Honey and Clover Mini Review (manga/anime)
January 29th, 2008 by Lianne
PG-13/16 for sexuality and language, I guess; official series website (manga) and Wikipedia for everything else
I have no idea why this series is so popular. It does almost everything wrong.
I’m going to get into genre labeling for a minute, but it’s only a piece of my argument, so bear with me. First of all, this series is a josei, which means its target audience is women in the 18-25 range. The only things josei about it are the fact that it’s about college students and the fact that the plot is based around the relationships within and related to this group of college students. The two lead women, however, are underdeveloped, obnoxious, and fetishy enough to be pulled right out of a seinen - yet this series doesn’t have the heavier plot or broader insights into the human condition that seinen is good for. Honey and Clover also features the emotional immaturity and touchy-feeliness of shoujo, which reeks to high heaven with such old characters, not to mention the fact that Honey and Clover’s character development is much more stunted because josei tends to have its characters slow down their own development with their pride and/or shame. Oh, but wait - THESE CHARACTERS ACT LIKE GIANT CHILDREN, so instead of having an older woman learn her lessons the hard way or something we have a bunch of IMMATURE IDIOTS who communicate through squeaking at each other and rolling around like toddlers going through slowed development, which means we have to sit through their should-be-too-old-for-this crap for even longer than we should. And the icing on the cake - the anime (and to the lesser extent, the manga) likes to throw in its development in giant chunks, where a character who usually acts immature suddenly has a long, insightful monologue about exactly how s/he feels about certain people/situations/whatever and why.
NO! ARGH!
I like mangaka who aren’t constricted by his/her genres as much as the next girl - who doesn’t like a story that rises above its genre conventions enough to appeal to everyone? But Honey and Clover isn’t rising above anything, and it’s not even combining genres right (which can definitely be done, ala Tokyo Crazy Paradise). Honey and Clover is pulling the garbage out of seinen and shoujo and putting it into the barest shell of a josei, which means we have 1.) conventions that don’t work well together, resulting in a barely-coherent mush of ideas, 2.) no clearly defined audience (in a bad way - who the hell is supposed to relate to these childish nutcases?), and 3.) more clichés/crappiness than we usually have to sit through in something constrained by one genre. Now we get the crap of josei, seinen, AND shoujo? Thank you for showing me something few series dare, Honey and Clover.
The story is also told very poorly. It’s basically one long session of crazy people dicking around broken up by the occasional flash of out-of-place insight. In the anime, the jokes aren’t even funny. The manga is a bit funnier (the strong translation/adaptation by Akemi Wegmuller and the edit by Panch Diaz definitely help) and SLIGHTLY more coherent because of all the attempts to flesh out the crazy crap that’s going on, but it still suffers from all the problems mentioned above. Oh, and the art is sketchy and ugly. At least the anime was gorgeous, clearly wasting a budget that could have been used to animate a better-written manga. And the opening song includes claymation food structures that have nothing to do with the show and are totally awesome. Okay, so at least Honey and Clover gave me that much.
To support my argument: in chapter 11 of the manga, a heavy-fisted, lovelorn female lead says this little gem: “To have the person I love the most love me more than anyone else. That’s all I want. It’s not that much to ask.” On what PLANET does a manga think that’s not a big deal? Especially one written for females?! What does the mangaka think 75% of manga leads put as their main, heavy-work-deserving goal?! AND THE CHARACTER IS IN COLLEGE. I don’t know about you, but the only college kids I know who would actually utter a statement like that in seriousness live on a different plane of reality and have no idea how relationships actually work. Having a female lead of that age mutter that sadly in a woe-is-me situation we’re supposed to sympathize with is just…just…God, this series doesn’t know what the hell it’s doing.
Honey and Clover tied with Tramps Like Us for the Kodansha manga award in the “shoujo” category (neither are shoujo, but I assume the category includes josei). Although Tramps Like Us is definitely flawed, it’s a million times more insightful, clever, and meaningful than this mish-mash. And yet Tramps Like Us has a drama series, and Honey and Clover has TWO high-budget anime series, a live-action movie, and a drama series. I just don’t get it.
Initial impression: My impression is still initial, since I couldn’t sit through more than 5 episodes of the anime and a volume or two of the manga. If it changes drastically (and from what I’ve heard, it doesn’t), somebody tell me, because otherwise there’s no reason for me to bear with this confused, barely-entertaining, vastly overrated series any longer than I already have. (Lianne)
i think i am starting to agree with your review. i have read through volume two and i was feeling as if i wasn’t “getting it”, so i decided to check out some reviews about the series…i guess you felt the same…
I’m a fan, so I’m going to say that it’s definitely worth it. The series is slice of life, so it might seem like it starts in the middle, and moves along rather slowly without much development. But it’s subtle, just like how it would be in real life. There’s no real epiphany, just gradual development. As for why it’s so popular, maybe you should try reading others’ reviews of the anime/manga? There are tons out there, and many of them written more eloquently and with much deeper thoughts than I can muster at the moment. What it did for me personally, however, is gave me comfort. I’m in college, and I relate completely to these characters. I’m not sure how old you are, but from my experience, relationships have always been confusing and hard, regardless of age. I admit that line is corny though. H&C offers a tender look at the confusion alot of people (including me) experience when they’re in college. The task of rushing towards an ambiguous ‘future’ and figuring out your life goals/values in 4 measly years is a heavy load, especially when you feel inadequate and inexperienced like the child you always thought you were. Until now that is. And no, this is not a ‘cliche’, the feeling exists for many, and it’s quite taxing. The series explore this feeling in a personal and poignant manner, and the characters are all very real. I’m sure you’re shaking your head in disbelief. lol
Well, it’s alright to hate it, but I just feel a bit alarmed when you said that this is just an ‘initial reaction’, even when such strong decisive opinions are made. I think, to be fair, using such words like “garbage” and “cliches/crappiness” to describe the whole series, only after reading the first two volumes and watching 5 episodes is a bit too strong. Oh yea, the claymation intro is supposed to be representative of the type of food that Yamada and Hagu cooks. That’s later on, and you’d have to watch more to find out right?
Well that’s just my 2 cents. You can take or leave it, but if you’re willing, I hope you can give it another chance.
All three of this website’s founders — Lianne, Badjew and myself — have finished at least our undergrad degrees. Lianne herself is only a few months shy of completing a masters, so yes, we know what it’s like to be college students. We’ve all had our setbacks and problems, dealt with complex relationships, been undecided about our life goals and all that. I would have loved to see that reflected in Honey and Clover, but I didn’t.
Now, I haven’t read any of the Honey and Clover manga, so my opinions are based entirely on the beginning of the anime. And during those five episodes or so, I didn’t find a single character interesting or relatable in any way. The main guy’s (can’t remember his name, sorry) character development was pretty much non-existant — it seemed like the mangaka was trying to write a character who was as ordinary as possible. I don’t know if this was an attempt to make him relatable to the largest number of people or something, but I found him really boring. Hagu is creepy as hell with the lolita thing she has going — adult women finally have a genre that’s supposed to cater to their perspective, and this creepy woman-child is the best the mangaka could come up with? And the men in this show are sexually attracted to her? Ew. I didn’t realize the other girl was supposed to be a main character until episode 5 or so, which just goes to show how much of an impression she left. And that weird, cartoonish guy with the mysterious backstory? I guess I kind of wondered what his deal was, in a vague, maybe-someday-I’ll-look-up-the-end-on-wikipedia kind of way, but I didn’t find his personality very compelling. My sister is a student at an art college, and all of her friends are creative, interesting people. Many of them have pretty extreme personalities, and all of them hold really strong opinions about a lot of things. The characters in Honey and Clover either seem so conventional that they’re totally uninteresting, or like they actually have serious psychological problems that aren’t explained in a way that makes any sense. I can hardly believe them as people, let alone creative, talented people.
I know my opinions and Lianne’s aren’t based on that much of the story, but we both saw so little to like in the beginning, and have heard from sources we trust that the rest of the series has the same problems we saw initially, that we had no desire to see more. It’s a storyteller’s responsibility to introduce his or her characters in a way that gives the audience something concrete to hold on to, some way to understand what kind of people they are. Honey and Clover hardly gave us anything, and for that we have no qualms about giving it harsh reviews.
Your judging a series based on what? 5 episodes?
Well, your certainly in the vast, vast minority of people i.e. people who don’t like this series.
“I would have loved to see that reflected in Honey and Clover, but I didn’t.”
“like they actually have serious psychological problems that aren’t explained in a way that makes any sense”
Again, you didn’t even watch the series so how could you possibly make such a statement?
Psychological problems make them unintersting?
The characters are boring you say? maybe. Are most people in real life boring? yes most times. Are you yourself and the founders of this blog boring? I dare say yes…
“I don’t know about you, but the only college kids I know who would actually utter a statement like that in seriousness live on a different plane of reality and have no idea how relationships actually work.”
Hmmm…okay. Just take a breath and really think about what you just said. Anime characters not thinking/talking/acting like characters in real life…..how absurd!!! Honey and Clover is more realistic than most of your psychological seinen series but is by no means 100% true to life.
I honestly cannot comprehend this post. You openly state that all three founders have/ are completing university degrees, yet this post is so unreasonable, almost juvenile in it’s logic that this blog simply loses credibility.
Wow, an anonymous troll! Does that mean this site is actually popular? I’m so excited! And look - s/he called me boring! But not so boring that I don’t piss people off, apparently.
:nods:
Someone compared this to the amazing Nodamae Cantabile so I checked it out but ended up feeling annoyed, frustrated and confused. I dont get why it’s popular either. :\
(*sighs)
uh..i really dunno why everyone likes this stuff so much=)To tell da truth it’s not even that nice … rather it’s like a turtle walkin tooooo slowly…it’s really boring..n it annoyin too….Keiichi chan is right .. i agree!!This series is toooooooooooooo borin
Wait, you’re complaining it’s not your typical jousei with all these bad things happen to the fashion-conscious hip chick and sex every other chapter and the works? I think you’re judging it way too harshly only on 5 episodes and 2 volumes of material. If you want some exciting, fast paced melodrama, this series isn’t for you.
What makes Honey and Clover stand out more than anything is these kids (personally, I don’t know what college kids you hanged out with but in my experience, I’ve found that a sweeping majority of college kids were incredibly immature and acted very much like children) had to learn to grow up, go past insecurities, let go past hurts, and finding your place in the world on the early beginnings of adulthood through oneself, friendships and love.
I like you pointed out Yamada’s line. This series pretty much points out that Yamada’s pretty naive (and her types weren’t non-existent in college when I personally knew someone with that kind of attitude), and she doesn’t know and want to let go of unrequited love. The series does deal with that a great deal later on.
Honey and Clover is a pretty laid back, slowly weaving everything together type of title that you can fully appreciate it for what it is in the end. Like most slice of life, it’s not for everyone.
Josei doesn’t have to be about angry office ladies having sex, but I WOULD like it to involve realistic adult women, since it’s targeted at adult women. As an adult woman, if I want to read about a little girl embracing the naivite and innocence of being cute and mute, I’m going to read a shoujo about a middle schooler or a moe about non-sexualized little girls. I’m not going to grab a josei about a girl who’s supposed to be in college acting like an 8-year-old, especially since this is apparently romantically interesting to two of her male peers. EW.
Maybe I’m giving college students more credit than I should? I did know plenty of people who were really, really immature in college. But Honey and Clover doesn’t have one or two college students naive about love, it has one woman who seems to be the “strong” female character being painfully naive about love, and then you have at least two other characters naive about life, because they only scream and squeal at each other. Then you have the boring main character and the guy with glasses. The dream team of characters. Sorry, but I hated almost every single one.
And I HAVE read a single, opening volume of a slice-of-life manga that I really liked: Jen Quick’s Off*Beat, which I reviewed on this site a few years ago. The difference between that manga and this one is Off*Beat is slow but clearly building up an idea and a premise and people, whereas Honey and Clover is slow and seemingly pointless. Episodes about the characters squealing lame jokes at each other stacked on top of each other don’t count as character development.
It’s not just because I like strong female characters, and it’s not just because slice-of-life isn’t my favorite genre. I think this manga is poorly done. And if it’s only the beginning that’s bad, well, then I’m criticizing it for having a bad beginning, which is a flaw. I can’t read/watch more because it’s too painful for me. I hate Honey and Clover. Plenty of people like it, but I hate it. I’ve tried to defend my hate as much as possible.
I don’t know what you’re reading but I find a huge amount of jousei pretty unrealistic (high profile job and living in a snazzy, expensive apartment? Most women don’t have that).
I think Yamada is very realistic in her idealism in love. I comforted my fair share of COLLEGE women who believe in what Yamada believed in, even ones who had many relationships and the such, and find out that love rarely works out that way (which if you actually read beyond the two volumes or five episodes, Yamada has to eventually deal with). I don’t know what idea you have for a “adult woman” is…
I don’t think it was poorly planned out at all, it was busy to build the setting and character relationships and development with a goal in mind.
Off*Beat wasn’t all that great in my experience. It was alright, nothing to write home about. Plus it was only three volumes so the pacing had to be faster than Honey and Clover, which is ten volumes long.
It just that you seem to judged it way too fast and focused on the wrong characters because you rarely mentioned anything of Takemoto, who is the main character of this part of the show.
What’s unrealistic about having a good job and thus a good apartment when you’re an educated adult woman? Besides, in most of the josei I’ve read, a woman with a nice job and nice apartment is usually so busy that she can’t enjoy her money - she gets home after midnight every night from her high-paying, high-stress job. I find that very realistic.
And we can argue all day about what kinds of people we knew in college. I think adults, even naive ones, do more than roll around and scream at each other.
Honey and Clover being 10 volumes long can forgive a slow build-up, but not the time-wasting dicking around that most of the early chapters wallow in. The mangaka seemed more interested in jumbled jokes than character building - and when the character development eventually reared its head, it came out of left field at lightning speed, almost as an afterthought. I don’t consider that slow pacing, I consider that BAD pacing. Off*Beat was slow but deliberate and engaging, something slice-of-life stories rarely get right. That’s why I found it so remarkable (despite its content maybe not being “something to write home about”).
NotHayama and I have both mentioned in the comments that we found Takemoto boring. I’ll also add here that I found him completely forgettable, which is why I don’t feel the need to go into great detail about him. I will say that, at the very least, I didn’t actively hate him. That’s pretty much the highest praise I can grant the beginning of this comic.
I don’t agree with most of the points in this review, but it seems to have completely missed out something important and how that figures thematically into the overall show/manga. Interpersonal relationships of both the platonic and romantic kinds is the main thing of course, but Honey and Clover also deals a lot with the issue of creativity and artistic angst, and maybe the mangaka found sort of out-there characters (purely x adj. types) best suited to her style for telling this type of story. I don’t think the anime does this as well as the manga though, and it doesn’t sound like the reviewer got very far into either versions, so maybe that’s why I found the review so jarring from my perspective. Takemoto and Hagu’s personal development has as much to do with how they deal with their talent (or lack thereof) as with other people, and these things are heavily intertwined. The professor guy’s (Hanemoto’s) backstory in the manga is another example. Morita doesn’t develop that much as a character, but through him, too, you see somewhat darker sides of ‘genius’. (The mangaka’s newest project takes this theme and takes a more somber tone, so it seems to be something she’s interested in exploring.) I didn’t like parts of the ending (of the manga) much, but it still fit in with sort of this overarching idea of what being an artist is, and what it can mean to other people, how it impacts relationships whether for good or ill (mostly good, since this is a happy ending type of series).
I don’t get the sheer level or vitriol expressed in this review, but I understand each to his or her own. But only saying that “Oh, and the art is sketchy and ugly.” I take issue with… it may not have pleased you aesthetically, it’s rather idiosyncratic, but the mangaka’s style is much more technically proficient and expressive than the majority of shoujo/josei out there… speaking as a longtime manga reader, the style is pretty innovative and interesting. It’s too bad that you couldn’t give the manga/mangaka any credit for accomplishment in your overwhelming dislike.
I have a feeling that I’ll hit someone’s nerve with this, but I kinda feel like putting in my own two cents…
On the subject of Honey and Clover, I have a friend who is quite enamoured with it. She and I, though quite similar in some areas, tend to have quite opposite tastes when it comes to manga. (Stuff that she likes ultimately finds its way onto the worst manga/anime list, though I wouldn’t put Honey and Clover on that list myself, I can say that I couldn’t get past one episode of the anime and one volume of the series.) I think it’s just how our personalities are. We are both college students with a very different view on how the real world works…including love and relationships. When I read that quote you had up in your review:
“To have the person I love the most love me more than anyone else. That’s all I want. It’s not that much to ask.”
I felt like you were lifting that out of her very own mouth. She has unrealistic expectations about her life and has an unrealistic view on what love should be/could be. (Though I must say that the romantic in me loves that line as well…even if it’s a bit much.)
Overall, what I’m trying to say is I think that this series is aiming for a breed of students still young at heart and that can relate much easier to something of this caliber…which may or may not include art students…(For the record, the majority of my friends went to an art institute for their college education, and even the ones who sat down a watched it could not relate in any way.)
And what exactly *is* Hagu o_O She’s really freaky…
Honey and Clover was like Hot Gimmick. I COULDN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE BIG FUSS WAS ABOUT.
Hagu, as the main character, annoys the crap out of me. Big-eyes, looks like a six year old, wishy-washy slip of a thing.
As for Hot Gimmick… I just couldn’t understand the relationship between Hatsumi and Ryoki.
But enough about Hot Gimmick…
Yes, Honey and Clover. Why exactly is it so popular?
Like Arisa said, I think it mostly has to do with personal tastes too. You either like it, or you don’t.
I think Honey and Clover was a great series. I only watched the anime but finishing it gave me a pleasing feeling (like the feeling you get after watching The Pursuit of Happyness or Seven Pounds etc.). Gave me like a happily sad/ sadly happy or even content, feeling.
I thought the themes in Honey and Clover were about interpersonal relationships. I’ve got to agree about the naivety and immaturity of the characters but then, I think maybe the author had to do that to develop the relationships between the characters.
I recommended the series to a friend and he was telling me how boring the series was. He only got through 8 episodes and he was telling me how the show has no plot or progresses so slowly he can’t stand watching it. To be honest, besides the development of the characters interpersonal relationships which includes their problems and how they dealt with them, I don’t think there was much of a plot (like in The Pursuit of Happyness). It’s just a story about some naive college students. It’s like, if you think too much about it or analyse it too much, you won’t find anything. Sitting back and enjoying the art will help you understand maybe…
The art was interesting as well. I thought it was aesthetically pleasing and different. Also, in my opinion, the comedic scenes were quite funny. Watching this series, I get the feeling the mangaka was a laidback person or something. The series is like a serious laidback one.
Just my 2 cents.
Have you ever though that the author is trying to get out of the josei category? Personally i think it’s too good to be categorized. The reason why so many people like H&C is because it’s different. You’re complaining that it’s juvenile and pointless, but many of your arguments are very much the same. Calling someone a troll? Your review sounds like you crave for maturity, but your comments say otherwise.
How is money wasted for making it into an anime. people like it and it makes the producers who paid for it money.
Oh well. You’re very opinionated and it looks like you posted this just to argue with people.
“THESE CHARACTERS ACT LIKE GIANT CHILDREN, so instead of having an older woman learn her lessons the hard way or something we have a bunch of IMMATURE IDIOTS who communicate through squeaking at each other and rolling around like toddlers going through slowed development, which means we have to sit through their should-be-too-old-for-this crap for even longer than we should”
. . .nuff said!
Josei? Where? Under whose definition?
Hey Lianne,
I chanced on this website after randomly google-ing around. So here’s take:
Based on the fact that you only watched the first 5 episodes, I’d have to actually fully agree with your opinion of this series. Because I actually felt the same way you did, not 5 but 10 episodes into Honey and Clover. “It’s inane”, “the girls are particularly childish”, “the main character is devoid of, well, character and a backbone”; these were all things I felt. And rightfully so.
I had just graduated from university myself, and had some free time on my hands and decided to give the series a bit more rope than usual (or I’d have stopped way before 10 episodes). So I kept watching. And bit by bit, the seemingly inane, disconnected and downright stupid things about the characters seemed to fit, it all made more and more sense. And once fleshed out, the characters became a lot more likeable.
The tragedy is that it took half the series to do so for most of the characters, and the *entire* first season for the narrator (main character) to get interesting. Yet, rare is the book or show or series that grabs you from the start and never lets go and maintains that momentum throughout.
Well, there you go. That said, I don’t think this is a series for everyone, even at its best. But having watched it in its entirety, I definitely have to say that my initial impression - virtually identical to yours - has changed much, much for the better.
Sincerely,
Joel
Here’s *my* take, I mean.
This anime isn’t that great :/
I personally really liked Honey and Clover. I thought the series was entertaining. It’s an easygoing show that’s great when you’re looking for something relaxing to watch and I find the characters fun and unique.
But everyone is entitled to their own opinions of the show. What I mean to say is, everyone is going to react differently when they watch/read Honey and Clover. There are obviously those who will like it and those who won’t. But I find it pointless to argue about. If you liked it, you liked it. If you didn’t, you didn’t, simple as that. Arguing or disagreeing isn’t really going to change that, is it? The fact that a complete stranger didn’t like the show isn’t going to affect your everyday life, after all.
While this isn’t my favorite manga, I really enjoy it. It’s suited for my tastes–I don’t read much josei, but when it comes to shoujo, I tend to migrate toward sweet, light-hearted, feel-good stories, which, to me at least, is all this is. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and that’s what I like about it.
I would like to see love story in the colleg more than in the high school becuase they are more mature.The story seems like very interesting love, art work, relationship but,in the end is empty.There are so many characters.You don’t know who they are the main character to follow because the story keep changing a character and tell their own story. Takemoto and Morita are in love with Haru with no reason. She is too innocent.In the end they just passed by. Morita is more interesring character but mean nothing just passed by. There is a little story and no roman between them. Yamada is beautiful but nobody pays attention. That’s weird. Most of the story tells their own problem out side the colleg. Their art work and skill look like some thing special but just nothing. Love story in this anime is weird. The colleg is no memory of love. You want to see love story so, go high school (most of anime). I like your review.
Hmm… Even though I quite liked H&C, I’m glad it’s not universally beloved. It sucked me in because I related to the characters’ desire to keep things light-hearted and never change. In the beginning, the creator indulges the characters- and if, as the later volumes suggest*, this sort of Peter Pan philosophy is cowardly and unhelpful, then I’d expect reviews like this to pop up. And this was the first negative review I’ve found. Well-done!
(Reading H&C as it ran in Shojo Beat probably helped me get more in the mood- the long goofy immature part is a lot easier to tolerate in short bits, when sandwiched between more serious series. Relying on it to be happy also synced me up with the character’s emotional states more. Plus SB didn’t distinguish between josei and shojo, so H&C didn’t feel out of place.)
Not all seinen should regurgitate the same plot line of successful women living snazzy lifestyles with high salaries and gorgeous men surrounding them. Remember this anime won the 27th Kodansha Manga Award for sh?jo and seinen so there is a good reason, I doubt retards are judging mangas that are released monthly. I’m tired of high school life crap and manga that deals with people in college is rare, I think that people have the misconception that people are overtly mature during their university lives since sex is mainly practiced. However, that would be a biased generalization wouldn’t it? The characters in H&C are retrospective which I’m sure many people are however it has become the main focus in the Anime/manga itself. It doesn’t deal with an ideal world but reality, if you watched the rest of the series you’ll realize that behind all that humor and “childish” antics they commonly display are problems that many people face. Not everyone is a high payed fashion designer living a luxurious life with a bishounen as a lover, these people in H&C deal with harsh economy and find employment difficult to come by, THIS IS REALITY. You’re judging the surface and not looking in-depth.
screwball,
Your argument would be strengthened if you knew the difference between seinen and josei. See: my entire review.
Lianne, someone criticizes your review and you call him a “troll”? Wow.
Honey and Clover is boring. I am somewhat frustrated, because I kept hearing about it, and that’s what made me decide to watch it. The good thing I can say about HC is that the animation is consistently beautiful. Story-wise/character development of plot, it’s too slow-paced, static, and…depressing. I watched this, and I was bored to tears. This is just my personal opinion, of course. If I had a lot of free time, I might have just sat through the whole thing, but every episode seemed the same to me, and for my sake, I skipped a lot of parts (but from episodes 1-12 I watched them in full). I did watch the series to the very last episode, so I pretty much have an overall sense and an opinion of what this anime is like. I’m sure this is supposed to be all meaningful and…real. But I would rather observe my life, because it’s more real than this lol I watch animes to escape, if that’s not you, then good for you. But this anime really is quite boring.
(*agrees with Elisa’s and Forkandspoon00’s opinions)
Just my 2 cents here…
As they said before,
If you like it, you like it.
If you don’t, then you don’t.
Simple yet so hard for some people to understand.
Oh btw, not all college students are alike.
Not all go through the same experiences.
Not all feel the same.
Not all are mature yet.
Basically, we cannot really say that all the people who go to college have the same mindset as you have. So please, don’t generalize.
*just talking from experience