Honey and Clover

Honey and Clover (ハチミツとクローバー) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Chika Umino. It is also known as HachiKuro (ハチクロ) and H&C. It is published by Shueisha, initially serialized from June 2000 to July 2006 in the magazines CUTiEcomic, Young YOU, and Chorus, and collected in ten bound volumes. The series depicts the lives and relationships of a group of art school students who live in the same apartment building. In 2003, the manga won the 27th Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo.

The series was adapted as an animated television series by J.C.Staff, initially broadcast on Fuji TV in two seasons from April to September 2005 and June to September 2006. The series was also adapted as a live action movie, which was released in theaters in Japan on July 22, 2006, and two separate live-action television dramas in 2008, one broadcast in Japan on Fuji TV from January 8, 2008 to March 18, 2008 and the other broadcast in Taiwan on CTS beginning on May 25, 2008.

Plot
Yūta Takemoto, Takumi Mayama and Shinobu Morita are three young men who live in the same apartment complex and are students at an art college in Tokyo.

One day, they are introduced to Hagumi Hanamoto, the daughter of a cousin of Shūji Hanamoto, an art professor, who has come to live with Hanamoto and has become a first year art student at the art school that everyone attends. Takemoto and Morita both fall in love with Hagu, but Takemoto hides his feelings and tries to be a friend to Hagu while Morita expresses his love in ways that seem only to scare Hagu, such as calling her "Mousey" and constantly photographing her. Hagu herself, though initially timid and afraid of company, gradually warms up to the three.

The group comes to include Ayumi Yamada, a master of pottery who is well-known by her nickname "Tetsujin" (Iron Lady), who becomes very close to Hagu. When not at school, she helps run the family liquor store. While Ayumi is popular with many young men, she falls in love with Mayama, who does not recipocrate her feelings and considers her a very dear friend. Instead, Mayama pursues an older woman, Rika Harada, a widowed friend of Professor Hanamoto who runs an architecture studio she founded with her husband.

The story follows these five characters in their love triangles, unrequited love, graduating from college, finding jobs, and learning more about themselves.

Main characters

 * Hagumi Hanamoto (花本 はぐみ)
 * Usually called "Hagu" by her friends, she is an 18-year-old first-year art student at the start of the series. She is depicted as appearing and acting several years younger than her true age. Despite her appearance, she is a gifted artist and her work is highly praised by art professionals. She is shy and very nervous when interacting with people, to the point of becoming physically ill from stress, with the result that other art students think she is strange. She was raised by her grandmother in a sheltered environment, where she learned to draw sketching the ever-changing view from her porch. When Morita and Takemoto first meet Hagu, they both fall in love with her, although they express it in different ways. Hagu spends most of the series unaware of their feelings for her, seeing them as friends. After Takemoto confesses his feelings for her, she begins avoiding him, and at the end of the series she admits she loves Morita. However, she returns to Shūji because she cannot imagine a life without drawing. Portrayed by: Haruka Kudō (anime, Japanese), Heather Halley (anime, English), Yū Aoi (movie), Riko Narumi (Japanese TV drama)


 * Yūta Takemoto (竹本 祐太)
 * A second-year art student, age 19 at the start of the series, living in the same apartment complex as Mayama and Morita. Takemoto is the primary point-of-view of the series, and often acts as narrator of episodes. He is depicted as the most mellow of the main characters. He falls in love with Hagu immediately after being introduced by his professor but keeps his feelings to himself through most of the series. Because of his inability to act upon his feelings as freely as Morita, Takemoto decides to act as a brother-figure to Hagu, giving her friendly support when needed, for example, building her sophisticated dollhouses at her request. Later in the series, as a result of his conflicted emotions, Takemoto develops a stomach ulcer, forcing him to repeat a year of school. Early in the series, he questions his vocation as an artist, but over the series he becomes comfortable with himself. After a bicycle trip to Cape Sōya, the northernmost point in Japan, Takemoto gains the confidence to tell Hagu how he really feels. Although Hagu does not accept him, Takemoto admits that just meeting her and the time they spend together has influenced him. Portrayed by: Hiroshi Kamiya (anime, Japanese), Kenji Nojima (final episode in TV production), Yuri Lowenthal (anime, English), Shō Sakurai (movie), Toma Ikuta (Japanese TV drama)


 * Shinobu Morita (森田 忍)
 * A sixth-year art student, age 24 at the start of the series, in the same apartment complex as Takemoto and Mayama. Morita is depicted as a perpetual student, unable to graduate because of persistent absenteeism. This is mainly due to his work, which forces him to go missing for several days, after which he sleeps for at least 48 hours. Morita is considered mysterious by the other students, prone to bizarre behavior such as creating a version of Twister with too many colors. He is a perceptive person who cares for his friends Takemoto and Mayama but often expressing himself tactlessly, and who is not generous with his money and food. He also expresses his desire for Hagu in quirky ways, such as forcing her to dress up as a mouse because he likes cute things. Later in the series, he departs for a year in America, and eventually the others learn he has been moonlighting as an award-winning CGI artist. Portrayed by: Yūji Ueda (anime, Japanese), Sam Riegel (anime, English), Yūsuke Iseya (movie), Hiroki Narimiya (Japanese TV drama)


 * Takumi Mayama (真山 巧)
 * A fourth-year art student, age 22 at the start of the series, in the same apartment complex as Takemoto and Morita. He acts as a senpai (senior) to Takemoto and tries to help Morita get up for early morning classes. Early in the series, Mayama helps Rika Harada out with various errands at her design firm, Harada Design, during which time he develops feelings for Rika. The series initially leaves unclear whether Mayama takes advantage of Rika's disability to fulfill his desires, but it is later shown that Rika reciprocates his feelings. At her urging, Mayama begins working for a different design firm, but after it breaks up, near the end of the series, he returns to work for Rika. Despite Yamada's throwing herself at him, Mayama considers her only as his close friend, but he becomes protective of her when a colleague with a reputation for playing girls develops an interest in her. Portrayed by: Tomokazu Sugita (anime, Japanese), Cam Clarke (anime, English), Ryō Kase (movie), Osamu Mukai (Japanese TV drama)


 * Ayumi Yamada (山田 あゆみ)
 * A third-year art student, age 21 at the start of the series, specializing in ceramic arts. She is well-known by other students for her pottery and her nickname Tetsujin "Iron-lady" for running 6 km to school every morning to help her dog lose weight. She is depicted as a beautiful young woman, who catches the attention of her male friends and coworkers. Yamada is deeply in love with Mayama, but he does not return her feelings and repeatedly encourages her to find someone else. Later in the series, she is angered by Mayama's sudden protectiveness when he tries to shield her from his former boss, Nomiya. Yamada is close friends with Hagu, who addresses her by first name. At the end of the series, Yamada continues as a graduate student in art, while making pottery for Harada Design. Portrayed by: Mikako Takahashi (anime, Japanese), Julie Ann Taylor (anime, English), Megumi Seki (movie), Natsuki Harada (Japanese TV drama)

Reception
In 2003, the manga of Honey and Clover won the 27th Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo. About.com's Deb Aoki lists Honey and Clover as the best new josei manga of 2008. Yū Aoi won the award for Best Actress at the 28th Yokohama Film Festival for her role as Hagumi Hanamoto in the live-action film.

Manga
The Honey and Clover manga was written and illustrated by Chika Umino and published by Shueisha. The first fourteen chapters were serialized in the josei (aimed at younger adult women) manga magazine CUTiEcomic from June 2000 to July 2001, when serialization moved to Young YOU. With the demise of Young YOU in 2005, it moved to Chorus, where it ran until July 2006. The 64 chapters were collected in ten bound volumes. The series was also issued in a ten-volume box set in May 2007.

The manga is licensed in North America by Viz Media, which began serializing it in Shojo Beat magazine in August 2007. It is also licensed in France by Kana, in Germany by Tokyopop Germany, and in Thailand by Bongkoch Comics.

Anime
The anime television series was produced by J.C.Staff and consists of 38 episodes in broadcast in two seasons on Fuji TV in the Noitamina programming block. The first season was directed by Ken'ichi Kasai, and consisted of 24 episodes that aired from April 14, 2005 and September 29, 2005 plus two DVD-only episodes. The second season was directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai, and consisted of 12 episodes that aired between June 29, 2006 and September 14, 2006.

Both seasons were rebroadcast in Japan by the anime CS television network Animax, which also later broadcast the series across its respective networks in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and other regions. The series was first broadcast in English on Amimax's Southeast Asia network starting August 1, 2006.

The anime featured numerous sponsors, including clothing brands we, adidas, Head Porter, visvim and Sally Scott, as well as Weider in Jelly in the second season.

FUNimation got the broadcast rights to Viz Media's dub and it premiered on the FUNimation Channel on September 19, 2009.

Staff

 * Director: Ken'ichi Kasai, Tatsuyuki Nagai (second season)
 * Screenplay: Yōsuke Kuroda
 * Character supervision: Chika Umino
 * Character designs: Shūichi Shimamura
 * Chief animation director: Takahiko Yoshida (first season), Masaru Heiwatari (second season)
 * Prop design: Yukako Tsuzuki
 * Art director: Chikako Shibata
 * Color setting: Miyuki Ishida
 * Video design: Nobuo Ōkouchi
 * Photography director: Yutaka Kurosawa, Yoshio Ōkouchi (second season)
 * Editing: Shigeru Nishiyama
 * Sound director: Jin Aketagawa
 * Sound production: Magic Capsule
 * Music: DEPAPEPE (first season), Yuzo Hayashi & Salon'68
 * Opening image: Fumiko Hirano (second season)
 * Music production: Aniplex, SME Records
 * Opening video: Nagi Noda (1-12 episodes), Yuichi Kodama (13-24 episodes)
 * Clothing supervision: Kazuki Kuraishi
 * Producers: GENCO
 * Animation production: J.C.Staff
 * Production: Hachikuro Production Committee (Asmik Ace Entertainment, Shueisha, Fuji Television, Dentsu, Sony Music Entertainment, Genco)

Live-action film
The series was adapted as a live-action feature film produced by Asmik Ace Entertainment. It was directed by Masahiro Takada from a screenplay by Masahiko Kawahara and Masahiro Takada, and starred Sakurai Sho as Takemoto, Yū Aoi as Hagu, Yūsuke Iseya as Morita, Ryō Kase as Mayama, and Megumi Seki as Ayumi. It was released in Japanese theaters on July 22, 2006. The DVD for the film was released on January 12, 2007.

Staff

 * Director: Masahiro Takada
 * Screenplay: Masahiko Kawahara, Masahiro Takada
 * Producers: Shinji Ogawa, Keiko Imamura, Maho Tada
 * Photography: Keiji Hasegawa
 * Lighting: Kimihiko Yamazaki
 * Art: Momoko Nakamura
 * Sound: Makio Ika
 * Recording: Tadao Tasai
 * Stylist: Haruhisa Shiroyama
 * Music Producers: Toyohiko Kinhashi, Kyoto Megei
 * Music: Yoko Kanno
 * Hagumi's Painting Work: Maya Maxx
 * Morita's Sculpture Work: Taisho Morita
 * Production: Hachimitsu to Kurōba Film Partners
 * Distribution: Asmik Ace

Japanese TV drama
A Japanese television drama adaptation of the series premiered on January 8, 2008. It aired every Tuesday at 21:00 JST for 11 episodes on Fuji TV until March 18, 2008. Written by Kaneko Shigeki, and directed by Masaki Tanamura and Hiroaki Matsuyama, the show starred starred Toma Ikuta as Takemoto, Riko Narumi as Hagumi, Hiroki Narimiya as Morita, Osamu Mukai as Mayama, and Natsuki Harada as Ayumi. The music for the series was provided by Shōgo Kaida, Keiichi Miyako (SOPHIA) and Shin Kōno, while the theme song to the series was "Canvas" by the Japanese R&B singer Ken Hirai. A DVD set was released for the series on July 11, 2008.

Taiwanese TV drama
The Taiwanese television drama adaptation, Feng Mi Xing Yun Cao (蜂蜜幸運草), premiered on May 25, 2008 on CTS. It aired on Sundays at 22:00 on until August 31, 2008. It was produced by Huang Zhi Ming and directed by Li Yun Chan. The show starred Lego Li as An Zhu Ben (Takemoto), Chiaki Ito as Hua Ben Yu (Hagumi), Eddie Peng as Ren Sen Tian (Morita), Joe Cheng as Den Zhen Shan (Mayama), and Janine Chang as He Ya Gong (Ayumi).