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REVIEW: Honey and Clover GN 1-2

I guess there really are more people out there who think Hagu is more creepy than cute, which is okay. I know people like Hagu in real life, so she was easier for me to accept. But hating her out of perceiving her as a short over-submissive sex object just seems so very, very wrong to me. She's never in any kind of fanservice situation and the boys are never LUSTING after her -- they're in love out of a quiet admiration.

Not liking Honey and Clover is perfectly fine and I'm all for people defending their opinions, but when the bottom line of a review on a site that's supposed to have a professional air is "I hate this show because it's popular and because the main character is short and pours tea and that's sexist", it has me twitching. The entire review could have been replaced with the words "this sucks because it's boring I give it an F-" and I would have been more satisfied.

Wow.

This is probably the first time I have strongly disagreed with a review.

I really like Honey and Clover. I mean, sure, it can be a little slow sometimes, and I can understand that it's not for everyone, but still.
And, well, I can't quite figure out why you think Hagu is repulsive. I mean, at first she is a little odd, but her kind of odd personality does get less... odd as the story goes on. I mean, I guess her shortness is a little creepy, but some of my best friends are as short as she is, so I really pay it no heed.

I mean, to some extent, it isn't as deserving of all the hype it's gotten as other shoujo titles like Nana, but it's still good for what it is.

Moomin:

Now, I haven't read much of the manga (I've been pretty behind in a couple series), but this review really does seem harsh. It feels like most of the review is accentuating the negative points and blowing them out of proportion. Is this series perfect? No, not at all. But from what I've read, it's an honest look at art students in college. There are slow times, there are awkward times, and there is a lot of pressure to "grow up."

Negative reviews are fine, but it makes it easier to swallow when some positive aspects are explored as well.

Also: I'm behind in the manga and so I can only base this off of the anime, but isn't a lot of the first part of the series spent at school? I mean, they aren't shown in class, but they seem to always be in Hanamoto's office. Plus, Morita does spend a lot of time working on art projects that he uses Hagu with... or is it different in the manga?

I really liked the Honey and Clover anime, but I really hated the manga's art, and both the anime and mangas' repetiveness. I have to agree with the reviewer.

On the one hand, I agree with the reviewer that this is not a series for everyone. Not everyone is going to like it and not everyone is going to "get it".

However, I do feel like the reviewer goes overboard in her language and by the time the review is complete, it seemed more like a rant than a review. How many other reviews use the phrases of "overwrought presumption" and "overhyped pabulum" in the same sentence?

Also, she describes Hagu as "a wan, pale child, and she hardly ever speaks in articulate sentences." Well, uh, yes. At the start of the manga's story, Hagu is a wan, pale child, and she hardly ever speaks in articulate sentences. That is where she is at when the manga starts. As the story goes along, she will grow and change. This is an 11-volume series. Where a character is at in volume 1 may not be where they are at in volume 11 so for Ms Brienza to infer that Ms Umino is a misogynist for creating a character like Hagu is unfair and insulting and I think that Ms Brienza crossed a line at that point in the review.

Another thing that the reviewer fails to take into account when she remarked that the award and accolades won by the series was somehow undeserving is that the attention was given for more than 2 volumes of work. By the time it won the Kodansha award, the series was several volumes into the story.

As such, her disdain for the award and attention that the series garnered is a bit premature.

Overall, the review had some valid points, but Ms Brienza devalues those points by turning the review into a rant that bordered on a personal attack.

Okay. I firstly have to say I feel this review missed the mark. What makes Honey and Clover great is the fact that the story has characters you get emotionally involved with. The anime especially does a very good job at achieving this, perhaps more so than the manga. They all have their quarks (esp. morita) but they come together as friends and there are alot of moments that are very true to life, and touching.

And on the subject of Hagu. Hagu is ALOT more than she seems at first. Hagu is NOT a sexualized character in the least, nor is she supposed to be some kind of mary sue or ideal japanese woman. She really grows as a character, has real issues, and is far, far from perfect. In fact, she suffers from high anxiety due to the presure constantly placed on her and her art. There is nothing about her that is repulsive in the least, if you had even given her character more than a obviously critical first glance. She is innocent, but it isnt supposed to be in a degrading way, and you come to see that she does in fact have real feelings of love, and is conflicted over it. Also, the other female characters in H&C hardly fit any kind mold, and Hagu is supposed to debunk the moe stereyotype. She is far from 1 dimentional.

I can defintiely understand why this series would not appeal to someone who isnt into slice of life, or who finds more down to earth stories boring though. For me personally, the story hit home in a real way. Perhaps the reviewer is only looking superficially at the story, which has much more depth than it might seem at first IMO.

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REVIEW: Honey and Clover GN 1-2