Review: Ouran Koukou Host Club (TV)

Running time: 24 minutes
Number of episodes: 26
Vintage: 2006-04-04 to 2006-09-26
Age rating: Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shoujo, Slice of Life
Animation Production: BONES

Source: Anime News Network

Ouran Koukou Host Club is one peculiar shoujo to say the least. A fair warning should be said about this show though, which is, it’s a real shoujo. Hardly any aspect of this show can overlap with any other tastes, so unless you’re prepared to be wrapped in male eye candy with some comedy romance drama, you should rethink your decision to watch this show.

Now with that out of the way, Ouran Koukou Host Club tells the story of a first year student named Fujioka Haruhi at the Ouran Academy for the rich and the elite. This student is quiet and very reserved, in part because this person does not have any affluent characteristics at all. As such, this student is known as the special scholarship student that got into this super-rich school entirely on academic strengths and no other merits.

On a regular day in high school, the student in question tries to find a quiet place to study and strolls into a music room that doesn’t seem to be in use. Much to this student’s surprise, the music room hides the presence of a peculiar group of people — the Ouran Koukou Host Club. These people did not quite expect to see Haruhi walk into their lair so nonchalantly. Just like every good story, Haruhi ends up in a bind and is “trapped” (yes, I meant it) in the world of the Ouran Koukou Host Club to pay off a debt of several million yen for a tiny accident in the music room.

Because Haruhi can’t even afford the school uniform’s exuberant price, the little accident in the music room is no joke. The payment for the trouble caused ends up being Haruhi’s torment of having to form part of the Ouran Koukou Host Club. Haruhi’s duties start out as lowly errands, but soon “he”… or should I say “she”… becomes a real host. I’ll let you find out about this legendary trap’s real story on your own.

The Host Club is simply a group of guys that for an hour or two a day, dedicate their after school time to entertaining women with their innermost desires. They’re also some of the most powerful sons of the super rich socioeconomic world, and as such they are both rich and handsome. They speak directly to the hearts of women with soft and enchanting words. They whisper delicately into their ears and wash away their qualms and take them away to their dreamlands. In other words, the Host Club is a club these guys made for women to come by, drink tea, and marvel at them. Add a ton of “moe” fetishes that they play out to further reach these young maiden’s hearts -and- pockets, and you have the Host Club. Give or take a few details of course, that you’ll have to find out on your own if you’re interested.

The Host Club itself is fairly complete, although, once again, it’s not necessary to “get” all the little details. What I’m referring to is the nuances of shoujo and female oriented manga that tends to go to “other” extremes you wouldn’t understand if you’re used to shounen stuff. I’m not going to try to sound like an expert, because I’m far from one, but if you know the difference between an uke and a seme, you’ll probably find this show more refreshing than most from your “usual” material.

Even if you’re not into the homoerotic gags early on, the show will stem away from most of that later and can be tolerable for those of us that don’t really like that kind of stuff. In the end, I stuck with the show because it was incredibly funny almost consistently. There’s tons of comedy acts and the mix of characters seem to pull it off well. They break the 4th wall from time to time by making fun of us commoners a lot. Rich school anime is never complete without pauper life being subject to ridicule for the littlest of things, and it’s pretty good throughout. There’s also some banana slips… maybe a little too many banana slips!

The show makes fun of, but also makes use of a lot of moe fetishes too. It’s good that you don’t have to be into the moe to enjoy the scenes, since after some long winded explanation, some other character will break the ice and bring the show back to its goofy self.

The ending is quite nice, although it’s of the fairly generic -yet- expected happy kind. If you’re feeling experimental, or just want to get to know the cutest reverse trap in the history of anime, I wholeheartedly recommend Ouran Koukou Host Club. It can’t get much more shoujo and funny than this. The few heartwarming scenes can’t be ignored either, especially in the presence of one fine trap!

Review: Eureka SeveN (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 50
Vintage: 2005-04-17 to 2006-04-02
Age rating: Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Genres: Adventure, Drama, Mecha, Romance, Science Fiction, Shounen
Animation Production: BONES
Production: Bandai Entertainment, MBS, Project Eureka

Source: Anime News Network

“Don’t ask for it; go win it on your own. Do that and you’ll succeed.” Truer words were never spoken by characters in this anime that reflect the real reception that Eureka SeveN has garnered. As many of you know, Neon Genesis Evangelion has become a staple in mecha anime and is largely acclaimed for its influence and success in the anime industry. Eureka SeveN, on the other hand, may be one the more recent mecha anime to cultivate and evolve beyond the Evangelion formula allowing it to present us a very special blend of mecha storytelling.

The story begins when the main character, Renton Thurston, a 14 year old kid, is stuck in a fairly boring and crappy town. His father was a hero that conducted advanced scientific research but he died in a strange event that changed the world. Consequently, his sister went on a journey because of what happened to their father and Renton hasn’t seen her since. Thus, for a very long time Renton has been stuck in Bellforest with his grandfather, Axel Thurston, who’s a top notch mechanic. Renton spends his time trying to learn to ride trapar waves with his ref board, a sport that became popular due to the changes the world endured after what Renton’s father helped create. He also idolizes Holland, a so-called genius at ref boarding who’s also in charge of ‘Gekko State,’ a rebel group that is against the military. Renton and the rest of fans get their information by reading, Ray=Out, a magazine that anonymously publishes the things that Holland and his ‘Gekko State’ accomplish.

Soon enough circumstances will take Renton out of Bellforest and onto a journey that will not only change his life but the rest of the world too. One day he meets a very special girl named Eureka who’s a member of Gekko State. As the story unfolds Eureka and Renton will grow and become entangled in a series of events that lead to the very end where their choices are what will make or break the very existence of humanity. Eureka and Renton eventually develop a mutual need for each other and that goes beyond any responsibility to the rest of the world. They bond on many levels emotionally and try their hardest to close the gap that keeps them apart in an effort to fulfill not only their desires, but the desires of the entire planet.

The comparison to Evangelion isn’t necessarily a comparison on a structural level of its narrative, but rather the breath and scope of the storytelling. Eureka SeveN actually leaves behind the mecha to a secondary position and focuses more on the characters in a way that’s easy to understand. The mecha are only a means to an end, but the people are the reason behind that end. There’s plenty of abstract scenes with confusing interpretations, but unlike Evangelion you can understand what’s going on without getting a headache. At its core it’s still about kids finding their way into the cockpit of a giant mecha, but the way the rest is told and constructed is refreshingly different and simpler in comparison to Evangelion.

Eureka SeveN is riddled with all kinds of inspiration from sea life and part of that makes the show special. Rather than mush together a bunch of similes, the inspiration goes a step further and integrates into the overall presentation and story. Trapar waves, ref boarding, sky fish, and more. These things may be foreign to you, but once you watch the show and understand their meaning you’ll soon understand that Eureka SeveN mimics a vast ocean in the air and goes even further in the second half of the story.

The length of an anime can really hurt it if there is not a balance between the episodes and the amount of plot. Thankfully, Eureka SeveN is not too long and not too short either. The first season takes a plot device and expands it until an end is reached, or rather, a change that begins the next season which expands even further and develops a new angle from which to view and understand Eureka SeveN. This means the characters will change and grow on the show revealing more about themselves and tearing apart the veil of mystery in the beginning all the way until the loose but effective end.

The end of Eureka SeveN is subtle but complete in its own way. Hopefully there’s something in the works to flesh out the ending, but what was used is effective. In contrast to Evangelion, the end will not make your head hurt since it’s a little more explicit about what is going on and how the characters feel. However, there’s no denying that for those of us that enjoyed Eureka SeveN until the end it would of been nice to have the show leave a bigger footprint in history rather than take it a little safe. Whether there’s an OAV, a movie, or even a sequel planned to expand the story, a fairly complete narrative was paved on a path towards a pleasant conclusion.

If there is an anime that can be compared on equal footing to Evangelion this is it. It’s longer and may drag on a few times, but in the end it can stand almost as empowering and compelling as Evangelion.