Honey and Clover Dorama

20 Aug 2008 Honey and Clover, Uncategorized

Also Known As: 花より男子, Hachimitsu to Clover, Hachimitsu to Kuroba, Hachimitsu & Clover, HachiKuro
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Episodes: 11
Genres: J-dorama, Romance, Love, Friendship
Directed by: Tanimura Masaki, Matsuyama Hiroaki, Sasaki Shota
Produced by: Takiyama Madoka, Shikanai Tsugi
Written by: Umino Chika (story by), Kaneko Shigeki
Starring: Harada Natsuki (as Ayumi Yamada), Narumi Riko (as Hagumi Hanamoto), Narimiya Hiroki (as Shinobu Morita), Mukai Osamu (as Takumi Mayama), Ikuta Touma (as Yuuta Takemoto), Seto Asaka (as Rika Harada), Murakami Jun (as Shuuji Hanamoto)
Release Date: 2008
Official Website: Honey & Clover Dorama Official Site

Plot Synopsis:

Based on a popular manga (comic book) that was later turned into an equally popular 26-episode anime TV series, the live-action “Honey and Clover” is another sensitive, understated drama, focusing on five art-college students as they experience love and pain on their journeys toward personal and professional fulfillment.

Yuuya Takemoto, Takumi Mayama, and Shinobu Morita are students at an art school, who live in the same house. Ayumi Yamada is the fifth student in that group, which is building some love triangles.

The story starts out differently from the anime and manga, in the drama Takemoto Yuta meets Hanamoto Hagumi almost as soon as the drama begins at a pond, but his friends are snatching him away. Hagumi is a freshman at the school and the niece of professor Shuuji Hanamoto, she is the youngest and possibly most gifted student in the school. While Hagumi pours her emotions onto large canvases, this quiet, hypersensitive artist is awe-struck by Morita, an older student already on the verge of art-world celebrity. This makes things tough on Takemoto, an aspiring architect who initially lacks the confidence to express his love for Hagumi.

Takemoto Yuuta is the narrator and main protagonist of Honey and Clover. He’s rather easily bullied by Morita and Mayama, his two closest friends, but on the other hand the ability to take it all in good humor is an illustration of his character. Morita Shinobu is handsome and quirky, and apparently hides a talent for sculpture under that playboy appearance.

Unrequited love is also endured by Mayama, an introverted design student who gradually finds a more promising connection with Ayumi, who’s been patiently waiting for Mayama to appreciate her affection.
Mayama Takumi is a bespectacled architect-to-be who has a crush on his boss, Harada Rika, an older woman.

This dorama is full of beautiful imagery, as befits the tale of art students. The sakura blossoms are probably the most prevalent imagery, and that, when put together with the soulful music, is an awesome blend. Each in their own way, these appealing characters give shape and substance to the film’s passionate embrace of creativity as a lifestyle that chose them as much as they’ve chosen it. And while “Honey and Clover” may be an even richer experience as a full-length anime series, this film can be enjoyed entirely on its own, with no previous awareness of its origins.

At last the key issue of this show seems to be about relationships; the love triangles are important, but the best part of the show is the interaction between friends. Because outside of the love triangles, there is so much chemistry between the characters that it’s very easy to see that they are best of friends.