Honey and Clover, Vol. 1 (Honey & Clover) (v. 1) [Paperback]

Chica Umino (Author)

Book Description

Series: Honey & Clover | Publication Date: March 4, 2008

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 uninteresting.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–With translations scheduled through volume four (December, 2008), this series seems here to stay. In this first volume, Takemoto, a college art student in Tokyo, takes center stage and provides the main perspective. He lives the life of a starving artist and student, looking quite like a character from Chibi Vampire (TokyoPop) whenever he has the opportunity to eat meat. Takemoto lives with several other male students, including the illusive Morita, who frequently takes off on a whim, returning days or weeks later with interesting treats (usually involving meat) and then crashing for a minimum of 48 hours. The first chapter sets the scene for the remainder of the book, with Morita's oddities introduced and all the boys meeting tiny, beautiful Hagu, an art prodigy who catches the interest and attention of everyone she meets. Morita, though, takes special exception and begins to exploit Hagu through a Web site he creates, marketing her as a koropokkur, a member of a mythical race of tiny people. Throughout the story, the characters go about their daily lives, attending to class, trying to get enough to eat, and falling in love with the wrong people. Umino's graphics are simple, and the characters are typical of shojo manga in that they are prone to frequent fits and hysterics. Though the sexual innuendos are tame, the college setting and complex love connections make this a better fit for high school readers.–Sarah Krygier, Solano County Library, Fairfield, CA
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About the Author

Chica Umino is the creator of Honey and Clover, which debuted in 2000 and received the Kodansha Manga Award in 2003. Honey and Clover was also nominated for the Tezuka Culture Prize and an award from the Japan Media Arts Festival.

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC (March 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421515040
• ISBN-13: 978-1421515045
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #925,291 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique and Touching Manga, March 6, 2008

By 

Hakajin "Ecclectic Student" (GA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Honey and Clover, Vol. 1 (Honey & Clover) (v. 1) (Paperback)

There's not much variety in the world of shojo manga, and while I love romances, and even the occassional magical girl story, it's nice to read something a little different.

First of all, the main characters are boys, not girls. I liked the idea of a girls' manga seen through a guy's eyes. All of the characters are interesting and pretty realistic. These are the kind of characters you could imagine existing in the real world. There is romance in "Honey and Clover," but it's handled in an understated way. What I mean is, it's there, but it's not the focus of the manga; it's just one more part of the characters' lives. There is so much more to the story and the characters than just their romantic entanglements. The focus of the story is still relationships, though, and these are all handled tenderly and realistically. There are relationships between friends, students and teachers, and even family.

"Honey and Clover" is also very good at showing the value of ordinary moments. The characters do ordinary things- go on picnics, do school work, and just talk to one another over lunch. But it's these moments that make up life, and that's what this manga is about.

The art is simple but pretty. I think it does a good job of showing the characters' personalities and telling the story. The only problem I had is that chibi style is used a little too often. Still, the chibi is cute, so it's not too much of a problem.

Some people might be bored with "Honey and Clover" for its slow pace and ordinary story. But those who are looking for something sweet, true to life, and even poignant won't be disappointed.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful, enjoyable, fun manga that both men and women can easily fall in love with!, December 30, 2008

By 

Dennis A. Amith (kndy) (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Honey and Clover, Vol. 1 (Honey & Clover) (v. 1) (Paperback)

Beautiful, fun... Definitely a lot of positive things you can say about this Kodansha Award winning manga series by Chika Umino.

Having spawned an anime series, a live drama and film, it's no surprise that many men and women have enjoyed "honey and clover" and now available from Viz Media via their Shojo Beat imprint is "honey and clover".

Part of my interest in wanting to read the manga is that I enjoyed the film but I felt that there were much back story of the characters that I figured, if I really want to enjoy this series, start with the manga. And so, after reading volume 1, I was surprised how different the manga series and the live film were.

In the manga series, the story revolves around three guys who live in an apartment complex and attend an art school. They are:

Yuta Takemoto: One of the primary characters, Takemoto is the youngest of the guys and majoring in architectural design. He seems to have a ho-hum life but is the normal guy of the group who has taken a liking to the gifted artist Hagumi.

Shinobu Morita: A carefree, does whatever he wants type of guy. Very cool but very strange. A gifted sculptor who has attended the University for years, has not graduated but tends to make money doing freelance work and constantly on the move. He is drawn to Hagumi because she reminds him of a Koropokkur (a leprechaun or fairy) that he actually takes pictures of her in situations and puts it on the Internet and promoting her as one.

Takumi Mayama: Mayama is the quiet type. A senpai for Takemoto and works at a design firm in which he likes the owner Rika. Although he knows that he'll never get that close to Rika, he somewhat does what he can for her. He is also the guy that Morita turned to when he needed help but now Mayama has passed the duty on to Takemoto.

Characters also featured are:

Hagumi: A shy, gifted sculptor who is being taken care of by her uncle, Professor Hanamoto. She is not very talkative and very, very short. She is almost like a little girl but she's actually 18 and her cuteness makes everyone in a good mood. She does have a hard time knowing that so many people expect a lot of things from her because of her talent but also knows that because of dedicating her life to that talent, she doesn't live a normal life like the other girls in school.

Ayumi Yamada: Yamada aka "Iron Man" is another gifted student at the art school who is madly in love with Mayama. She knows that he is not interested in her but she takes it hard and sometimes can't tolerate his attitude but she does because she's so in love with him. She's very blunt, very beautiful, very athletic but also can get very violent (ala her karate moves).

What I found quite charming about this storyline is that it's life of a college student. Trying to do your best at school, not knowing your own future after school, not having enough money and just the fun that people have amongst friends.

Chapter 1 is more like an introduction to the characters but you can't help but laugh when you see Morita making Hagu pose as a Koropokkur.

Chapter 2 features a guy coming to the University to see if the Koropokkur is real and the guys learn that Morita is making money off his popular website but Hagu is not to thrilled about what Morita is doing that he does something nice for her.

Chapter 3 is how the guys can't understand why all the girls give him so much attention. Especially since he's lazy, oversleeps and uses the public faucet to shower and you get an idea of how far out Morita really is. In one point, Morita needs clothes, so he grabs the curtains from Professor Hanamoto's class and wears the clothes like Moses from the "Ten Commandments" with no shame.

Chapter 4 features the guys really hungry and haven't eaten any meat for a long while because they are broke. They survive by the noodles brought home by one of the guys who live in the apartment but things change when Lohmeyer-san returns back on campus from the family farm and brings so much ham, sausage and vegetables for the guys that Takemoto learns why everyone loves him.

Chapter 5 features the guys and Hagu going out for some fun and light some fireworks and Takemoto gets to see a kind side of Hagu.

Chapter 6 features Mayama getting a phone call from someone and Takemoto suspects that he may have a girlfriend. Meanwhile, Morita is contacted to do a high paying job and Takemoto tries to make himself look great in front of Hagu and tells her that he'll create something for her, since he is an architectural major.

Chapter 7 introduces Ayumi Yamada and how she is in love with Mayama. Meanwhile, Takemoto finds out who the girl that called Mayama is. Her name is Rika, a colleague of Professor Hanamoto and Mayama's boss and that Mayama was just doing a lot of work for her. But Mayama does like her and Yamada takes it very hard.

Chapter 8 focuses on Hagu and how the pressures of being a talented sculptor and not having a normal life like the other young women on campus starts to make her depressed. The pressures of life start to drain her emotionally.

Chapter 9 is about Christmas and Morita invites everyone to Hanamoto-san's office for a Christmas party.

The final pages feature a bonus manga diary titled "Life of Umino" and a glossary of terms used in the manga such as words like what is "Koropokkur" or what is a "system 6' operating system.

I really enjoyed this first volume. Similar to young novels or manga (or even dramas) such as "Asunaro Hakusho", "Wakamono no Subete" or "Hakusen Nagashi", I really enjoy stories that cover young adult life. From the parties to just hanging out with friends, meeting new people, career choices to finding love (or not finding love), "honey and clover" is one of those series that is realistic in the sense that many people can related to these characters. So, you really take an interest towards the characters and I really liked the overall development of the characters through the course of the nine chapters.

Umino's artwork and her storytelling is enjoyable, beautiful and has a good balance of entertainment through humor and that occasional love triangle drama that pulls you in.

So, I was very surprised of the differences between the life film and the manga. With the film, there's so much that can't be done in a film under two hours from a manga series that has many chapters of storyline and character development. I can see why so many people were entertained by this manga series. It's very entertaining and artwork that is just beautiful look at.

This is one of those stories that appeals appeals to both men and women and overall, the first volume is quite entertaining thus far. Definitely check it out!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars honey and clover is very cool!, October 5, 2008

By 

Neyen "Neyen2000" (Puerto Rico) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Honey and Clover, Vol. 1 (Honey & Clover) (v. 1) (Paperback)

**Sunday, May 30, 2010**
o
This story captures what youth's about, having doubts about our future and facing unrequited love, that at some point,we have all encountered. This manga it's also a comedy about normal things that we live every day. At firt it may seem boring, but it's not.