Kurogane's Anime Blog

Well, I’ve been reindulging myself in the sinful pleasure that is Honey and Clover. Truly, classics are the best. Gotta thank my part-time job of reviewing manga to get me back in to the mood to watch it (just had to review the first volume of Hachikuro by Viz Media).

Coming back to it after a year later and feeling way more mature, both physically and emotionally, it really does frighten me somewhat on how much Honey and Clover gets me emotionally involved with the characters, especially with Mayama and Takemoto, where in I see myself a lot in each of them, in different ways. It does make me wonder… will I be like that in a few more years time? Every time I rewatch this show, I gain a much needed appreciation of my own youth.

Truthfully though, what gets in to me the most are the women of Honey and Clover, mainly the painful loves between Mayama towards Rika, and Yamada towards Mayama. Yamada is definitely the character of Honey and Clover I can’t forget the most, and I definitely would’ve join in the Yamada bodyguard club if I had the chance myself too. But is it evil of me…. as I find her the most attractive when she pines for Mayama? I can really empathize with Nomiya’s feelings as he drives her back to the Shinkansen station in the 3rd episode of H&C II, when he wishes for her to come crying in to his arms. Can such despicable feelings truly be called love?

Ahhh… I guess Mayama’s right when he says that women turn more beautiful when they’re in love but men however….. well, he’s the best example I guess.

This must be one of the craziest Hachikuro episodes, with both ends of the spectrum covered, from Hagu-chan’s injury to Mayama’s… well… stalkerism. Well, Mayama has always been my favourite of the three guys, mostly because I think because I will end up like him, or can you say, attraction between similars?

But well, after that short part on him… it was quite shocking to see the tragedy that befell Hagu-chan this episode, and also Kaoru’s successful take over of Floyd’s company and subsequent breakdown. I won’t comment much on that though, since I don’t feel like it, so let’s end this post with one of Mayama’s gems of wisdom :).

I bid Mayama and Rika happy days ahead :).

Yamada-san just had the time of her life…

Well.. title says it all. Miwako-san sugoi~~.

So, moving out of the resolution of the Mayama x Rika arc, the story is slowly going over to the other characters and perennial favourite Morita-senpai gets his character development. His brother really cracked me up this time, but I’m extremely curious on what is truly happening.

Meanwhile, Takemoto is also still staying on course with his love for Hagu-chan and ambition to help the temple repair team, even to the point of starving to achieve it.

As for Yamada-san’s ending soliloquy this episode…. let’s just say it was extremely touching… and Je t’aime is one of the best Hachikuro insert songs ever.

Next up seems to be a Morita and Hagu focused episode.

God… he really is a stalker. I don’t really know whether to be happy or to be scared with him, but well, he did it with good intentions.

So, for the Mayama x Rika fans, this is _the_ episode. Finally, Mayama makes his move to Rika and confronts her about her intentions to die after completing all of Harada’s projects. Hopefully, he did made Rika change her mind for real (she could’ve faked the email, since ol’ Mayama revealed his stalker self :), and I hope for a good ending between those two.

Rika’s past is revealed a little here, like how she had a dog, and she might’ve probably suffered as a child, based on what Harada says(or it’s a mistranslation). It’s only a small assumption though, and I might probably be wrong.

Hanamoto-sensei’s past is also told a little as well, basically touching on why Moon River became Rika’s favourite song, and how he and Rika dealt with Harada’s death. It is quite correct that he was something like a third wheel in their group and I was quite shocked at his revelation that he almost tried to push Rika off a building, explaining why they rarely see each other.

Next, we jump back to Yamada and Nomiya again. It seems that J.C. Staff will be resolving all the threads with this 13 episodes.

LOL UNICORNS?

Seriously, the unicorns crack me up. Seems like J.C. Staff loved the surreality theme for this episode, haha. Oh and Yamada’s sleeping face really is cute.

After exploring Mayama x Rika last episode, Yamada is the focus this week with Nomiya coming back to play a role in this ever-tragic love triangle. Potrayed as the playboy type last season, he is coming into terms with his own immaturity and ignorance, ironically thanks to Yamazaki’s accidentally insightful views this episode, by realizing that his reluctance to be involved with Yamada is actually a sign that he loves her instead.

Over on the other side, Rika has a very disturbing development this episode however, with signs pointing to what might be an eventual suicide. She clearly hasn’t lost any of her love towards Harada-kun and we’ve already known that she’s still running Harada Designs to complete the projects that she and him have taken on while still together. The art museum project is proven to be their last and final project, symbolic of Harada’s dreams, and I would wish for her to continue on living after that. It does seem so that Mayama has noticed something from her as well…let’s ignore his stalkerish activities here… and next episode points to another Mayama x Rika episode. I would hope that Rika will be able to find the will to live on by the end of this series.

I failed at making a gif for this…

Am I the only one who finds that hiccuping is extremely moé-inducing? Oh, and Hagu-chan’s character design is much more likable now. I think I must be the only person to harbour thoughts that Hagu-chan isn’t exactly the definition of cute last season.

The real first episode of Hachikuro II and it’s a Mayama-Ayumi-Rika episode. One of my favourite parts of the Hachikuro series the Mayama-Ayumi-Rika love triangle, which I attribute to Mayama’s voice and Rika’s moéness. Due to that, I support Mayama x Rika, but that does not mean I hate Ayumi, rather in fact, I find her one of the most symphatetic character in Hachikuro, due to her position and status in Mayama’s heart. She is, as Morita-senpai says to her, hurting her ownself by working with Rika and Mayama.

I do feel a certain attachment to both Ayumi and Mayama now, due to the fact that I have been in their position before, so I really shed a tear down for Ayumi at the end of this episode. I must really watch Hachikuro alone… need to keep my macho image up :P.

Well, next episode is another Ayumi episode by the looks of it, and I’m glad to see it. Takemoto’s “arc” can be considered to be on it’s downward slide after the events of the last season, while they’re hinting of the beginning of Morita’s “arc” as well, with the mysterious words that his brother says.

Pic not related

Felt like posting, but didn’t really know what to write so meh…

First off, Hachikuro II a.k.a Binbo Daigakusei Monogatari II, kicked off this week with a recap episode of the defining moments of it’s greatness last season. Throughout the episode, I was really reminded on how good the 1st season was. For no particular reason, my favourite part of Hachikuro is Mayama-senpai’s love triangle with Rika and Ayumi, most probably because Mayama-senpai’s voice turns me on I guess, I think I’m starting to become gar for manly voices. From the preview, episode 2 will be a Mayama episode as I’m seeing Ayumi in Rika’s house.

Finally, and pathetically the only other anime I’ve managed to catch this week (damn j00 Sid Meier), is Higurashi 13, which admitedly is losing it’s shine quickly as the Tatarigoroshi-hen just ended abruptly and anti-climatically. Judging from the impressions I’ve gotten from the fans of the original series, it seems like Studio DEEN is quickly joining the ranks of XEBEC in terms of ruining really good series’ anime adaptations.

I’m still eagerly waiting for Tsuyokiss’s 1st episode and see if it’s really worth up it’s hype. I’ve seen the anime’s OP sequence and the art style is already letting me down. Too bad Mighty Heart isn’t used as the OP, KOTOKO 4TW!