Ouran High School Host Club ep.17

July 25, 2006 | 45 Comments

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.

The episode begins with Kyouya waking up inside a shopping mall and unsure where he is at the moment. He remembers that he was still sleeping a while ago in his house but then realises that he heard Tamaki saying something as well. A flashback reveals that Tamaki was talking about a prefecture product exhibition at a shopping mall for commoners. He thinks that it'a awesome that commoners can go to this kind of event frequently since he thinks that this solves the problem whereby commoners can't travel elsewhere. Tamaki believes that the feeling of travel will be experienced by obtaining special goods from the place which a person visits. Because of this, he suggested that they go there to observe the commoner's culture so they can understand Haruhi's feelings a bit more. However, due to the nature of the project, Tamaki decided to exclude Haruhi from this excursion. Tamaki and the others then tried to wake Kyouya up.

Kyouya immediately glared at them and told the group that he just went to sleep at 5 in the morning. He wanted to know who allowed them to wake him up. The rest of the group except Mori immediately shiver in fear upon seeing angry Kyouya. Hunny made a comment about Kyouya looks scary when someone wakes him up so Mori told him that he's the last person who can say that. Hunny doesn't understand why, suggesting that he's not aware when he looks scary everytime someone tries to wake him up. Tired from dealing with the group, Kyouya told them to do whatever they want to do. Unfortunately for him, Tamaki took this as a permission to literally do what he wants to do so he ordered the rest of the group to change Kyouya's clothes and to drag the guy to the shopping mall while he's half-asleep. When they arrived at the department store, the twins were interested in mass produced clothing while Tamaki, who's just spotted a pet store, wants to go there.

Hunny, on the other hand, wanted to go to the rooftop to eat ice cream. Tamaki who noticed that there is an event on the rooftop decided that they should go there. In his excitement, however, he inadvertently left Kyouya on a nearby bench. Kyouya is now fully awake and aware of his situation. He understands that it's too far to walk home so he proceeds to reach into his pocket looking for his cellphone but can't seem to find either this or his wallet. To make things worse, he's hungry and there is this annoying kid screaming around near him. Kyouya decides to knock the kid off and gives him an evil glare which makes him look similar to the Monster featured in one of the ads hanging from the ceiling of the store. He also promises himself to kill Tamaki and the others. Fortunately for Kyouya, he then hears Haruhi asking him what he's doing here. In return, Kyouya asks Haruhi how much money she brings with her since he wants her to buy food for him.

Haruhi is not sure if Kyouya will like fast food but Kyouya tells her that it can't be helped since she doesn't have that much money. Having said that, he thinks she should keep the receipt and asks Tamaki to pay her tenfolds. Haruhi immediately cowers in fear and wonders why she has to encounter Kyouya of all people. Kyouya asks Haruhi how to order so Haruhi asks him what he wants. Kyouya doesn't care and just want to eat a lot. The counter girl seems to take a liking to Kyouya and tries to sell dessert but Kyouya doesn't like sweet things and refuses. The girl, however, doesn't seem to get a hint and tries to offer him a shake so Kyouya proceeds to give her the evil glare. Once the two sit down, Haruhi is surprised to see Kyouya eating his food in a relaxed manner instead of the stylish manner that he usually displays. She also thought that he wouldn't like the food. Kyouya tells her that he thought it'll be cruel to be treated by someone and complains about the food.

Kyouya also doesn't care about being stylish or relaxed since there isn't anyone important he needs to worry about here. Haruhi thinks to herself that as she suspected, there is a pressure in the rich people's world. As if reading her mind, however, Kyouya tells her that even if he shows his stylish manner, there's no profit to be gained from doing it in such a place. After he said this, a group of girls fawn over his coolness. The girls also try to attract his attention by asking if they can sit in a nearby table but Kyouya simply gives them his agreement and ignores them. Haruhi realises that this is how Kyouya behaves when there is nothing to gain. She thinks it's a very different image from the one he used at the Host Club and wonders why he and Tamaki, who's a natural host, get along well with each other. As if reading her mind, Kyouya tells Haruhi that she probably wonders why he and Tamaki get along with each other.

Kyouya tells Haruhi that the answer is simple: because there is profit to be gained from it. He basically won't do anything else for other reason since he's an Egoist. Haruhi tells Kyouya that Tamaki will cry if he hears this. Kyouya, however, thinks that Tamaki won't cry since he's aware about this right from the start. He then points out that other Host Club members co-operate with each other because there is a mutual profit. Having said that, there are times when idiot Tamaki acts on reason that is not motivated by profit. After the food, Kyouya decides to look around since he's already here. The two then stumble upon a stall selling Ishigaki Island's Black Lipped Pearls. Haruhi is surprised to know that Kyouya can recognise them so Kyouya tells her that he was educated on this. Haruhi tells Kyouya that come to think of it, she doesn't know much about Kyouya's family. She thinks it's unfair that he knows about her family but she doesn't know a thing about his.

Haruhi then tells Kyouya that she knows he has two elder brothers so she wants to know what they are like. Upon hearing this Kyouya remembers that at one point, two guests at his family party were talking about how his brothers will succeed his family's business. They actually like Kyouya more but because he's the third son, he'll never become the head of the family. Kyouya then tells Haruhi that his family consists of successful people who can easily meet his father's expectation. Because of this, as a third son, he's expected to achieve more. Haruhi thinks that it must be hard on Kyouya but Kyouya thinks that there is no game that is more interesting than this one. The two then overhear a woman talking to a merchant selling what she thinks are Komatsu's family handmade potteries. The merchant tries to flatter the woman by saying that it appears she has eyes for expensive goods. Kyouya decides to tell the woman that these potteries are counterfeit goods.

He then picks up one of the potteries and tells the woman that although there is resemblance to the original good, the source of gradation in this one is off, the colour looks too beautiful, and the stamp on the bottom of the pottery is different. He then tells the woman that he knows Komatsu family for a long time and offers to give them a call. In the end, the merchant is taken off the premise by the mall's security guards. After the incident, Haruhi wonders if helping people is also considered profitable by Kyouya. Kyouya tells Haruhi that the truth is the woman is the President of a large electrical machinery company. Although this is the first time he met her, he recognised her from the ring that she wears on her left hand. The woman then comes over to tell Kyouya that she didn't expect to meet the son of Ootori family at a place like this. Nevertheless, she promises to visit the resort that Kyouya's family runs soon.

Haruhi at first thinks that Kyouya did help the woman because he knew her but she quickly realises that Kyouya could not possibly saw her ring since it was obscured by a large banner. Kyouya, on the other hand, is busy looking at Melon snacks being offered on sale at another stand. He wonders if people don't find it strange that this melon-taste snacks don't actually contain melon. Haruhi laughs to hear this since she thinks it's the kind of things that Tamaki tends to say. Kyouya thinks that Tamaki and the twins will probably like this so he decides to buy it and asks Haruhi to pay for it. Meanwhile on the rooftop, Tamaki is busy getting facial from a dog, Mori and Hunny are busy with their ice creams, and the twins are riding on the merry-go-round. They then sit to watch some kind of a theatrical performance and are surprised when they see Renge appearing on the stage. All of a sudden she's captured by a huge monster but is saved by a Sentai Hero dressed in black.

This reminds Hunny of Kyouya and wonders where he is right now. Meanwhile, Haruhi is in the middle of telling Kyouya that she thinks Kyouya is similar to Tamaki. Kyouya is then reminded of the kind things that Tamaki once said to other people. His thought, however, is interrupted by an announcement of a missing kid. The missing kid in question is Ootori Kyouya from Tokyo. If the kid hears this, he is asked to come and meet Mr.Suou on the 2nd floor counter. The announcer then points out that Kyouya is 180cm in height and wears glasses. Other shoppers immediately recognises Kyouya as the person described. Kyouya is pissed off about this and tells a scared Haruhi that he will kill Tamaki. Upon seeing Haruhi with Kyouya, Hunny and the twins want Haruhi to play with them but Haruhi just wants to go home since she feels tired for some reason. Before she left, however, Haruhi tells Kyouya that she knew he lied to her when he told her about the ring on the woman's hand. She thinks that Kyouya simply pretended to be an Egoist.

Impression:

Kyouya's situation with his family is actually rather common in some families. I personally never understand this since if you are a parent, wouldn't you want all of your children to share equal amount of your wealth or at least have the one children who's good at business to continue your work? This kind of first-born children legacy is not only unfair to those who were born after the first children but also unfair for the first children themselves. Some first-born children often don't want such huge responsibility to be placed upon their shoulder. I've noticed that humans have been obsessed with the concept of first-born children. I want to know what is the significance of first-born children succession and how it started to begin with. The only thing that I understand is that first-born children will naturally be older than his/her siblings and therefore, they can presumably take care of their siblings a bit better.

Episode-wise, it was actually quite amusing to see Kyouya scaring everyone else in this episode. I think that generally Kyouya is a self-serving individual who occassionally helps others. But then again, many people are like that. It's just that in Kyouya's case his tendency to help other is quite minimal. Haruhi's comparison between Kyouya and Tamaki in this episode are quite off in my opinion. Tamaki is quite innocent while Kyouya is calculating right through the end. Although Tamaki occasionally say things that some people probably consider demeaning, he doesn't actually understand that those words are demeaning and his words usually contain little trace of malice. On the other hand, Kyouya's words are sometimes filled with hints of threats and he is fully aware that he says those words with a particular intention. Having said that, judging from the way his face looks when he remembered Tamaki's words, I think he really admires Tamaki's kindness towards other people.

Preview

Next week: Hunny's turn to take centre stage?

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