Still sick. Here we go:
No. 2- Ouran High School Host Club
Working our way to number one, we have finally reached number two: the awesomely funny romcom that is Ouran High School Host Club. I watched this simultaneously along with Lucky Star about two summers ago. Again, it was pretty popular over at Lunaescence so I said, "Why not?" I loved it so much, in fact, that I've watched it five times over: twice in Japanese and three times in English, and I still cannot get enough of this show! The jokes are hysterical, the animation is beautiful and colorful, and the characters are flawless. Let's move on to the breakdown.
The Story: Fifteen-year-old Haruhi Fujioka is a scholarship student attending Ouran Academy, a school for the rich and famous. Because of her tomboyish looks, she is mistaken for a guy right off the bat. While trying to find a place to study one afternoon, she stumbles upon the empty third music room and upon the Host Club, a club run by the school's six best looking guys in order to entertain (and seduce... sometimes) their female classmates. After accidentally breaking a vase in the room, Haruhi has to work for the club to pay off the debt she has to owe them by doing various chores, that is, until they discover her potential as a host (still completely unaware that she is female). Then it is decided that she will have work off her debt by acting as a host, even when they do find out her real identity.
The Animation: No laziness here! BONES out did themselves in this series. It's bright and colorful, character designs are beautiful and almost nearly match the original character designs from the manga. Some of the scenes and actions are simply brilliant (mostly stuff from Tamaki acting crazy), so there are really no complaints in the animation department this time. Bravo, BONES!
The Music: The music in this show is simply amazing! The totally catchy opening, "Sakura Kiss," is sung by the talented Cheico Kawabe and the ending, "Shissou," is performed by Last Alliance. I became really attached to the Japanese versions of the opening and ending, so much in fact, that when the English dubbed version came out and they redid them, I was thuroughly dissapointed. However, Vic Mignogna (Tamaki's English VA) did his own version of the ending, which was flawlessly done. I'm still wondering why FUNi didn't use his version. Anyway, the background music is very light and upbeat for most of the show and becomes slow and sad when needed. They're beautiful orchestrations really.
Pairings: The anime left pairings pretty open-ended, but it was obvious they were leaning more towards the Tamaki/Haruhi pairing. For now, it's just fanpairings really. Het fans will pair up Haruhi with just about any of the guys depending on their tastes. Yaoi incest fangirls will definitely squeal over the bishies and pairing them up. *facepalms*
The Characters: What a cast of characters! It's important to remember that each of the characters' personalities is supposed to fall under certain categories, considering that's how a host club works. Haruhi is indifferent and slighty-apathetic, and appointed the role of "The Natural Type" in the club. Tamaki is a spaz and a womanizer, but he means every single cheesy word he says, making him "The Prince Type" as well as the club's "king" since it was his idea in the first place. Kyoya is the totally cool and sly brains behind the club, earning him the title of "The Shadow King" as well as "The Cool Type." He's always looking for ways to make money for the club. Hikaru and Kaoru are the "The Devil Type" twins who like to pull pranks while maintaining a "brotherly-love" relationship (for the yaoi-incest fangirls). Honey is the cute, happy-go-lucky, cake-eating monster, martial arts master that falls under the "Boy Shota" category. And of course, if the were real, Mori would be my host (^_^). As Honey's cousin, he spends most of his time with him and falls under the "WIld Type" due to his sort-of mean look and his skill in martial arts. However, he is quiet and rarely speaks other than "yeah," "uh-huh" and "bad idea," and is pretty stoic. <--Wow, this was long.
Ouran High School Host Club is a fangirl's dream: it has hot characters, romance, comedy, beautiful animation, and stellar music all wrapped into one series. I could watch this series over and over again and never get bored with it. The jokes don't get old, you fall in love with the characters, and you find yourself wanting more and more ever single time. I'm glad I watched Ouran; it's an amazing series I think anyone, anime fan or not, should watch.
Ouran High School Host Club is property of FUNimation. There are currently 26 episodes.
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Current Music: Cheico Kawabe- Sakura Kiss
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