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ファイト／ステイナイト 
September 26, 2006 | 
237 Comments
Please be aware that the images below are spoilery. Having said that, anyone who's been watching Ouran for the past few months surely know the kind of ending that this series will get. Overall, it's a pleasant ending with a few surprises in between. Those who were ready to bash Eclair should really take a second look because for a 'villain', she's actually not that bad. She's definitely far better than the girl from episode one. The epilogue at the end of the episode is a nice touch, it's giving the impression that Haruhi still belongs to no one. So it's still fair game for everyone from Tamaki to Kyouya to Mori to the twins. Anyway, the full summary is now available. I've also added the larger size screencaps.
September 19, 2006 | 131 Comments
As I suspected, this turns out to be a combination of the festival storyline as well as a few additional 'problems' invented by the anime writers. I supposed this is not a bad adaptation but it's not as fun as the real festival story. I kind of miss Kuze and his stupid orange. I was looking forward to see him biting it. Anyway, since this is a penultimade episode of Ouran, not surprisingly it comes with a cliffhanger. I don't think it'll have a long lasting effect though and I suspect everything will be resolved to the way it was by the end of next week. It was interesting to see Haruhi behave like she does in this episode though. Some Haruhi/Tamaki shippers will probably be happy to see this.
September 12, 2006 | 58 Comments
This is not a funny episode but I was kind of expecting it since it deals mostly with Kyouya's background and how he got to meet Tamaki. I think this also sets up the conflict which will happen on next week's episode. I think the series will end in a life-goes-on style because there is no way the anime writers can end this adaptation conclusively while the manga is still on-going. In addition to this, judging from the positive reaction to the series, I doubt the writers would want to waste a chance to revisit the series once the manga's story is over. Anyway, here's hoping that the writers don't mess up next week's festival story. I am not sure how they are going to change the story from a light-hearted romp to something that looks kind of angsty, judging from the preview.
September 6, 2006 | 60 Comments
Wow, I'm impressed. This turns out to be funnier than I expected it to be. Kudos to the animators for making what could have been a boring episode into a funny one. This episode also puts the Host Club's status in question, which I assume will become a catalyst for an upcoming storyline. I wonder if this means that the competition to win Haruhi's affection are going to be stronger now that everyone has vested interest in her. I also have to say that I'm quite amused to know that all of these times Tamaki doesn't realise his feelings for Haruhi. I thought he was joking around everytime he refers himself as Haruhi's 'father'. But it's obvious now that I was wrong. As a side note, was that scene with Hikaru holding a baseball bat supposed to be a nod to Higurashi no Naku Koro ni's Maebara Keiichi?
This is probably one of the funniest one-off character episodes apart from the Lobelia girls one. I was a bit afraid that this is going to be rather boring like the one about the newspaper club or the one with that little brat, Shiro. Thankfully Kasanoda (or Bosanova, according to Tamaki) is a lot more interesting than Shiro. I am also amused at some of the rather juvenile comic scenes shown in this episode. This particular shot actually made me laughed out loud because it's so out of nowhere and has nothing to do with the plot in progress. I can't believe that this series will only have four more episodes left. I wish the animators had included the story about the school's competition. Maybe if there is a second season, we'll get to see that along with everyone's family members.
This is definitely one of the best episodes in recent weeks. Unlike last week, there are more comedic situation found in this episode. I actually had a lot of difficulty choosing which screenshots I want to use since there are many interesting scenes in this episode. There are also several funny themes included here such as the thermometer indicator going south and the spirit leaving the body when a person is mortified. This is why I find it surprising when towards the end, the story takes a rather serious look into the Hitachiin brothers' relationship. The ending is a little bit sad as well but I think it's something that needs to happen if both twins want to establish themselves as two unique individuals as opposed to a set.
Sorry for the late entry but I had problem with my ISP since yesterday. As a result, I haven't been able to connect to the internet at home and download anything until a few hours ago. Oh well, it's not like this is a particularly fun episode to watch. I find the twins to be rather annoying and bratty this time around. Props to Tamaki for being so patient with them. It also doesn't help that in comparison to last week's episode, this one is not as fun or entertaining. I really miss the early episodes kind of stories where the everyone goes together on some kind of fun trip or involved in some shenanigans. But I guess since there are only 6 more episodes to go, the writers want to fit in as many character development as they can. I am also curious to know how they'll wrap this series up.
This is a funny episode which offers nice change from the boring, uneventful story from the last few episodes. The story marks the return of the Zuka Club and Roberia/Lobelia High School. Yes, these are the same girls who tried to recruit Haruhi to their club back in episode 9. Apart from the comedy, the best thing about this episode is an insert song which is delivered by Sakamoto Maaya. This is a nice character song which I hope will be included in the official soundtrack. Animation-wise, this episode also looks a lot smoother and detailed than the last few episodes. Overall, this is a pleasant episode that reminds me of the early episodes of Ouran.
Not a bad episode at all. This one actually gives Hunny a little bit of background story and explains why his character ends up like he is now. I think I'll blame it all on Tamaki for tempting him to the darkside full of cakes and stuffed bunny. Having said that, there weren't that much character development for Hunny. At the end of the day, Hunny remains the same character that he was before. The revelation about his past pretty much confirms what we already knew all along about him: that he is a cake-eating monster. I do appreciate the writers' attempt to expand the story by introducing the family members of the Host Club. I just wish that next time they introduce someone a little bit more pleasant than Chika.
This is a rather funny episode mostly because of Kyouya's and Haruhi's facial expressions. Kyouya probably has at least 5 variations of his 'scary' face. Haruhi, on the other hand, has multitude of expressions here ranging from "Eeek!!" to "I'm tired can I go home now?". This episode also offers a little glance into Kyouya's personality and background. Unfortunately Kyouya is not one of my favourite characters so I am not as excited as some of you might be with this storyline. Anyway, I think almost every character in the series has received a focus now except Hunny. But then again, it's really hard to develop Hunny since he's mostly just a comedic character.
For those of you who are interested, that post about Nara that I promised yesterday is now up on Kongetsu. It's kind of brief though since I decided to split it into two parts. Anyway, this episode is not as funny as the one that came before it but it offers a lot of character development on the twin's side. Come to think of it, I like the way the writers put the majority of the comedy on last week's episode and the serious character development on this one. I am just hoping that the rest of the male characters will be given a serious development like this one.
I'm sorry for the late entry but the file that I found was unusually large so it took a while for me to download it. Anyway, I'm glad to see this episode seperated into a two-parter at the very least. At first I thought BONES will condense all 3 chapters of the manga into one episode story but thankfully that is not the case here. Overall, this is a good compromise because the first part pretty much takes care the introductory part of the arc, while the second one will deal with the date part of the story. Speaking of the story, I just saw the cover for volume 8 of the manga and can't be happier when I realise that it's Haruhi and Mori dressed up in a world war 2 era Japanese costume. I kind of wish that there will be some kind of side story where Haruhi and Mori are playing a role with these costumes.
To those who emailed me if I'll blog Bokura ga ita, unfortunately the answer will have to be a "no". I'm kind of exhausted at the moment and after watching the raw last night, I decided that it's not worth blogging. I thought the animation is passable at best and definitely not up to Honey and Clover's or Ouran's quality. In addition to this, the main character annoys me a bit even in this version. If you're looking for summary, however, Muhootsaver has done one, so go check it out. Anyway, back to Ouran, this is not a stellar episode but it's not bad either. The focus this time around is on Ouran High school's Newspaper club and their machination. Unfortunately, just like other episodes which includes a client, this one ends up being not as funny as the one where all of the focus are placed on the Host Club themselves.
I'm sorry that I haven't been able to update the site in the past few days but I've just arrived in Japan and I'm a bit exhausted. I'll try to catch up with other series as soon as possible. Anyway, this turns out to be very different from the original manga story with only a little hint of the later towards the end of the story. The story seems a lot similar to the original Alice in Wonderland and not as funny as the acid trip that was the manga version. This is a problem for me because I'm one of the few people who never like Alice in Wonderland as a kid. I think the tale is annoying and don't really like the freaks acting pretentious and talking nonsense. This is why I like what the manga's take of the tale because Hatori Bisco made the story a lot more enjoyable.
I think that theory about this series being at its best when it focuses the story amongst its member is true. This episode is a lot better than last week's episode mostly because the writers know how to exploit every single characteristics of each host. The addition of Renge and a bunch of fangirls into the story also adds to the hilarity of the story. I am mostly interested to know what people think about the slightly altered storyline towards the end. I think it's necessary since the episode is no longer about Valentine's day and moreoever, it's actually rather hilarious. It's a proof that Renge is a very dangerous fangirl who can infect her enthusiasm to other girls in Ouran High.
Nekozawa sounds a lot like Morita from Honey and Clover in this one for some reason. I wonder if it's because Ueda Yuuji already starts his role as Morita in the other show. It's actually unusual for him to sound similar from one character to the next because if I didn't look at his past work, I wouldn't know that he also voices Adashino-sensei in Mushishi. This makes me wonder how many viewers actually pay attention to the voice actor who plays the character or if most viewers generally don't care about the voice. I am also curious if the majority of the manga readers have actually assigned a different kind of voice in their head for the characters in the series and if there is any that disappoint them. I personally am surprised to hear Maaya Sakamoto as Haruhi because I never expected her to possess the range of voices that Haruhi supposed to have from being cute to being bored and annoyed. Hunny, on the other hand, sounds very similar to Momiji from Fruits Basket.
It's amazing how many chapters the writers manage to squeeze into this episode. They even manage to include the Omake about Haruhi's father. Despite this, the episode somehow manages to retain the majority of its comedic scenes. Animation-wise, this is still quite consistent with last week's quality although admittedly there are some inconsistencies here and there. I really hope that this series will be able to maintain the quality of the animation until the end of its run. I just realised, however, that there are several chapters which have been ignored by the anime writers. I really hope that they'll revisit these chapters one day.
This is definitely one of the funniest episodes so far. I've mentioned before how Ouran seems to be a lot better when the series is focused on Haruhi and the group instead of some random characters of the week. This episode is a good example of this. Instead of giving too much focus on the guest characters, the writers simply use them to mine the comic reactions out of the Host club. It also helps that the guest characters of the week are so serious that they provide a good contrast to the silly characters from Ouran. Animation-wise, this is pretty much the same quality as last week's episode so that means the animators are pretty good at maintaining the consistency. As a side note, if you didn't read last week's NANA's discussion, flchick pointed out a PDF document from Nippon TV that lists Ouran as 26 episodes series while NANA has been given around 50 episodes (tentative).
http://www.ntv.co.jp/english/pc/ntv-animation.pdf
This episode contains some of the nicest animation I've ever seen. I especially love the two little snakes that Tamaki carries around in his bucket. It is therefore unfortunate that they actually have to trim the story down. I think it would have been better if this was presented as a two-parter. This makes me wonder if the series has only been scheduled as a 13 episodes series. The schedule on Shoboi's site certainly still indicates this. If that's the case then it's understandable as to why the animators want to include as many stories as possible. I do hope, however, that the series will be given 26 episodes at least so we can see some of the more interesting plotlines in the series.
This is not exactly the funniest episode within the series. However, it is a mark improvement from last week's episode which was rather dull in my opinion. It helps that this episode features my favourite pairing which is Mori x Haruhi. I actually don't mind any other pairings with Haruhi but if a person asks me which of the pairings that I like the most then the answer will have to be Mori x Haruhi. I just find these two a lot more interesting together. Anyway, the animation in this episode is fantastic and maintains the quality of the past few episodes. I think the quality will be maintained until the end of the series. Of course, there's the likelihood that the budget becomes crippled halfway or towards the end of the series but I seriously hope that won't be the case.
Unfortunately this is not as funny as last week's episode. I think by taking the focus away from the Host Club themselves, the series end up losing the comedy part of its appeal. The anime tries to add a little comedy by giving Renge a short appearance, but in the end, the overall episode is not as funny as usual. Having said that, this episode did a good job in the dramatic content part of the story. Unfortunately, the character of the week is a rather annoying and unsympathetic character in my opinion, so I didn't really care whether or not he manages to achieve his aim. I think the character in question tried to take a shortcut to achieve his aim but in the end ended up doing what he supposed to be doing anyway. But then again, I never like this kind of character so your milleage may vary.
Kawabe Chieco - Sakura Kiss (43.6MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
I actually think the song is not that special. The PV, on the other hand, is a crack and a half. Watching those rabbits jumping around couples who are having romantic moments is rather amusing. Of course it helps that I love Robbie the Rabbit from the Silent Hill series and bunnies from this music video remind me of him. You can also see Chieco Kawabe wearing froggie suit while corrupting little kids to share their first kiss. I just hope they won't be traumatised with stuffed animals for the rest of their adult life. As far as references to Ouran High School Host Club, the song contains a line about a host and an appearance from an androgynous girl who could pass up as Haruhi. Even if you don't like the song, at least wait until the part where Kawabe Chieco trying to eat burger while still wearing her froggie costume.
This is definitely one of the funniest episode I've seen in a while. The jokes are funny, especially the bits with Nekozawa and the part where the twins start having fights with each other. The animation quality also continues to be top-notch with some fast one happening in some of the scenes. Plot-wise, the series finally starts to give focus on other characters apart from Tamaki and Haruhi. This time around, it's focused on the twins. I am just hoping that as the series progress, other characters will get the same spotlight. I especially want to see some development on Mori, who has not get any important dialogue or scenes whatsoever so far. I hope the series will get at least 26 episodes so that it'll get to the point where Mori gets his share of the story.
I'm sorry for the late review but my internet connection was down for a couple of hours and I can't post anything that I've typed. Thankfully I did my writing on a notepad so nothing got lost during the downtime. Anyway, as I said before, I really enjoyed this episode mostly due to Renge's presence. Her Medusa-like hair is something that looks better animated. Her obsession with dating sim game Uki Doki Memorial is also very amusing since I've never played dating-sim game before. I never said this before but I like the fact that as far as main character goes, Haruhi sometimes looks ridiculous and silly. Her incredulous look everytime she finds something about the Host Club is quite amusing to see no matter how many times the animators used it. I think the series wouldn't be as good if she's not affected by the silliness around her.
The episode is still as funny as usual and moreover, Tamaki finally get some kind of competition for Haruhi's attention. The problem that I can see with this series is that the same jokes have essentially been used three times now. They are still funny but I wonder how many times the writers can use the same joke over and over again before it stops being funny. Animation-wise, this is as solid as the first two episodes, which is a really good effort from BONES. I would have expected the quality to slide down a bit but that doesn't seem to be the case here. The best scene here is probably the one where Tamaki drives a line that seperate himself from the rest of the guy. In addition to this, some of the jokes here is a carried-over from last week's episode so there's a sense of continuity from the previous to this episode. Overall, this is another solid episode for the series. I'll be back to finish the summary later in the meantime, enjoy the screenshots.
This is another entertaining episode for the Host Club. Just like the first episode, however, there is nothing particularly serious as far as the plot goes. If anything, the focus on this week's episode is actually not on the Host Club member but rather on the guest characters of the week. Despite this, the main characters still get to deliver the majority of the jokes, especially Tamaki who's gone as over the top as usual, especially when it comes to Haruhi. Animation-wise, I think this episode is a lot more attractive than the first one simply because there are more colours being used and the animators seem to know how to mix them well. After seeing this episode for some reason I have a craving for fruit loops. Could this be some kind of a new subliminal advertising?
Opening Theme: 「桜キッス」- Sakura Kiss by Kawabe Chieko (15MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
I've been wanting to watch this for a while now but work and other series that I was already planning to watch prevented me from doing so. Now that I've seen the episode, I think There's something about Haru is probably the more appropriate title for this episode instead of From now on, you're a host!!. Anyway, I think this is a very fun and entertaining first episode. Music-wise, I don't really like the opening theme that much. I thought it's rather forgettable especially in a season where there are more interesting anime opening theme around. Similarly, the ending theme also fails to leave any indelible impression on me. Thankfully the background music within the episode itself is quite good. The series uses mostly classic music composition to give the suggestion that the series does take place within a high school for rich students.
