Forum - View topicREVIEW: Honey and Clover II DVD
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Otaking09
 Posts: 637 |
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Good review, but I couldn't understand from your review how it can get THAT emotional.
Even though I haven't seen any of Honey and Clover, this review coupled with other professional reviews makes me wonder if it's even worth watching at all! All categories an A? That's rare for you Carl! Not to change subjects, but when are you guys going to review Code Geass R2, Shangri-La, or another NANA? This Honey and Clover review seems a little out place, given the current release dates of other recent titles. |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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Otaking: prolly after the Spring Preview is finished, they always get backlogged doing that.
And yes, speaking as someone who went through an entire box of kleenex watching the finale episodes of this series, it really does get that emotional, for everyone in the cast. It didn't help that I was going through my own personal "what should I do with my life?" crisis at the time (one I've not yet completely resolved), but the fact that it's life-purpose and not just romance that drives the drama of Honey and Clover's finale is what makes it so awesome. Guh... I want this... why do I have to be underemployed? Ah well, it's going on the Wish List. |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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I have to say, I absolutely loved the first Honey & Clover series, so when I learned (I had been out of the country a couple of years) that a sequel series was made, I was elated. After watching it though, I honestly can't say that I really enjoyed it. A few episodes had the charm of the original series, but the conclusion just seemed really really... well, I'd rather not get into spoilers but cliche to say the least.
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pachy_boy
Posts: 1323 |
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When it comes to Mayama’s character, some fans will point out that he does everything he does to Rika because he is trying to help and even save her, but—no. I’ve posted before of how much he irritates me, with all his spoiler[stalking and his “funny” moment of contemplating sexual assault on Rika, and his feeling of obligation in controlling Ayumi’s life after breaking her heart and knowing that she isn’t over him]. I honestly thought he couldn’t get worse than that, but this newest season proved me wrong. Now that he is able to be close to Rika (after spoiler[forcing himself into her apartment and corner her about it]), he goes so far as look spoiler[through all her mail and private materials, and if that wasn’t enough, sets up traps to make sure she doesn’t get away from him]. Okay, am I really supposed to cheer and root for this guy in his quest for making Rika his? Seriously? After his spoiler[stalking] and everything else I’ve mentioned, all I can say about this guy is WHAT THE FREAKING HECK?!
Anyway, just as Yuta’s biking trip made the previous season for me, what saved this one was Hagu’s spoiler[accident and everything afterwards. It’s not that I wanted something bad to happen to her, it’s just that something had finally freaking happened]. Some event has taken place where the characters are affected and finally develop. It wouldn’t be correct to say that the characters and their stories in Honey and Clover went nowhere, because they really are at places in the end different from the beginning. But the series still slogged through so much melodrama BS, with nonstop poetic monologues, that during the journey it all really meant nothing to me. I couldn’t relate to or care about any of the characters for many reasons, including ones I stated in previous posts, and the majority of the comedy still felt artificially forced and just not funny. For me, watching Honey and Clover was ultimately just a way to kill time and nothing more. But toward the end of this season it was surprisingly worth it, because I came close to caring about the characters for the first time now that they were going to move on with their lives (Ayumi especially, thank god, it really took her long enough). The ending was just right for a series like this; it really felt like the title, Honey and Clover, was intentionally meant to build up to that final moment with spoiler[Yuta], and his monologue after the end credits finally meant something after all the BS I listened to for 36 episodes. [Mod Edit: Even though you're posting in a thread about the title, do please still use spoiler tags in case people haven't quite seen that far in the series. - Keonyn] Edit: I didn't think I gave any real spoilers, but apparently I'm wrong about that, so apologies to everyone. Last edited by pachy_boy on Mon Apr 12, 2010 5:58 am; edited 6 times in total |
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Joe Mello
 Posts: 2258 Location: Online Terminal |
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H&C is right in the wheelhouse of the demographic, a show about college aimed at high school/college kids. I don't think it would be inaccurate to say that all of the main characters are going through some sort of quarter-life crisis (formerly known as "reaching true adulthood") and we all ("we" meaning the demo) either have been there, or still are there. It's that relatability combined with a bang-up plot that makes the show so damn good. |
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ZenErik
 Posts: 392 Location: Boston |
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I'm 4 episodes into H&C II. Love it so far.
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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@pachy_boy
Dude, spoilers! Cover them up! |
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Gewürtztraminer
 Posts: 1028 Location: Texas - Its like whole other country. |
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I intensely disliked Honey and Clover through the first 12 episodes.
The reason: Shinobu's obnoxiousness. When I started watching the second set of episodes, I was surprised at how much I was enjoying it... and then toward the end I was reminded of my displeasure. The final set brought the series home nicely, Shinobu was explained AND toned down, moving it from something I greatly disliked to something wonderful. The last scenes of the last episode might be the most touching thing to me personally I have seen in an anime. |
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Otaking09
Posts: 637 |
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Thanks guys for your answers.
I already knew (partially based on the synopsis) what their situations were as people, but I was wondering, based on Carl's review, what made Honey and Clover so emotionally powerful. Even more so the 2nd season, which is the one part of the overall series that critics always seem to be "touch-and-go", "hit-or-miss". "Is it worth watching?", "Will I get somthing out of this?", and "Is it something that a well-rounded, level-headed viewer will enjoy whole-heartedly?" was what I was trying to figure out from Carl's review. And... I didn't get a definite answer... Suffice it to say, his discription was pale in comparison to his NANA reviews, which Carl clearly (and openly) enjoys. He's convinced me on NANA with his passion, but this review lacked... something. Enthusiasm, perhaps? 
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boredandlazy
Posts: 189 |
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I watched both seasons in English and I still found it an intensely emotional experience, I can only imagine how much more affecting it could have been if I'd watched it in Japanese. Either way it's still one of my favourite series of recent times.
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ittoujuu
Posts: 164 Location: SoCal |
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Having enjoyed this series so much when it came out, I definitely picked up all three sets. While it's fantastic to finally have H&C on DVD, I still don't understand what would have possessed the script editors to have decided on "Yeah, let's make them all refer to each other by their first names, all the time!" when you can hear that that's not what's being said.
Now, in a dub recording track, I could understand why something like that might be done - it might help to shorten lines, and would sound more natural in spoken English. Using first names, you also wouldn't have to deal with the honorifics issue in spoken English too, which could be a plus. In a subtitle script track, though? What possible reason could there be? This isn't dubtitling, where there's some misguided attempt to make the sub script match the dub, so why? Generally, in making a localization decision that consciously decides to be "less accurate," one should be able to give a reason why such a decision was made (and there are some good reasons one could/would make such a decision, don't get me wrong). It just irritates me that, in a series where people call each other by their last names almost all the time, they just went ahead and decided to have them use all their first names, even in the subtitles. I would love to hear the explanation for why that was decided on. It's like...the people who are going to be watching the series subtitled aren't going to be the type who think that was a good move. I guess it just irks me because I like the series so much, and because this DVD release is almost everything I'd want out of it (heck, I'm glad H&C got a DVD release, after fearing it might not, seeing how many years after its broadcast Viz was mum about it), that the one imperfection galls me that much more. But...don't let that stop you from picking up these fine DVDs. Honey and Clover is an awesome series; quite possibly my favorite from among the last decade's series. It's well worth the watch. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7983 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Honey and Clover II is ram alright. Makes you want to ram your head into a brick wall, repeatedly, after watching it and is exceedingly frustrating, and fractured. spoiler[Relationships are seemingly concluded and established and then the last episode contradicts that and shows that in fact they aren't at all. Perhaps that was the point, but if so I can't really say I liked the message. Plus the Shu/Hagumi/Takumi/Rika quadrangle thing was the main draw to the series for me and we didn't get that settled. Rika apparently sleeps with Takumi and Shu and Hagu agree to spend their lives together, but then Shu and Rika kiss seemingly going back on what they said and did. 'Course then Shu and Hagu go off together, and presumably Rika's change of the hotel means she's bringing Takumi along...but still we don't know what actually happened.] To me it just comes off as unfinished. I still bought the sets when they came out, but the second series really irks me.
 
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28076004505531
 Posts: 124 Location: Ohio, USA |
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this is one of the best anime...
i wanna see some nodame cantabile too...i hope...viz will license it ...but i doubt it...but still *fingers crossed...anything could happen... |
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ZenErik
Posts: 392 Location: Boston |
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This annoyed me too. But I am over it by now. Interestingly enough, they always refer to each other by their first names in the first season subtitles. In this 2nd season, it switches up a little bit from what I have watched so far. Sometimes when the voice actor refers to a character by their last name, they actually use the last name in the subtitles. And sometimes they use the first, like before. |
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Ephemeria
Posts: 2 |
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I love Carl's reviews. I read them all, even for things that do not interest me, even if I disagree with everything he says. Especially. They're brilliantly written. And this one...this one was great. 'Velveteen battering ram' indeed. I haven't seen the show at all yet, but maybe I will now.
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