Hachimitsu to kurôbâ

The film Hachimitsu to Clover is based on a manga/anime with the same title (meaning Honey and Clover). I wanted to watch the anime so badly but ran into the movie first, so I gave it a try.

The story focuses on the five main characters that play together in an art school. First, the leader, a guy with glasses and a clumsy attitude. Then a young student, a naive guy with a strong attitude, wanting so badly to become a complete adult man. Third is a girl, while being a quite elegant woman, but is strongly attached to the leader, trying to get his attention as the guy unlikely realizes anything. Fourth, a second girl, small, childish like behavior, but very talented. And the last is a guy with a slacking attitude, tends to give a sloppy image, but gives a mysterious hidden talent.

So briefly, the leader doesn't realize the girls attention, the naive guy so deeply fixated with the little girl, and the little girl holds a mysterious attention to the slacking guy, whilst the slacking guy giving a mutual feeling.

The story goes by as they try to accomplish each of their trials of life. Being a Japan movie, the pace of the story is low, but while you go slowly you are entertained by the nature, the music, the beautiful conversation, et cetera.

So if you enjoy Japanese films, you would enjoy this one. For me, it was enough to make me more wanting to watch the anime. Moreover make me gloom about my life and my own trials of life. And made a strong memory on its catchy soundtrack. 8/10

I'll admit that I only watched this film because of Naomi Nishida (from "The Happiness of the Katakuris"-- a far far better film that this), but ouch was this a real bore.

By the end of the film -- and I'm rather disappointed that I bothered to watch the whole thing - - I had no compassion at all for the characters. The "arts students" were stereotypically the worst students you could imagine (ie. lazy, talentless non-working dossers), the plot is virtually non-existent, and the central "artist" is a misogynistic wastrel. The film outlasted its welcome by at least an hour.

The only good thing I'd say is that this film is available on certain sites, so at least you won't have to waste hard cash to watch it. Time, on the other hand, waits for no man.

I bought this on DVD a few months ago purely on a whim - I liked the cover, I'd heard the story was quite sweet and CDJapan had a few copies of the limited edition left. I'm /so/ glad I did.

I've seen a lot of reviews claiming that without some sort of prior knowledge of the anime/manga, this movie isn't worth your time. I'm going to have to disagree, however, as I've seen neither, and found 'Honey and Clover' to be just so charming.

It's not a dramatic, flashy story - it's a gentle look at love and growing up with five of the most likable characters I've encountered in any film in recent times. I can see why some people would find it slow-paced, but I thought it was a lovely little glimpse into the lives of these characters (and given the nature of the film, I think it makes sense that the storyline meanders slowly through their lives, revealing little bits of them).

Visually, it's very attractive. Being set in an art school means there's plenty of wonderful scenes of paint splashing around on canvas, and everything about it is bright and fun to look at. The soundtrack is great - Yoko Kanno is so talented, I don't even have the words to gush annoyingly - and fits well.

I really enjoyed this film. I wouldn't say it's for everyone (I hesitate to use the words 'chick-flick' as 'Honey and Clover' is a lot more thoughtful than that, but I have trouble envisioning most guys watching and enjoying it) but watching it left me with a warm, nostalgic feeling inside. :)

Based on the hit anime of the same name, "Honey and Clover" deals with five college art students. While the premise may sound simple, it's quite the opposite; the characters struggle through school, work, and love. All within the confines of a university, "Honey and Clover" showcases the journey that everyone must take from being a young adult and following the long and challenging road to becoming a full fledged adult.

First off, the cast is wonderfully presented. Their likeliness to their anime counterparts is great and for the most part (albeit hair color) spot on. The mannerisms of the cast also reflected the anime greatly and fans of the anime will certainly enjoy this aspect of the film. Another great aspect of the film is definitely the cinematography. Since this film's environment is mostly held at or around an art school, you would expect for most part, as viewer, to be stimulated visually, right? Indeed this is the case with "Honey and Clover". The film accurately displays the happenings of an art school, from the constant unfinished student projects scattered about, to the multiple classes that art students participate in, it is faithfully recreated here.

The musical score by famous composer Yoko Kanno is wonderfully implemented into the movie too. I for one have taken notice that Kanno is starting to produce more film scores, and she has done great job so far. With her most recent contributions to Su-ki-da and Kamikaze Girls, her slow transition from anime composition to film composition can only be seen as a good thing. I hope to see her contribute more to the realm of films in the future. Putting music aside though, "Honey and Clover" does run into some slight problems… Based on an anime series, one can truly see the tremendous amount of time and effort it would take to condense 26 episodes into roughly a two hour film. What happens in most cases when this occurs in other adaptations is that entire story arcs, characters, and original endings are left out. "Honey and Clover" suffers from the all these. While significantly better in many regards than most anime to film conversions, the story of "Honey and Clover" is just too character driven for a film. Maybe a Japanese TV drama would perhaps work well, but due to the time constraints of a film, it doesn't provide the adequate depth that the anime series does. This leaves viewers who aren't fans of the anime or manga sometimes clueless as to what is happening on screen. Some characters relationships might be questionable for those viewers who haven't seen the anime or read the manga. Some characters just pop in with little to no background and the viewer is expected to already know who they are, what their purpose is, and what their relationship is to plot. By the end of the film, all we are left is with a cast we don't really care for (even if you have seen the anime/read the manga). This hurts a film that otherwise is a moderately accurate retelling of a rather well crafted anime series.

With all but one minor quibble (a major one if you haven't seen the series or read the manga), "Honey and Clover" is one of the better anime adaptations out there. While fans of the anime will definitely enjoy this film, non-fans will probably be asking themselves why certain characters do this or that, unknowing to the fact that their questions are clearly explained in anime. In the end though, I recommend this film for fans, but I have to say pass if you haven't seen anything that has to do with 'Honey and Clover".

Please visit www.cinema-repose.com for more Asian reviews.