Honey and Clover II - Reviews

Spoiler warning. 

Animation: 

I definitely picked up on a slight art style shift, especially in Hagu and Ayumi. I think the Hagu change was for the better, as she looked more like a passable short adult and not a literal child.

Sound:

Nothing extraordinary, but catchy nonetheless. I like the piano covers of the opening and ending themes from this season and season 1.

Now for the plot and characters, the negatives first:

I am just going to be blunt here. I am VERY disappointed about how the last two episodes unfolded. Is it because of the typical “wah Morita no end up with Hagu” statement? No, I actually get why it ended up like that. It’s the whole “Shuu loves Hagu romantically” twist. How the actual freezing ninth circle of hell did they think it was a good idea to have Shuu, who was always presented as a sort of protective paternal figure to Hagu, and by the way is RELATED to her, out of nowhere suddenly love her romantically...? I can’t say anime is necessarily always free from incestrous themes (Looking at you Meiling Li and Naomi Tanizaki), but even when it is, at least the crap that isn’t hentai is not... This unsettling and seriously out of nowhere...? I literally lost all respect for Shuu, which sucks, because I genuinely liked the guy before. This kind of narrative is literally exactly why I dodged Usagi Drop like a bullet. I thought this story took place in Tokyo, not the heart of Alabama. I have been through hell and back with weird ass teacher x student pairings and incest crushes sprinkled on the background of various anime. But never have I been this revolted about it, nor has it completely changed my opinion of a character this fast. I just wanna go and hunt down the MiB and plead them to neuralyze me of this atrocious plot decision.

Back to the point, not only was Shuu thrust into some predatorial incestrous skin, Hagu suddenly matured out of nowhere for plot convenience. Granted, I would have kind of preferred if she had been like this from the beginning as opposed to bluntly child-coded, or at least slowly developed, rather than just some sudden flip out of nowhere. 

I guess I should get to the positives:

One thing that stuck out like a poppy in a field of rye to me in the first season is that only really Takemoto seems to have a conclusive character arc, whereas Ayumi kept repeating the same stupid mistakes, Morita was a complete enigma (albeit a funny one), and Mayama was just a prick meddling in the life of a girl he quite literally already turned down. What I actually like about season 2, however, is that it builds upon the stories of these characters. Ayumi finally begins to force herself to move on from Mayama, we finally learn just what in the world Morita was up to, and Mayama, well, jumped straight from an awkward friend-zoned first base to home run with the widow lady. I’m especially happy about Ayumi’s arc. She was easily my favorite character, it was honestly painful to see her keep trying, so when she finally went through acceptance, it was like a massive weight lifted off my shoulder. As for Morita, I actually liked the whole melancholic arc with his brother. For Mayama? He was easily my least favorite of the cast, but I’m glad he managed to “save” Rika, as her suicidal demeanor present from season 1 was concerning me. I now guess it’s time for my controversial take on the Hagu and Morita situation. Hagu had the choice between art and romance, and chose the former. I’m cool with that, whatever, it is what it is. I mean even though it was painted as genuine sincerity, it kinda rubbed me oddly when Morita tried to steer Hagu away from art, almost as though he was trying to bring her down with him, which I guess was the point? Beats me.

Conclusion:

The Shuu thing made me wanna projectile vomit, and I was a little disappointed having coming here from March Comes in like a Lion, another series based on a manga by the same author. But I appreciate the conclusion to the other character arcs. Basically this season would have been a lot better had the whole Hagu arc been rewritten, and the creepy Shuu thing absent to begin with. 

The continuation of Honey and Clover, directed now by Tatsuyuki Nagai, who gets right down to business: the climax of the relationships between the characters is almost immediately dealt with.  While Mayama confronts Rika with her desire to push everyone away, Yamada is attacked with a surprise confession from Nomiya.  Meanwhile, Hagu experiences a life-changing event that forces Takemoto and Morita to take action…

With subtle character design changes and musical shifts, Honey and Clover II is still at heart the same story simply ramped up to its inevitable conclusion.  While comedy is still present, it mostly takes a backseat to the plot climaxes and the ultimate result of the friendships between characters as they all truly begin the next stage of their lives.  The pacing is faster and gets to the point much quicker, sacrificing much of the airy quality of the show for dramatic tension and release.  Ultimately, however, the show is still a mere extension of the first and the quality certainly does not change in the interim space.

As a series, this show will both make you tear your hair out over character choices while at the same time laughing your ass off at the left-field moments of humor.  You will feel happy for some, angry at others, and wistful for what could be, all of which is the entire point of the show.

Only, you’ll be doing it without hair or an ass.