ハチミツとクローバー (Honey & Clover) Japanese drama version

I've been somewhat skeptical since episode 1, and here's my verdict after watching the series.

It's a nice adaptation of the original manga, however, the project is an ambitious one and isn't really suited for a 11-episode drama series. Because of the scope of the original story and all the interweaving of the character background and relationships, it'd be much better to break it into two seasons like the anime version. As such, the coverage is relatively shallow and, while most of the issues introduced in the drama are resolved at the end, leaves something to be desired.

Of course, I said the above because I've already read the manga and watched the 1st season of the anime. For someone who has never come in contact with H&C, the drama would be a good watch with themes of friendship, love, and even goals in life. The slightly altered setting doesn't impress like the original, but the story still retains a pretty reasonable mix of ideal and reality. Great for young adults or anyone who has some level of experience.

I ended up liking Hagu the best out of all the cast, followed by Nomiya. Hagu is gentle yet strong like the original, and Nomiya is the mature voice like the original. Miyako is pretty otaku, and Mayama isn't half the pervert of the original. The others are fine, but no one really stands out except for Yamada, in a not-so-good way. She's the only one I can't get used to. It's simply too hard to compete against the extremely beautiful art of the anime. Morita? He's changed too much for the drama so he doesn't count anymore... The same goes for Romaiya-senpai. orz

I gave the drama version a B. If I've never seen H&C before, I probably would have given it a B~B+ or a B+. Recommended either way. First impression can be difficult to beat... Maybe I'll do a quick comparison for the mixed media series I've seen when I have time.

PS. I was browsing the ja.wikipedia page for the drama version just now and guess what I saw? There's going to be a Taiwanese drama based on H&C coming out in May! Yeah, I'll be checking it out for sure. This will be my 1st Taiwanese drama. XD