ハチミツとクローバー (Hachimitsu to Clover) ▫️ 2006 ▫️Info

This is a film I have warm memories of. I originally watched it when I myself was young and in art school and I even started painting because of Aoi’s character. Needless to say I was excited to revisit this story.

The atmosphere of the movie is still strong and I enjoyed the messy love stories. But a lot of the warmth and enjoyment I recall having didn’t surface for me on this viewing. There was something lacking in the flow, something hollow feeling. There is a part of me that thinks maybe my warm nostalgia is connected to the live action drama starring Ikuta Toma, but I’ll have to re-watch that to confirm.

I really liked the casting in this film. I haven’t read the manga but each actor felt right for their character. Some of the shots were quite nice and the costume and sets were great. There is a lot of fashion inspo—I definitely need more girly dresses over pants and an early 2000s digital camera around my neck. The scenes around the art school were nice to look at and the color palette overall was fantastic. There is some nice tension and angst in the love stories and Sho’s character is adorable. Despite all these enjoyable elements, I felt a bit disconnected while watching it. It might be due to the classic downfall of trying to fit a long series into a shorter film format: so much of the flow and depth of the original story gets too compacted to truly connect.

Still, it’s a bit hard for me to describe why I felt so disappointed. I could blame my expectations but honestly they weren’t high—I just remembered a well made and entertaining film. After this viewing I felt the story fell flat and the production wasn’t anything special. I wasn’t that invested in the characters or their growth, even though that’s the focus of the film. The romantic ideals around art school (or even just early college life) of course may have not resonated with me as much this time around because I have moved on from that part of my life. I don’t think this is a bad film by any means, but I was surprised to find I enjoyed it less than I expected.