Ouran High School Host Club ep.13

June 28, 2006 | 35 Comments

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.

The episode begins with middle high-schooler Haruhi and her father visiting Ourah High in order to find out the school's entry requirements. While her father and the principal talk to one another, Haruhi is off to look around and in the process sees Usa-chan walking around inside the Host Club room. When Usa-chan descends down into a hole, Haruhi tries to stop it but ends up tripping on a banana skin and falls into the hole. Haruhi eventually ends up in another room and gets her butt stucked into a vase. She then sees Shirou the Monkey coming out of a piano. When Haruhi tries to ask the Monkey for a help, however, the Monkey simply ignores her and instead chooses to eat a banana, which promptly makes him smaller. The Monkey then runs through a small door, forcing Haruhi to eat the banana and go after it as well. She ends up falling into a poll, which according to Kyouya the Caterpillar, is made up of her heart's tears.

The Caterpillar thinks that hardship brings sadness and believes Haruhi must have perservered hardship quite often. The creature also advises Haruhi to get out of the poll or else she'll get eaten. True enough, three mechanical Crocodiles controlled by the Zuka girls appear and try to devour her. The Caterpillar then says that one side will turn someone bigger while the other side will make a person smaller but Haruhi is not sure what The Caterpillar is talking about. The Caterpillar then indicates that a customer is coming and points out at Nekozawa and Kirimi, who have arrived to ask for a little bit of the mushroom. Haruhi notices that the Caterpillar is writing on a pad and wonders what he always writes on that pad. The Caterpillar tells Haruhi that he writes everything but then remembers that Haruhi said "always" and asks her why she said that if this is the first time they met. Unfortunately, Haruhi doesn't seem to know the answer.

At the same time, Nekozawa and Kirimi have consumed the mushroom, which promptly turns Nekozawa into a baby and Kirimi into a busty adult. Haruhi is horrified upon seeing Kirimi's 'turning big' since that's not what she had in mind. Haruhi then panics upon seeing the baby crawling into an open door and since Kyouya the Caterpillar is too busy flirting with the now busty Kirimi, he can't care less. Haruhi decides to chase after the baby and ends up coming out of a cupboard and face to face with Renge the Duchess, Ayanokouji the Cook, and Hikaru the Cat. Ayanokouji is not happy being Renge's cook and starts throwing plates and banana skins towards her master. When her attempt ends in vain, she ends up running away in tears. Haruhi finds out that the baby actually belongs to the Duchess and thinks that it's nice to see a baby with his mother. However, since the Duchess has to go to court, she has no choice but to leave the baby with Haruhi.

Once the Duchess disappears into the floor, Hikaru the Cat asks Haruhi if she thinks if the doll is really the Duchess' child. Haruhi suddenly realises that the baby in her arm has turned into a wooded cat statue similar to the one that Hikaru used back in episode 5. She then notices that the Cat has disappeared as well so she decides to walk out into the passageway. This time around, she sees the Cat again but it has an annoying habit of appearing and disappearing from in front and behind her. Haruhi decides to ask the Cat how she can get back to her world but he refuses to do so without the Queen's permission. Haruhi becomes annoyed and when the Cat tells her that the Queen rules everything here and starts to disappear again. Because of this, she asks the two cats to show themselves. The Cat pretends not to know what she talks about but when she's away from it, Hikaru and Kaoru Cats appear looking amazed at her observation skill.

Haruhi then goes to into a room and encounters Mad Hatter Tamaki, Hunny Bunny, and Mori the Sleeping Mouse. The Mad Hatter and the Bunny tell Haruhi that there are no seats for her even though it's obvious that there are lots of seat around the table. The Hare then makes a comment how he likes Haruhi's long hair but he supposed it can't be helped that she has to cut it short. Haruhi is not impressed to hear this and asks the Mad Hatter to not talk about her hair. Haruhi then notices the Bunny eating a large cake on his own and tells it that he'll get cavities eating too many of it The Mouse then awakes and tells Bunny to brush his teeth before falling asleep again. While Mad Hatter and Bunny are busy fawning over Haruhi's cuteness, the clock's bell ring, indicating that it's 3 o'clock. Mad Hatter explains that it's always 3 in the afternoon here. Haruhi wonders where they are now since back then she was with her father trying to enroll in Ouran High.

Upon hearing this, Mad Hatter asks Haruhi what she would do after she gets into this school. Haruhi tells him that she'd study, prompting the Mad Hatter to ask her if that is the only thing. Haruhi tells him that is because there is a dream that she wants to realise and this is why she wants to study at Ouran. Mad Hatter tells Haruhi that a student's life does not only consist of studying since there are other fun things to do. As Haruhi considers the idea of having fun, she hears a trumpet that indicates the trial of the Duchess. Haruhi decides to run off to prevent the trial. After Haruhi left, Bunny makes a comment how Haruhi in the dream is still the same Haruhi. At the same time, Haruhi arrives in the courthouse and declares herself as the Duchess' lawyer. The Duchess is accused of leaving her precious child alone for her job. Haruhi, however, tells the King and Queen that when a parent is busy, the child should understand.

The King, however, points out that as a lawyer, Haruhi is also guilty of a crime. The vase that got stucked in her butt then appears in front of her shattered into pieces. Haruhi tells the prosecutor that she didn't break it but she then has flashes of her hand trying to catch the same vase but failed to do so. The King then calls the witness so The Mad Hatter appear and tells the King that Haruhi has committed a mistake in her student life by focusing too much on her study and not having enough fun. Haruhi is annoyed to hear this and says in return that Tamaki has way too much fun in his life. All of a sudden the light is on, revealing the fact that the room is full of girls who are laughing at Haruhi. The Mad Hatter asks Haruhi why she knows his name? The twin cats then tells everyone that Haruhi knew that they are twins. The Caterpillar also points out that Haruhi knew that he always writes in his notepad. The Bunny then reminds Haruhi that she knew about her cavities.

Because of this everyone wants to know why Haruhi is aware about all of these. Since Haruhi still does not understand, the King decides to take off his mask, revealing that he's none other than Ranka-san, Haruhi's father. Haruhi immediately realises that the Queen must be none other than her mother. Haruhi's mother then approaches Haruhi and apologises for making her life hard but Haruhi seems to enjoy her dream-like student life. Upon seeing her mother cries, Haruhi can't help herself from doing the same thing before running off towards her arms. The camera then zooms in on Haruhi's teary eyes and reveals that the entire story was just a dream inside Haruhi's mind. Tamaki then wakes her up and Kyouya reminds her that the customers are coming soon. Haruhi notices that everyone has now dressed up as Alice in Wonderland character. Haruhi realises that whether she's asleep or not, her student life is indeed, as her mother pointed out, is dream-like.

Impression:

Like I said in the opening paragraph, I prefer the original manga story to this one. This one adds that touching bit towards the end with Haruhi and her mother but apart from this, the episode feels rather boring with only a few laughs in between. On the other hand, it does feel a lot more similar to the original version of Alice in Wonderland. For example, in one of the scenes from the episodes, Nekozawa and Kirimi asks permission from Kyouya the Caterpillar to eat the mushroom. In the original, Alice shrunk to a small size after eating it while in this one, Nekozawa turns into a baby while Kirimi turns into a busty adult. Kyouya flirting with Kirimi while looking predatory was an interesting euphemism considering that there has been accusation that Lewis Caroll, whose real name is Charles Lutwidge Dogson, might have had unhealthy obsession with the real girl who inspired him to write Alice in Wonderland and with little girls in general.

Another interesting part about the episode was the part where Haruhi encounters Mad Hatter Tamaki and Hunny Bunny and the three of them talk about how Haruhi is too busy studying and never have the time to have some fun. I think if Haruhi has a flaw as a character then that would be the fact that she takes herself too seriously. This is the reason why she gets so frustrated at the Host Club members because she's so serious and they are so mischieveous. However, I think that deep down Haruhi recognises the Host Club's contribution in making her life a lot more enjoyable. Despite her protestation and the fact that she often has to be dragged kicking and screaming to have fun, in the end Haruhi actually enjoyed the experience. In a way she reminds me of a similarly straight-laced character, Kyon, from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu. Both of them often complain about the insanity of their surrounding but deep down they rather enjoy it.

This episode is also contains references to other characters who have appeared in the series and what Haruhi think of them. For example, she seems to see Takaouji Shirou from episode 6 as an annoying monkey. While she sees Kanako from episode 2 as someone who is longing for her boyfriend to come back. She also seems to have a revenge fantasy about Ayanokoji, the girl who treated her badly in episode 1, by turning her into a cooking girl in her fantasy. The nicest thing about this is probably her comparison about the Duchess having to go to court and being seperated from her baby. Haruhi probably feels that her mother's job as a lawyer seperates her from Haruhi. Overall, however, I still want to see the hilarious play that the Host Club was about to put up for their customer towards the end of this episode. Unfortunately, I don't think this will happen since that storyline shares the same Alice in Wonderland theme.

Preview

On next week's episode: It's the one with the student newspaper club.

© memento 2003