Honey and Clover - Yay or Nay?

 

Honey and Clover is a 10 volume series by Chica Umino, which is printed by Viz medias Shojo branch, Shojo Beat. It is a Josei series with a male protagonist driven series that is aimed at a female audience, which is not a common theme these days, which is such a pity.

I honestly don't particularly like this series despite it deviating from the norm. I don't particularly like the fact that the characters don't look their age, it really throws me off sometimes. I do like how refreshing it is to have a main character as a male, which is not often seen outside a few titles like Hatsu*Haru and My Love Story.

Not particularly fond of the art style either, maybe that's just me but it's not something I'd enjoy looking at for long periods of time. It gave me a headache at one point, could be the art or me trying to keep figuring out the story, who knows.
The characters are okay, Morita being the only outstanding one to me in the end while the others didn't really leave a lasting impact, not even the main protag had a redeeming thing about him that would make him stick out.

There is a typical love triangle trope going and it's not enticing for some reason, feels kind of forced and in some instances, kind of creepy.
Like the story seems interesting but lack of hook and how disjointed it felt made me reconsider it further. It didn't seem to flow or it reminded of someone randomly thinking back on a memory rather than how a story should feel. 
Sure it got good in some parts but it feels off, not something I'd peg for myself but others may enjoy it, so do consider looking into it.

I rather have the story follow the guys more than anything else, it would have been far more interesting, which is a huge bonus for this story since it kind of does it, in a way. It would set it apart from other Josei and Shojo series that are slowly coming out these days. Heck, the years ago there was more variety, which is such a pity it's not happening now while people are dealing with corvid and have a strong fanbase compared to when I first started.

This is probably not a series for me, it probably end up in the section of series I assumed may like if I read more but end up resenting spending so much on it. Other titles like this includes Ao Haru Ride, Sand Chronicles and We Were There, they started off good but I stopped enjoying them before long, which was such a disappointment but it can't be helped, like people, you can't like everything.
Honestly, the more I read, the less interested I had become to the extent it was basically a chore to even read said volume. I'd hate to think that if this volume felt tiring to read, I dread to think what the other 9 volumes would feel like.

You can find some copies at Book Depository

VERDICT: Nay~