Honey and Clover - episode eighteen

“He’s back”



I would say that this was the best episode yet but for two reasons: it’s likely to be surpassed and I didn’t really like the ending.
Honey and Clover is at its manic comedy best when it has Morita in the spotlight. It is no spoiler to say that he’s back, as the end of episode seventeen was blatantly obvious … and he was always going to come back, we just didn’t know when.

Basically this episode kicks off with the group watching Morita win a Mochademy Award for special effects in the hit movie “Space Titanic”. They watch his rambling speech with horror, then realise with more horror that he is in the hospital bed next to them.
What ensues is an excellent episode about graduation and Takemoto’s uncertainness about his relationship with Hagu.

For a minute there, I thought that Morita had really graduated, that he had learned. I can be forgiven for thinking this, as the “finally serious” Morita was very strong indeed, before he went all bowtie and first year.
I loved the sunset feel of the graduation scenes, which is why they were kind of ruined by the dawn feel of the new university year. I understand the necessity of first year Morita, especially after so long in the wilderness for him, and it’s not a ruiner – it just slightly cheapens the emotions.

I think that Yamada must work in the pottery department of the university, because she is still there despite graduating at the same time as Yamada. It is slightly confusing when these characters have to have their majors when Hagu-chan does such a wide variety of work: starting in pottery (where she met Yamada), working in sculpture (where Takemoto became surprised by her skill, and where she showed her desperation), but dedicating herself to painting as well (such as her giraffe experience).
Of course, this is the point of Hagu-chan: she is endlessly talented, but she needs to focus that talent or become distressed - which is Morita's problem and precisely why he's coming back. This is yet another thing to add to the list of comparisons between Takemoto and these two: directionlessness.
However, I could argue that this is common among students.

Overall a strong episode that had to work as it did, even if I didn't quite like the outcome.