Honey and Clover comes to an end

Thank you, VIZ, for finishing what you start!  You rock!

The last Honey and Clover boxed DVD set is out at last!  For those of you who watched the first two because you liked and cared about the characters but weren't fond of the goofier humorous college antics, you will be in heaven with the final story arc. 

And here is a beautiful quote from Carl Kimlinger's excellent review at ANN that I just had to share.  Nicely said, Mr. Kimlinger.

"Honey and Clover II, the twelve-episode sequel to Honey and Clover, is a very different beast than its progenitor; different merely by dint of being the series' concluding chapter. Where Honey and Clover was a study in delicate melancholy driven by slow change, Honey and Clover II is an emotional locomotive, coming out of the gate with both fists swinging and never letting up. This is a conclusion; full of significant development, irrevocable changes and big events. It brings all of the characters to their end-games and builds in a very traditional manner to a simultaneous climaxing of several plot lines. This is a sharp departure from the deliberate lack of directionality in Kenichi Kasai's subtle, unconventional first season. There is no repetition here, no reassuring stasis undercut by unnoticeable drifting, no long, sneaky, premeditated builds to potently underplayed emotional climaxes. Rather season two is all full-bore forward motion towards emotional payoffs that redefine the heart-wrenching power of the bittersweet. It's an unstoppable emotional steamroller—slow, inexorable, powerful—that gracefully stomps the crap out of your heart from start to finish."

So true. Now I want to start all over again from the beginning.  Well, maybe not until I read that last volume of the manga.  I just can't bring myself to because then it will be over.  Sigh.

Anyway, if you can handle slower-paced, nostalgic, character-centric, sometimes over-the-top comedic drama, this is a show for you.