Honey And Clover depicts the lives of the students of an art college in Tokyo. It centers mostly around three young men, Yuta, Takumi and Shinobu, who live in a run-down apartment complex and who have become very close friends.
One day one of the art professors introduces Hagumi (Hagu), his cousin's extremely talented daughter from the countryside. Hagumi looks very young for her age and is shy toward strangers, which doesn't prevent Yuta and Shinobu from falling in love with her immediately. Both boys are awkward in their ways of showing their affections though, which leads to a very delicate
love triangle.
Takumi also finds himself in love, this time with an older woman, while another student, Ayumi, in turn is in love with him. This love triangle actually gets the most attention at first, emphasizing the hopelessness of both people's unreciprocated feelings and leading to much of the drama during the first series.
Honey And Clover started out as a
josei manga series, serialized in various magazines from 2000 till its ending in 2006. It has been adapted into two anime series. A
live action movie adaptation has been released in 2006 and a drama series started airing in 2008. Yes, it's
that popular.
Tropes:
- Adult Child: Hagu, who is 18 but acts about half her age—just the way she looks.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Taken to the extreme, except in one case.
- Art Shift: It happens on occasion, usually when looking at one of Hagu's works or in one DVD-only episode, where the art style (and scenery) shifts to something out of a Shoujo manga. It's even pointed out in show with the following line: "You've turned into a shoujo manga character!"
- Bittersweet Ending: Life goes on, but Yuta has to leave behind his one true love, Hagu, and is left with bittersweet memories of his days at the college.
- Blank White Eyes: Happens a lot to Hagu. Not surprisingly, considering the idiocy she gets confronted with.
- Blue With Shock: Often appears with the Blank White Eyes whenever Morita does something. Or when Ayu cooks.
- Broke Episode: One of the DVD-only episodes, Chapter L, was one of these taken to extremes, flashing back to a period when everyone in the apartment was desperate for meat.
- Broken Bird: Rika Harada is one, physically as well as emotionally.
- Camp Gay: The Fujiwara Brothers (Mario and Luigi) who head Fujiwara Design Bureau.
- Cannot Spit It Out
- Cherry Blossoms: The traditional 'cherry blossom viewing party' is a Running Gag in the series' first season, especially with Morita using it as a means of earning money.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Shinobu Morita, although also Hagu arguably qualifies.
- Country Mouse: Hagumi.
- Cutesy Dwarf: Hagumi.
- Genius Ditz: While being a Cloudcuckoolander as stated above, Morita is also pretty much The Ace when it comes to anything involving art- to the point of winning an Academy Award at the end.
- Growing Up Sucks
- Ho Yay: Lampshaded by Mayama's coworkers at Fujiwara Design after yelling for Takemoto to stop licking him as Leader wakes him up. Nomiya even says that 'a lot of those types end up in this business'. It doesn't help that Takemoto's spending nights sleeping in Mayama's room due to the lack of an air conditioner making those hot summer nights less restful.
- Informed Ability: Hagu's art as depicted in the series is fine, but for someone who is supposedly extremely talented it isn't anything special.
- I Want My Beloved To Be Happy.
- Josei
- Left Hanging: The show ends without answering whether Hagu's hand will be fine or what actually happens with the other relationships.
- Lethal Chef: Yamada, Hagu
- Live Action Adaptation
- Lolicon: She's technically of age, but still...
- Love Hurts: In several varieties.
- Love Triangle: Two of 'em. Three if you count a possible one in the backstory.
- Medium Blending: The first intro.
- Mood Whiplash
- Motifs: The Wheel (Ferris Wheel, Bicycle Wheel) is often used as a metaphor for love and relationships in the first season.
- Perpetual Poverty: This is college/art school, and the first time in the lives of the characters that they're living out on their own. Used for gags in the early part of the manga, before the main story finds its feet.
- Recap Episode: The second season's first episode is basically a retelling of the events in the first season.
- Slice Of Life
- Smoking Is Cool: Hanamoto-sensei and Mayama seem to perpetuate this stereotype, or try to.
- Sparkling Stream Of Tears
- The Other Darrin: Takamoto's original voice actor, Kamiya Hiroshi, was hospitalized and replaced by Nojima Kenji for episode 12 of the second season. Kamiya rerecorded the episode for the DVD version.
- Thunder Shock: Used for humor, such as when Mayama and Takemoto first sampled some of the Lethal Chef cooking in Episode 7 of the first season.
- Wangst
- Weird Moon: With moving pictures on its surface.
