Well, I supposed the question that most people have in mind is what actually happened to Hagu. Well, this episode begins with a flashback to the event that caused it. The start of this arc, however, means the end of the series is nigh. During the scene, an insert song called 「リンゴジュース」- Ringo Juice (Apple Juice) by Suga Shikao is played on the background. This is probably the first time I feel that the insert song feels unappropriately upbeat for a shocking scene. I'm starting to wonder now if the series will actually end in episode 12 or 13. I've just done a bit calculations and I think 13 episodes is a bit too much considering the amount of stories the writers have covered thus far. On a related news, I stumbled upon another promotional trailer for the live action movie. If you remember, in the review I talked about Mayama and his ziplock bags. Well, I actually spotted said scene on the trailer so I screencaped it for your viewing pleasure. The trailer mentioned is also listed below. Mayama and his ziplock bags Honey and Clover movie trailer
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Everyone has all heard Honey and Clover described as a slice-of-life show at least once -well, if you're reading this, you probably have-. What does that mean, really? We all know our lives wont be like the anime. It's not happening. We're not going to all go to an art-college and some of us [...]
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Hige flash reviews episode seven of Honey & Clover. SIGH.
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“Forward, in the direction of the light” This episode was cruel. The last shot actually made me sick, and I’m having a hard time sitting at my computer right now hoping that my interpretation is wrong. The fact that the ending had nothing to do with the rest of the episode yet overshadows the story so [...]
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I really can’t have a backlog after all… This time we are given a look Morita’s childhood, his father, and now I know why he acts the way he does. He does take after his father. Takemoto is also at it again: creating another huge structure for the Hamabi festival. He takes the whole [...]
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As far as hyperbole goes, this was quite possibly my favourite episode of Honey & Clover II. No doubt I could say that after every episode- but this seventh instalment particularly deserves praise for violently jamming the second season in a completely different (and darker) direction.It's not that I was getting sick of the likes of Yamada angsting over the same old melodramatic things, instead I'm simply enthused to see an episode more akin to the first season- a somewhat sad story filled with life-affecting, thought provoking ..
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I’m so tired of having takes on Honey and Clover II. It always just ends up to be another pathos-invoking and tear-jerking episode. It always just ends up to be another episode nothing short of a masterpiece. I don’t want to write any more on its class, its beauty, its masterful story and plot, because [...]
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While it saddens me (a bit) that the first season of Tsubasa Chronicle has wrapped up on Animax (and there's no word of when season 2, still on its broadcast run in Japan, will reach Animax East Asia audiences), I'm also little delighted—well, "intrigued" would be the more precise term—by what replaces it.Honey and CloverYup. Starting this August, Honey and Clover (season 1) will air every Tuesday at 6PM (Jakarta/Bangkok local time) on Animax.I've actually been hearing the buzz on Honey and Clover for quite some time now. Based on the award-winning manga by Umino Chika-sensei (or so sez the Indovision August TV guide), Honey and Clover or Hachimitsu to Clover (Hachikuro for short) is obviously hot property, having been adapted into an anime and live action movie. The anime second season just started airing on Fuji TV this June, while the theatrical release premiered at #8 on the Japanese box office last weekend (report by ANN).Impressive stuff, but I was never one to jump on the bandwagon immediately, tending to do things at my pace. So for a while there, Hachikuro was simply a blip on the radar and not one I would've scrambled Kazuma Shin in his Area 88 jet to investigate further.It took Animax scheduling Honey and Clover in its August 2006 line-up (and the slightly weird plugs it produced to promote it) to make me curious enough to go looking for more than albeit awesome, still dry facts.And this is what I found:Was it ever supposed to get this good? Honey and Clover began life as the debut series for Fuji TV's "Noitamina" (read it backwards) lineup, a new anime block aimed at older female audiences. The simple but daring plan worked—young women who would never normally watch anime got into it, and the manga now breaks the Top 10 sales list regularly, sitting alongside blockbuster titles like Prince of Tennis or Bleach. But even viewers outside the target demographic attest to its greatness, pointing out its heartfelt storytelling and unique visual style. It was supposed to be just good enough for sophisticated female viewers—and it ended up being good enough for everyone. Funnier than most comedies and more touching than most dramas (even the live-action ones), Honey and Clover has emerged as one of the best shows of 2005.Thus opens the low-key but extremely convincing review that Carlo Santos wrote for the Anime News Network during the last quarter of 2005 (you can read the review in its entirety here). And whadda you know? I'm the target demographic for this anime ^^I'll definitely be watching (the encores because I don't think I'll make it home in time for the original showings).Paradise KissAnother new-ish shoujo anime to look forward to this August (well, it only aired during Q4 2005, hence "newish") is Paradise Kiss. Based on shoujo manga-ka extraordinaire Yazawa Ai-sensei's manga of the same name, ParaKiss starts its telecast on 22 August (Tuesday) at 7PM. I've already watched this series but it will be interesting to see if Animax cuts out the *S P O I L E R* ... ... ... George and Yukari lemon. After all, it edited the Shin and Yankumi in bed scene in Gokusen episode 8—which I thought was fairly innocent and just played for laughs; I don't see how their standards board will handle ParaKiss. Perhaps they'll slap Parental Guidance advisories like they do for Onegai Teacher?Alice AcademyYAY! (Never thought the day would come that I'd actually welcome reruns ^^;) Starting 7th August (not 1st as originally reported), Alice Academy will be back weekdays at 3PM (JKT/BKK), with encores at 7.30PM and 7.30AM the following day. Hopefully with this, I can finally do something about the "COMING SOON" on episode 13 of my Alice shipper guide. ^^Returning anime and premieres - shounen versionThe above titles are chotto shoujo skewed, so here's something for da boys ^^Law of Ueki (premieres 17-AUG) | Thursdays, 6PM (JKT/BKK) Samurai 7 (rerun) | Weekdays, 10PM (JKT/BKK) starting 22-AUGBut since I don't care for gender discrimination, you should consider all the series here "for ALL" fare.For You in Full Blossom mangaThe licensed Indonesian release of For You in Full Blossom, published under the Level Comics imprint, is finally in stores.(Yes, Virginia, that IS Hana-Kimi. The first volume ^^)Invaluable resource(s)Animax East Asia » Honey and Clover | Paradise KissAnime News NetworkGakuen Alice (JP)Honey and Clover movie (JP)J.C. STAFF » Honey and Clover I (JP)Paradise Kiss (JP)
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First off, sorry animeblogger.net for making it seem like I'm post whoring. Hopefully the RSS problem has been solved. Now. Seriously. Who is this woman? I did not sign up for that. I want more of this. At first glance, it was near impossible to distinguish who it was…. ok, not really, but come [...]
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Hashihime and many other people already mentioned it on animesuki forum. But in case you didn't know, Kamiya Hiroshi, the VA who voices Takemoto is now hospitalised due to a car accident that happened back around the 7th this month. I am really shocked and upset to hear this and hopes that the actor will pull through. I am not sure what is going to happen to Honey and Clover anime now but if production has not wrapped up yet, I hope they will wait until the actor recovers. I realise that this is not a realistic expectation but I personally don't think other actor can voice Takemoto that well. But right now there's nothing else that we can do but wish the best for the actor. This week's episode seems to mirror this sad news with Kaoru's sad background story and a shocking conclusion at the end of the episode. As a side note, the insert song this week is 「夏陰」Natsukage (11.4MB, 320kbps MP3) by Suga Shikao. It's from his xxxHOLiC movie theme single, Kiseki/Natsukage/Sanagi. Anyway, I'll be back with summary and larger screencaps later on.
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Yes, yes, I know I’m very late on this -Episode 6 will come later this afternoon-. Let me explain, first. The reason it comes now is that I was too busy getting this. See how pretty it looks all nailed to my ceiling? It’s very pretty and very hard to find. I had to [...]
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“We were never to go to the beach” Wait a second, even that episode title is a spoiler! That’s right: in this episode, the characters of Honey & Clover fail to go to the beach. Otherwise we get a rare episode that provides insight into every character: an ensemble piece based on an ensemble that isn’t assembled. [...]
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After an impulsive move by Mayama, he and Rika head up to Sapporo and visit Rika’s hometown; however, Mayama continues to recognise the fatally final air of these proceedings, and even when Rika sleeps with him he recognises how she’s planning to kill herself post-completing Harada’s work. After a passionate betowelled plea and some [...]
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“Suffering even though I’m happy” I was laughing at the end of this episode. Laughing because, Yamada, you have figured it out and don’t yet want to admit it to yourself. Embrace the truth! The truth shall make ye free! Kind of spoilers Miwako takes Yamada out to a health spa for some relaxation, where she flickers in [...]
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Well, I finally am back from my trip to Japan. I am going to try to catch up with other posts as soon as possible but I decide to post this first since I already typed it during the plane trip back home. Overall, I am very satisfied with the ending of the series. It may not feel conclusive to some but by reading this, I get the impression that Umino Chika didn't want the ending of this series to feel conclusive. In addition to this, a spin-off is coming soon this autumn so maybe some of the characters from this series will make it to the spin-off. Anyway, sorry for not scanning all of the pages but I'm still a bit tired and don't feel like scanning every single one of them. And since this is the last chapter, obviously this will spoil your entire experience of the second season anime.
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Morita thinks about his father showing them a machine bug (the smallest in the world) that moves towards the light.  Hagu seems that she wants to experience more and wants someone who [...]
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Having recently marathoned the first season of Honey and Clover, the 2 OVAs L and F I have finally caught up on season 2. Honey and Clover is such a great anime. It doesn’t depend on fanservice, meidos or imoutos (there’s a loli in here though, but she’s more spastic (in a nice way) than [...]
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I think of all the second season episodes, I like this one the best mostly because it focuses on three characters that I like: Takemoto, Morita, and Kaoru. I especially feel a lot of sympathy for Kaoru here. The insert song of the week is Happy Birthday by Suga Shikao and was used during the Morita Brothers' story. On a related note, most of you probably already know that the manga series which serves as a base for this anime has recently ended its serialisation. I have the manga with me so I will write my impression about it in the next few days. But rest assured the series ended in a bittersweet note and I think it's one of the best manga ending I've read. A spin-off of the manga is coming soon though so maybe you'll get to see some of your favourite characters from this series making a guest appearance in the spin-off. Anyway, I'll be back with the summary and the large-size screencaps a little bit later.
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