Eden of the East: The King of Eden – The Motion Picture (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

May 3, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Eden of the East” was our favorite anime TV series for 2010 and now the sequel to the TV series, a film titled “Eden of the East: The King of Eden” is now available on Blu-ray. Awesome animation/art backgrounds, an enjoyable suspenseful and fun storyline, I can’t help but highly recommend the TV series and this film! Featuring the first film and also the prequel film, “Eden of the East: The King of Eden” is definitely recommended!

BLU-RAY TITLE: Eden of the East: The King of Eden – The Motion Picture

DURATION: Eden of the East: The King of Eden (80 Minutes) | Eden of the East: Air Communications (Prequel Movie) – (2 hrs. and 5 minutes)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV 14

Release Date: April 26, 2011

Original Creator: Kenji Kamiyama

Directed by Kenji Kamiyama

Screenplay by Kenji Kamiyama

Storyboards by Kenji Kamiya, Masayuki Yoshihara, Toshiyuki Kono, Yoshiaki Kyougoku

Music by Kenji Kawai

Original Character Design by Chika Umino

Character Design by Satoko Morikawa

Art Director: Yusuke Takeda

Chief Animation Director: Satoru Nakamura

Producer: Kouji Yamamoto, Tomohiko Ishii

Anime Production: Production I.G.

Featuring the following voice talent:

Ryohei Kimura/Jason Liebrecht as Akira Takizawa

Saori Hayami/Leah Clark as Saki Morimi

Atsushi Miyauchi/John Gremillion as Daiju Mononobe

Ayaka Saito/Stephanie Sheh as Mikuru “Micchon” Kuzuhara

Hayato Taya/John Burgmeier as Haruo Kasuga

Kimiko Saito/Lydia Mackay as Sister

Motoyuki Kawahara/J. Michael Tatum as Kazuomi Hirasawa

Rei Igarashi/Christine Auten as Kuroha Diana Shiratori

Sakiko Hayami/Stephanie Young as Juiz

Takuya Eguchi/Michael Sinterniklass as Satoshi Osugi

The intrigue goes international in The King of Eden, a feature-length conspiracy thriller that continues the action of Eden of the East. The deadly game that began in Japan now intensifies on the streets of New York City. The rules are the same: do whatever it takes to win. Die if you lose.

Takizawa prevented Japan’s destruction – and then he vanished. Six months later, clues lead Saki to the Big Apple in search of her missing friend. Meanwhile, the remaining Selecao are plotting their final move. Some of them would prefer Takizawa dead and out of the way. Some might even be willing to help him achieve his goals. Unfortunately, some are prepared to destroy everything if it means claiming checkmate in Mr. Outside’s puzzling game.

In April 2009, a few of Japan’s popular talents in the anime and manga industry teamed up on a project known as “Higashi no Eden” (Eden of the East).

Featuring anime production from Production I.G., “Eden of the East” would feature the work of series creator Kenji Kamiyama (creator of “Blood: The Last Vampire” and worked on “Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex”, “Hakkenden” and “Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade”), manga artist/writer Chica Umino (“Honey and Clover”), art director Yusuke Takeda (“Mobile Suit Gundam Wing”, “Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex”, “Neon Genesis Evangelion”) and legendary anime musician Kenji Kawai (“Ghost in the Shell”, “Maison Ikkoku”, “Patlabor”, “Ranma 1/2″, “Vampire Princess Miyu”).

The anime series debuted on Fuji TV in April 2009 and was followed by three films and last fall, the complete series has been released on Blu-ray and DVD. In April 2011, the first of the three “Eden of the East” films titled “The King of Eden” is now available on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment.

For those who have never watched the TV Anime series, “Eden of the East: The King of Eden” contains the prequel movie “Air Communication” which is an abridged version of all 11 episodes.

“EDEN OF THE EAST” BACK STORY

In November 22, 2010, ten missiles were unleashed in Japan but there were no victims. Because there were no deaths, Japanese tend to disregard the event and the day was known as “Careless Monday”. Although there were no victims, 20,000 NEETS disappeared (note: In Japan, NEET stands for Not in Education, Employment and is a term to describe reclusive individuals who do not go outside of their home).

Three months later, a young woman named Saki Morimi is visiting Washington D.C. Before she is to go back to Japan, she just wants to visit The White House which she calls the “Center of the World”. Because she is unable to get through the gates, she throws a penny on the White House lawn but of course, the secret service sees what she has done and goes to apprehend her.

Meanwhile, a young man who is naked and is holding a gun and a cell phone sees what’s going on and distracts the agents. As the agents scramble to find the man, the young man checks on Saki. And Saki who is a bit bashful of seeing a naked man, gives the mysterious naked guy her coat, her hat and scarf. She learns that he has lost his memory and doesn’t know why he is naked. He just woke up with a gun and a cell phone.

As the guy leaves to make sure he doesn’t get caught by the agents or cops, Saki forgets that she left her passport and ID inside her coat. So, she runs to find him.

The young man is directed by a woman named Juiz to visit a location and when he gets to the location, he realizes its where he lives. When he opens the closet, he finds many weapons and also several ID’s and passports. Saki manages to track him down and when she goes to see him, she tells him that she needs her passport to get to Japan and immediately, the man looks at the passports and decides to go with one of the names he finds… Akira Takizawa.

But the secret service has a bulletin for the apprehension for both Saki and Akira and immediately, Akira decides to join Saki and both leave to Japan.

But while the two develop a pretty strong friendship, Akira slowly starts to learn that the phone he is carrying is more than just a mere cell phone and he will need it to survive. Apparently, he is one of the 12 Selecao and he must take part in a game in which each of the 12 individuals are given 8.2 billion in digital money.

The cell phone which utilizes fingerprint recognition puts him in contact with a woman named Juiz, a person that each Selecao contacts and whatever they want, she will do, but each time something is done, it comes from their own personal account. Also, the cell phone shows the progress of each Selecao and what requests they made with Juiz.

The game is run by a man known as “The Outsider” and the game requires each Selecao to use the 8.2 billion yen to stand up against current modern Japan and find a way to change it. They must spend all the money for that cause and nothing for personal ambition. If they do not follow the rules, a supporter will kill them.

Also, there can only be one winner at the end of the competition.

Akira is upset that he is being forced to take part in this game, but seeing how Japan is in such a mess, he will do what he can to win the game but also win it, so he can get back at the Outsider who forced him to take part in it. Also, because he lost his memory, he is starting to learn that he may be person responsible for “Careless Monday” and the disappearance (or murder) of 20,000 NEET’s.

Determined to find out the truth about his real identity, Akira is determined to win the game and as a Selecao, the first thing he wants to do is help Saki and her friends who are part of a financially struggling company that is responsible for creating a social media application known as “EDEN OF THE EAST” in which one can use their own personal cell phones and aim it at anyone and get information on them but also communicate with everyone tied into the site.

But when one uses the East of Eden on Akira, they start to worry if he is not a well-intentioned individual but possibly a killer. As Akira looks for answers by searching for Selecao, he is unaware that other Selecao are looking for him.

“Eden of the East: The King of Eden”

The film begins with Saki in the United States. The storyline takes place six months after the ten missile strikes in Japan were thwarted by Akira Takizawa. But somehow, in the process of defending Tokyo and making his order as a Selecao to become the King of Eden, Takizawa was captured, brainwashed and now he has lost all memory of himself. In fact, Takizawa has been missing for six months and Saki and friends have not been able to find him.

While in the U.S. carrying Akira’s Selecao phone, it appears that other Selecao are on to her and going so far to getting her in some trouble by putting firearms in here suitcase. As she is berated by her taxi driver for carrying fire arms, he leaves her luggage out but drives off without her purse, passport and the Selecao phone.

Meanwhile, Saki’s team of programmers and hackers, creators of the Eden of the East software program try to find out more information of the Selecao’s latest activities but to see if it can help pinpoint where Akira Takizawa is. One thing is known, the computer program that Akira has reported to, Juiz, has continued the mission to make Akira the King of Eden by switching his name to an ailing Prime Minister, so if something was to happen to the fallen leader, Takizawa using the name of Inuma can take over.

But it’s not going to be easy as other Selecao are upset about Takizawa’s latest request and now want to make sure that the missile attacks on Tokyo are blamed on Inuma.

Meanwhile, as Saki goes to discard the firearm that was found in her briefcase somewhere in New York City, she is approached by a Japanese guy, it happens to be Akira Takizwa! But unfortunately, Akira has no memories of his past and is going by the name Inuma.

While Saki tries to help Inuma regain his memories, the other Selecao begin their mission by trying to assassinate or prevent Akira from become the King of Eden, while other Selecao try to help him. But unknown to other Selecao, Number 1 is trying to destroy the truck convoys containing the Juiz units and to prevent any Selecao from assisting Akira.

It’s a race against time as Akira and Saki try to find a way back to Japan from New York City and the East of Eden team in Japan try to find out how to help them.

The main characters of “Eden of the East” are:

Akira Takizawa – Known as Selecao #9, Akira has amnesia and apparently his memory was wiped out for some reason. He finds out that he is part of a game with 12 other Selecao’s but aside from not knowing much about his responsibilities, he feels close to his new friend Saki Morimi. Along with his cell phone and connected to a mysterious woman named Juiz, he goes out in search of other Selecao’s to find out his true identity.

Saki Morimi – A young woman who is about to graduate college and needs to look for a job. She lives with her older sister and her family and has left to the US on a trip to NYC with her friends as a graduation trip. While visiting Washington D.C. alone, she meets with a mysterious naked man named Akira Takizawa. She currently works alongside her friends (they are all part of the University’s Recycling Club) who are responsible for the social media site Eden of the East but is trying desperately to find a new job so she doesn’t have to depend on her older sister and her brother-in-law.

Eden of the East Team – Eden of the East is a popular social media application that can be used to gain information anywhere, anytime. Point your phone at an individual and immediately pull up information on them. The team consists of Kazuomi Hirasawa (the leader of Eden of the East who wants to create a paradise for the NEET’s), Satoshi Osugi (a friend of Saki who loves her and is jealous that she is spending time with Akira), Micchon (a shy, very young but brilliant programmer known for developing the image recognition for Eden of the East), Yutaka “Panty” Itazu (a NEET and reclusive man who stayed in his home because he lost his only pair of pants. He is a brilliant hacker and programmer).

VIDEO :

“Eden of the East: The King of Eden – The Motion Picture” is just fantastic to look at. Presented in 1080p, the artistic backgrounds are magnificent. I don’t think there was one re-used (aside from Takizawa’s home) but there was always a new painted scene whenever a character was shown. If there is one thing that I love Production I.G., they tend to go all out in making not only their films look great but also their anime TV series. In the case of “Eden of the East: The King of Eden”, the film looks fantastic, vibrant on Blu-ray! Each painted scene looks fantastic, the character designs by Chica Umino come alive!

The animation and overall colors are vibrant, blacks are nice and deep and I saw no haloing, edge enhancements and saw no artifacting. I was confident to say that “Eden of the East” was one of the best looking anime TV series on Blu-ray and I can easily say that fans of the TV series will enjoy the overall look of the film as well! More detail, more colors, I really enjoyed the look and style of the anime series!

It’s important to note that the Blu-ray release of “Eden of the East: The King of Eden” comes with both the Blu-ray and the DVD release (2-discs), so you can compare the picture quality and see how much more vibrant the Blu-ray release is to its DVD counterpart. The scenes with Yutaka “Panty” Itazu and his red shirt will show you how much more vibrant the Blu-ray release is compared to the DVD!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Eden of the East: The King of Eden – The Motion Picture” is presented in English and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1. The audio for this series is fantastic. From the crowd ambiance and just the sounds of leaves, police sirens, blasts, airplanes, computer keyboard clicking, you name it, the audio was well utilized through the surround channels.

While the film is more dialogue driven, in “Eden of the East: The King of Eden”, there is good use of the surround channels, mostly towards the end of the film as you see missiles going after Juiz units to Kazuomi Hirasawa shutting down Eden of the East or a car crash or a bomb blowing up Akira’s apartment room, you can expect to hear the soundscape become quite immersive temporarily.

Dialogue and Kenji Kawai’s impressive musical score is crisp and clear through the front and center channels. Both Japanese and English vocal tracks were well-done! Although not an all-out action-driven anime series, there is quite a bit of action throughout the eleven episodes and the lossless audio was very good!

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Eden of the East: The King of Eden – The Motion Picture” comes with the following special features:

Air Communication - (2:05:00) Haven’t watched the “Eden of the East” anime TV series or don’t have the time too? Fortunately, “Air Command” is a prequel to the film which takes all the important elements of the 11-episode series and make a 2 hr. movie from it.
Movie 1 Newsflash - (1:21) A Japanese news flash for “Eden of the East: The King of Eden” in Japanese with English subtitles.
Movie 1 Preview - (:48) A preview for “Eden of the East: The King of Eden” in Japanese with English subtitles.
TV Spots - (:48) TV Spots for “Eden of the East: The King of Eden” in Japanese with English subtitles.
Trailers – FUNimation Entertainment trailers

EXTRAS:

“Eden of the East: The King of Eden – The Motion Picture” comes with a slip cover case and the Blu-ray release also includes two DVD’s featuring the feature film, the prequel film and special features.

First, let me just say that I love “Eden of the East”!

Production I.G. has delivered one of the finest anime television anime series to be released on Blu-ray in America. With the release of “Ghost Hound” from Sentai Filmworks last month which I gave a highly favorable review for it, I thought the Production I.G. series was just phenomenal. But when they released “Eden of the East”, I was blown away by the look and also the complexity of the storyline. The series has elements of suspense, action, drama and many hilarious moments as well! It was a fun, entertaining series!

But with only 11 episodes of the TV series and it ending with a cliffhanger, you can’t help but want more!

So, fortunately, here we are with “Eden of the East: The King of Eden”, the first film of a movie trilogy continuing the story of Akira Takizawa, Saki and friends and needless to say, the film makes you want even more!

But for those wanting films with endings of closure, “Eden of the East: The King of Eden” is not one of them. If anything, the film sets the viewer up for massive things to come for the second and third film, while the first film pretty much lays down the foundation of what happened to Akira Takizawa after the missile strike and what Saki and the group have been up to since then.

Fans of the series can expect similar elements of what they love about the TV series in the first film. While you may not get any death scenes or hardcore action, there are some scenes where you will see missiles, a flamethrower, etc.

As for the Blu-ray release, as mentioned in the video quality section of this review, I love the look and feel of the series. I love how much is put into each scene, the painted backgrounds are wonderful to look at and the character designs compliment it. One of the cool things about this Blu-ray release is that you do get both the Blu-ray and the DVD version, which is great if you want to share with your friends, plan to commute and don’t want to scuff up your Blu-ray discs but the combination of Blu-ray and DVD releases seems to be a new standard now with FUNimation Entertainment and those who do purchase physical media, will get the best of both worlds without having to pay a premium price for it.

And the fact that you do get two films (the prequel and the first film) in this Blu-ray release is an awesome deal!

Once again, I truly believe that “Eden of the East” is an awesome anime series and the film is an extension and continuation of the series! From the look of the film in which rarely do you see the backgrounds being used more than once. It’s like every scene features new animation and background art and there was also special emphasis on lighting. Production I.G. has high standards for their work and each time I know they are involved with an anime TV series or animated film, I know we are going to see nothing less but quality work and it shows in “Eden of the East: The King of Eden”.

While I enjoyed the film, I do feel that the creators were holding back a bit and building the storyline and to literally make viewers excited about the sequel. But still, I enjoyed the series and to see the adventures of Akira and Saki once again. I can’t help but recommend this film and also recommend the TV series if you have the chance. If you want a quality series that features an awesome story, awesome art/animation, definitely give “Eden of the East” a chance! And when you are done watching the series, I highly recommend watching “Eden of the East: The King of Eden”. I’m not sure what to expect from the next two films but I’m sure Chica Umino and Kenji Kamiyama are going to take us on one enjoyable ride in the upcoming two films!

“Eden of the East: The King of Eden – The Motion Picture” is highly recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

Eden of the East – The Complete Series (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

October 15, 2010 by Dennis Amith · 1 Comment

Magnificent! Production I.G. once again shows us that despite the series being a TV Series, they put a lot of effort in making the series look fantastic. Awesome animation, detailed/artistic background art and a storyline so addicting… “Eden of the East – Complete Series” is definitely the top contender of best anime series on Blu-ray of 2010!

BLU-RAY TITLE: Eden of the East – The Complete Series

DURATION: Episodes 1-11 (Duration: 275 Minutes, 2 Blu-rays)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV 14

Release Date: October 19, 2010

Original Creator: Kenji Kamiyama

Directed by Kenji Kamiyama

Screenplay by Kenji Kamiyama

Music by Kenji Kawai

Original Character Design by Chika Umino

Character Design by Satoko Morikawa

Art Director: Yusuke Takeda

Chief Animation Director: Satoru Nakamura

Anime Production: Production I.G.

Featuring the following voice talent:

Ryohei Kimura/Jason Liebrecht as Akira Takizawa

Saori Hayami/Leah Clark as Saki Morimi

Atsushi Miyauchi/John Gremillion as Daiju Mononobe

Ayaka Saito/Stephanie Sheh as Mikuru “Micchon” Kuzuhara

Hayato Taya/John Burgmeier as Haruo Kasuga

Kimiko Saito/Lydia Mackay as Sister

Motoyuki Kawahara/J. Michael Tatum as Kazuomi Hirasawa

Rei Igarashi/Christine Auten as Kuroha Diana Shiratori

Sakiko Tamagawa/Stephanie Young as Juiz

Takuya Eguchi/Michael Sinterniklass as Satoshi Osugi

Akira Takizawa wakes up naked outside the White House with no memories. He’s got a gun in one hand and a cell phone in the other, and he doesn’t know if he’s a good guy or one of the worst. He doesn’t remember that the phone gives him instant access to ten billion yen and a woman who can make his most outlandish requests a reality. He doesn’t recall his connection to the ongoing missile attacks terrorizing the Japanese people, or the part he played in the sudden disappearance of 20,000 shut-ins. He doesn’t even remember he’s supposed to save Japan and will be murdered if he fails. Whatever it is he’s tangled up in, Takizawa’s definitely in deep – and that’s not even scratching the surface.

In April 2009, a few of Japan’s popular talents in the anime and manga industry teamed up on a project known as “Higashi no Eden” (Eden of the East).

The anime series debuted on Fuji TV in April 2009 and was followed by three films and now the complete series has been released on Blu-ray (and three films will follow) courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment.

As the guy leaves to make sure he doesn’t get caught by the agents or cops, Saki forgets that she left her passport and ID inside her coat. So, she runs to find him.

But the secret service has a bulletin for the apprehension for both Saki and Akira and immediately, Akira decides to join Saki and both leave to Japan.

Also, there can only be one winner at the end of the competition.

The main characters of “Eden of the East” are:

“Eden of the East – The Complete Series” features eleven episodes on two Blu-ray discs. Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

EPISODE 1 – While enjoying her final day in the US in Washington D.C., Saki runs into a mysterious, naked Japanese guy who ends up going back with her to Japan.
EPISODE 2 - Because this mysterious man, Akira Takizawa has no memory, Saki tries to help him. Meanwhile, Akira learns about his responsibility as a Selecao.
EPISODE 3 – Saki accompanies Akira to his home and finds out that he lives and owns an entire mall complex. Meanwhile, another Selecao will pay Akira a visit.
EPISODE 4 - Akira goes to look for other Selecao’s and know more about the “game” and to learn more about himself and why his memories were wiped out.
EPISODE 5 – Akira runs into a guy who said he left him Dubai, meanwhile Saki tries to find a job.
EPISODE 6 – Saki visits her Recycling Club at the University, to tell them that her friend wants to help them fund Eden of the East. But the club is a little apprehensive about it.
EPISODE 7 - The club are receiving pictures from Osugi, who’s life may be in jeopardy. It appears he may have been kidnapped by another Selecao and Akira goes out on his own to find out.
EPISODE 8 - The aftermath of the last episode, Saki learns about the Selecao but keeps quiet. Meanwhile, Akira, Saki and Micchon visit a hacker/programmer named “Panty”.
EPISODE 9 - Panty manages to crack Selecao #4′s cell phone but he discovers information that Akira needs to know. But other Selecao members want to stop him before he can relay any information to Akira.

DISC 2:

EPISODE 10 - While Saki and Micchon are on the train home, they hear a conversation between Akira and Selecao #1 on the real reason his mind was wiped out and the truth behind “Careless Monday”.
EPISODE 11 - Everyone of the Recycling Club are stuck in Akira’s mall complex as thousands of angry NEET’s are looking for Akira Takizawa and wanting revenge. Meanwhile, Akira is working quickly to stop a new pending disaster in Japan.

VIDEO :

“Eden of the East” is just fantastic to look at. Presented in 1080p, the artistic backgrounds are magnificent. I don’t think there was one re-used (aside from Takizawa’s home) but there was always a new painted scene whenever a character was shown. If there is one thing that I’ve noticed with recent Production I.G. anime TV series, despite it being a TV series, they still go out of there way to make the series look phenomenal. Each painted scene looks fantastic, the character designs by Chica Umino come alive!

The animation and overall colors are vibrant, blacks are nice and deep and I saw no excessive haloing, edge enhancements and saw no artifacting. This is one beautiful anime series and definitely one of the best, if not the best, looking anime series on Blu-ray thus far.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Eden of the East – The Complete Series” is presented in English and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1. The audio for this series is fantastic. From the crowd ambience and just the sounds of leaves, police sirens, blasts, airplanes, computer keyboard clicking, you name it, the audio was well utilized through the surround channels.

I have to admit that I was surprised to hear Oasis’ “Falling Down” theme but I’ve noticed that the theme is only present in the first episode and fans have told me that it ran throughout the whole series. I’m guessing the rights to license the song for Blu-ray and DVD release was expensive. But at least the song is presented in the first episode.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Eden of the East – The Complete Series” comes with the following special features:

Director Kamiyama & Original Character Designer Chica Umino Interview - (21:49) A wonderful interview on how the collaboration between Kenji Kamiyama (series creator/director) and “Honey and Clover” mangaka Chica Umino came about. A very cool interview but as always, Umino-san continues to be a mystery as she uses her trademark bear (featured in her HandC manga to cover her face).
Kimura (Takizawa) and Hayami (Saki) Interview - (18:32) Interviews with voice actor Ryohei Kimura (voice of Takizawa) and Saori Hayami (voice of Saki). The two talk about not knowing what kind of series they were doing a voices for but while recording, being impressed with what they saw and being happy to be part of the series.
Directors Kamiyama & Oshii Interview - (27:17) Director Kenji Kamiyama and Mamoru Oshii sit down to discuss the production of “Eden of the East”.
Art Director Takeda Interview - (15:36) Art director Yusuke Takeda talks about working with Umino’s characters and the things he discussed with director Kamiyama before taking on the series. Also, showcasing the Bamboo studio as they worked on the backgrounds and Yusuke explains several scenes and what challenges he had and what he wanted to achieve.
Composer Kawai Interview – (10:41) Interview with Kenji Kawai who talks about the music of the series and what he has planned. Also, showing us a few of the tracks he created at the studio.
TV Spot – (:32) The commercial for the Japanese Blu-ray and DVD release.
Promotion Video – (1:51) The Japanese promotional video for “Eden of the East”.
Textless Closing Song -
Trailers – FUNimation Entertainment trailers

Production I.G. has delivered one of the finest anime television anime series to be released on Blu-ray in America. With the release of “Ghost Hound” from Sentai Filmworks last month which I gave a highly favorable review for it, I thought the Production I.G. series was just phenomenal. But here they are once again with another series and not only does it come with wonderful animation and many brilliantly painted backgrounds (which is rare to see on a anime TV series), the series creator manages to wrap the main storyline in 11 episodes.

Most anime TV series tend to run 22-26 episodes and yet, Kenji Kamiyama and Production I.G. manage to do it with 11 episodes and what a wonderful series “Eden of the East” has turned out to be!

The series has turn out to be one surprise after the other. From hearing the Oasis theme song, to seeing a well-crafted anime series from director/writer/creator Kenji Kamiyama, seeing the character designs from Chika Umino (which I’m a big fan of the “Honey and Clover” manga series), hearing the awesome jazzy music from Kenji Kawai, to see the talented BAMBOO team behind the painted backgrounds of this series….everything about this series is magnificent. Animation, background design, storyline, music…

And then not only do you have a series which looks awesome on Blu-ray, the lossless audio is great and you get a good number of lengthy special features. This has got to be my favorite anime series on Blu-ray for 2010, hands down!

I can go on and on about why I love this series but I will just say that when it comes to anime TV series on Blu-ray, I don’t expect much because these anime studios are handling other series at the same time and frankly, many are completed within hours of airing on Japanese television. Anime TV series are usually not detailed like a film or OVA but somehow in 2010, Production I.G. have two anime series on Blu-ray in the U.S. that just breaks traditional convention of anime TV series and how they can look and literally raises the bar of animation and artistic backgrounds. “Ghost Hound” was incredible and the Blu-ray for the series was awesome… but FUNimation Entertainment has done well by releasing this Blu-ray, to include several lengthy special features (and not just the standard opening and ending themes) and is now planning to release the three “Eden of the East” films on Blu-ray as well.

And as far as raising the bar for how anime TV series should look, the fact that they got Chica Umino and Ryohei Kimura involved was awesome but just looking at the anime series, rarely do you see the backgrounds being used more than once. It’s like every scene features new animation and background art and there was special emphasis on lighting and once again, this is not the kind of detail you usually see in a anime TV series. But Production I.G. must have high standards because so far, I’ve been impressed with their work and it just gets better and better.

It may be a little early since the year is not over but in terms of anime releases on Blu-ray in America, “Eden of the East – The Complete Series” may be my pick for “Anime Series on Blu-ray of the Year (2010)”.

Highly recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

honey and clover Vol. 10 by Chica Umino (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

October 10, 2010 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

The final volume of “Honey and Clover” is here. An awesome conclusion for a magnificent manga series! Highly recommended!

MANGA TITLE: honey and clover vol. 10 (aka Hachimitsu to Clover)

STORY AND ART BY: Chica Umino (羽海野チカ)

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: SHUEISHA, Inc.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC/Shojo Beat Manga

RATED: T for Older Teen

Final volume! Hagu and Takemoto are the last of the gang to graduate, and after his bike odyssey Takemoto has a future in temple restoration. But Hagu’s recent injury might steal her ability to paint forever. Can love make up for such a painful loss?

“Honey and Clover”, the popular young adult manga series by Chica Umino that has generated an anime series and also a live action movie (all available now from Viz Media) and earned her a Kodansha Manga Award. With a total of ten mangas published in Japan, the ninth volume has now been released by Shojo Beat Manga and continues on the life of five young adults.

From their beginning years as art students, to graduating and finding careers and now the two youngest members of the group: Yuta Takemoto and Hagumi now preparing for their graduation and life after school.

In the last volume of “Honey and Clover”, the story focused on Yuta Takemoto’s indecisiveness of whether to focus on his career or stay in the city to be close to a girl that he loves (and not sure if she cares about him the same way). Also, answers to why Morita is constantly leaving school to do high paying odd jobs and a near tragic accident prevents Hagumi from doing what she loves the most… painting.

Here we are with the final volume of “Honey and Clover” as the five friends we have watched as they have entered the art school, are now at the next chapter of their lives, finished with school and now must make the final choices for them to move on.

Here is a brief summary of each character of “honey and clover”:

Yuta Takemoto: One of the primary characters, Takemoto is the youngest of the guys and majoring in architectural design. He is the normal guy of the group and trying to find himself. He has fallen for Hagu but is not the type to share his emotions or act upon them. It’s his moment to find a career and is very unsure of what he wants to do. But since his hiatus, he has found himself to have more courage and express himself much better emotionally.

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. With everyone going through major life changes, it’s starting to have its effect on Morita.

Takumi Mayama: Mayama is the only one among the friends who have graduated and working his career job as a graphic designer. His love is for his boss named Rika but she doesn’t see him that way, especially since she lost her husband in an accident not too long ago. Meanwhile, he knows that Ayumi has loved him for a long time but he doesn’t share the same feelings for her.

The two female characters are:

Hagumi: A shy, gifted sculptor who is graduating and has a lot of pressure to perform. But now she’s starting to discover that being world renown for her paintings may not be her thing.

Ayumi Yamada: Yamada aka “Iron Man” has graduated from college but still tends to help out at the art college and assist her family’s business. She is so much in love with Mayama even though she knows he loves Rika.

And two characters that is not part of the main group but important to the storyline:

Professor Hanamoto: Just like one of the guys, Hanamoto is the guardian of Hagumi and more or less like an adviser to the students. He has observed his students and tries to assist them and point them in the right direction. But he is reminded by Takemoto that he’s very much like him when he graduated from school. But he is starting to find out that his feelings towards Hagumi are more than just a guardian.

Rika: A former classmate and a close friend of Professor Hanamoto and is running a graphic design business by herself after the death of her partner and husband. She has been distant and depressed since the death of her husband and knows that Mayama is trying to help her.

Mayama’s co-workers at Fujiwara Architects also play a role in the series:

Miwako – The boss of Fujiwara Architects and likes to make fun of her employees and make them feel uncomfortable at times. And very close to her dog.

Nomiya – The suave and calm architect that knows Yamada is trying to get Mayama jealous and goes with it. But at the same time, can’t understand why she’s head over heels in love with Mayama. But now he finds himself falling deeply in love with Hagumi.

Yamazaki - An employee at Fujiwara Architects that has a crush on Miwako but Miwako tends to look at him as an employee she can try to take advantage and make fun of.

Here is what to expect from volume 10 (summaries only, no spoilers):

Chapter 61 – Yuta senses that Professor Hanemoto looks at Hagumi as more than just a student he helped raise. Meanwhile, Morita tries to make his move on Hagumi.

Chapter 62 – Professor Hanemoto considers his emotions towards Hagumi, meanwhile Morita is dealing with rejection with Yuta.

Chapter 63 – Professor Hanemoto makes a decision on what he wants to do with his life and if he will leave or stay with Hagumi.

Chapter 64 – The final chapter – Nomiya has remained patient towards Ayumi, but will he stand by her still, as she still has feelings towards Mayama? Each friend spends their final night together and Yuta says goodbye.

Umino and Her Fun Friends - Chica Umino reflects on her time working with her crew and completing “Honey and Clover”.

Birds in the Sky – A one shot story about a young woman named Nao and her relationship with her boyfriend Sohei.

Mini Bonus Episode: Valentine’s Day Memory – Ayumi and Hagumi are making a Valentine’s Day treat but both Yuta and Mayama try to warn Professor Hanamoto.

Bonus episode - An episode featuring Mayama and Professor Hanamoto as well as Miwako and Yanazaki.

Opera of the Stars – A one shot that Chica Umino did for “Comic Cue” with the theme being, “What if you had one of Doraemon’s secret gadgets?”

A Little Extra – A final goodbye from Chica Umino for those who have supported her throughout the “Honey and Clover” run.

Also, included is a Honey and Clover Study Guide featuring explanations on various words used in this latest volume.

It’s hard to believe that “Honey and Clover” is over. The series has been an emotional and dramatic ride as we have seen the characters start out at the art institution and watching these characters grow over time. While, here in the US, this 10-volume manga series has taken two years. In Japan, this manga series started in 2002 and completed in 2006, and almost like a full college year, I can see how readers feel as if they grew up with the characters and to see how these characters evolve overtime.

Back in December 2008, for the first volume of “Honey and Clover”, I wrote, “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.”

And in many ways, you wondered how this series would end. Like any graduation from school and friends that you grew up with, graduation is one of the greatest times in college life but at the same time, it’s also a time when you know you will be separating from your good friends and starting a new chapter of your life. This is how the characters of “Honey and Clover” are. Great friends and together they have endured partying, getting drunk, love, happiness, disappointment and everything else that close friends have experienced.

For me, the final volume ended appropriately but at the same time, I guess I was expecting more of a final setting with each of the friends together one last time. But if anything, the story ended the way it began, Yuta entering colege and his thoughts towards Hagumi and ends with Yuta and Hagumi. Once again, appropriate, especially in its relation to the title of the manga series.

Chica Umino had literally put her life into this series and her artwork and storytelling was well-done from beginning to end. I did find the additional one-shots included in this volume quite interesting, because we get to see Umino’s different character designs and if anything, I look forward to reading her next manga series “March Comes in Like a Lion” (which was nominated in 2009 for a 2nd Annual Manga Taishou) and hopefully we receive an American release for it.

Overall, “Honey and Clover” has been nothing but an enjoyable, dramatic manga series. It has been great to get away from the supernatural or extremely dark manga series and to find one that deals with genuine characters and their emotions of young adult life, finding a career, finding love and life after graduation. From beginning to end, this series has been quite enjoyable and so entertaining!

If you have been reading the series thus far, it’s a no-brainer that the final volume is a must buy. And if you are a person who has never read this manga series before and want something a bit more realistic and fun, I highly recommend “Honey and Clover”. It’s easy to get into and its a series that is not very long at all.

Definitely recommended!

Filed Under: Manga News and Reviews

honey and clover Vol. 9 by Chica Umino (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

April 28, 2010 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

The next-to-last volume of the “Honey and Clover” manga series answers one major question involving a character but shocks us with a near tragedy to one of the main members of the group. An emotional volume definitely preparing us for the final tenth volume of the popular manga series. Definitely recommended!

MANGA TITLE: honey and clover vol. 9

STORY AND ART BY: Chica Umino (羽海野チカ)

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: SHUEISHA, Inc.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC/Shojo Beat Manga

RATED: T for Older Teen

The mystery behind Morita’s obsession with money is finally revealed – he and his brother Kaoru need all the cash they can get their hands on to bankroll their revenge against the man who destroyed their father. Now they’re finally close to their goal, but what will they do once their purpose for living is gone?

The ninth volume of “Honey and Clover” focuses on Yuta Takemoto’s indecisiveness of whether to focus on his career or stay in the city to be close to a girl that he loves (and not sure if she cares about him the same way). Also, answers to why Morita is constantly leaving school to do high paying odd jobs and a near tragic accident strikes one of the members of the group and may change this person’s life forever.

Here is a brief summary of each character of “honey and clover”:

The two female characters are:

Hagumi: A shy, gifted sculptor who is graduating and has a lot of pressure to perform. But now she’s starting to discover that being world renown for her paintings may not be her thing.

And two characters that is not part of the main group but important to the storyline:

Mayama’s co-workers at Fujiwara Architects also play a role in the series:

Miwako – The boss of Fujiwara Architects and likes to make fun of her employees and make them feel uncomfortable at times. And very close to her dog.

Yamazaki - An employee at Fujiwara Architects that has a crush on Miwako but Miwako tends to look at him as an employee she can try to take advantage and make fun of.

Here is what to expect from volume 9 (summaries only, no spoilers):

Chapter 54 – Takemoto and Hagumi know that they are near graduation and it is starting to hit them that their friendships and their closeness as a group will be ending.

Chapter 55 – We learn about the past of Morita and his older brother and Kaoru and how their father was betrayed by a close friend.

Chapter 56 – Morita and Kaoru plan to make their move for revenge.

Chapter 57 – Near tragedy hits one of the main characters and now it is not known if the person will ever be able to use their hands.

Chapter 58 – Morita re-evaluates his life and standing by his brother’s side. Meanwhile, the group worries about the injuries of their dear friend and if that friend will ever be able to work again.

Chapter 59 – As the friends worry about the future of their other injured friend, Takemoto must make a decision of whether to pursue the job offer he has received or to stay and support his friend.

Chapter 60 – Morita finds out about the injuries to the friend and returns to be with that person.

Also, included is a chapter of “Umino and Her Friends” in which Umino talks about having her manga published in two publications but due to the economy, those publications folding. Also, included is a Honey and Clover Study Guide featuring explanations on various words used in this latest volume.

Here we are, over a year later and with the ninth volume of “Honey and Clover”, the next to last volume in the manga series.

For those of us who have read this manga series since the beginning, have seen the anime series or even the live film. In many ways, it’s sad to say goodbye to this series because Chica Umino has done such a fantastic job in character development and making this series so genuine and real, that you actually care for each of these characters.

This latest volume does answer questions in regards to Morita and possibly why he hasn’t graduated college but now it introduces us a big question to what will happen to one of the members of the group after the accident. I have to admit that I was not expecting this accident to happen, especially to the character that is now hospitalized. Each of these characters are talented in what they do and the fact that each of them are close to each other, like family, you can sympathize in what the characters are feeling, when something near tragic happens to a loved one.

This storyline will definitely set things up for the final volume which I look forward to but in many ways, I think anyone who has graduated from high school, college and had a great group of friends knows how things go after everyone graduates. And these are the emotions that Hagumi and Takemoto feel in this volume. But what happens next? I suppose we’ll find out in the final tenth volume.

Overall, “Honey and Clover” has been nothing but an enjoyable, dramatic manga series. It has been great to get away from the supernatural or extremely dark manga series and to find one that deals with genuine characters and their emotions of young adult life, finding a career, finding love and life after graduation. Volume nine definitely answers some questions but also adds a major question mark on one of the main members of the group.

If you have been reading the series thus far, it’s a no-brainer that the ninth volume is a must buy. And if you are a person who has never read the manga series, I highly recommend “Honey and Clover”. It’s easy to get into and its a series that is not very long at all. Definitely check it out!

Filed Under: Manga News and Reviews

honey and clover Vol. 8 by Chica Umino (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

March 28, 2010 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

Volume 8 of ‘honey and clover’ is probably the most emotional volume of the series yet. Featuring an Ayumi-Mayama-Rika-Nomiya driven volume and if you have stayed with this manga for this long, definitely a volume worth reading! Highly recommended!

MANGA TITLE: honey and clover vol. 8

STORY AND ART BY: Chica Umino (羽海野チカ)

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: SHUEISHA, Inc.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC/Shojo Beat Manga

RATED: T for Older Teen

Ayu still can’t give up on her love for Mayama, even though his relationship with Rika seems to be deepening. Nomiya’s growing interest in Ayu might be a balm to her broken heart, but he’s moving to Tottori for six months! Is Ayu cursed to suffer hopeless love affairs forever?

Six volumes ago, Chica Umino’s “honey and clover” began as a manga series about a group of art students/friends who attended together. You had the young Yuta Takemoto who was just happy to make good friends at the school; the carefree and crazy Shinobu Morita who lived next door to Yuta; Takumi Moriyama who interned for a business and fell in love with his boss (who is a widow still in mourning); Ayumi Yamada, the sculptor who has always loved Mayama but knows he has no interest in her and then the gifted artist who looks like a young girl, Hagumi.

Five students who grew up with each other with the advice of their friend Professor Hanamoto and have weathered challenges in their friendship and also preparing for that next step into adulthood by finding a career for themselves.

“honey and clover Vol. 8″ marks Umino’s fifth year working on the manga and also the fifth year in the lives of these characters. Everyone is grown up, working their own careers while the only college students are Yuta and Shinobu (who seems like he will never graduate since he takes off on a leave of absence to do high paying gigs). But one unresolved storyline is the love triangle storyline between Ayumi, Mayama and Rika. Ayumi loves Mayama who loves his boss Rika. It’s been like this for years and now, things become much more complicates as Mayama’s former co-worker Nomiya-san finds himself falling deeply in love for Ayumi. But with Ayumi still not over Mayama, can she find love elsewhere?

Here is a brief summary of each character of “honey and clover”:

The two female characters are:

Hagumi: A shy, gifted sculptor who is graduating and has a lot of pressure to perform. But now she’s starting to discover that being world renown for her paintings may not be her thing.

And two characters that is not part of the main group but important to the storyline:

Mayama’s co-workers at Fujiwara Architects also play a role in the series:

Miwako – The boss of Fujiwara Architects and likes to make fun of her employees and make them feel uncomfortable at times. And very close to her dog.

Yamazaki - An employee at Fujiwara Architects that has a crush on Miwako but Miwako tends to look at him as an employee she can try to take advantage and make fun of.

Here is what to expect from volume 8 (summaries only, no spoilers):

Chapter 47 – As Ayumi now works with Rika and Mayumi, she starts to know how different he is around Rika versus when he is around her.

Chapter 48 – Nomiya starts to learn more about his feelings towards Ayumi.

Chapter 49 – When Nomiya drives ten hours straight to check on Ayumi, he is unaware that Miwako has sent Ayumi to deliver merchandise to him.

Chapter 50 – Nomiya must decide if he wants to let Ayumi know of how he feels about her.

Chapter 51 – Mayama accompanies Rika on a trip to Hokkaido.

Chapter 52 – Miwako takes Ayumi out to Health Land for some R&R.

Chapter 53 – Ayumi must make sense of her feelings, now knowing that Mayama will never love her.

Also, included is a chapter of “Otaku House Call!” in which Chica Umino talks about how she wanted to thank the anime production team for working on the anime series of “honey and clover”. Plus the “honey and clover” study guide.

After a few volume focusing on Takemoto, Chica Umino now brings the story back to the storyline of Ayumi and Mayama. For many years, we have read about how Ayumi loves Mayama, Mayama loves Rika and Ayumi having difficulty of letting go. But with this latest volume, it’s quite evident that she appears to finally have gotten the hint that she and Mayama are never going to happen. And to make things even a bit more complex for her, Nomiya letting her know that he loves her, even though he knows that she is in love with Mayama.

So, I look at this volume as Umino really trying to tie things up with this storyline and letting these young adults now proceed with life. Mayama wanting Rika to know his true feelings and the same with Nomiya wanting Ayumi to know his true feelings for her and suffice to say, Ayumi definitely needs to move forward and hopefully after this volume, she has.

Overall, Chica Umino definitely captures that young adult angst in the seventh volume of “honey and clover” and I look forward in seeing how this series will conclude with three more volumes left in the manga series. If you have stayed with the manga series this long, then volume 8 of “honey and clover” is definitely worth reading! This latest volume is much more emotional than any of the previous volumes of “honey and clover” but Umino does another fine job by tying some loose ends with this volume.

Definitely a young adult manga series worth reading!

Filed Under: Manga News and Reviews

honey and clover Vol. 7 by Chica Umino (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

October 22, 2009 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Volume 7 of ‘honey and clover’ is more Takemoto-driven and explores the fears and angst that young adults have when they come close to graduating from college. In Takemoto’s case, that feeling that he must find himself and Chica Umino gives us wonderful insight on the transformation of Takemoto. Another wonderful volume of ‘honey and clover’. Highly recommended!”

MANGA TITLE: honey and clover vol. 7

STORY AND ART BY: Chica Umino (羽海野チカ)

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: SHUEISHA, Inc.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC/Shojo Beat Manga

RATED: T for Older Teen

Takemoto’s journey across Japan continues, and though he’s sleeping in empty lots and subsisting on convenience store food, he seems to be getting closer to understanding what made him ride away from school and his friends. But with his money running out and his bike on its last legs, will he have to give up on his quest before he finds what he’s looking for?

“honey and clover Vol. 7″ marks Umino’s fifth year working on the manga and also the fifth year in the lives of these characters. This time around, this volume is Yuta Takemoto-driven, as the student has left his friends without saying goodbye and took off to find himself and maybe find out what kind of person he truly is and what kind of career that he wants. And for the other characters, a mere progression in life with Ayumi wanting to be hired by the woman that Mayama is in love with to Hagumi working as an art teacher for children.

Here is a brief summary of each character of “honey and clover”:

The two female characters are:

Hagumi: A shy, gifted sculptor who is graduating and has a lot of pressure to perform. But now she’s starting to discover that being world renown for her paintings may not be her thing.

And two characters that is not part of the main group but important to the storyline:

Mayama’s co-workers at Fujiwara Architects also play a role in the series:

Miwako – The boss of Fujiwara Architects and likes to make fun of her employees and make them feel uncomfortable at times. And very close to her dog.

Yamazaki - An employee at Fujiwara Architects that has a crush on Miwako but Miwako tends to look at him as an employee she can try to take advantage and make fun of.

Here is what to expect from volume 7 (summaries only, no spoilers):

Chapter 41 – Takemoto arrives in Matsushima but his bike is having problems and now he’s low on money. Takemoto encounters a group of temple and shrine restorers who take him in as a cook in order for him to make some money.

Chapter 42 – It’s Takemoto’s first day on the job as a cook and for Hagumi, her first day as an art teacher.

Chapter 43 – Takemoto is excelling at his job as a cook but his new friends know that he should continue on his quest to find himself.

Chapter 44 – Takemoto continues on his quest to find himself, while Hagumi learns about herself through her young student.

Chapter 45 – Takemoto has found solace in his long trip and now he must return back home.

Chapter 46 – The return of Takemoto and his friend’s reaction when they find a changed man.

Bonus Chapter – The Legendary Hero * Nyanzaburo – The story about how Nyanzaburo helped the amusement park, Arakawa Land.

Also, included is a chapter of “Otaku House Call!” in which Chica Umino looks back on her five years working on the manga. Also, included is a Honey and Clover Study Guide which explains certain Japanese terminology featured in volume seven.

“honey and clover vol. 7″ was an interesting chapter because it focuses a lot on Yuta Takemoto and his journey of finding himself and what to do with his life. The other characters of the series are also featured but this volume is dominated by Takemoto’s journey and Hagu’s job as a teacher.

I really found this volume to be quite enjoyable because it was different in the fact that it relies heavily on a sole character but also for the fact that these emotions that Takemoto feel are feelings that many young adults make when they graduate from college. Some are easy to transition to their new career but some need to find out more about themselves before proceeding to the next level.

With Takemoto, he’s always been a person that stayed back and let everyone speak up but through this journey, the young naive and shy student that we saw from previous volumes has become a man and no longer is he afraid to speak his mind.

For the women, there is a storyline between Rika wanting to hire Ayumi but she is still hurt in the fact that Mayama will never love her like she has loved him and to make things even more difficult, the woman he loves wants to hire her on projects. Personally, with so many men who fall for Ayumi, you wonder how long can Umino hold Ayumi back. I understand she has harbored these feelings for him for many years but I would love to see her character meet some happiness.

And for Hagu, she’s in a bit of funk right now. With graduation, pressure to do her best since she’s a gifted artist and now having to teach children seems that it’ll take its toll on her. But you often wonder how much of that fear is caused by the fact that Takemoto left her.

Overall, Chica Umino definitely captures that young adult angst in the seventh volume of “honey and clover” and I look forward in seeing how this series will conclude with three more volumes left in the manga series. If you have stayed with the manga series this long, then volume 7 of “honey and clover” is definitely worth reading! Definitely a young adult manga series worth reading!

Filed Under: Manga News and Reviews

honey and clover Vol. 6 by Chica Umino (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

June 29, 2009 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Volume 6 of ‘honey and clover’ is well-rounded in terms of character development. Chica Umino does a wonderful job weaving through each of the characters emotions, may it be personal or career changing decisions. This is definitely a volume in which many people can really understand the characters and the thoughts and anguish they are going through in regards to making important adult decisions. Another excellent volume of ‘honey and clover’. Highly recommended!”

MANGA TITLE: honey and clover vol. 6

STORY AND ART BY: Chica Umino (羽海野チカ)

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: SHUEISHA, Inc.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC/Shojo Beat Manga

RATED: T for Older Teen

With graduation projects in full swing, Takemoto and Hagu are face-to-face with their future. Takemoto’s complete lack of job prospects are making a sad situation worse, and Hagu just wants to return to her home in the country to pain. With pressure mounting from the outside world, what life-altering choices will these two make?

Planning for the future and the fear of getting a job after college is a scary situation that many students go through and now Yuta Takemoto now wonders what job is willing to hire him but with all the stress, sometimes one needs to get some space and reflect and find themselves.

“honey and clover” vol. 6 is about discovery for each of our main characters. Discovery of Yuta’s future, discovery of Hagu’s goal in life, discovery of Morita’s future, discover of Ayumi’s feeling for Mayama and vice versa. And even Professor Hanamoto starts to realize that perhaps his dreams are being realized through one of his students.

In the manga series, “honey and clover” revolves around three guys who live in an apartment complex and attend an art school. By the sixth volume, many of the the students have graduated and are working careers. With the last remaining two, Takemoto and Hagu now pondering their future as they are about to graduate.

Here is a brief summary of each character of “honey and clover”:

The two female characters are:

Hagumi: A shy, gifted sculptor who is graduating and has a lot of pressure to perform. But now she’s starting to discover that being world renown for her paintings may not be her thing.

And two characters that is not part of the main group but important to the storyline:

Mayama’s co-workers at Fujiwara Architects also play a role in the series:

Miwako – The boss of Fujiwara Architects and likes to make fun of her employees and make them feel uncomfortable at times. And very close to her dog.

Yamazaki - An employee at Fujiwara Architects that has a crush on Miwako but Miwako tends to look at him as an employee she can try to take advantage and make fun of.

Here is what to expect from volume 6 (summaries only, no spoilers):

Chapter 35 – Mayama tries to find out why Yamada cares so much for Mayama despite Mayama not having the same feelings for her.

Chapter 36 – Mayama and Morita stress out when Yamada has not come home and wonder if Nomiya has taken advantage of her.

Chapter 37 – Everyone is going through life and career changes and wondering what their future holds for them.

Chapter 38 – Professor Hanamoto may be able to pull some strings and get Takemoto a job.

Chapter 39 – Takemoto leaves without contacting anyone or leaving a message and tries to find himself.

Chapter 40 – Takemoto tries to survive with what little money he has, while he tries to discover himself. Morita tries to do the same.

Bonus Chapter – Miwako tries her best to embarrass her employee Yamazaki by buying him the most ridiculous clothes she can find and making him wear it.

Also, included after the final chapter is “Challenge Club”, a story about Umino’s passion for collecting seashells. Also, a chapter of “Otaku House Call!” is included as no matter how Umino tries to not look Otaku, somehow Otaku’s zero in on her. Also, included is a Honey and Clover Study Guide which explains certain Japanese terminology featured in volume 6.

The sixth volume of “honey and clover” definitely captures the angst, the humor, the enjoyment of each character. In fact, I would have to say that this volume was well-rounded as everyone is featured and is more dramatic in terms of each person now trying to find themselves and sort out their own feelings and emotions of their life and their career.

With this volume, I think that many readers can feel the emotions that these characters feel. Takemoto’s uneasiness and stress of trying to find a new job after college, Morita seeing everyone making life changing decisions and knowing that he needs to do the same and of course, Mayama and Yamada starting to understand their emotions towards each other and knowing that they need to move forward alone.

Overall, “honey and clover” vol. 6 is another wonderful volume from the popular Chica Umino series. Despite the craziness of Morita, nearly every character in the manga series are quite real and I can sympathize and understand these characters and what they are going through.

Again, if you have been curious about this manga series, “honey and clover” is just a magnificent series featuring cool character designs but most of all, a well-written storyline about five friends growing up as college students and now entering their lives as young adults and planning for their careers.

“honey and clover” vol. 6 is highly recommended!

Filed Under: Manga News and Reviews

honey and clover Vol. 2 (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

January 18, 2009 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

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“Volume 2 continues the fun, hilarious storyline from the last volume. This volume features more dramatic undertones with the characters but still managing to capture the fun and enjoyablity that the first volumew as known for. Well-written and beautiful artwork from the award-winning manga artist Chica Umino.”

MANGA TITLE: honey and clover vol. 2

STORY AND ART BY: Chica Umino (羽海野チカ)

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: SHUEISHA, Inc.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC/Shojo Beat Manga

RATED: T for Older Teen

Love is never easy for our heroes. Takamoto 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.

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”.

The second volume of “honey and clover” continues that fun, enjoyable atmosphere that came from that first volume but now getting into more of the dramatic stories of each character.

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.

The female characters 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).

And characters that are not part of the main group but important to the storyline:

Professor Hanamoto: Just like one of the guys, Hanamoto is the guardian of Hagumi and more or less like an advisor to the students. He attended the same art school with best friend and roommate Harada who dated a woman named Rika. The three were inseparable and both Harada and Rika got married. But after Harada’s death, he continued to help care for Rika who is now the boss at a design firm that Mayama works at.

Rika: She’s a friend of Hanamoto that runs a design firm that Mayama works for. She knows that Mayama loves her but because of the pain she suffers from that accident that killed her boyfriend (and Professor Hanamoto’s best friend), she likes to inflict pain onto herself.

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 10 revolves around Yuta Takemoto. Yuta returns home to visit his mother. He hasn’t really visited his home mainly because he resents his stepfather and really hasn’t accepted him into the family in since the death of his father. His stepfather tries to get closer to Yuta and letting him know that despite being his stepfather, he will never replace his real father. But more or less a storyline focusing on Yuta and his own personal family life.

Chapter 11 features the group going on a trip. Ayu still loves Mayama but Mayama thinks only of Rika. Morita sees how people are down and tries to get everyone to have fun (or get drunk) but have a good time.

Chapter 12 features a trip to the zoo. But the major part of this storyline is learning about Hanamoto’s relationship with Rika and Hanamoto and Mayama having a long talk about Rika and why he was offered to work at her office.

Chapter 13 features Yuta and Morita vying for Hagumi’s affections. Meanwhile, Morita must finish his project to finally graduate but will he complete it or will he need to retake the course again. The most important part of this chapter is Ayu finally revealing her feelings to Mayama. No holding back.

Chapter 14 features Hanamoto taking a sabbatical to do research in another country. That means he will have to leave Hagumi. Hagumi wants to find a four leaf clover to give to Hanamoto for good luck and the gang tries to help her find one. This chapter introduces how Hanamoto became Hagumi’s guardian.

Chapter 15 features Yutaka’s birthday party with Hagumi cooking her specialty “Chocolate Mintkin”, a pumpkin popped in the microwave and topped with chocolate mint ice cream afterwards. Meanwhile it is revealed how Hanamoto is doing in the other country and how Hagumi is doing without Hanamoto. Whether their relationship is like father and daughter or more than that, you don’t know. Also, Yutaka starting to have more feelings towards Hagumi.

Also, included is a side story which includes “Honey & Clover: The Story So Far” with the perspective from Midori-chan (a dog that lives in the same building where Hagumi is staying), “Otaku House Call” which is a segment featuring cute character animal drawing designs of Umino and the people who work with her and a story of behind-the-scenes as they work together. And the third part is a study guide of key locations featured in the manga that people can check out if they visit Japan.

The second volume was very good. Where the last volume featured mostly the fun and games between the characters, volume 2 focused more on the dramatic situations in their lives and possible upcoming love triangles that may pose problems for the friends in upcoming chapters.

Although “honey and clover” is a “Shojo Beat” title, this is not a manga strictly for females. The story involves men and women and the complexity they face in their lives. May it be graduation, what to do after graduation or the emotions that they feel inside but somehow, finding difficulty to express them.

“honey and clover” is a well-told drama ala manga series and it’s no surprise whey this manga series has had a live drama, anime series and film adaption. The storyline is enjoyable and there is an innocence to the storyline that we all can relate to. Also, it’s a fun manga series that is well written and well drawn and I’m impressed with how much Umino is able to include with each and every chapter.

Volume 2 continues that fun and beautiful storyline and designs that I loved with the first volume and I look forward to volume 3. Another recommended volume in the “honey and clover” manga series!

Filed Under: Manga News and Reviews