An Extensive Discussion on Honey and Clover II – 04

I’ve read a lot of the pertinent posts at AnimeSuki, and those made me realize that my ‘quasi-summary’ wasn’t even half as insightful as their posts. To make up for this, here’s an intensive disquisition of what ep4 of Honey and Clover II really was. I think it’s going to be somewhat long, so please bear with me.

 

Hot Anime Fangirls, Honey and Clover II – 04, Writing in English, Pugna, and Kurara Chibana

So many good things happened today for me. The most important good thing, however (make it excellent), was that I was able to download Honey and Clover II – 04 after a long wait. First of all, I’ve learned how to play Pugna (the Oblivion in DotA) more or less masterfully, and he’s arguably among the more difficult heroes to control. I was contented with myself back then.

 

There goes another one of Bleach’s chances.

I talked to somebody who loved Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu so much that he hasn’t watched anything else after watching ShnY. He said that everything else just loses its luster when compared to an anime like that. Of course, being your resident Haruhi Suzumiya devil’s advocate, I disagree with him. I do, however, know of the feeling and totally understand it. And of course, you know of the anime I’m talking about: Honey and Clover.

 

Is music in anime only a little thing?

Compared to the animation and the plot, the music seems to be inconsequential in watching an anime. I realized, however, how big a ‘little thing’ music is when I viewed the final scene of the final episode of the first season of Honey and Clover with the subtle playing of Waltz compared with the exact same scene but without the music in the first episode of the second season. I was moved to tears for most of the time whenever I heard the love ballad of Waltz playing as Takemoto finally discovered himself and what he was looking for. Somehow, without that love ballad, it simply became just another scene. That’s what I noticed with most good shows. They have great music. Honey and Clover isn’t excellent simply because it has an excellent plot and good animation – it also has very wonderful music. The combination of music from Suga Shikao, Suneo Hair and SPITZ often works for the enhancement of a scene, or a cascade of scenes. How Mayama forcefully and desperately took Rika to a cup of coffee in the rain just to show how much he loves her was certainly made better with the fast pace of Yoru wo Kakeru. (It was very fitting, too – the lyrics were a perfect fit with the scene.) To add another, more recent scene, take for example the call scene between Nomiya and Yamada near the midpoint of the third episode of H&C’s second season. Without the melancholic yet positive tone of Suga Shikao’s Koko no Iru Koto, I doubt it would have pulled that scene off. The music that plaintively plays in the background simply reflects the sheer loneliness of two characters reaching for unrequited loves. Even now, thinking about it, it was (and still is) extremely jarring.

 

Castrated. Immolated. Emasculated. More Mature.

This is an cocktail of Honey and Clover II – 03 and my life.

 

Honey & Clover II – 02

If I can describe what genius is in only three words, I would say ‘Honey and Clover.’ It’s a very good thing I held myself from watching the raws, because watching it with subs was nothing short of extremely fulfilling. My eyes are teary, yet I am smiling. I’d probably never see stuff like this with live-action melodramas; neither will I probably see the bittersweet beauty of unrequited love. This reads like Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera, only with even less queerness and melodrama and with more substance. I could not help but applaud the whole episode – again, suffering and pain is juxtaposed with joy, contentment, and willingness to move on. I still have post-viewing goosebumps.

Hiccups are seemingly trite and banal things that disrupt the normalcy of quotidian living, but they’re given a dimension here – in fact, this is where the story of the characters revolve around in this episode and this is also where character development can be seen and grasped: because of the hiccups we discover more about the characters in the show. I bow down to you, Umino Chika.

I’d only be reiterating what other blogs like Memento and Random Curiosity have summarized, so I’ll refrain from doing a summary. However, I’d like to say that I’m very happy that Rika has finally gotten over Harada, no matter how much she tries to deny it or keep it to herself. Shuuji has already captured what she’s feeling toward Mayama – the love that she dedicates when she really likes a person, although she’s still extremely cautious. I loved how she thought that well of Mayama while blushing as she thought of his similarities with Harada. (I know that she loves the guy; you’ll probably see that later.) I was, again, (as usual with Honey and Clover episodes) clapping my hands like some five-year old kid on sugar high.

On the other side of the story, I simply felt Ayu’s pain. After four years (extremely realistic) she still can’t get over Mayama, after all. I didn’t think it was kind of her not to speak of how Rika thinks about Mayama from Shuuji’s observations, but that’s really what you feel when you’re totally in love, and the one you love can’t love back. What’s better, however, was Morita. He again shows his wonderful dualistic side – though seemingly carefree and only fatuous, what he said to Ayu was a sage’s advice. I think Morita has the most dynamic characterization in this story, and I think he’s the one character that’s the most colorful.

Takemoto has indeed changed for the better. Clotheslining Morita because he teased Hagu (he couldn’t do this before, but now he has the balls), never regretting the past (that’s my boy!), and looking forward to the future as well as trying to be a friend to Hagu – I truly wish I had a friend like him. It would simply make life just a LOT more beautiful to live and look at.

Hagu’s pain was too believable. We have a bird’s eye view of humanity through the lives of six friends involved with art – and this is what makes Honey and Clover so beautiful: we see good characters full of human foibles and weaknesses, all struggling to live life as they also struggle with their relationships within the group. They’re not perfect, they’re not perennially good, but they’re totally human. And that, my friends, is what makes H&C II a true gem to look at.

(Oh, and I was listening to Waltz as I was typing this.)

 

 

Summer ‘06 Anime Overview [Part One]

I’ve already made a post on Summer vs. Spring Anime ‘O6; this is to expound on what I’m probably going to watch (or am already watching), though this is by no means a complete or exhaustive posting. I’m leaving that up to this site.

Series I’m totally watching and finishing:

Honey and Clover II – this is a series I’m definitely watching until the end. The first season was simply majestic, beautiful, wondrous, amazing, [insert positive adjective here]. From what I’ve seen of the second season, this doesn’t change, if ep2 was any indication. The same holistic balance between levity and gravity, between comedy and drama, is still very much present.

Series I’m willing to give a try:

Bokura ga Ita – I don’t know much about the story. Since it has Akitaroh Daichi as the director, it’s good enough for at least an episode.

Tsuyokiss – It’s a romance. I love watching romances, but after seeing the raw of the first episode I was let down. I’m trying again, this time with the subs. Some of the girls look hot, so I’m not giving up on this series so easily.

Zero no Tsukaima – I may download an episode. Mahou shoujos are quite common and cliched, so I’m not expecting much from this.

The Coyote Ragtime Show – I love action as well. Since some people compare this (albeit negatively) to Cowboy Bebop and Black Lagoon, that’s enough for me to at least give it a try.

FLAG – Well, I’ve been talking about this a lot (see here and here), so I’m definitely watching at least an episode whenever I’ll find one.

Series I’m probably not watching:

Binbou Shimai Monogatari – a lesser form of Grave of the Fireflies. No.

Zaizen Jotaro – even worse than Gundoh Musashi. Think about it.

 

 

Summer vs. Spring ‘06

Whenever you lie down in your bed, mean to sleep only for a short while, and get up some six hours later, it’s a sign that you’re so damn tired. For the record, I’ve only slept for some three hours yesterday and four hours two days ago and did a humongous requirement yesterday; that’s perhaps why the only thing I can post about is my take on FLAG’s popularity. Anyway, having that much-needed rest, let’s jump back to anime, shall we?

***

I noticed that after the spring renaissance of anime (come on, they aired 50 series!), it was followed by a summer that was mediocre at best (in general). Honestly speaking, a lot of would put Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu on top of Tsuyokiss ~ CoolxSweet or Binbou Shimai Monogatari, among the two anime I’ve noticed to have been discussed and dissected often. Haruhi Suzumiya was simply a wave of popular opinion, excellent animation, character depth, and a new take on stereotypes that was well-received by many; its trump card, however, in my opinion, was its animation. The story wasn’t anything to dance about: it simply defaced common notion and turned it around on itself, which has been done already by some other anime as well (in a much better way, I may add). The animation, however, was among the best. KyoAni definitely outperformed itself, and Hirano Aya as Haruhi Suzumiya, if not for the extremely apt speaking voice, pwnt as Haruhi’s singing voice. I mean, come on – who seriously didn’t fall in love with either Bouken Desho Desho, Hare Hare Yukai, or God Knows? I mean I disliked the show, but I know good voices when I hear them. Hirano Aya goes beyond good for me, and she has been the one who has made the show tolerable to watch, at least for the first four episodes. Everytime Haruhi opens to Bouken Desho Desho, hate is tempered with love for that girl’s voice.

Then again, Haruhi’s the type of anime that only come once in a while; add to that greats like Black Lagoon, RAY the Animation, and Ouran High School Host Club, and you definitely have a successful season. It also helped that the choices of the spring season were myriad; and because the anime producers, etc. needed to compete with one another to grab a spot in the ratings that’s at least profitable, they also at least tried to produce quality work because of their competition.

Honestly, this time around, the only anime I see that’s really worth watching is Honey and Clover II. Those who saw the first season know how awesome this anime is, and it is one of them. Other than that, there’s probably Kemonozume (forbidden love is always majestic and FTW) but no headturners like spring, really.

Next time, I’m using OpenOffice or FireFox to write up my articles. It’s pretty hard in Opera when you have to type the tags still. Also, a big thank you very much to NoName. I realized how much I lacked sleep.

 

Romances, Harems, and Honey & Clover

I’ve had quite a backlog of anime these past few days; after seeing Honey and Clover, a lot of anime just don’t seem as interesting anymore. I’ve rewatched the first season yet again, and I can’t really say that I’m dying for the anime that’s coming this summer, except of course for the second season of Honey and Clover. I have watched raws of some of the anime recently premiered, however, and aside from H&C II I’ve watched Tsuyokiss ~ CoolxSweet.

Since I love romances, let’s just say I was all in for Tsuyokiss. After watching (or rather, skimming) the first episode, I decided that I had to watch it subbed. There are some anime that you can watch raw and still understand what happens for the most part, like Ergo Proxy, because despite its philosophy and pretension, it still has a flowing story. Since I don’t enjoy it much that I need to watch it subbed, I just watch it raw, watch what happens, and then watch the next episode after blogging the previous ones. Not that I don’t enjoy it at all – that’s different. I really do enjoy watching it, just not to the extent of holding myself to waiting for its subs after watching its raws (like H&C II, for example). I guess it’s just so-so in my standards.

Since I feel I’d enjoy Tsuyokiss (I’m a damn romantic), I’m definitely waiting for its subs to come out. And from what I’ve seen, it all seems like good fun. I love happy romances (I do like watching AMG), but I LOVE~LOVE well-written tragic ones (like Shingetsutan Tsukihime, and Honey and Clover, to an extent). It seems most anime this summer (in Japan) for me wasn’t as good as the spring season. I’m still waiting for Kemonozume, though – it reminds me of Tsukihime’s forbidden love, as there is love here between a monster and a human. (I also liked the Tenshuu Monogatari arc of Ayakashi ~ Japanese Classic Horror, so I usually like these types of stories.)

(a romance is bound to be great when the only solution to a forbidden love is a sacrifice far heavier than life and death itself)

***

On other things, I guess Akihabara@Deep wouldn’t arrive until 2009. This anime intrigues me, because Nickelodeon helps in producing it. That’s like expecting a Christian channel to show porn, really, and I was that surprised. Anime in Nickelodeon is such a farfetched thought that I’d simply like to see how they would pull it off.

Has no one seen FLAG or its trailer? What do you guys think of it? I’d also like to know.

 

Honey & Clover II – 01

So, the first episode was mainly a recap of all the important stuff happening in the first season, closing with Takemoto obtaining his driver’s license and the group all congratulating him. Honestly, if you have seen the first season there’d be practically no use for me posting screenshots of what you had already seen.

Remember, however, what Shin, the foreman of the construction company said back in ep23: if Takemoto’s willing to work with the temple construction men, he should at least get a driver’s license, so this perhaps forebodes Takemoto working with the nomadic temple construction group. With the images, also, Takemoto seems to have made himself at par with Morita: he can now tackle Morita and defend Mayama from Morita’s ‘advances.’ Indeed, he seems to have matured.

The more interesting part of the episode, however, was the preview, not the episode itself. Simply put, I just love the subtleties of this show. Even within the preview’s lack of voices talking, even with only its action one can deduce a few things.

Even within just the preview, notice how Rika acts more naturally with Mayama. And looky, she blushes when Mayama comes helping, and she beams when they talk. Of course, that would only probably be me spouting bullshit, but you can tell that their relationship’s progressing when Yamada can only watch from outside the door, holding back her tears as both of them talk with one another.

That simply made my day. Not that I hope Yamada’s going to end up killing herself, but that she can move on – she has just got no chance with the guy, and the guy said so himself. I like Mayama’s kindness, though. He doesn’t even say anything against Yamada and sincerely tries to let her end up happy, just not with him. When he discovers Nomiya getting a bit more serious about Yamada, he loosens up on his protectiveness, and he lets them go, but not before confirming that Nomiya has become more serious.

Things start spinning again, indeed.

The pictures of the preview will probably come later.