Name: Honey and Clover (live-action)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Year: 2008
Rating: Must See
The three students of an art college in Tokyo, Yuta Takemoto, Takumi Mayama and Shinobu Morita live in the same apartment block. Mayama has his goals in becoming a successful architect, Morita has already started to become a renowned sculptor in the art world, however Yuta on the other hand has no clear goal of what he wants to do or become in the future. However one day Shuji an art professor introduces his cousin’s daughter Hagumi Hanamoto to the three and from there sprouts a strong friendship. Hagumi though gifted in the art of painting is quite lacking when it comes to social skills. Coming from a country town, Hagumi has not had much contact with other people and hence her new life in the busy city of Tokyo brings about many challenges. From first sight, Yuta falls in love with Hagumi however isn’t able to express his feelings, on the other hand Morita with his flamboyant personality has no trouble displaying his feelings but in doing so scares her. Honey and Clover may at first seem like a calm drama but it is soon revealed that there’s allot of chaos within the lives of the characters in their journey towards adulthood.
Have you ever wondered what makes great art? I’m sure you’ve seen painting that look quite meaningless. Paintings that don’t make sense, and others just just look like a great big mess. Though Honey and Clover is centralized around the theme of traditional forms of art, luckily it doesn’t spend much time on the artworks itself. Sure there are moments when a character creates whats made out to be a great piece of artwork, the main plot isn’t about the art but the characters themselves and their struggle in finding belonging, love and meaning. Honey and Clover sure earns its genre in romance and drama. There are enough love triangles and heartache to keep the fans interested. But on the other hand it doesn’t go overboard and keeps it below the line of tragedy. A great series based off a manga, one that should be considered when deciding what drama to watch next.
