Honey and Clover - episode twenty

I don’t normally include personal experiences in my reviews, but this episode of Honey and Clover almost made me fail a university test. Somehow, it was worth it.

It almost certainly was based on the strength of the impassioned Morita scenes alone. Nomiya has actually come around, and Mayama … oh, Mayama. Once more, Takemoto is a support character for Hagu, but this episode is packed as it is, so that’s okay.

Herein Nomiya realises that he has little chance with Yamada – he is older, so he can understand hopeless love better than she – and Mayama realises that he doesn’t really have that much against Nomiya, that the reason the two don’t get along is because each is very close to the other.
Meanwhile, Takemoto has been discussing the future with Hagu-chan, and her plans depress him. Morita decides to take action after Shuu has revealed his own history with university and it is realised that his attitude towards his niece is affected by that.

I really get the sense that Takemoto and Morita are brothers in a way, Morita being more unhinged and proactive, both of them caring deeply about the people around them but being too shy to really express this about themselves in a proper fashion. Since Morita came to understand that Takemoto cared about his departure, he seems to have gained courage. I really loved the scenes wherein Morita completely dropped his airy façade and became entirely serious and impassioned about what his friends are doing wrong.
He wasn’t even being judgemental; his actions were completely rational, and even admirable.

I can personally identify with Shuu, because he gives his reason for becoming a teacher in this episode. Shuu perfectly understands art theory, but he can not produce art to save himself. When he realised the joy that he got from helping Rika and Harada(?) understand concepts, he decided that he should become a teacher.
I was always good at theory myself, and this is not exactly depressing. Still, the expectations that Shuu places upon Hagu-chan are, without him even realising it. By the end of the episode, Hagu-chan is in a heartbreaking mess.
Don’t blame Shuu; blame the industry.

A wholly excellent episode, very little in the way of visual blarghs, although one does have to wonder why the screen had questions and thoughts written across it, ala Evangelion.
Still, never mind; doomed and ambiguous romances have never been this good.