Honey and Clover.

2006/12/17 23:34

One of my girlfriend’s favorite manga is Honey and Clover.

There’s a very distinctive part of the story where one of the characters, Takemoto, takes off on a bicycle and goes around the country on a soul-seeking journey.

On that journey, he meets many different people and grows in a number of ways.

That part of the story apparently really hit Y-ko’s sweet spot.

Y-KO:	Ahh, I wish I could go on a soul-seeking journey like Takemoto!
ME:	Uhh… you do?
Y-KO:	Huh? Why do you sound so exasperated?
ME:	Well… You don’t really strike me as being the Takemoto type.
	If anything, you’re closer to Morita…
Y-KO:	Morita? Why?
ME:	Because he doesn’t need to travel to “find himself.” He’s already got a strong identity.
	He lives completely by his own whims and fancies without a care in the world…
	I know that’s a poor description, but you strike me as the Morita type.
Y-KO:	Really. You think I’m that willful?
ME:	You mean you weren’t aware of that…?
Y-KO:	Yeah. I mean, look at how much I want to go on a soul-searching journey!
	C’mon, Sebas! Let’s take a bike ride to Hokkaido!
ME:	Together?! That’s not a soul-searching journey, that’s a vacation!
Y-KO:	Aww! But I’ll get tired of riding my bike.
	You can pedal, and I’ll ride on the back.
ME:	On the back?! What happened to the soul-searching part?!
	This is turning into a vacation where I do all the work and get tired!!
Y-KO:	Well, don’t you like that Ghibli movie, Whisper of the Heart?
	Remember that scene where the boy and girl ride a bike together? Wouldn’t you like that?
	I’ll even sing “Take Me Home, Country Roads” rather than “Gandhara.” Deal?
ME:	What makes you think I would possibly consider that a “deal”…?

I mean, true, I do enjoy “Take Me Home, Country Roads” better than “Gandhara,” but still…

Y-KO:	Come on. You’re getting twice the bang for your buck.
	The best parts of both Honey and Clover and Whisper of the Heart. Score!
ME:	They’re only the best parts for you, and there’s zero benefit for me!
Y-KO:	Oh, fine. Then I’ll let you handle the part about writing a BL novel.
	Happy now? That’s a major episode of the story.
ME:	There’s nothing even resembling that in either of those stories!
	I do remember a part where someone had wild flights of fancy, though!
Y-KO:	No way! Doesn’t the middle school girl write a novel? I’m pretty sure it’d be a BL—
ME:	No, it wouldn’t! Stop using yourself as the basis for everything!!
Y-KO:	That’s kind of rude to say. I made my BL debut in elementary school, you know.
ME:	Look… That’s not the…

In elementary school? Really?

A bit early to be starting down that path!

Y-KO:	… Oh, fine.
	Let’s make a huge concession and say that I might be more of the Morita type.
ME:	Right.
Y-KO:	If I’m supposed to be the Morita type, then what character from Honey and Clover do you resemble?
ME:	Uhh… I don’t really know how to respond to that…
Y-KO:	Mario? Luigi maybe?
ME:	Why do you pick the weirdest side characters…?

Totally obscure one-off ones, too…

I see… So I’m not cut out to be a protagonist, huh…?

Y-KO:	Hmm. Oh I guess you could be Leader, though.
ME:	Leader? I don’t remember a Leader character.
Y-KO:	Sure there was! Remember? The dog at Fujiwara Design.
ME:	So I’m not even a human being anymore?!
Y-KO:	Got a problem with that? At least you’re not the sand from the dunes of Tottori!
ME:	Really?! We’re finally sinking to inanimate objects?!
Y-KO:	Hey, you’d get stepped on by Yamada’s beautiful legs!
	That’s about the most blissful fate you could possibly hope for.
ME:	………

What is this saying about her perspective on my life…?

Being stepped on is the best I can hope for?

Y-KO:	Well, jokes aside, you’re probably more like Mayama than anyone else.
ME:	Aha.

Yes, yes, yes! Mayama, the handsome, stylish, and bespectacled one!

Congratulations, me! I knew I had it in me!

ME:	Mayama, huh? Why’s that?
Y-KO:	Well, it’s kind of hard to explain, but…
	How about the fact that he falls in love with a beautiful older woman? Dead giveaway, right?
ME:	…… That’s it?
Y-KO:	Yes. That’s it.
ME:	………
Y-KO:	Right?
ME:	………

The only similarity is that he fell in love with a beautiful older woman—

… Meaning that…

… the only thing you’re really trying to emphasize is that you’re a beautiful older woman?!

* “Gandhara” rather than “Take Me Home, Country Roads”: While Takemoto was on his journey, he often sang the hit song “Gandhara” by the long-running Japanese band Godiego. In Studio Ghibli’s Whisper of the Heart, the opening credits were accompanied by Olivia Newton-John’s cover of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

* The dunes of Tottori: The place where Ayumi Yamada and Nomiya went on a date in Honey and Clover. When Yamada announced she was going back to Tokyo, Nomiya could no longer keep himself from admitting his feelings for her, and they spent a day together. Later, when she finds sand from the dunes spilling out of her shoe, she is reminded of the time she spent with him and feels a sudden twinge of affection. This scene is very famous among H&C fans.