Comments on: Ouran High School Host Club Episode 1 - From Today, You’re a Host

By: natalie

natalie — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 03:47:34 +0000

I do have to say, and I am pretty sure this all began with me seeing a fanvid as a related YouTube video, followed by a google search, and then a trip to VEOH.com… But I watched the whole series in two days and it was great… (A little embarassing that that is how I spent… What? Thirteen, fourteen, hours of my life doing?) Haha, but it was great for a comedy, and the conflicts were well integrated. (The middle episodes may have been slower but were effective in getting some background info out…) All in all, it was very enjoyable and really addicting!
Seriously, it was fantastic.

By: nicole

nicole — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 17:52:31 +0000

wow this kawai program

By: nis

nis — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 04:40:06 +0000

lol testosterone damage.

By: silvarwyrm

silvarwyrm — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 03:21:15 +0000

If you like the anime, you should definitely check out the manga. That thing is brilliant, and cracks me up laughing every time. Being a jaded manga veteran by now, I appreciate the fact that it never takes itself too seriously and is constantly poking fun at many of the cliches/conventions of various manga genres. Priceless…

By: bloobunny

bloobunny — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 17:16:33 +0000

I just liked the light bulbs ._.

By: Lucydude

Lucydude — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 15:06:37 +0000

Poor girl. Being shoved around like that. It really shows you the plight of the commoner. Nicely done.

By: wao

wao — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 07:28:12 +0000

It’s called…. BONES.

Now let’s hope the other half of them are going to do a good job on Juuousei.

Dammit, why must I have tons of work during the beginning of the new season!!

By: DiGiKerot

DiGiKerot — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 16:50:42 +0000

This is obviously what half of Japans animaion staff are working on at the moment - it looks great, unlike Air Gear or Disgaea, which are pretty awful as far as animation quality goes. Just a result of the insane number of shows airing at the moment stretching staff incredibly thinly…

By: Otsuka

Otsuka — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 16:37:14 +0000

Normally I wouldn’t have touched this with a ten foot pole…but your taste in anime is generally exactly the same as mine, so I think I’ll give it a try. Ditto for Simoun. Hurray for great anime bloggers!

By: BluWacky

BluWacky — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 13:45:31 +0000

Well, it’s no secret that the script is written by Yoji Enokido, who was in charge of the screenplay for Utena, and the director worked under Kunihiko Ikuhara on Sailor Moon S and SuperS, and it shows. Signs, imagery and text are employed in a particularly Utena-esqe fashion; it’s not like doing the show as a straight Utena rip would work, as it’s a silly comedy rather than a fantasy drama, but the visual style of the more serious sequences reminded me a lot of parts of Utena.

The sequence I mentioned in the second half of the episode is where Haruhi discovers that the ojou-sama (I wish I could remember her name!) has thrown her satchel and wallet into the massive fountain that is the centre piece of Ouran High School - Haruhi then runs down a corridor in silhouette before rushing past the ojou-sama and stopping in front of a massive window, and the conversation between them plays out with cuts between each side of the window to frame the relevant character. The sequence reminded me a lot of most of the “cloister” scenes in the early part of Utena in particular, such as the one in episode 1 or 2 I believe where Utena talks to Saionji; the opulent windows are particularly reminiscent of Adolescence Mokushiroku, and so forth.

Also, I’m tainted by Utena when it comes to roses - anytime I see rose frames around the screen I automatically think of the show, even though they’re a relatively standard device in shoujo manga these days, and they’re used frequently in this episode.

The main reason I call this “post-Utena” is that the show seems quite self-aware and less willing to succumb to the trappings of more conventional shoujo series. The humour comes in part from the subversion of the shoujo stereotypes that the show perpetrates (we know that everything the Host Club does is a cynical maneuver to earn money, for instance), much like the way Utena reverses shoujo cliche for dramatic effect quite frequently.

At least that’s how I see it. I’m not sure if that makes sense, and you shouldn’t be getting your hopes up for something like Melody of Oblivion or anything, but I just felt as though the show seemed quite influenced by Utena for the above reasons.