Anime Pilgrimage RTT

Honey & Clover II – episode 5

August 6, 2006 on 9:17 pm | In Honey and Clover | 1 Comment

“Suffering even though I’m happy”

I was laughing at the end of this episode. Laughing because, Yamada, you have figured it out and don’t yet want to admit it to yourself. Embrace the truth! The truth shall make ye free!

Kind of spoilers

Miwako takes Yamada out to a health spa for some relaxation, where she flickers in between euphoria and deepseated crying. She can’t quite decide which to feel because, as Miwako tells us, “it’s impossible to think of sad things when you’re wearing a flowery muumuu”.

The focus also returns to Takemoto after Shuu-chan defenestrates both Takemoto and Morita. Due to his abject poverty, Takemoto is forced into dating Mayama.

Also it is revealed that Kaoru is the Godfather.

First order of business is Yamada. I don’t think that realising her feelings for Nomiya is like denying that her feelings for Mayama ever existed. If we couldn’t move on after a disappointment or heartbreak, we would never get anywhere. Therefore I say to take the open, available and caring Nomiya by the horns. If Mayama tried to stop the relationship at this point it would simply be pettiness on his part, and that is something that I simply cannot stand for.
Through the engineering of Miwako, everyone can now be happy. She has figured out that Rika has opened a part of her heart to Mayama (it was either that or kill herself, and I know which of those courses is the more advisable). She doesn’t really need to put in that much effort with Nomiya, but her big sisterly nature is a nice facilitation in what is ultimately destiny.

The participation of Takemoto and Morita in this episode was welcomed, although Morita acted his typical bastard self around Hagu-chan. She was most certainly and unsurprisingly unhappy when she had her hand bitten off.
Why does Morita act like this, eating everyone’s food when he is rich? It is because, and this is the economical part of the episode, all of his money belongs to the Morita family so that they can achieve their grand plans. What are these grand plans? Hell if I know, but it’s got something to do with fleecing children worldwide of their money for the rest of their lives. It is a contract of pure evil to be executed by Kaoru, and maybe now Morita is starting to have his doubts about this direction in his life. It’s so much easier to escape into the world of hand biting than it is to face the bleakness of reality. It’s also a really strange way of showing someone that you like them.

The economy continues with Takemoto realising that of his friends, he is the only poor one. While he’s got the Tower of Youth, and he had his visit to the northernmost portion of Japan, I’ve got the feeling that he is still without a goal or a real means of supporting himself. The reason that he spent all of his money on his driver’s licence is so that he could relive the glory of his time with the construction workers*, but where is his ultimate goal? What does he want to do with himself? Unless you’re incredibly lucky, university can’t always help you out in that regard.
This is in stark contrast to everyone else: Yamada, holding herself back; Hagu-chan, impeding the course of her life for different reasons; Morita, forced into a business of filial piety and unable to connect to people on a real level; and, finally, Mayama.
Mayama is the “true” romantic of the group. The reason for his thrift is disclosed: he wants to be prepared. Despite all of the stalking and the weirdness that he has embarked on, his commitment to his ideals is palpable. His love is not some mere infatuation and he has the blessing of all of his peers. Even Yamada can see that. Mayama has money so that he need never spend it, and that makes him our hero.

Honey & Clover now has the potential to end itself in a happy fashion. The manga run just concluded in Japan, so let’s all make a pilgrimage to the northernmost point and discover the true meaning of our lives! The meaning, I think you’ll find, is not “settling for second best” but rather “adjusting to your situation in an adult fashion and allowing oneself to love again”. If that’s not something to aspire to, I don’t know what is.

*This sounds kind of weird.