Ouran High School Host Club, ep. 18-21

[oyceter]

Someday, I will actually have content that isn't anime- or manga-centric, I swear.

Ep. 18

Eeee! Backstory! And while my strange, meta, crazy series continues to crack me up, it's getting more serious as well, which is slightly odd.

I loved the episode on Honey, though I wish there were one on Mori as well. I totally cracked up at the whole alien thing, especially at Honey’s expression while eating cake in the middle of the night! Except now I want strawberry shortcake as well...

And while Tamaki's sweet and caring side really doesn’t surprise me, given that it’s such a trope, I still love it. I love him telling Honey that Honey should be himself, even though it ends up being silly. And then, the craziness starts again, with Honey not relenting about cake-eating!

Ep. 19

All I really can say about this is that the Lobelia girls never fail to make me laugh! Also, I can’t believe I didn’t note it till I read the manga. But the white lily club name is probably a reference to yuri (means "lily" in Japanese). *snorfle*

The make-up! Haruhi's dad returns! The mechanical acting of doom! The fact that they actually remember Haruhi's first kiss and bring it up again!

Ep. 20-21

Oooo, now things are getting interesting. In light of ep. 21, I wonder which twin is actually narrating ep. 20? Unlike Haruhi, I can't tell them apart. But I couldn't have adored Tamaki more -- his persistance, his silliness, the way he says touching things without quite realizing it. I loved that the title card for the episode came after the twins opened the door to the third music practice room. I love that the series is actually taking the twins seriously and not using them just as a sight gag. I love that they do have distinct personalities and that there is angst about becoming individuals on their own, even though they both desire it. I'm guessing that some of the rage and frustration from the twins' fighting episode wasn’t just a mask that they put on to get invited to Haruhi's house.

And poor Kaoru, watching as Hikaru and Haruhi walk off together!

In conclusion, Nekozawa-sempai is never, ever, ever going to stop being funny.

Comments

[rilina.livejournal.com]

In conclusion, Nekozawa-sempai is never, ever, ever going to stop being funny.

WORD.

Have not had a chance to rewatch these, so not much to say. Though episode 18 killed me. The cake-eating! And the bunny puppet!

And I loved Haruhi's horrible acting.

[oyceter]

OMG the bunny puppet!

I think I need to rewatch all the ones with the twins, at the very least, just to keep them straight.

[grendelity.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that the narration in ep. 20 was supposed to be as ambiguous as it was, just to underscore the boys' obsessive likeness. I, er, can tell them apart normally. The voice actors do it, mostly. Kenichi Suzumura [Hikaru] is quickly making a place in my mind, because lately he's in everything I see. And what Haruhi says is true - Hikaru is always one shade meaner than Kaoru.

[octopedingenue]

I'm going to have to watch episode 20 again, apparently. I opened it up to check as I made the comment below and just randomly skipped back and forth in the file, and every time I hit narration it was Kaoru talking.

I think Hikaru was right, too--Kaoru has that edge of Kyouya-esque calculation.

[grendelity.livejournal.com]

Oh, er. I seem to remember the ep was narrated by the younger versions of the twins? Maybe? It's been a couple of months since I saw it, so I could be wrong. I didn't get used to the younger boys' voices enough to be able to tell them apart.

[oyceter]

Heh. I got no clue!

Kaoru so calculates things. I mean... the entire date with Hikaru in that other episode! Pretending to be Hikaru to apologize to people!

[oyceter]

Do they have the same voice actors, or different ones? Because I can tell that their voices are different, but I wasn't actually paying enough attention to figure out which went with what, and I thought they would swap voices every so often as well.

[umadoshi.livejournal.com]

Different seiyuu, which is one of my favorite things about the show. *^^* (I know Hikaru's voice from Kamui in X TV.)

[oyceter]

Oh cool!

[grendelity.livejournal.com]

Oh, no, they're definitely different. Hikaru is Kenichi Suzumura, as I said, and Kaoru is Yoshinori Fujita, who I'm not very familiar with.

[octopedingenue]

I want a handkitty puppet of DOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Failing that, an icon.

I am pretty sure that the White Lily Club is also a reference to the Mountain Lily Council of Maria-sama ga Miteru, which is essentially Lobelia played absolutely straight. So to speak. It's strangely addictive even though nothing ever happens in any of the episodes.

I love Tamaki so much. I love his sweetness. I love that he is Honda Tohru in a flamboyant manwhore body. I love that while Haruhi is the focus of and catalyst for change in the series among the characters, Tamaki is the big squishy heart that smooshes them all together--normally I probably wouldn't be going "yay! a male character with as much emotional weight as a female character!", but usually it falls to the pure shoujo heroine to save everybody with the power of her virginal Jesus love, so it is kind of nice to see a girl and a guy sharing the job.

The twins fascinate me beyond all reason, and not in a twincesty way either. I love their longing and fear to be together and apart, and how they recognize their own selfishness and the effects Tamaki and Haruhi have had on them without being quite able to express it. The twin narrating episode 20 is Kaoru; I am kind of freaked out that I can tell them apart almost all the time now when they're moving or speaking: Hikaru is the snide-voiced aggressive insecure one! Kaoru is the sleepy-voiced calm calculating one! And I figured out I loved them as individuals when it hit me that Hikaru is my heart like Sohma Kyou is my heart and Kaoru breaks me like Sohma Yuki breaks me. And Hikaru makes the "I love you and your incomprehensible brain" eyebrows at Haruhi like Kyou does at Tohru.

So far I think everything the twins yelled at each other in the ep 5 fight has been true, down to Hikaru kicking Kaoru out of bed.

[oyceter]

There totally needs to be an icon of Beelzenef!

Dude! Tamaki is so Tohru! Except, you know, as an immature guy who cries in corners and tries to sweep girls off their feet! I also really like that Tamaki saves people with his emotional speshul powers, while Haruhi so isn't girly. I love that she picks up bugs and isn't scared of most things and how everyone keeps saying, "Wow! Haruhi has a sewing kit! A feminine quality, how odd!"

Awwww, to the twins. I think my current favorite is Kaoru, but that's probably because I have been sucked in by his sadness watching Hikaru and Haruhi walk off together. But the moment when Hikaru puts his headphones on Haruhi is really great too!

[oracne.livejournal.com]

The twins actually have different voices, and one is meaner than the other.