“Ougon no Tsuki” by Suga Shikao – live and acoustic

Just another quick random music-related entry that I wanted to share. I recently stumbled upon this live acoustic version of “Ougon no Tsuki” (Golden Moon) by Suga Shikao (insert song – Honey and Clover season 1, episode 19). It’s one of my favorite Suga Shikao songs and it was played as an insert song in my favorite anime featuring two of my favorite characters in H&C (Nomiya and Yamada). Ah, I can vividly remember the scene from the anime whenever I hear this song… Nomiya and Yamada running across the road, hand in hand, as Mayama gives chase.

The original version has a more soul/funk flavor to it while this live version is more of a ballad that is a bit more bittersweet-sounding than the original because of the violins, the cello, and the guitar, which I think gave this version more emotional impact. I love it. It tugs my heartstrings every time I listen to it. [view lyrics]

PS: There’s a bit of dialogue at the beginning and at the end of the video.

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Honey and Clover J-drama – ep 11 [FINALE]

Final impression of this series noted in the end. =)

Episode 11: “A love to be proud of” (series finale)

BRIEF SUMMARY: Hagu is missing from the hospital causing Takemoto and Shuuji to frantically look around for her. Unbeknownst to them, it was Morita who sneaked her out. Meanwhile, Hagu and Morita have a talk whilst Nomiya drives all the way from Tottori to Tokyo.

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Honey and Clover J-drama – ep 10

Episode 10: “Abyss of despair, the path that binds the two together”

BRIEF SUMMARY: Hagu gets involved in an accident, injuring her head and her right hand, worrying Shuuji and her friends. Takemoto tries to keep busy with his graduation piece while wondering what he can do for Hagu. Meanwhile, Rika and Mayama go on an emo road trip to Otaru.

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Honey and Clover J-drama – ep 09

Episode 09: “A miraculous confession of love, a shocking accident”

BRIEF SUMMARY: Takemoto is still on his journey. Still not sure what he’s looking for but feels he has some vague idea about it now. Hagu is painting again. Morita needs to finish his graduation piece. Yamada and Morita gets into another serious conversation. She says she wants to completely let go of her feelings for Mayama but if she falls in love with someone else, she’d feel like the love she has been feeling up until now were all lies. “I’ll be afraid. I’m afraid to face how stubborn I was about love in the past. It’s frustrating. It’s painful. Everything would be like a dream.”

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Honey and Clover J-drama – ep 08

Episode 08: “Missing person! Losing sight of life and love in winter”

BRIEF SUMMARY: Mayama is at Fujiwara Design, worried about where Nomiya and Yamada might have gone to. Meanwhile, Nomiya takes Yamada to a hotel, but not for any malicious purpose. He notes that it’s relaxing to be in a one-sided relationship since the other person who knows your feelings will treat you kindly because of guilt and it won’t bring any more pain. Takemoto continues on his journey. Shuuji walks in on Hagu desperately trying to paint. Morita keeps on working on his attempt at painting which he aspires to serve as an entry to the Paris competition. His agent drops by and makes fun of him, saying that he should just stick to sculpting since painting is not his forte.

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Honey and Clover J-drama – ep 07

Episode 07: “Forward on an unmapped road”

BRIEF SUMMARY: After everything that happened last episode, Takemoto gives up with job hunting. After realizing that he does like Hagu, Morita wants to join the International Paris Competition (which only accepts entries for painting) so he’d paint instead of scuplting, and if he wins, he thinks he can face Hagu properly. He gives Takemoto a little pep talk, saying that compared to his ability to paint his confidence in winning is more important, trying to tell Takemoto to not give up. Though unsure what exactly he is to do, Takemoto begins to make his tower project as his graduation piece.

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Honey and Clover J-drama – ep 06

Episode 06: “How can you become an adult”

BRIEF SUMMARY: Morita is back. Takemoto goes job hunting. He attends several interviews, feeling insecure about everything. Miwako is at the hospital because she strained her back. She forbids Mayama to tell anyone about her injury, to which he agrees… but later we see him telling Nomiya about it over the phone (LOL). So Nomiya takes over Miwako’s projects in the meantime. He calls Yamada and informs her about it.

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Honey and Clover J-drama – ep 05

Episode 05: “I don’t have to be your number one”

BRIEF SUMMARY: Hagu wins an award for her painting, saying that she considers Morita as the artist who influenced her work. Takemoto notes that Mayama has been doing his best working at Fujiwara Design, Yamada is attending grad school, Morita is working hard in New York. Time has moved on for everyone, but it seems not for him since he saw Hagu by the pond on their first meeting. As if on cue, he finds someone by the pond who turns out to be Kazuo, who introduces himself to Hagu and Yamada as Takemoto’s dad.

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