DGFischer

In most anime of the romance genre, it is the usual path of two unlikely people learning to fall in love with each other.  Or two contrasting personalities.  Or two extremely different social types.  Or two of diverse appearance or height.  JC Staff's Clover and Honey approaches the notions of the lovey-dovey from a whole new angle ... in the lives of the basic insecure artistic types.

Such a plan creates two unique love triangles.  First that of Takumi with longtime friend wishing for promotion to love interest Ayumi, and this against Takumi's client Rika Harada, a young disabled woman who has called upon Takumi's architectural company for designs assisting the handicapped.  A pure love soon to be of the long-standing unrequited type versus a professional relationship with no chance of deepening.

Then there is the strange case of Hagumi Hanamoto, a child prodigy whose artistic achievements are outstanding, yet she timidly goes about her work.  With all thoughts of pedophilia cast to the breezes, she claims two admirers.  One is a safe bet, her sensei, Shuuji Hanamoto, a distant relative whose mentor-ward relationship with Hagu makes him a protector ... until work takes him to Mongolia and months of misery without his protege.  This leaves the field to Shinobu, whose sarcastic bent just serves to frighten the young girl.  Thankfully, Shinobu goes away on mysterious junkets which bring in tons of money, so his absence is well-received by Hagu.

This leaves the quasi-MC Yuuta Takemoto who is another art student at the college the characters are attending.  He is far below Hagu in talent, and needs time to sort out his feelings, including a two-month bike trip to the northernmost point of Japan (quite the distance from Tokyo) ... all to 'find himself.'  He returns to make that great discovery ... he, too, has fallen for Hagumi ... just in time for season two.  Talk about the advancement on the love triangle concept!

Love is blind, but it has a great sense of timing!

The animation's faded coloration patterns (creating really intense omake moments ... for whatever that's worth) works well with the slow, plodding pace of Honey and Clover's multi-leveled set of plot and subplot.  Love relationships ramp up with turtle speed, wondering if the painfully obvious will ever dawn on members of the cast over the simmerings of lukewarm love that never seems to get to a boil.  The opening theme features the shrill Doramachikku (by Yuki) offers several artistic motifs (the shrimp plate turning into a grasping hand still serves up the nightmares) with border on the bizarre.  The closing theme to the second half of the season, Mistake (by The Band with No Name), uses the imagery of the Ferris wheel, a favored place for couples to 'talk,' but pointlessly moves in a never-ending circle.  Deep symbolism for love in development.

This all leads to a second season of only twelve episodes, half of the 2005 season.  Love has been kept on pause all throughout season one.  What shall become of all these listless lovers?