Comments on: A Thematic Analysis of Honey and Clover

By: Loneliness and a lifetime; an exploration on a turn of phrase in Honey and Clover « We Remember Love

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:03:20 +0000

[...] Thematic Analysis of Honey and Clover (Eternal [...]

By: The Scrumptious Anime Blog | Life Goes On… with Honey and Cl

The Scrumptious Anime Blog | Life Goes On… with Honey and Cl — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:10:35 +0000

[...] to otou-san for writing this awesome H&C post. Eternal, too, though that’s one monster of a post I vowed not to read until I’ve actually [...]

By: Shameful Otaku Secret! » Learning to let go from Honey & Clover

Shameful Otaku Secret! » Learning to let go from Honey & Clover — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:07:12 +0000

[...] to go too much into why it’s made of awesome and win — many have seen it, plenty of blogs praise it even if they don’t agree on the methods, and most people already know lots about JC [...]

By: Alastor

Alastor — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 03:04:32 +0000

Funny you should mention… I’m in the midst of mini-marathonning it right now and *just* finished a Blog post recommending it LOL And of course I had to link to your article for those Visitors who are curious enough! Hope you don’t mind ;-)

Since I suspect that a lot of my Visitors aren’t hard-core, I steered them toward ANN’s encyclopedia entry where there’s a link to their streaming H&C eps. Since they’re only streaming 1-12 though, I kind of suggested that they might look into “other ways” to watch the rest should the become addicted. Heh.

After reading just your enticing Intro, I searched and searched and finally found the Solar subs in .avi plus the two OVAs. After just a few episodes I was hooked and realized that This Was Something Special :-D It’s really the “perfect” slice-of-life. I like very much how the focus is on those realistic movements of love, from those aching pangs of first love, to certain inevitable realizations about “the other”, to the realities of getting what you wish for and the consequences thereof. In a word, BRILLIANT.

I’m up through 16 now and expect to finish tonight. Watching as many eps as possible in a run is (for me anyway) the best possible way to keep the most intense and continual “feel” of an anime intact, rather than waiting between episodes. And “feeling” is what we’re all about, as human beings, human souls, and yes, beings with Heart…

So, once I’m finished I’ll be back to read the rest of these chapters; I’m anxious to see what you’ve written about what is sure to be a most memorable show, and what will become one of my favorites!

And then there’s the sequel…

Cheers :-)

By: ETERNAL

ETERNAL — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:25:59 +0000

Oh, it’s definitely spoiler-ridden. A lot of what I write contains spoiler unless I say otherwise, but I guess you must have noticed that by now. Anyway, it’s a bit different from the other stuff I like (being a shoujo series and all), but it’s still romance, and it’s the exact opposite of the soap-opera styled love stories like KimiNozo and School Days. If you like romance anime outside of the general moe category, then you should definitely at least try it.

By: Streamers | Alastor’s Reflection

Streamers | Alastor’s Reflection — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:12:14 +0000

[...] to the Honey and Clover page at Anime News Network! …the good old days… Over at ETERNAL’S Blog (Memories of Eternity) there’s an excellent analysis of this stellar anime (even though I haven’t read through [...]

By: Alastor

Alastor — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:27:54 +0000

Hi ETERNAL,

(and welcome back!)

This anime has been on my “To-Watch List” for some time; this tempting post doesn’t make it any easier! I’ve been searching it out but haven’t had any luck, but there is one place left that should have it ;-)

I began your H&C post but then realized that it might contain spoilers. Figured that I’d ask first and if so, then redouble my efforts to find it, and then read this ;-)

How safe is it to read? Since we seem to share a lot of common tastes I’m sure that the show will be thoroughly involving and enjoyable :-D

By: a comment on eternal’s “definitive piece on Honey and Clover” « notdotq

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 09:45:23 +0000

[...] for the unaware, direct your attention to A Thematic Analysis of Honey & Clover, a spoiler-ful post by our buddy eternal. For now let’s leave aside the fact that the [...]

By: ETERNAL

ETERNAL — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:07:27 +0000

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I know it sounds cliche, but I honestly think that the show itself wrote this blog post. There are times when a writer must look deeper and discuss things that are only implicit in the work of fiction, but sometimes, it all pours out naturally. This was one of those times. Honey and Clover really is a beautiful story, easily my favourite anime – favourite work of fiction, even – and I’m glad to have written something on it that has impacted even one of you.

By: ETERNAL

ETERNAL — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:03:04 +0000

I meant it more figuratively than philosophically. You’ve seen the show, so as you know, Takemoto’s final dilemma is about whether or not his painful experiences were worth anything. That can also be applied to the other characters: did Ayumi gain anything from waiting for Mayama to return her feelings? Did Morita’s efforts pay off, even though Hagu would never be interested? And the answer, according to the show, is that there is a difference, but it’s something only you can feel. It changes something inside of you: you grow based on your experiences, and they remain in your heart as bittersweet memories, even if everything didn’t go as planned. We don’t know if Takemoto is a better person because of his unrequited love for Hagu, but we do know that he’s a different person because of it; we know that there’s a difference between something that didn’t work out and something that never happened at all.