Honey and Clover 6
May 3, 2009
Ahhhh… lots of Takemoto in this volume. He’s still trying to figure out what he wants from life, and after some more jobs and opportunities come and go, he officially starts off on a journey to find himself. This takes the form of an impromptu bike ride that just doesn’t stop, so he winds up leaving without telling anyone. All his friends seem to accept this, despite the fact they all freak out when Ayu and Morita disappear wordlessly at other points in the story.
Of course, when everyone figures out why Takemoto is missing, the chorus of elderly professors materialize to sing the praises of what a healthy and exemplary young man Takemoto is, to be going through the crisis of youth. The sense of humor in this series is bizarre and without peer. There are a lot of examples in this volume alone, and I had originally written them out here, but then I realized there wasn’t much point to me describing them. You just have to see for yourself. The weird things this series finds to make jokes about are excellent.
Of course, the serious moments are also unparalleled. There’s a really nice scene where the usually scatterbrained and comedic Morita gets angry with Ayu for disappearing from an event and making everyone worry. Ayu starts to cry and tell him how much she missed him while he was gone, and he apologizes over and over again until the two walk home hand in hand.
Actually, there’s a lot of great character development going on here. Ayu may be having a change of heart about Mayama, Hagu seems torn about what she really wants to do after graduation (though she says otherwise), and Morita… well, he may also be trying to decide on things in his own way, though I suspect that’s something that will come next volume. Also, a parallel is drawn between Mayama and one of his coworkers, Nomiya, who also happens to be interested in Ayu. Mayama and Nomiya hate each other, but both acknowledge that they are a lot alike, but at different stages of maturity. It’s an interesting twist, to be sure.
There’s also a really funny bonus story in the back about Yamazaki and Miwako, Mayama’s other coworkers. Yamazaki has a one-sided crush on Miwako, who exploits this by buying him ugly shirts that he feels obligated/proud to wear. Some of these shirts are… very special.
There’s just absolutely nothing to dislike in this series. It’s funny, it’s sad, it’s about life, friendships… and it takes place at an art school. It’s everything I want in a series. It’s actually kind of unfortunate that I read this together with Narration of Love at 17, since this is the better introspective series about friends and relationships and is probably one of the few that Narration of Love at 17 can’t stand up to in this category.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
May 4, 2009 at 11:45 am
[...] Disciple on vols. 1-5 of Heavenly Executioner Chiwoo (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews) Connie on vol. 6 of Honey and Clover (Slightly Biased Manga) Melinda Beasi on vol. 1 of Jack Frost (there it is, plain as daylight) [...]
May 10, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Did you ever check out the anime series? It’s quite amazing too, and they cover the manga pretty much panel by panel. :D
H&C<3
May 11, 2009 at 2:37 am
No, I kind of want to wait until I read the manga all the way through, actually. I like it so much, I feel like I’d be spoiling myself if I got to watch anything happen in the anime first. But it’s definitely going to happen as soon as the tenth volume is in my hands. All the better if it’s just a retelling of the manga, too, I absolutely loved Paradise Kiss for doing the same thing.