From the back cover:
Love is never easy for our heroes. Takemoto is forced to confront his resentment of his stepfather and his own feelings of being cast adrift, while Mayama and Ayu flounder in their unrequited loves and Morita faces the prospect of being held back another year.

Review:
Reading Honey and Clover for me is similar to reading Sand Chronicles in that it induces a strong feeling of nostalgia. Rather than a protagonist looking back upon a series of memories, however, in this series Takemoto will often pause mid-experience and ponder how this wonderful moment with everyone together will one day be in the past, but how he knows he’ll remember it over and over. Maybe I’m just a sucker for that sort of reflective, bittersweet vibe, but I think it adds an extra layer of meaning to the story.

The scene to which Takemoto is chiefly referring is one of the best in the volume, where everyone ends up joining Hagu in an ultimately fruitless search for a four-leaf clover to give her beloved guardian (their favorite professor) who is going away on a trip. I also really enjoy the chapter where the characters are in a frenzy trying to get their graduation projects done on time, since it means we get to see them actually doing what they’re going to school for. And who doesn’t have some kind of parallel experience from their own college days?

The volume contains a couple of love confessions, too, as Mayama and Yamada each make their feelings known to the object of their affections. Yamada’s confession is especially moving, since Mayama bears it so calmly and just lets her get it all out. I think I’m a sucker for awesome unrequited love, too.

I also want to compliment a neat trick Umino used in the course of providing some back story for Mayama’s plight. Mayama’s in love with an older woman, Rika, who was a classmate of Hanamoto-sensei. As Hanamoto recounts the tale of how he became roommates with Rika’s now-deceased husband, we see three successive panels of said husband hailing Hanamoto first by his last name, then as Shûji, then as Shû. It’s a nifty little shorthand to chart the progress of their growing friendship.

In addition to the emotional moments, there are a lot of amusing ones as well. Umino’s art style in general is a big draw for me as I do enjoy Teh Cute. I know some object to how young Hagu looks but, really, there aren’t any pervy connotations regarding her at all. My one complaint is that I still don’t quite have a handle on her personality, but maybe that’s supposed to be the point. Hagu had a very isolated upbringing, so perhaps we’ll get to know her better as she continues to flourish in her new environment. I hope so.

From the back cover:
Takemoto, a sophomore art student in Tokyo, thinks his greatest worries in life are finding ways to eat more meat and getting to class on time. But with friends like his, life is never going to be that tame.

Review:
This series reminds me of Maison Ikkoku in a couple of ways. The main character is kind of a regular dude, and lives with an assortment of neighbors, at least one of them very odd. Hagu, a mysterious and diminutive new student, a relation of their favorite professor, enters their midst and he becomes interested in her. The other similarity is that it took me a couple of chapters before I really warmed up to the characters.

So far in this first volume, things are pretty episodic and time moves quickly. You have the chapter where the guys wonder why disheveled Morita is a chick magnet, the one where they have a barbecue by the river, the Christmas party, etc. In the later chapters, however, longer threads become apparent—Hagu’s issues with stress, another classmate’s unrequited love for an older woman, and Takemoto’s rash pledge to build something for Hagu and his obvious uncertainy about his abilities and future.

The art is neat, too. The lines are light and kind of sketchy, and there were some panels I really liked, like when an ominous cloud mass was simply drawn as a bunch of scribbles or the beatific scene of the boys enjoying the rare treat of meat in the company of friendly woodland creatures. Hagu really is adorable, though the proportions of how much smaller she is than Takemoto kind of change around a bit.

Honey and Clover manages to be cute, bittersweet, and amusing simultaneously, which is certainly a combo that appeals to me.