I'm now wathcing its 1st episode. How I wish I have the will to finish it after reading your comments. Anyway, it still depends on the viewer's taste, so it think I'll try my best to finish it first and maybe share my opinion regarding this dorama.

The series was okay for me since I neither watched the anime and the movie nor read the manga. Kinda slow pacing and boring but still I managed to finish it because of three reasons: 1. Toma is there! 2. I already watched its first few ep, why not finish it? 3. The story is not that interesting but I like the plot. Maybe I can relate.
I liked the final episode especially Takemoto's way of supporting Hagu on her rehab through his journey map(i'm touched) , find the dorama's lesson inspiring. Also liked their artworks.

the story overall was good, though maybe slow sometimes. it's nice to view the world from takemoto's eyes. this story is not only about love, but also many things about life.

i'm now watching the anime. i think it's really different. but i already expected this from reading the comments from others. i actually prefer the drama. i think the anime is kinda draggy. but i still enjoy watching it.
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It's interesting to read your comments on the series


possible spoilers

My view:

There's simply no point in comparing the manga/anime with the series so I'll stick with the portrayal of the characters.

FRESH LEAVES

Takemoto Yuta, first the graduation piece sucks. I was expecting something more. But Toma was made for this role- a bit more sober than I would like him to be. I especially liked the scene where he was helping Hagu with rehab.

Mayama Takumi, he can definitely act. If I didn't like his character I'd probably like him more than Yuta.

Yamada Ayumi, the worst scene she ever did was the confession when she got drunk. Good chemistry with Nomiya and Mayama. But her father was just too much.

Nomiya Takumi, ok I'm more than biased here. But then again he seems to be the only sane- I mean he's the only one with the most agressive character not counting Mayama. Not to mention he's mature.

DRIED LEAVES

Hanamoto Shuji, he's old. Nyahaha... I was thinking he looks older than the actual Shuuji. But he pretty much acted the way he was suppose to.

Harada Rika, she's old XP Same as Shuji.



DECAYED LEAVES

Hanamoto Hagumi, no chemistry with Morita. She did improve in the latter part of the series.


Morita Shinobu, no chemistry with Hagu. He could have paired with Ayu.


That ends my review on the characters. As for the series as a whole, everyone was pining for somebody else. You can't control your heart no matter how hard you try. But then the overall theme of H& C was suppose to be friendship & moving on.


Why I hated it...

With all the revisions made, the writers forgot the importance of Morita's own story. Without it, his character seems lacking.

Most of the important scenes were also not included esp. the one where they were all looking for a four leaf clover. It was suppose to be memorable- even more than the beach outing. Heck. The Hagu confession... wth was that?

What happened to Leader? That dog makes Nomiya's character fun.

They shouldn't have included Romaya- he has too many scenes. I like him in the first 4-5 eps though.

Final rating out of ten
Anime - 9
Live series - 6
Movie - 4

*whew*

Gomen to any one offended with all the comments I had to make ^^;;
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oh whats new people
i haven't gotten to see the last episode
i know silly but iam just want to hold on to it for a while
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haha... I think Dang pretty much sum up the flaws in each character...

Actually, after so long since the drama has ended, I can still remember the scene where Takemoto was riding the bicycle, finding his dreams... not because it was really that impressive, but rather I find it was too long and draggy... Ha! But I must agree that his graduation piece sucks.. I wonder how he managed to graduate with that...

I really remember nothing about Hagumi, just that she talked like a turtle.. yawn... sorry to Riko-chan fans, I just really feel like asking Hagumi to shut up everytime she started talking... and she has no chemistry with anyone in the drama... not even the painting she was drawing..haha... oops... sorry

Me too think that Morita character could have been better.. the first few episodes, he was a interesting character, but as it progress, it lacked the punch... what a waste.

the remaining characters i shall just not mention as they are mostly alright... there's good and bad...
but i want to say, that Rika is the second character I wish to kill off after Hagumi... haha... oops.. sorry..

ok... i shall not talk about this drama anymore. new season, new dramas!


and suzzy, regarding the ending... it is DUH...... -_-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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chokakoi wrote:

haha... I think Dang pretty much sum up the flaws in each character... ok... i shall not talk about this drama anymore. new season, new dramas! and suzzy, regarding the ending... it is DUH...... -_-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh nooooooooooooooo
SERIOULY
Aso then ur saying i waitingfor nuthing then
nooooall this time

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sometimes honey clover got boring for me.but the ending was so sweet.>____<and touching.and sad.hahahaT_T

dirtypink wrote:

sometimes honey clover got boring for me.but the ending was so sweet.>____<and touching.and sad.hahahaT_T

hmm.. i still haven't watch the last ep..

kyon-kyon chan wrote:

hmm.. i still haven't watch the last ep..

like wise planning too though
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DVD Beaver review/comparison of the movie: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews34/honey_and_clover.htm

finished the drama, it's really touching and toma deserved
that best supporting actor award ^^
enjoyed it better than the anime *no offense, i also liked the anime *

mysaki-san wrote:

finished the drama, it's really touching and toma deserved that best supporting actor award ^^ enjoyed it better than the anime *no offense, i also liked the anime *

That's really interesting - I actually think the anime is far better. The drama felt all jammed together. 100 different clips thrown in a bin and fished out, where the anime's structure was far more cohesive.

I pretty much agree with Dang on characters except for Morita. I thought he was great! But as far as Takemoto goes, he was the best improvement over the anime. And Romaya-sempai was a great add-in.
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"Actually, I don't have bones. I'm supported
by a system of fluid-filled bladders"

@phlargo

yeah i agree romaya-senpai was a really good ad-in i like the anime, morita was better in the anime and it also explained a lot about the relationship of each character with one another.. it's just that i rely too much on the characters and my favorite character is takemoto and i think i understood him better in the liveaction, while watching the anime i just thought that takemoto was pretty much a sad guy trying not to rely on other people but in the liveaction he was more outgoing (still a bit pessimistic but improved.. can't explain it well ^^;

mysaki-san wrote:

@phlargo yeah i agree romaya-senpai was a really good ad-in i like the anime, morita was better in the anime and it also explained a lot about the relationship of each character with one another.. it's just that i rely too much on the characters and my favorite character is takemoto and i think i understood him better in the liveaction, while watching the anime i just thought that takemoto was pretty much a sad guy trying not to rely on other people but in the liveaction he was more outgoing (still a bit pessimistic but improved.. can't explain it well ^^;

While I agree for the most part, I actually liked Morita better in the Drama as well, even though it didn't go into his whole back story and problems - I liked the character a lot.
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"Actually, I don't have bones. I'm supported
by a system of fluid-filled bladders"

Its interesting to read these comments...like most of you say, its boring and Narimiya isnt good enough for Moritas character...I dont think so! I REALLY like this dorama and specially Ikuta Toma and Narimiya Hiroki. They really did great job. I think, this drama has to say something, whats behind the story, behind words...
Sorry for my poor english, Im still learnig...

finished Honey&Clover

7/10

and no, i'm not an Ikuta Toma fangirl.

i'm glad that i haven't seen the anime yet. and i don't think the dorama will spoil anything. there wasn't much of a story, it was rather slow, and yeah i kinda get the feeling that they were jamming everything into eleven episodes. But Honey&Clover surely had one of the most enjoyable character developments.

I can't compare much since i have only seen the first episode of the anime. But i don't like Morita-san. I dunno, maybe i just don't like that dude playing his character, and i think at least he should 'appear' a little older. And Narumi Riko may not look like Hagu, but she did a good job IMO. applause for you girl

and not to forget the very impressive music score, and Romaya-senpai. i really liked him.

But seriously, what does Yamada Ayumi actually see in Mayama??? Nomiya was more... everything than him
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I agree that HONEY&CLOVER has the BEST characters' developments. One miscast, and it'll ruin evrything. H&C is also about EXCELLENT balance of humor and drama. If the adaptation lacks either one, it'll ruin evrything too. I wonder what makes it so hard to make a good adaptation of H&C? Just like the Japanese drama, the Taiwanese drama went all out with the promotions, but the ratings are so, so, so poor... could say its a flop.

Anyway, this is the comparison of the casts in various adaptations:
(the names in 2nd column are the voice-actor's names in the anime)

credits to sensenn

This is the bigger version.

For me THE BEST portrayers are:

Hanamoto Hagumi -> Ito Chiaki
Ito Chiaki is J-POP band, AAA(Attack All Around) member. A pure Japanese. I pity the fact she's casted for the Taiwanese version, instead of the Japanese one. Having watch 9 episodes, I think it's safe to judge Ito Chiaki as the PERFECT Hagu!!! Just as the anime Hagu, alot of Hagu's comical side is shown here. By height, by looks and by acting performance, she really fits in Hagu's role. She has good chemistry with the actor who act as Morita too. In the anime, Hagu is my least favorite character(one of the reason being I dislike her voice), but in the Taiwanese version, I look forward to Hagu's scenes the most, coz she's so cute and just so amusing to watch^^
I think Ito Chiaki is a promising new actress and hope she'll act in a Japanese drama in the near future. I also love her singing voice.
Despite the fact the predecessors are great actresses, but Aoi Yu and Narumi Riko lacks Hagu's comical side... so, I guess, it must be the script's fault. Narumi Riko herself is a huge fan of H&C the manga, I wonder if she ever express her opinion about her own portrayal as Hagumi??^^ Was she satisfied with her own performance??

Takemoto Yuta -> Kamiya Hiroshi & Ikuta Toma
Really a tie between Toma and the anime's voice actor. Kamiya Hiroshi's narration voice are priceless, I really love when he's narrating his thoughts!!! Toma really is the BEST Takemoto, I can't think of anyone else. I think he seriously observed the anime first. Coz he talks EXACTLY the same way as Kamiya Hiroshi. The way he always put emphasize intonation on "XXXX jyanai desu kaaa~~??!" is VERY "Takemoto"!^^ He has really good chemistry with Narumi Riko too.
I'm sorry to say, but Sakurai Sho failed to portray Takemoto, he was given a bad script(for Takemoto), and I don't think he did any research at all by reading the manga or watching the anime x) (trust me, Sho is my favorite member in Arashi!! ) Li Guo Yi is quite bad, esp. in the emotional scenes.

Morita Shinobu -> (the one and only) Ueda Yuji
I don't know how old is the voice actor, but if only he's young enough to play the role as Morita, I wish he was casted in the live-action, coz without that voice, no one can be THE Morita xD He has done great voice-acting as Morita and voice out his "crazy, unreal, out of this world" scenes so excellent. Esp. when he sung the enka song^^ The way he laughs, and also the way he recited these lines are memorable to me coz its so funny^^: "Iyada na, Mayama... mireba wakaru darou?"(no way, Mayama... you know just by seeing it!), "Occhan!! Ittai dare ga occhan wo...???"[grampa, who did this to you??? ...answered by the others "omae dayo!"(it was you!)].... these are just priceless.
Iseya Yusuke is HOT^^, and he did a decent job as Morita with the script given to him. Narimiya was okay, but he could've done better if the script contains more comical scenes by Morita. Eddie Peng Yuyan is better than the two, coz he is given the right script, but still... the Taiwanese Morita is all, "no one can beat my talents", "no one is better than me".... just like Narimiya's. I wonder where did these screenwriters got the idea that Morita is a person who loves to brags abt his own talents?? I don't think neither the manga nor the anime shows scenes like that >_<
Some ppl said, that EITA would be perfect for the role, I have to agree with that, but only if he is given the right script too. Too bad, he didn't had the chance to act as Morita at all x)

Yamada Ayumi -> Harada Natsuki
I really liked her portrayal as Ayu. I think she's done a great job as Ayu. Great chemistry with Mukai Osamu and Kassy too.
The movie didn't show any of Ayumi's strong side, neither did she kick any ass xD Seki Megumi was below average as Ayumi. Janine Zhang is pretty good.

Mayama Takumi -> Mukai Osamu
I think he's the most handsome Mayama among other actors^^ He really look for the part. And his acting is no disappointment too. He has good comic-timing. I love it when he goes all funny when he's together with Morita and Takemoto.
Joe Zheng looks too old for Mayama. But in terms of acting, he's okay as Mayama. Kase Ryo is the WORST Mayama. They turned him to a nerd and a stalker, and he doesn't look like Mayama at all... dame daa xD

Kassy was good as Nomiya, just that too bad he didn't get the comical scene just like in the anime, I think he'll pull it off well. In terms of looks, none of the actresses are beautiful enough to be Harada Rika. Tarcy Su in the tw version, is so unattractive and SO old >_< Seto Asaka was pretty good though, in terms of acting... just that, I hated her wig The best Hanamoto Shuji is Sakai Masato, in the MOVIE. Shuji in the jdrama and twdrama just looks TOO old >_< I was expecting someone like Abe Hiroshi or Tsutsumi Shinichi to be casted as Hanamoto-sensei xD
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today is Narumi Riko
birthday so happy brithday
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Happy Birthday to
Narimiya Hiroki
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