-Option Love Interest: In the very end, he reveals that Takemoto and Morita weren't the only ones who had fallen in love with Hagu.
• Wife Husbandry: One possible interpretation towards Hagu staying with Shuuji, who she knows she can depend on, rather than with Morita, who she is in love with. On Shuuji's part, he does have feelings for her, is roughly a decade older, and due to being cousins, Shuuji has been looking after Hagu since they were children.

Rika Harada

Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (JP), Lara Cody (EN)

• Amicable Exes: with Shuuji, in a platonic variant. Rika and her husband Harada were inseparable friends with Shuuji from their college days, but that changed after an accident killed Harada and crippled Rika. They still share a close bond, but the pain of the memories from before the accident makes it difficult for them to be around each other now.
• Broken Bird: She never completely recovered from her accident, neither physically nor emotionally.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Rika and her husband Harada got into a car accident that left burn scars on Rika's back and took Harada's life.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: She very slowly starts defrosting to Mayama.
• Happily Married: She was this to Harada before his death.
• Her Heart Will Go On: She works extremely hard to complete all of Harada's projects.
• It's All My Fault: She blames herself for Harada'a death for a long time.
• Miles to Go Before I Sleep: She says she wishes to finish all the works her and Harada had promised to do before killing herself in order to join him.
• Office Romance: At the very end, with Mayama.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She keeps her distance from everybody, but she's always nice.
• Survivor Guilt: One of the things that keep her from moving on.
• The Mourning After: After Harada's death she refuses to be broken from this, until Mayama's tireless efforts and passionate outbursts of love.
• There Is Only One Bed: On the way to Hokkaido with Mayama. Even though she doesn't care much, he goes for sleeping in the chair.
• Betty and Veronica: Veronica to Yamada's Betty.

Takumi Nomiya

Voiced by: Kenji Hamada (JP), Tom Gibis (EN)

• Brutal Honesty: He doesn't mince his words, and deals a pretty scathing in-depth lecture towards Yamada for trying to use him to make Mayama jealous.
• The Cameo: Brought in during an arc in March Comes in Like a Lion along with Mayama for a work team shogi tournament.

• Foil: To Mayama, intentionally so down to them both wearing glasses and having the same given name, 'Takumi'. Coworkers point out their personalities have similar quirks and Nomiya admits seeing Mayama is like looking at his younger self. Nomiya has developed a more cynical outlook on relationships compared to the still somewhat idealistic Mayama, however. Their similarities comes to a head when Nomiya ends up eventually becoming Yamada's Second Love.
• The Gadfly: His main strategy for courting Yamada seems to be taunting her as much as he can.
• Grand Romantic Gesture: Nomiya finds himself driving nine hours back to Tokyo from Tottori just to comfort Yamanda, and then proceeds to drive all the way back when it turns out she herself was heading to Tottori. The amount of effort he takes to see her becomes a sign to both himself and his coworkers that his feelings have become genuine.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Initially he comes off as callous and blunt, with his only cares being doing what he can to get work done and get ahead. His early interactions with Yamada particularly feel uneasy. However he proves to actually be a pretty considerate person deep down, and never once takes advantage of her when he finds her at a low point.
• Ladykiller in Love: In one of his first scenes, he's shown casually dumping a girl who asks him to choose between her and his work. After meeting Yamada, his priorities start to change.

• Maybe Ever After: At the end, it seems Yamada is starting to return his love but it's neither confirmed nor denied. Later addressed in his cameo in Umino's later work, March Comes in Like a Lion when Mayama casually refers to her as "[Nomiya's] wife".
• One-Steve Limit: As mentioned earlier, this is averted in that he and Mayama both have 'Takumi' as their given name.

• Workaholic: Before meeting Yamada, his work seems to be his only real love.

Kaoru Morita

Voiced by: Takuma Takewaka (JP), Patrick Seitz (EN)

• Aloof Big Brother: To Shinobu. Although this is subverted in some ways, like in terms of art skill.
• Always Someone Better: Despite being fairly talented in other fields himself, having been remarked to have brilliant memory and great creativity, he always feels like his brother Shinobu is this to him.

• Laughing Mad: Does this during below said breakdown, before coming back to normal and regretting not seeing "the light".
• Vengeance Feels Empty: After everything including buying back his father's company, Kaoru breaks down, unable to cope with the fact that he didn't see "the light" his father used to speak of.

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