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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Rent | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 8 | Devil Doll | # |
[Score: 77%]
Hagu-chan is rather moé than kawaii, actually a shy genius brat and as such IMHO not the most likely candidate for forming a competition. And Morito is so absolutely bipolar that he frequently kills the serious mood of the show with his slapstick interludes. All other characters are likable (this show was aired in a "women's anime" slot in Japan after all) and have enough depth to be interesting, and their relations are growing over time. With unrequited love and the insecurities of growing up being core themes the tone of the narration is much more serious than in School Rumble, yet certain slapstick elements are always there. I have seen anime series telling similar stories such as Aishiteru Ze Baby or Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto both of which go without that silly overhead and consequently are more to my liking. The ending (with a sudden twist putting one character of this group of friends into the focus of events) is a bit of a non-ending but suitable for this show, given that a sequel has been released as well. This show had a lot of substance (if you like slow slice-of-life series)... it's just that I dislike certain parts of the presentation. But the serious mood of the narration is great and most of the characters feel real... with a bit less slapstick or some music that's more to my liking this grown-up version of Boys Be would have been a sure "Buy" candidate. Last updated Sunday, April 27 2008. | ||||||||
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| Unevaluated | Devil Doll | # | ||||||
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[1 episode watched]
Looks like I got another Romantic Comedy on my list with too little drama. The visual effects are something to get used to, with those 3D animation gimmicks during the unnerving OP song (the ED song is okay) and lots of SD faces during the conversations. Each character appears to have a certain slapstick element... I wonder whether this can really turn into a credible romance triangle. So after one episode my expections aren't exactly stellar, despite the immense praise this series has got. More when I've seen more. Last updated Friday, April 18 2008. | ||||||||
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| Buy | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | AstroNerdBoy | # |
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There are times when I start an anime and find myself not all that gripped by it for a few episodes. However, because I want to give proper reviews, I almost always press on to watch the whole series. This is such a title that starts off as an odd comedy title. Unlike other titles I've liked that started off slow, this title grew on me so subtly that by the time I realized it, I was already hooked. The series takes 24 episodes to cover a few years of time. So at the beginning, the core-group of student characters are all college students attending the same art college and at the end, some are in their adult lives, some are nearing the end of their college life, and one apparently plans to never leave school (Morita). The core six characters (Mayama, Morita, Takemoto, Ayu, Hagu-chan, and Hanamoto-sensei) have their lives explored as well as their friendship with each other. Of the group, the odd Morita is the only one who really doesn't have any moments of self reflection where his character's thoughts are shown the the audience. While he has important serious parts to play, he often plays the comedic role, which may account for his lacking self-reflection moments with the audience. Hagu-chan doesn't get many either now that I think about it. So the show focuses most on Takemoto, Mayama, and Ayu. The show does two things, and does them well. On one hand, we have a look at life as students go through college, prepare for the future, and take on their new lives as productive members of society. Through this, we see their relationships with each other. For example, Ayu is in love with Mayama and has been for some time. He loves her, but not romantically since that is reserved for Rika-san, a woman in his career field whom he worked for as an assistant. Rika-san uses Mayama (in a way that doesn't seem evil) but doesn't allow herself to fall for him. Ayu is pursued by the single men from the shopping district where her family owns a liquor store, but she's blind to their feelings. Takemoto falls in love with the tiny Hagu-chan. In his own weird way, so does Morita. At first, Hagu-chan seems mostly attached (in a non-romantic way) to her guardian Hanamoto-sensei, but that changes as she starts considering romantic possibilities with Takemoto or Morita. But its not all angst, self-reflection, or some other serious stuff. As the audience grows attached to the characters, the humor of the show comes out. At times, I was literally laughing out loud and some of the stuff and antics going on. Because I didn't know and love the characters in the beginning, I didn't find the humor back then funny. I do plan to go back and rewatch the early episodes to see if those moments strike me as better this time. One of the things that took me by surprise was the passage of time and subtle changes in some of the characters as they grew older (in looks, but also in character). This adds to the sense of realism in the anime. I could believe this group of characters could be real people dealing with the issues people that age deal with. A quick note on the art -- it is done in a soft, pastel style that is at times (as Stretch mentioned) like watercolors. Its not a favorite style of mine, but for this show, it works rather well. Bottom line: This is my first josei title that I'm aware of, and the experience was a good one. Likable characters, good character development, and good, well-written stories let me understand why the show (and manga) is so popular in Japan, to the point that they have released a live-action film in mid 2006. As such, I rate this a buy.Last updated Monday, January 08 2007. | ||||||||
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| Rent | Stretch | # | ||||||
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How's a person to explain a series in which the characters seem to spend a lot of their time talking about unexceptional things, yet somehow become endearing people you can identify with? While watching episode 1, the thought which popped into my head was "Ah, this show knows how to be funny!". I like the silly antics of the odd characters (especially Morita). This show knows how to be dramatic, too; romance, with it's ups and downs, is depicted in a more realistic manner than the usual high school series, but not in an overly angsty way, and I like the balance between the two extremes. One problem is that it's hard to take "Hagu-chan" seriously as an 18-year old love interest when she looks and frequently acts like she's about half that age. I find it interesting that other than Ueda Yuuji (Morita) the principal VAs of this series only have a handful of roles to their credit in other series, and Kudou Haruka (Hagu-chan) isn't listed anywhere else in our notables database. That would go along with my impression that Honey & Clover is a neat series that hasn't gotten the attention it deserves (not in the US, that is). Artwork often seems to have been done with watercolors, and I like the way colors tend to be carefully chosen to "go" with each other in a pleasing manner. I thought the OP song is a lot of fun--I'm glad it was retained for the second half of the series while the ED song was changed. More later...
Last updated Friday, June 30 2006. | ||||||||
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| Watch | 6 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 7 | Anonymous #1969 | # |
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Unlike some other manga turned anime, I'm afraid this series does not add that much to the manga series, still unfinished after 6 books. Yet, the anime series retains all the key points from the manga and helps to understand it better. The main character is Takemoto, and this series is about him maturing. The only problem in this series is that the female characters are less realistic and less developed compared to male characters. Yamada's continued infatuation with Mayama and her fighting prowess seems very cliched and Hagumi's physical immaturity is over exaggerated. Off course, the most weirdest of them all is Morita whose antics borders on insanity. The anime episode 1 to 5 mainly deals with first two books and the power of this manga series intensifies from the third book, so I recommend you all to have patience with it. It is a series that doesn't seem much at beginning, yet slowly grows in you, and after a while makes you review the early episodes.
Last updated Friday, May 20 2005. | ||||||||
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Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Japanese Series Web Site | http://www.hachikuro.net/ |
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