ハチミツとクローバー

HONEY AND CLOVER

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
10
RELEASE
July 28, 2006
CHAPTERS
75

DESCRIPTION

Takemoto lives in a run down student apartment, where his greatest worry is when he'll next be able to afford to eat meat and whether he'll get to class on time. Although he's away from home and living on his own, Takemoto is far from finished growing up. Along with his crazy cast of friends, Morita, Mayama, Yamada, and Hagumi, Takemoto sets out to discover life and his true self.

(Source: VIZ Media)

Notes:

Won the the 27th Kodansha Manga Award for shoujo in 2003.
Includes 11 extra chapters.

CAST

Yuuta Takemoto
Ayumi Yamada
Shinobu Morita
Hagumi Hanamoto
Takumi Mayama
Shuuji Hanamoto
Rika Harada
Takumi Nomiya
Miwako Teshigawara
Leader
Kaoru Morita
Nurse
Tsukasa Morita
Kazushi Yamazaki
Shouda
Kazuhiko Hasegawa

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO HONEY AND CLOVER

SPECIAL ComedyHoney and Clover Specials

ANIME ComedyHoney and Clover

ANIME DramaHoney and Clover II

Cover Art for Hachimitsu to Clover: Kimi wa Boku no Takaramono

ONE SHOT RomanceHachimitsu to Clover: Kimi wa Boku no Takaramono

Cover Art for March Comes in Like a Lion

MANGA DramaMarch Comes in Like a Lion

Cover Art for Hachimitsu to Clover: Yasashii Kaze

ONE SHOT RomanceHachimitsu to Clover: Yasashii Kaze

REVIEWS

midnightjiru
86/100
Beautiful story with a true ensemble cast
Beautiful story with a true ensemble cast that really pays off in the last several volumes. Chica Umino started writing it when she was 35, and it's clear that by then she already had the life experience and wisdom to create an unconventional story that makes the common young-adult themes feel more real-- unrequited love of all sorts, figuring out adult life pre- and post grad, dealing with and resolving long-term grief to name a few.

In just ten volumes, the story feels very complete and satisfying, which is a departure from today's general standard of 20+ volumes for a series.

If you've researched the series before reading and are hesitant due to the online discourse about Hagumi's appearance:

<<I wanted to put this bit behind a spoiler tag in case you didn't want to read my defense, but it won't count anything written within the tag towards the minimum character count to post a review. So read the next section only if you want. There are no actual spoilers.>>

I feel her younger-than-she-is appearance is a combination of:

1) Her tiny stature. For reference, average height for Japanese women in 2000 [series start date] was 5'2".

2) The fashion of the time. Lolita became much more acceptable to wear in the 90s, and it's likely Umino in the very least admired it when she was in college, given her general art style. Speaking as someone who is also pretty petite, a more girlish, Lolita-eques style would suit Hagumi's figure more and/or make her feel more comfortable than what the average 18-20 year old would be wearing.

3) Umino's storybook-like art style, which does mature and improve as the series goes on. I also feel like Hagumi's age is much more believable visually later on as Umino finds her footing. The series was also originally published in a shojo magazine, and it's plausible that Umino chose to make one of the two female leads look child-ish to appeal to the younger end of the magazine's demographic (or was given that direction by her editor). When the magazine folded after the series' first year, it moved to a josei one. I don't know specifically where in the story the move happened, but Hagumi's child-ness is definitely toned down as things move into the later half-ish, which again was likely a choice to appeal to the new magazine's demographic that was older.

When you take these into consideration, I think it's easy to essentially move past Hagumi's younger appearance, or at least not be "weirded out" by it. The reasoning behind her personality and social behaviors is eventually explained as well. I also always take into consideration that there are some cultural things I will never understand or might feel backwards whenever I read manga/watch anime. While these stories can be universal and enjoyed around the world, they are first and foremost always written for the Japanese audience.

I may have rambled a bit, but I think the story is well worth the time and not to be shot down so easily by the general western opinions you may have found floating around the internet. Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED Talk. (づ ᴗ _ᴗ)づ♡
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