Honey and Clover © 2005 CHICA UMINO/SHUEISHA • Honey and Clover committee

The Viz HQ is up and running again this week after some flooding shut down the office for a couple days. There are some great DVD sets and movies coming out in December that they would like to make sure you keep in mind for your holiday wishlists.

Naoki Urasawa’s Monster Box Set 1 (Episodes 1-15) on December 1st

Hunter X Hunter Box Set 4 (Episodes47-62) on December 1st

Naruto Shippuden Volume 4 (Episodes 14-17) on December 8th

Honey & Clover Box Set 2 (13 Uncut Episodes) on December 15th

Bleach Volume 23 (Episodes 92-95) on December 15th

20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End Movie on December 15th

Chica Umino’s manga has been brought to life in this animated version, which sees us following a group of art school students make their way through their education at Tokyo art college. New enrollment Yuta Takemoto and his senior classmate Shinobu Morita fall head over heels for the shy 19-year-old Hagumi Hanamoto, while Takumi Mayama (an architecture student) pines for an older woman and ceramics student Ayu Yamada is pining for Takumi! Hearts flutter and break in this romantic comedy, but who will survive?

The “HONEY AND CLOVER” manga has sold over 5,300,000 copies in Japan, and it also won the 27th Kodansha Manga Award in 2003. 2005 saw the adaptation of the manga into the anime series, and in 2006 there was a live-action version! So it must be pretty good if it’s come this far right?

VIZ Media will be releasing the first Uncut DVD Box Set for “HONEY AND CLOVER” on September 22nd, 2009. The 3-disc set has 13 episodes, is rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens and is priced at $59.90 US or $85.99 CAN. If you would like more info, you can find it at honeyandclover.viz.com.

Image: Honey and Clover© 2005 CHICA UMINO/SHUEISHA • Honey and Clover committee

Honey and Clover is a romantic comedy that focuses on five college students and the art school they attend. Mayama, Morita and Takemoto (played by J-Pop star Sho Sakurai, who also appeared in Hula Girls) aren’t necessarily living fancy lives, but they always manage to have fun. When a talented and pretty painter named Hagumi Hanamoto (played by Hula Girls star Yu Aoi) enrolls in the program, her presence and unique approach to art affects the entire school and her new friends, especially Takamoto. The plot thickens as Hagumi becomes embroiled in a complicated love triangle as she struggles to find her artistic voice. Takemoto has a deft touch with his art, but he’s not at his best with relationships, while Mayama is calm and gentle, and Morita is an eccentric genius and a rootless wanderer. Five one-sided feelings are tangling, with no answer in sight. Honey and Clover showcases the journey that everyone must take to transform from adolescence into adulthood and the long and challenging road these five young people must navigate to balance the demands of school, work, and love.

Honey and Clover is based on a bestselling manga (graphic novel) series created by Chica Umino which has sold more than 5 million copies to-date in Japan. In 2003 the popular series won the 27th Kodansha Manga Hagu Award, Japan’s most prestigious comics award. The manga series was also adapted into an animated series in 2005 and finally into the live-action film released in Japan in 2006. Honey and Clover is currently serialized in Shojo Beat Magazine and the graphic novel is available in the U.S., both published domestically by VIZ Media.

For more information on any of VIZ Media’s other titles please visit: www.viz.com.