Honey and Clover Ep 03

Morita, Mayama and Takemoto are heading back to their apartments after going to the public bath when Takemoto receives a phonecall from Hagu who had returned to her hometown. Hagu asks him what souvenirs the trio want while Morita looks at Takemoto thoughtfully. Takemoto tells them that Hagu and Hanamoto will be bringing back soba as their souvenir and reminds them of the soba party at Hanamoto's place tomorrow night. Suddenly, Mayama receives a call and says that he is going somewhere. Morita reveals to Takemoto that the call was from a woman but he does not elaborate further.

The next morning, Takemoto finds Morita sleeping in Mayama's room where he had turned on the air-con, fan and played TV games all night just to make use of Mayama's electricity. Takemoto asks Morita if he will come for the soba party and the latter says that he will because he wants to see Hagu. Takemoto misunderstands that Morita is interested in Hagu so that he can take pictures of her again for the website. Just then, a man comes to Morita and tells him that there is a sudden assignment which would stretch to the day after tomorrow. On the way to work, Morita happens to see Hagu and Hanamoto walking along the street and his attention is fixed on Hagu...

Takemoto turns up at the party alone as Mayama has not returned home and Morita is nowhere to be found. To his surprise, he finds that this is a barbecue party instead of soba as mentioned previously. Hagu shows Takemoto her room and the clothes she has made for her dolls. Takemoto is very happy when he looks at Hagu obsessed with her dolls and offers to make a wardrobe for the dolls' clothes. However, he gets surprised when Hagu asks for a complicated design and wonders how he should go about doing it.

Takemoto sees Mayama coming to school with an older woman in a taxi and wonders about his relationship with that woman. Just as Takemoto is going to ask Mayama about this, Yamada runs out of nowhere and questions why Mayama is still involved with that woman. At this time, Morita returns to school and distracts Yamada which gives Mayama the chance to run away. Morita faints out of the fatigue and Takemoto brings him to the sick bay.

When Takemoto leaves the sick bay, he happens to see the woman whom was with Mayama just now and she goes to look for Hanamoto. Her name is Harada Rika and she walks with a crutch. Hanamoto asks about her condition and she says that she can cope with work with Mayama's help. Takemoto happens to bump into Hagu and has a snack with her but she runs off suddenly saying that she has a stomach ache.

Takemoto asks Hanamoto about Mayama's relationship with Rika and Hanamoto says that there is nothing special between them.

Yamada goes to look for Mayama and asks what he intends to do about Rika even though he likes her. Mayama then rebukes Yamada for chasing after him despite the fact that he will never love her and tells her to give up now. Yamada is stunned because she has never told Mayama about how she feels and yet he knows about it.

Yamada is working on her pottery creation and starts to cry when she thinks about her unrequited love for Mayama and his feelings for Rika. Morita offers her a drink so that she can replenish the water she has lost through crying. Yamada grumbles that Mayama also hides his true self in order to avoid being hurt or embarrassed. Morita then asks her why she likes him so much when she dislikes his character but Yamada says that it is an uncontrollable feeling...

The more I watch this anime, the more I like Morita. Initially, I did put Mayama as my No.1 character based on initial impressions but somehow, Morita has overtaken him as my No.1 character. He's funny and yet thinks more about things than what others can see on the surface. And he's more thoughtful than anyone can imagine like his buying of sandals for Hagu and giving a drink to Yamada but giving a not-so-romantic reason like you have to replenish the water you've lost. ^__^ What a sweet guy! I tend to think that he does feel something special for Hagu and he looked a bit sad when he saw Takemoto talking to Hagu on the phone.

My No.2 favourite character would be Yamada. No doubt she likes Mayama, she keeps pressing him to make a decision and buck up not because she wants to keep him for herself but because it pains her to see him agonising over his feelings for Rika. I think Yamada might be willing to give Mayama up if he can be with Rika and stay happy. That's how I see it at the moment but it is painful to see her being rejected in that way when Mayama made it clear that he would never fall for her. That's so harsh and frank but it's also the most direct and fastest way to convey your stand to the person who likes you. Mayama clearly doesn't want Yamada to continue wasting time on him.

I wonder why but Hagu seems to be the character who almost appears in the cartoon style all the time. It's better if they stop portraying her as a little kid. As for Takemoto, I think he's fine with me at the moment but I do think that he needs to realise what he is feeling for Hagu soon. Surely, he cannot be so lost throughout the anime?