November 2022 Patron Newsletter and Staff Recommendations

2022 is winding down, and the robust anime season has kept us plenty busy -- which means not a lot to report at the moment. Hopefully there'll be some very exciting news next month though.

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November Recommendations 

Honey and Clover (both parts)

Format: Anime, manga (complete)

Picked by: Caitlin

What’s it about? Second-year art student Takemoto Yuta runs in a crappy little rundown apartment building alongside two of his senpai, Morita Shinobu, who has been in the sculpture department for six years, and fourth-year architect-to-be Mayama Takumi; their friend group is rounded out by Yamada Ayumi, a gifted third-year ceramics student. Takemoto enjoys school, but has yet to find his passion. Then, their professor Hanamoto Shuuji introduces his cousin Hagumi, a new entry to the painting department…

Content considerations: Adult men obsessed with a girl who is technically of age but looks ten; drinking to excess; cousin incest; discussion of suicide; parental illness and death

Why we like it: The optimal experience is to watch Honey and Clover twice: once when you’re about the same age as the characters and going through college, and again at least a decade later. Umino Chica’s coming-of-age story does an excellent job of capturing the joy of young adulthood, reveling in the freedom and passion of college, the pangs of unrequited (and occasionally requited) love, and the confusion of not understanding what you want from life and excitement of figuring out what you really do. It is also deeply nostalgic, as Takemoto reflects on how someday, in not too long, his life and all his friends’ lives will change and these days will pass into memory.

The show splits its time about evenly between Takemoto’s coming-of-age and the various love polygons the characters are involved in. The love polygons can get wearisome, to be honest – by the end, I was rooting for them to sleep with someone just so they can all move on. However, Takemoto’s developing sense of self rings true – his lack of direction, how an impulse journey turned into discovering a passion, and his intense bonds with his friends.

I was skeptical at first about Hagu, who may be 18 but for all the world looks and acts like she’s about ten years old, and I found it discomfiting how multiple adult men were head-over-heels for her. However, she has her own arc and by the end of the series truly comes into her own as an artist and as a woman. There are elements to the ending I’m dissatisfied with, but all-in-all, Honey and Clover is an excellent series for those of us with happy memories of college.

See You Tomorrow at the Food Court by Shinichiro Nariie

Format: Manga (standalone)

Picked by: Alex

What’s it about: Wada seems like a cold, prissy rich girl… but is really an expressive gremlin in a love-hate relationship with a pretty boy from a mobile game. Yamamoto seems like a shallow, scary gyaru… but is really a quiet, often philosophical nerd who wants to believe that aliens exist. These two unlikely best friends go to different high schools, but meet every day at their local food court to catch up and talk about life, the universe, and everything.

Content considerations: jokes about groping, infrequent mild fanservice

Why we like it: See You Tomorrow at the Food Court is primo Girls Doin’ Stuff content, with two endearing leads who defy stereotypical assumptions to be a pair of goofy friends. Over fries, noodles, and boba tea, Wada and Yamamoto get into some great conversations that feel like they were simply written to be funny rather than just cutesy. While obviously heightened for comedy, by and large the dialogue feels organic, and the thought processes behind it often feel like they could spring from the brains of real, contemporary teen girls. Sometimes it’s delightfully dumb, sometimes it’s more deep and meaningful, sometimes it’s just Wada yelling about the latest Character x Reader fanfic she’s been reading while Yamamoto politely pretends to understand the appeal of 2D boys.

The humor is sometimes in poor taste: Chapter 11 makes light of Yamamoto being groped in the street (though it does have a kind of sweet conclusion where the two vow to walk home together and protect each other) and there’s a mean-spirited running gag about a classmate of Wada’s “looking like a gorilla”---apparently so ugly that the artist doesn’t actually draw her face until she “gets better at makeup” at the end of the volume. Aside from these small moments, though, Food Court is a pretty fun time showcasing two female protagonists with a fun dynamic. While they have their ups and downs and the occasional argument, they always come back to supporting each other, and the overall effect is one that’s very sweet.