Japanese: ハチミツとクローバー
English: Honey and Clover
Synonyms: HachiKuro, Honey & Clover, Sora no Kotori, Hoshi no Opera
Type: Manga
Volumes: 10
Chapters: 71
Status: Completed
Published: Apr 24, 2000 to Jul 28, 2006
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Slice of Life, Josei
Mangaka: Umino Chika (Story & Art)
Serialization: Young You
Synopsis: Takemoto lives in a run-down student apartment, where his greatest worry is when he'll next be able to afford to eat meat and whether he'll get to class on time. Although he's away from home and living on his own, Takemoto is far from finished growing up. Along with his crazy cast of friends, Morita, Mayama, Yamada, and Hagumi, Takemoto sets out to discover life and his true self.
Background: Hachimitsu to Clover won the 27th Kodansha Manga Award in shoujo category in 2007.
Serialization started in CUTiE Comic (chapters 1-14), after suspension of magazine, moved to Young You magazine (chapters 15-56), and the last 8 chapters were published in Chorus (chapters 57-64).
Was adapted into a live action film in 2006 and a live action tv series.
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| Hachimitsu to Clover Spin-off cover, 2 vols JPN: 2006-2008 |
Related Manga
Adaptation:
- Hachimitsu to Clover Specials,
- Hachimitsu to Clover,
- Hachimitsu to Clover II
Sequel: Hachimitsu to Clover Spin-off
Groups Scanlating
AOM
Freelance-Manga
LaFlaga
ShoujoMagic
Licensed in English
Viz Media (10 volumes, complete)
Source: MAL Manga info, Baka updates
Side notes: Yup, my second award winning work for today.^-^b But unlike the previous I never have been able to get around with this manga or its story. I tried to watch the anime version of it but it's still unfinished and more I get to know about this manga... more I wish to withdraw away from it. Weird, nee.XDDD But that doesn't need to be case for others.^-^
The story itself is filled with slice of life and drama with typical josei themes of romance that doesn't always work as you hope it would. The art is okay with me, though the characters are drawn much younger looking than they actually are. Although the manga has a heavy load of readers backing it up I'm still liking more of her later work 3-gatsu no Lion (Anime fall 2016). I'm not saying that this series wouldn't be a great manga too to read, so if you have not read it yet, you should find lil space for it to get started.^-^
P.S. I've left out the spoilers from character descriptions.^-^
Main characters
Shinobu Morita (森田忍)
Age: 24
Height: 175 cm (5'8.5")
Weight: 62 kg (136.4 lbs)
Specialty: sculptures
Morita occupies room 203, his floormates being Takemoto and Hasegawa. Morita is unable to graduate, as he can never wake up on time to go to classes. This is mainly due to the work that he does, which forces him to go missing for periods of time. What he does for work though remains a mystery. When Morita comes back from his mysterious job, he immediately falls asleep for at least 48 hours, due to the amount of work he does. He also returns with a large sum of money in his back-pocket and brings a food item to share with his flat mates. Although the flat mates believe he does it to mock them, such as when he brings a bag of croquettes instead of meat, Morita does care deeply for his friends such as Takemoto.
Morita is a very mysterious person. He does many random, crazy things for his personal enjoyment, such as creating a twister game with too many colors, which resulted in horrific pain for him and Takemoto. Morita is a perceptive individual, but tactless and often states the truth, such as how Mayama secretly stalks Rika outside her apartment, when nobody wants to hear it. He also expresses his love for Hagu in weird and quirky ways, such as forcing Hagu to dress up as a mouse. Morita's obsession with Hagu stems from a fondness of cute things during his childhood, such as causing a cat to become neurotic after cuddling it too much.
Yuuta Takemoto (竹本 祐太)
Age: 19
Specialty: nothing in particular
Likes: Hagumi
Height: 170 (5'7")
Weight: 57 kg (125.4 lbs)
Aged 19 (at the beginning of the series), Yuuta Takemoto is a second-year student at the art college. He is from Annaka city, Gunma-ken. He lives in the same apartment complex as Mayama and Morita in room 202. His floormates are Morita and Hasegawa. Takemoto studies architecture, but has little certainty as to what he wishes to do upon graduating; his decision to attend art college was because he liked to build things with his hands, like he had with his father.
Takemoto is one of the more mellow characters in the series. He falls in love with Hagu immediately after being introduced by his professor and keeps his feelings to himself throughout most of the series. His love for Hagu and his inability to act upon his feelings as freely as Morita causes some internal problems for Takemoto. For example, when Hagu received a bird brooch that was made for her as an anonymous present, Takemoto couldn't bring himself to say that Morita was the one who had made it for her. Instead of acting on his feelings, Takemoto decides to be more of a brother figure to Hagu, giving her friendly support when needed. For example, Takemoto accepts Hagu's requests to build her sophisticated dollhouses and the like. Takemoto is very close to her.
His relationship with his family also contributes to his mellow mood. His father died when he was still young. Also, his mother works at a hospital as a nurse, so Takemoto would usually spend a lot of his time there, even his Christmas holidays. Furthermore, Takemoto is uncomfortable with his mother's new husband, an outspoken man whose persona seems to a polar opposite to that of his father. However, Takemoto tries to get used to his company and tries to accept the fact that his step-father is capable of looking after his mother, since Takemoto has worried about his mother's well-being ever since he left home. His mother's remarriage and her assurance that he is now free to do as he wishes instead of taking care of her all the time later influenced Takemoto's decision to attend art college.
Later in the series, Takemoto has to stay another year due to getting a stomach ulcer and not being able to complete his graduation thesis.
Ayumi Yamada (山田 あゆみ)
Age: 21 years old
Specialty: Pottery Making
Likes: Mayama
Height: 165 cm (5'5")
Weight: 54 kg (118.8 lbs)
21 years old at the beginning, Yamada is well known by her peers at the art college. Due to her good looks, she also catches the attention of her male friends/coworkers at the shopping district she works with.
She and Hagu seem to be very close, like siblings. While Hagu addresses the three young men by their last names, she calls Yamada by her first name. Yamada really cares for Hagu like a younger sister. She offers to stay with her while Shuji is gone. Although not shown as much as her relationship with Hagu, she is close friends with Takemoto and Morita.
Yamada is deeply in love with one of her friends, Mayama. Mayama, however, doesn't return her feelings, asking her why she is in love with him and encouraging her to go find someone else.
Hagumi Hanamoto (花本 はぐみ)
Age: 18 years old
Specialty: All mediums of art
Likes: Initially Unknown
Height: 142 cm (4'6")
Weight: 38 kg (83.6 lbs)
A supremely gifted artist, Hagu's immense talents are esteemed by all who witness her works, catching the eye of numerous professional artists who insistently urge her to submit her work to exhibitions to heighten her publicity (which she seems to find daunting). She is 18 years of age at the beginning of the series and her appearance is that of a child, and she conveniently behaves as one. Raised in a largely sheltered and obscure home by her irritable grandmother, her sociability is below average. It is whilst living in that home that Hagu develops her skill in drawing and painting, her only past-time, though she finds nothing to sketch save for the never-changing view she has from her porch, varying only in seasons. Hagu is from Azumino city, Nagano-ken.
Takumi Mayama (真山巧)
22 years old and a 4th year student at the start of the series, Mayama is from Kanazawa, Ishikawa-ken and an architecture student at the art institute. He lives in the same complex as Takemoto and Morita. He occupies room 101, sharing the floor with an unknown individual and formerly Lohmeyer-senpai. He acts as a senior to Takemoto and tries to help Morita get up for early morning classes.
Supporting
Shuuji Hanamoto (花本修司)
Shuuji is a professor at a Tokyo art university, and Hagumi's overprotective cousin. Growing up together, Shuuji was the only real father figure Hagu had, and he took to his role, becoming highly devoted to making sure Hagu was happy, and taking pride in her amazing artistic talent. As for his teaching, Shuuji used to be a student at the college, and although he wasn't a talented artist at all, his talented friends and roommates, Rika and Harada, always came to him for help with their classwork. Shuuji is a wise man, able to give out good advice when he's called upon, but also becomes quite nervous at times and stutters.
Rika Harada (原田理花)
Age: 30+
Specialty: Design
Likes: Harada, her husband
Height: 167 cm (5'6")
Weight: 53 kg (116 lbs)
Rika is the founder and manager of Harada Design. She also ran it with her husband until he died in a car accident that happened on the opening night of one of the stores they designed. This accident also left her badly scarred on her back, and has damaged her legs so she is unable to walk for long periods without the help of a cane and medicine. During college, Rika Egami (江上 理花 Egami Rika?) had been known for being a talented artist, but also very cold and aloof. She is from the city of Otaru in Hokkaidō.
Takumi Nomiya (野宮匠)
He, along with Yamazaki and Miwako, is first introduced on episode 14 of season 1. He is the type of guy who could "throw a cellphone in the sea full of women's numbers, without caring at all" as said by Mayama.
Nomiya is Mayama's former boss at Fujiwara Design. He also likes Yamada, and tries to visit her whenever he can, although he is aware of Yamada's feelings for Mayama. Mayama tries to act as the middleman as much as he can in order to protect Yamada, as he considers Nomiya a playboy. However, later in the series, Nomiya comes to realize that he himself has truly fallen in love with Yamada.
Tatsuo Negishi (根岸 達夫)
Morita Tsukasa's business partner.
Source: MAL, wiki
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