Ouran High School Host Club ep.21

August 22, 2006 | 58 Comments

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.

The episode begins with a carriage operating in the middle of the night while Kaoru claims that when it turns to midnight, the carriage will probably turn into pumpkin. The scene then changes into Kaoru in the middle of the class, daydreaming while saying that, he thinks that the person who will cast the magic will not be an old witch. In front of the class, 1-A class rep, Souga Kazukiyo, wants to talk about next week's plan. Haruhi is confused about this so the twins tell her that it's about Halloween. 1-A class vice rep, Kurakano Momoka, tells Haruhi that she probably doesn't know it before since she's a special admission student but while school test are graded, there are no classes so students are allowed to have class party. Souga then explains that they get a day to do class event. According to the twins, this could be tea party or movie watching. From inside a movie reel, however, Renge comes out saying that those ideas are not good enough.

Renge starts waxing poetry about Halloween, a day that connects the end of summer and the start of winter, a day where people assume the form of evil creatures, and a day where you get to dress up and play trick on others. Upon seeing Renge's strange outfit, Haruhi can't help herself asking what kind of uniform that is so Renge tells her that it's the schoolgirl uniform from next year's Doki Doki Memorial 2 game. Apparently Renge has it tailored based on her findings. She then points out that tea party and costume party are the kind of things that they always do at the Host Club so she suggests something more exciting for Halloween: Kimodameshi (a test of courage game/a dare). Upon hearing this, Souga's body temperature suddenly goes down a bit. Renge, however, continues by saying that they will ask permission from school's principal to open the school at night so they can dress up as ghost and scare each other off.

Unfortunately for Souga, Hikaru suggests to the class that the coward who runs away before the event ends will be featured on the school's newspaper. Because of this, Souga asks the class if there is anyone who objects to the idea, hoping that Haruhi will be that person. Unfortunately for Souga, despite his stern look and slightly raised voice, Haruhi remains clueless about his signals. Eventually, Souga has no choice but to approve the game. Meanwhile, inside the Host Club, Tamaki is playing trick and treat on the girls while dressing up as vampire. Apparently he decides to hold a Halloween week which requires everyone to dress up as vampires. He's not happy when he finds out that the twins and Haruhi want to be exempted from club's activities because they have to plan their class event. Unfortunately for Tamaki, Kyouya approves the exemption. Tamaki starts to think that the twin will use the opportunity to scare Haruhi off so she'll get close to them.

Upon seeing his overactive imagination, Tamaki uses his 'daddy' role to stop Haruhi from leaving, prompting Kaoru to reflect how even though they're just club members, Tamaki sees them as families. Despite this, the twins can't resist to teast Tamaki and disappear out of the door with Haruhi. Tamaki wants to come but he's startled by the creepy laugh which comes from a coffin behind him. The source of the laugh turns out to be Nekozawa sempai, who invites Tamaki to give the first year a 'Halloween Present' they'll never forget. While the rest of the class are having fun planning for the event, Souga uses the opportunity to talk to Haruhi outside the class. He admits of suffering from darkness/ghost stories phobia so he begs Haruhi to help him. He also tells her that he actually send some signals to her before but she wasn't responding. Haruhi thinks Souga has zero telepathic ability. Either way, Souga wants Haruhi to be in his Kimodameshi team.

Unfortunately for Souga, the twins overhear this and decide to recruit him and Haruhi on their team. Because of this, the vice class rep decides to call them Team B. On Halloween night, Hikaru and Kaoru are having a blast scaring Souga with story about Clock Tower Witch. Apparently, there once was a student who dressed up as a witch and fell to her death from the clock tower. Ever since then, anyone who sees her will be cursed. Souga freaks out about this so Haruhi tells the twin to scaring their own team member. The twins argue that no one comes so they're bored. At the same time, Souga's spirit starts to run away from his body so Haruhi pulls it back and tells the guy to get a grip. Haruhi then tries to give Souga pointers on how to get rid of his fear such as pretending not seeing something even if he does. Unfortunately, hearing the suggestions simply scares Souga even more. He insists on going home and doesn't care even if others call him a coward.

He, however, quickly changes his mind when the twin remind him that he'll be the laughing stock of the girl that he likes, the vice-class rep, Kurakano. Upon seeing Souga blushing, Haruhi tells him that she didn't know Souga likes Kurakano. Souga immediately denies this and tells Haruhi that they're just childhood friends. The twin then accuse him of pretending not abusing his power as class rep when the truth is he just doesn't want others to find out that he's a coward. Souga, however, denies this and tells them that the real reason he agree to this plan is because Kurakano likes Kimodameshi. The twins are horrified upon hearing this because they realise that just like Tamaki, Souga is one of those 'pure types', which can make them feel guilty if they make fun of him. Because of this, the twins decide to help the guy instead. While talking about this, however, Haruhi sees something passes by and wonders if it's just her who saw the figure.

All of a sudden, a skull falls from the stairwell, scaring the four students in the process. After a while, however, Kaoru thinks that this is the work of Team A. Hikaru is pissed off about this because it's not their time to do it just yet so he kicks the skull back upstairs, hitting something in the process. That something turns out to be a figure with long hair and white kimono. Souga wonders if the figure is the 'Clock Tower Witch' that the twins were talking about. After the figure reveals its face and asks who threw the skull, the four students proceed to run for their life. In their attempt to escape, Souga and Kaoru are seperated from Haruhi and Hikaru. Haruhi ends up hitting a rope which is stretched across the hall. This in effect, triggers a trap which captures her and Hikaru inside a fishnet. On the other hand, Souga gets the terror of his life when he sees members of the Host Club dressing up as horror characters like Frankenstein (Mori).

Kaoru eventually manages to catch up with Souga but before he can calm the class rep, Nekozawa butler and maid jumps from the ceiling and kick the two boys into a storage room. They then use sandbag to ensure that the two boys can't get out of the room. As it turns out, the whole thing was Nekozawa-sempai's plan and he gets the rest of the Host Club to participate. The only exception to this is Kyouya, who prefers to read using a flashlight. Meanwhile, Hikaru panics when he realises that Kaoru is not around. Haruhi tries to calm him down because she wants to cut the net using the scissors that she owns. Hikaru is surprised to see the scissors coming from a sewing box because he didn't think Haruhi is into that kind of 'girly thing'. Haruhi is not happy about this and tells Hikaru that he's rude. Hikaru tries to excuse himself by saying that Kaoru is similar. Haruhi disagrees and tells Hikaru that when Kaoru is on his own, he acts like normal person.

Inside the room, Kaoru laments the fact that their plan was ruined. Apparently the twin were planning to scare off Kurakano so that Souga can comfort her. Souga thanks Kaoru for the thought but he thinks Kurakano actually likes Haruhi. He thinks although Haruhi is not interested right now, maybe 'he' will in the future. Kaoru simply sweatdrops upon hearing this and assures Souga that Haruhi won't ever be interested in Kurakano. Upon hearing this, Souga points out he already happy from being in the student committee with Kurakano so he doesn't want to ruin that. Kaoru understands this and likens Souga/Kurakano's friendship to a carriage. He also feels the same way about the Host Club and thinks that Tamaki doesn't want their current relationship to fall apart. Despite this, he thinks one day the carriage will inevitably become a pumpkin. Their conversation, however, comes to a halt when Hikaru suddenly burst through the door.

The twins are eventually reunite with one another again. Souga, however, asks Hikaru where Haruhi could be. Hikaru is shocked to hear this because he actually left Haruhi behind. Thankfully Haruhi manages to find their whereabouts not long after this. Haruhi is not angry but thinks Hikaru is cruel for leaving her all alone after she cut the net open. Hikaru apologises profusely to Haruhi while Kaoru looks on at his brother in disbelief. The four then meet the rest of their classmates, who apparently have been looking all over for them. The twins are surprised to hear this and tell them that they think Team A was the one who scared them. Team A, however, denies of any wrongdoing. In the middle of the debate, however, Renge and Kurakanao scream in terror because they just saw something. That something is a large cat sillhoutte on the glass rooftop. Everyone from class 1-A immediately scream in terror and all of their spirits leave their body.

The next day, the school newspaper posts pictures of their scared faces, referring the entire 1-A class as a bunch of cowards. They also find out that Nekozawa-sempai was the one who pulled the trick on them and the large shadow was just his Bereznoff puppet. Kurakano then tells Kazukiyo that she knows Kazukiyo was acting brave for the class' sake. Kazukiyo apologises but Kurakano thinks that he's great and she actually regains respect for him. Kaoru points out how in the end the carriage between the two can't go on. Hikaru doesn't understand what Kaoru is talking about, causing Kaoru to remember how Hikaru left Haruhi to look for him. He thinks it'll be nice if Hikaru comes to him first in that kind of situation. However, the then leads Haruhi and Hikaru to walk side by side before letting them go. Kaoru can't help but wonder what will he do if Hikaru once to progress further. The episode then ends by showing a shot of a pumpkin.

Impression:

Kaoru must be surprised and happy at the same time that his sibling thinks of him first and foremost. However, he knows that his relationship with Hikaru and their place in the Host Club can't possibly go on and on. One day, either he or Hikaru will find a girl that they like. I highly doubt that girl will be able to tolerate both twins at the same time. As painful as it may seem, the two need to grow apart so they can develop their individuality and not forever known as a set. Similarly, eventhough the Host Club has been a fun place to be for everyone involved, sooner or later the members will graduate from the school and won't be able to participate in club activities anymore. Come to think of it, Mori and Hunny are already in their 3rd year while Tamaki and Kyouya are in 2nd year. In 2 years time, the only people left in the Host Club, if it still exists, are Haruhi and the twins. I highly doubt any of them will be interested to continue the club without the others.

The question that Kaoru asked actually has a very simple answer: he has to move on and find other people to interact with. I think he took this first step when he talked like a normal person to Souga when they were trapped together. Although Kaoru doesn't seem to realise it, he too has made some progress in regards to his individual life. In the past, I highly doubt that he'd be able to talk like that to a classmate. Last week's episode showed that the twins were not exactly good at making friends. So the fact that Kaoru managed to do this, is a sign of progress on his part. I realise, however, that it must be hard on him as well. It must be strange knowing that the brother that he used to know so well is slowly drifting apart from him. In the end though, there's nothing he can do about it. And the sooner he realises this, the sooner he'll be able to find his own friends so he doesn't always have to rely on Hikaru when he wants to talk to someone.

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