Well I thought that it might be neat to have a comparison to show the live-action characters against their anime counter-parts. So, here we go (in no special order).

Morita-san:

In the anime, Morita-san was very over the top, often doing wacky (and comedic) things with Hagu-chan the recipiant of many of these antics. In the live-action movie, all of the comedic and wacky things are gone. In their place, Morita-san is often dirty, a slob, and more of a mystery (IMO). Without the comedic part of his anime counter-part, the live-action Morita-san isn’t as much of a presence.

Yamada-san (Ayu):

In the anime, Ayu would at times come off with some extreme (comedic) violence, mainly at Mayama, her unrequited love. That’s gone from the live-action version. Most of the rest of her remains intact for the live-action version, though sadly they only showed her doing pottery once. I’d say she’s a bit stronger of a character in the live-action version, especially since it is she who gets Mayama to return to Rika-san to get a job with her again.

Takemoto-kun & Mayama-san :

I accidentally put these two together in the live-action shot, so they get a together shot from the anime too. ^_^;

First, Takemoto-kun. In the first Honey and Clover anime, Takemoto is a nice guy who’s not very assertive, especially when it comes to Hagu-chan. In the movie, he’s still the nice guy (and that’s established right away when some girls at the school observe him and conclude he doesn’t have a girlfriend among other things). However, when it came to Hagu-chan, he’s more assertive (movie time consideration played a part in this) so he actually asks her out twice. He doesn’t address Mayama or Morita as “senpai” in the live-action movie, which also aids in that more assertive feel for the character.

As for Mayama, he’s a weaker character in the movie. In the anime, he’s kind of the defacto leader of the group. He manages to control Morita, he advises Takemoto, he protects Yamada, and he’s nice to Hagu-chan. He has his own problems and weaknesses, but he’s still strong in other areas. In the movie, he’s not a leader. He caves to Morita, he is more of a stalker when it comes to Rika-san, and while a nice guy, one wonders why Yamada fell for him. Heck, Yamada has to get him back to work with Rika-san.

Hagu-chan:

As you can see, the biggest difference is that in the anime, she’s blond and in the movie, she’s a normal Japanese girl. While looking young in the movie, she doesn’t look like a 12-year old girl as she does in the anime (which actually is a good thing). The movie Hagu-chan is played less weepy, even though she gets depressed there as well. She doesn’t have the same reaction to Morita-san as she does in the anime. Her attraction to Morita-san in the movie is easier to understand since its through his art. I don’t remember the anime version wearing headphones, but that wasn’t a problem. She’s not a clinger to Hanamoto-sensei either. Overall, I liked how Hagu-chan came off in the movie.

Hanamoto-sensei:

The live-action Hanamoto-sensei doesn’t have near the anxiety over Hagu-chan going on her own. It is mentioned in passing that he’d prefer Hagu-chan dating Takemoto-kun rather than Morita-san and there’s a phone scene where Yamada assures him they will take care of her on an overnight trip. He doesn’t have near the presence in the movie that he does in the anime. He’s used in the movie, but it always felt like he was just there more so than a character to move the plot forward. Plus, he felt younger in the movie than he does in the anime.

Rika-san:

The whole issue with Rika-san’s disability is gone from the movie, so it makes Mayama’s unrequited love of her have little meaning beyond, “here’s a hot babe that I love but who doesn’t return my feelings.” She doesn’t have many scenes in the movie and so doesn’t have much of an impact beyond showing Mayama to be some whacked stalker.

For a complete story summary and review, go here.