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Reviewed by Joy Kim Chica Umino's Honey and Clover follows the lives of five students at a Tokyo art college. Though it is published in the U.S. by Viz under the Shojo Beat imprint and serialized in Shojo Beat magazine, Honey and Clover is actually very much a josei series; though there are hints of shojo-ish romantic drama, the characters' concerns are definitely those of adults rather than teens, such as paying the rent and finding a post-graduation job. This first entry in the ten-volume series displays a lot of promise, but there's also some significant room for improvement. Takemoto, the main character, is a sophomore architecture student who is both amiable and a bit aimless. He lives in the same inexpensive apartment building as his friends Mayama and Morita. Mayama is a cool senior architecture student with his eye on graduation, while Morita is sixth-year senior, as legendary for his eccentricity as for his genius. When they aren't in class, Takemoto, Mayama, and Morita sometimes hang out in the office of Professor Hanamoto. This is how they meet Hagu, a talented freshman straight from the countryside; she's the daughter of Professor Hanamoto's cousin. Later, Umino introduces the last major member of the ensemble cast, beautiful ceramics student Yamada, who is nursing a one-sided crush on Mayama. Small, seemingly everyday events loom large in this story. An unexpected meeting leads to love at first sight; a phone call can raise hopes or destroy them. Umino accomplishes this through the thoughtful narration and by showing us characters through other's eyes. It's Mayama who first observes Takemoto's feelings for Hagu, and it's Morita who brings the pain of Yamada's unrequited love home in his own uniquely tactless way. The chapters move effortlessly between different moods; the story is by turns comedic, nostalgic, and bittersweet. Some of the characters' sillier antics will make readers laugh out loud--Takemoto and Mayama's reaction to free food will be all too familiar to anyone who has ever lived on a student budget--but other episodes are surprisingly quiet and sad, like one character's private Christmas Eve vigil. Umino also excels at conveying the passage of time, and several months go by in this single volume. The volume opens in April, at the beginning of the school year, and concludes in December. Umino's art is well matched with her story. Fine, feathery lines produce a somewhat unpolished effect but also convey the nuances of the character's feelings. The character designs are also refreshingly down to earth. Takemoto, Mayama, and Morita aren't the usual improbably gorgeous and stylish bishounen; they have rumpled hair and wear regular clothes, like all the guys one actually knew in college. It is unfortunate, however, that eighteen-year-old Hagu is drawn to look as if she's about ten; it adds an unsettling element to certain characters' romantic interest in her. The great weakness of the story so far is the depiction of the female characters. Both Yamada and Hagu, while likeable and amusing, are under-characterized compared to Takemoto and Mayama; we see little of the story through the women's eyes. Hagu in particular is a cipher and thus too often reduced to a love object rather than a character in her own right. Hopefully Yamada and Hagu will receive more character development in subsequent volumes. The English adaptation by Akemi Wegmuller retains some (though not all) of the original Japanese honorifics, which add to the flavor to the work. For example, Takemoto refers to his seniors as "Mayama-senpai" and "Morita-senpai"; the students address Professor Hanamoto at "Sensei." However, the adaptation is occasionally flawed by the use of a little too much slang. I could only wince when I came across the sentence, "Omigod, caramel macchiatos are the best, right?" The volume concludes with the usual amusing notes from the creator and two pages of cultural notes that explain references like as "Koropokkur" and "Arashi." Volume one of Honey and Clover is far from perfect, but the sensitive storytelling and quirky art provide more than enough reasons to keep reading the series. For fans of josei and slice-of-life stories, Honey and Clover remains a story to watch. Comment on this review of Honey and Clover v1 on the Manga Life Forums. |
6 October 2009
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