Confusion Under the Maples

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

"Ouran High School Host Club" ep 9

This is not inconspicuous.

Nekozawa looking chipper.

Tamaki saving Haruhi from thunder?!

The club follows Haruhi to her summer job in a resort town. Kaoru sets up Hikaru on a "date" with Haruhi to teach him how to think of other people besides himself. Hikaru ditches Haruhi out of jealousy and Tamaki saves the day. Highlights: The strange fashions the club wears while stalking the dating couple, especially Honey's loli outfit. Kyouya and Honey "flirting." Nekozawa (and his puppet) in resort wear. An especially corny episode (hard to believe Haruhi is so afraid of thunder), but it's nice to see Haruhi expecting Tamaki to show up in emergencies.

"Ikemen desu ne" ep 10

Of course, Ren comes back to Mio after finding out the lies his mother told. Mio is happy to reunite with him, until she finds out how much her mother suffered because of Ren's mother. Now it's her turn to blame him for the sins of the parent. (Huh? I know.)
Highlights:
Okinawa scenery.
Ren and Shu make up...sort of. The real Mio shows up and we see a disturbing photoshopped image.
Mio finally finds fault with Ren and leaves him (hah.)
The president actually finds out the big secret, unlike in the kdrama.

"Ikemen desu ne" ep 9

This episode certainly has everyone's emotions on a rollercoaster ride. Ren and Mio are actually happy together...for about 15 minutes. They announce their new relationship to Mabuchi (who give a fantastic yelp of surprise) and Yuuki. Yuuki is devastated and rides the bus of catharsis. We don't get a tearful, heartbreaking song over the cell phone as in the kdrama, but Yuuki's pain is shown pretty well. Ren's mother can't stand Mio being "with" her son. She drops the bombshell that she was the reason Mio's parents split up. Ren is devastated to find out his new GF is the daughter of the man that ruined his life and rejects Mio. Shu is there to pick up the pieces. It's kind of hard to believe Ren would dump Mio over this, but I suppose Ren is a little damaged by his childhood.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

"Ikemen desu ne" ep 8

A lot of plot happens in this episode. Highlights:

Ren quizzes Mio on her worthiness to be a Ren Fan Club member.

Jang Geun Suk appearance! He makes all the A.N.Jell members jealous and seems extremely tall.

The boys make an awful spaghetti to "poison" Nana... but Yuuki ends up eating it.

Shu finally confesses his love to Mio at the airport...and you know what happens.

Ren finally confesses his love to Mio at the airport...and you know what happens.

"Ouran HIgh School Host Club" ep 8

This time we get to see Nekozawa without the hood and long hair...and he's cute! The funniest parts are when Nekozawa is training to like the light so that he can become closer to his little sister who is afraid of him.

Highlights: Kyouya sporting a police uniform and mirror shades...for some reason this cosplay is getting to me...is it hot in here?

The chairman of the school acting Tamaki-like.

The "No shadow!" "Yes shadow!" exchange between Tamaki and Nekozawa.

Also, do I sense Haruhi warming up to Tamaki as she learns of his family's situation? I think so...

Looking forward to the next episode when the host club members end up working at the same summer job.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

"No. 6" ends

WTF was what I thought about the last episode. The series began brilliantly, teasing us with future exposition about what No. 6 was, how it got started, what the killer bees were about, what happened to Safu, is Dogkeeper a boy or girl. It would have been nice to get a flashback scene of the team that created No. 6 and its relationship with Sion's mother. Dogkeeper's gender is still ambiguous. What was the purpose of the government experimenting on its own citizens with the killer bees? What specifically happened to Safu in the correctional facitily? What is the Moon Drop? Why did we hear a crying roar from the Moon Drop earlier in the series? What is Elyurias? The last few minutes of the show try to wrap up what happens to the characters. But even with that, more questions remain. It's too bad "No. 6" didn't have more than 11 episodes to work with. What the series got right was the relationship between Sion and Nezumi. There is more time dedicated to that more than anything. And I did do a fujoshi "yes!" when the second kiss happened. I did appreciate the effort of the series to be a "realistic" dystopian science fiction story that was devoid of giant robots and hovercars, but full of high tech government surveillance in the style of Orwell's Big Brother. The art was attractive and the animation was well done. And I did look forward to each episode every week. Cheers to Bones for making a thoughtful science fiction themed series with a shounen ai couple. I hope to see some more ambitious series like this in the future.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

"Ikemen desu ne" ep 7

This episode was kind of over-angsty, but finally Ren gets a clue that Mio likes him. He gives her "permission" to like him, which I don't really like, but in the context of what is happening I guess it's not as bad as it sounds.
Highlights:
Yuuki being ecstatic/relieved when told Mio is a girl.
Ren using a pink mechanical pencil to help Mio.
Shu gets angry for a split second at Mio when she's a no show.
The president says "shit."
One of the stiffest kisses ever, but I think that's as good as we're gonna get.

"Homo ja nai!" (Remember Ikuta Toma?)

I just like the fact he's using a pink mechanical pencil.

"Ikemen desu ne" ep 6

I keep waiting for some difference in plot to show up from the kdrama, but nothing has happened since the first episode. Highlights for me:

Ren wearing a sequined zipper hoody when taking Mio to the hospital (Hyun Bin reference?).
Nana being a pretty good villain, since I HATE her (haha).
Ren grabbing Mio's hand in his bedroom (leading to absolutely nothing.)
Yuuki continuing to be sexually confused.
All the times Ren and Shu share meaningful looks regarding Mio.

Digging the swoon catch, not the hoody.

Mio actually PUSHES HIS HAND AWAY after this. Sigh.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

"Ouran HIgh School Host Club" ep 7

I enjoyed this episode where the host club members cajole their way into Haruhi's "commoner" apartment. We also get to meet Haruhi's cross dressing dad. The funniest parts are when Tamaki worries over making a good first impression with Haruhi's dad and fails miserably at doing so. I also liked seeing Haruhi try to comfort Tamaki and being nice to him for once.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

"Ouran High School Host Club" ep 6

Hikaru and Kaoru (I think)

This episode is my favorite so far. The inseparable, identical, mischievous twins Hikaru and Kaoru start to fight after a careless remark by Haruhi. We get to see a little bit of their past when they were not as sociable and how Tamaki recruits the duo into the host club. Plus a lot of screen time for the actors Shinpei and Manpei Takagi (Hikaru and Kaoru, respectively.)They pretty much nail the their parts when compared to the anime. The exaggerated cartoon-like action of the series is made to best use in this episode, especially in the end. I kind of want to re-watch the anime now. Where is my copy...