Ouran High School Host Club ep.22

August 30, 2006 | 55 Comments

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.

Inside a house called "Kasanoda-gumi", a young man prepares himself to go to Ouran High. As soon as the man opens the front door, a group of thugs give him a synchronised "Good morning" greeting. When one of them asks him to do his best in 'Otsutome' (a Yakuza slang which means term of imprisonment but can also mean work), however, the guy turns around and yells at them in anger. He tells them he's always said that going to school is not 'Otsutome'. The thugs immediately apologises to their young master, who turns out to be a student from class 1-D called Kasanoda Ritsu. As Ritsu walks out of the gate, a young man asks Ritsu if he's taking a car. Ritsu, however, refuses and tells the guy that he's going to take a walk today. After Ritsu left the house, one of the thugs tells the others that lately their master's observation skill is better. Outside the house, Ritsu tells himself that today is the day as an image of Mori flashes in his mind.

Meanwhile, the Host Club members are in the middle of cosplaying as Samurai and Shinsengumi. A female client asks Tamaki if he's cosplaying as Sakamoto Ryouma. Tamaki confirms her guess and tells the girl in Tosa-ben (Tosa dialect) that he'd surely get their hearts. The girls of course, squeeing as usual while Haruhi is not impressed. Moreover, she didn't know that Bakumatsu (the end of Edo era) cosplay is popular with the girls. The twins disagree with Haruhi and tells her that girls who love Bakumatsu are more than she can imagine, especially when it comes to the Shinsengumi. Hunny chimes in by saying that generally, there are many who are enthusiastic about these kind of thing. Renge thinks that the reason for its popularity is because of the young nobles who lived for the country and fell for their belief. They had nothing but Bushido (samurai code of chivalry) to enforce their will and to stoically command themselves.

All of a sudden, Kaoru pretends as if he's dying, so Hikaru pulls the his brother to his arm, causing the fangirls to scream in excitement. Renge then tells the girls that although the Ikedaya Incident is popular, just the idea of Fujikata-san going to the northern ground of Toba-Fushimi to protect the ideal of Shinsengumi all by himself makes her want to eat 3 bowl of rice. Upon hearing this, Kyouya thanks Renge for leaving the girls to their own wild imagination instead of unskillfully casting their roles. Renge agrees but thinks that Haruhi looks like Okita Souji. One of the girls immediately declares that Haruhi sure looks like a bishounen samurai while another cries and asks Haruhi not to die (rumour has it that Okita Souji died of tuberculosis). Unknown to both girls, Haruhi is not paying attention to what either of them said. Apparently there is a pork meat sale at her local supermarket today so she wonders if she'll be able to make it in time.

Meanwhile, three girls are watching over Mori, arguing which character he should be. One of them thinks that he should be Shimada Kai while another believes that he should be Yamazaki Suzumu, the last girl thinks he should be Souma. All of a sudden, Mori stands up and swings his spear towards the door. He tells the rest of the Host Club members that they have an intruder. The intruder turns out to be Ritsu, who suddenly asks Mori to take him as an apprentice. Later on Kyouya tells the others that the guy is Kasanoda Ritsu, the son of 3rd generation successor to the Kasanoda group, a company that wields great power in Kantou region. He's a new student at Ouran and his trademarks are his red hair and cruel face. He is typically silent and has no friend. It is rumoured that those who see his eyes will suffer from nightmare for 3 months. He's also the kind who will 'send a person to the hospital' if that person's shoulder collide with his.

If a person argue with him, he'd surely send that person straight into the graveyard. As a result, his classmates are afraid of this human blizzard. Upon hearing this Tamaki wonders why a dangerous weapon of a person like Ritsu would want to be Mori's apprentice. Ritsu tells Tamaki that he's not a dangerous weapon type of a person. It's just that his eyes look scary ever since his birth. The twins then start calling him Casanova so Kasanoda tries to correct the two but unfortunately, they think his name is Bosanova. Ritsu loses his patience and yells at them, scaring not only the twins but also Tamaki. He then explains how his father have been teaching him to act and talk tough ever since he was a kid. Because of this, however, everyone ends up being afraid of him. They distance themselves from Ritsu, leaving him in solitary. The truth is, Ritsu wants to play with everyone. Because of this, he wants Mori to tell him how he can be like Mori.

He thinks that Mori looks scary, expressionless, silent, and unsociable. Ritsu wonders how someone who looks like a Hell's watchdog can be loved by those around him. Because of this, he wants Mori to tell his secret. The twins ask Tamaki if they are not going to deal with Ritsu but Tamaki tells them that the guy wants to become Mori's apprentice so the decision falls onto Mori. However, after Mori gives Tamaki an eye signal asking for help, Tamaki decides to take matters into his own hand. He tells Ritsu that one thing that Mori have and he doesn't is a 'Lovely Item'. The item for Mori is, of course, Hunny. He points out that on a glance, Mori looks scary. However, once you attach Hunny on his shoulder, Mori's status turn into a Mori (Forest) Bear who is liked by small animals. After this, people will freely give positive interpretation of his unsociability and make it into something positive like "a silent and good young man."

Tamaki thinks it's not an overstatement to say that Mori's charm was only established after he's paired up with Hunny. Upon hearing this, Hunny starts crying, asking Mori if all of these times he's just using Hunny. Meanwhile, Tamaki wonders what he can possibly change in Ritsu when he notices Ritsu's 'Yankee's fashion'. Because of this, he orders the twins to give Ritsu an image change. That evening, Ritsu returns to his home and is greeted by the young man calls Tetsuya. Tetsuya, however, is shocked when he sees Ritsu with dreadlock hair, metrosexual scarf, and a teddy bear (his 'Lovely Item'). Tetsuya can't help himself from asking Ritsu what happened at school. Ritsu, on the other hand, is too embarassed to explain so he ends up scaring everyone around him. The next day, Tetsuya notices that the weather looks bad so he wonders if Ritsu carried an umbrella with him. Ritsu himself is in the school, offering to carry Mori's bag to the class.

In the middle of their conversation, however, Mori notices that someone has pushed a potted plant so that it'll fall on top of Ritsu's head. Mori quickly pushes Ritsu away but another potted plant is dropped on Ritsu so Mori slices it with his bare hand. After seeing the incident, other students immediately surrounds Mori, concerned for his well-being. Ritsu admires Mori because despite his scary eyes, students swarm to be near him. Ritsu eventually arrives back at the Host Club, where Tamaki announces the beginning of the image improvement strategy. Ritsu immediately protests this, claiming that yesterday's attempt simply makes others more afraid of him. Because of this, Tamaki approaches him and asks Ritsu not to misunderstand them. He assures Ritsu that they are serious in assisting him and blames yesterday's incident on the twins. Ritsu becomes embarassed to hear this and apologises to Tamaki.

While the rest of the Host Club formulate their plan to transform Ritsu, Haruhi approaches the guy to tell him that he doesn't have to believe the other guys' words. Ritsu points out that these are the people that Mori recommends to him. He then remembers that he doesn't know Haruhi so Haruhi introduces herself as a first year student as well. Since she's also a new high school student, she feels that she and Ritsu are like friends already. Ritsu blushes upon hearing this and asks Haruhi if she likes playing Kankeri (Kick the Can) game. Haruhi admits that she's not particularly interested in it but she thinks it is probably good to play occasionally. Ritsu blushes even more to hear this. He also starts to stutter and tells himself that Haruhi looks like a girl. His thought, however, is interrupted when Tamaki suddenly calls him to let him know that his 'Lovely Image' has been determined. It's a cat, or rather, he gets to wear a Neko-mimi (cat ears) hairband.

Unfortunately no one seems to be convinced of his...transformation. He actually looks kind of scary to the point that Hunny calls him Bakeneko (Monstrous Cat). Tamaki finds it weird because Neko-mimi has been known to be a lovely item or at least that's what Renge told him. Kyouya thinks there is a limit to what a Neko-mimi can do to someone's expression. Hikaru thinks Tamaki is too optimistic so the twins suggest that they turn Ritsu into a Neko-mimi maid. It looks like Ritsu is going to refuse the idea flat out but when Tetsuya enters the room, he finds the twin in the middle of outfitting Ritsu into his Neko-mimi maid outfit. Tetsuya immediately apologises for interrupting Ritsu while he's enjoying his hobby. Ritsu becomes angry to hear this and asks the guy who could possibly have a hobby like this. Ritsu then throws the Neko-mimi in frustration and runs out of the room in embarassment while Tetsuya tries to chase him.

After Ritsu left the room, Haruhi remembers what the guy said about wanting to play with everyone else. At the same time, Ritsu remembers how other students often talk about how scary he can be. He then opens a basket, revealing that he's been taking care an injured Sparrow. He urges the bird to fly after giving it some food. He, however, is shocked when Haruhi suddenly appears. He wants to know what Haruhi is doing in this place but she does not answer and instead asks him what happened to the bird. Ritsu explains that he found the bird injured here. After taking it to the doctor, he was informed that it's getting well. Haruhi then asks Ritsu if she can give the bird some food too. Ritsu blushes again and remembers how Haruhi introduced herself. He realises that this guy is not afraid of him. He notices that Haruhi has large iris which sparkles brightly, making 'him' look like a girl.

Ritsu suddenly remembers that Haruhi is a 'guy' so he wonders why he thinks of 'him' like this. All of a sudden, Hunny appears and blocks a can of paint with his kick. Although he managed to stop the can, the paint itself got splashed onto Haruhi's uniform. Because the bird is shocked, it flies away, making Ritsu happy in the process. Tamaki is upset thinking Haruhi is bleeding but she tells him it's just a paint. Besides, Mori manages to catch the two people who threw the can. One of them accuses Ritsu of threatening the son of their leader and demands Ritsu to return that son. Ritsu, however, doesn't understand what the guy is talking about. Hunny tells Ritsu that the one who's been targeted right from the beginning is actually him. Ritsu realises that Mori has been saving him and wonders why he did it. Mori pats Ritsu on the head and tells him it's because he understands just by looking if a person is bad or not.

Haruhi tells the other that she's going to change her clothes. The twins offer to help her but she refuses them right away. Tetsuya then appears and kicks the two thugs who tried to harm Ritsu. As it turns out, he's the 'son' that the thugs were talking about. After Tetsuya orders the thugs to go away, he apologises to Ritsu for being silent before. The truth is, he's the son of Sendou-gumi's Kantou branch leader. 1 year ago, on one rainy day, he had a big fight with his father and ran away from his home. Back then, Ritsu offered Tetsuya his umbrella and Tetsuya knew that Ritsu is a kind person. Because of this, he wants to sever ties with the Sendou-gumi and joins Kasanoda-gumi. Tetsuya then gives Ritsu an umbrella and Ritsu accepts the umbrella. Ritsu remembers that he hasn't apologised to Haruhi so he goes on to check her at the music room. He, however, is shocked when he sees Haruhi taking off her clothes, revealing the bra underneath it.

Impression:

An interesting episode which forced me to know a bit about Shinsengumi than I had intended. Ritsu also turned out to be a fun character and was quite amusing when he showed up with his Neko-mimi maid outfit. Seeing him looking all happy when Haruhi refers him as her friend also reminded me of a discussion that I had with two friends a few days ago. We basically were talking about our first friend and what we felt back then. Not surprisingly, many people didn't actually remember their first friend, myself included. Having said that, I'm glad that I got to know some fun people while I was in high school. It just made high school life a lot easier, I think. Anyway, Ritsu seemed to be a decent character all around and I don't mind seeing him again in the future as long as he doesn't replace any character in the series. I've been wondering all of these times if the author is going to get rid of Mori and Hunny because they are already 3rd year students now.

There were other good comedic scenes included in this episode. My favourite was Haruhi daydreaming about the pork meat discount sales at her local supermarket. It's typical of her to pay more attention to discounted things than to her current surrounding. On the other hand, while it was nice to see Mori with different facial expression, I didn't like the way he was made fun of by the other characters here. I also wish that there is a single episode where Haruhi and Mori go on a date or something. Other characters have more or less got the opportunity with the exception of Hunny, who I don't usually put in the 'possible romantic interest' group. Anyway, I'll be interested to see how the writers will wrap up this series. I hope it won't end with the Host Club closing down because that means there won't be season 2 in the future.

Preview

Next week's episode is actually a continuation of this one.

© memento 2003