Honey and Clover, Volume 7

Guest Review: Honey and Clover, Vol. 7
By Chica Umino
Published by Viz Media

Review by Lorena Nava Ruggero

Buy This Book

Five unforgettable characters learn about life and love in this coming-of-age tale set in a small arts college. Love triangles abound as they try to figure out what they want from life, whether living as artists is enough and wondering where their next meat-filled meal will come from. But, Hagu, Mayama, Yamada, Takemoto and Morita learn to lean on each other in unexpected ways as they make their way towards full-blown adulthood.

In the last volume, Takemoto decided to go on a bike ride—a long bike ride. While he’s still going nowhere fast, he runs into a group of workers restoring a temple. Since his bike is broken down, they give him work so he can make enough money to buy a new one. While he’s initially happy to help as a gopher and cook, the awful truth (and the accompanying emotional torture) of his unknown future sneaks up on him again and he decides to hit the road anew.

Meanwhile, Hagu is teaching art classes to elementary school kids, and Yamada and Mayama are trying to figure out how to deal with each other professionally. While Yamada is still knee-deep in the despair of unrequited love, her and Professor Hanamoto have a serious talk that leaves him a little cold. Of course, once Morita gets involved, things get a little crazy and, subsequently, Yamada—remember, she’s known as the Iron Lady—ends up tossing him and his opinion aside!

Honestly, I love Honey and Clover. The characters, the situations they’re thrown in, their (at times) bleak experience in life and love—it all comes together in a perfect storm of the “quarter-life crisis.” While it would be so easy to let this devolve into a melodramatic and pitiful look at life after college, Chica Umino keeps the characters’ and readers’ spirits up by throwing in slapstick comedy and heartwarming moments. Out of all the entertaining and thought-provoking scenes, I particularly liked when Hagu examined her own ineptitude through the lens of a student’s difficulty in creating “real” art.

It’s also a fitting metaphor for what everyone is going through—the young boy is trying to create award-winning art, yet he can’t create anything remarkable as he’s trying too hard. And it really reflects what everyone else is working and failing at—by trying so hard to be successful at something (like job-hunting, love or painting), the serendipitous joy of spontaneous creation is lost. The resolution of Hagu and her student’s emotional self-reckoning is almost too honest. Truthfully, it was also the first time that I was brutally aware of how ridiculously young-looking Hagu is.

Otherwise, Umino’s art is as it has always been—somewhat sketch-like with minimalist details. Her lines seem momentary and fleeting, like the characters she draws. Screentone is sparingly used with efficient care, emphasizing emotions and adding shadows where needed. But, her strength is in drawing scenery and backgrounds; she draws the landscape in such a way that it draws the eye inward regardless of panel size. There’s also a nice bit of detail in the vertical panels illustrating Takemoto’s northward journey. I especially like the thoughtfulness of these glimpses into Takemoto’s experience. It’s illustrative in a disarming, yet familiar, way.

Honey and Clover continues to entertain, to tug at the heartstrings and make me think. It’s earnest, thoughtful and difficult to not connect with in some way. If you’re looking to think and laugh your way through a manga, you would be hard-pressed to find a better series than this one.

Review copy provided by the publisher. To read more reviews by Lorena Nava Ruggero, visit her manga review blog, i ♥ manga.

Bookmark/Share