Sleep Is For the Weak

Call Me “Princess” and I’ll Call You “King” Anime/Manga/ Merchandise/Drama CDs/Music/PS2 Game/Fandom Reviewed by: Orange Skirt (recurrent contributor) Title rating: PG-13/16, if only because the term “twincest” can be applied - 26 anime episodes (2006), complete - 11 manga volumes (2003-present), still running - 1 visual novel (a.k.a. “dating sim”) (2007) - 4 Drama CDs (and another to come early 2008), 3 OSTs

In general, I have a set of rules – a code of ethics, if you will – that I like to follow when it comes time to decide which anime to watch. I don’t think my rules are unfairly harsh: I lean toward a good love story, be it shoujo or non. Good animation quality helps, as does a proven-talented voice cast. If a series is solidly produced and involves love of some sort, it’s often worth a try.

The one type of show that I will not watch out of choice is a “harem comedy.” Maybe it’s the two X-chromosomes in me that object to many beautiful women falling over themselves to wait on a single, awkward male lead. Maybe it’s the fact that I don’t find that brand of humor funny, or because the fan-service does nothing for me. So you’d think my ethical code would be at odds with a harem-esque show like Ouran High School Host Club – a series where many beautiful men wait on a single, female lead. But you’d be wrong. Ouran qualifies as a reverse harem comedy, and that’s what makes all the difference. Bow down before me, the Queen of Hypocrites.

Anime

My code aside, Ouran had everything else I was looking for in a series, and it’s not often that a title has everything going right from the very first episode. The plot is set up quickly: looking for a quiet place to study, scholarship student Haruhi Fujioka stumbles into the Third Music Room of the high class Ouran High School, and instead of solitude finds the room occupied by the Host Club – a group of male students who have joined together to entertain the ladies at their school. Immediately, due to her androgynous appearance, they confuse her for a boy, and during her brief visit she manages to break an obscenely expensive vase. Since she cannot afford to pay for it (being a “commoner” compared to the rich kids), she is enlisted to work as a host herself when they put her in the school uniform and realize she cleans up nice. It takes about fifteen minutes for the club to realize her true gender, but even that doesn’t change the situation much - Haruhi has decided that she’s willing to keep masquerading as a boy in order to pay back her debt. What follows is a series of adventures involving silliness, secrets, and almost strangely chaste Sexy Time.

With six members of the Host Club, not including Haruhi, there’s a little someone for everyone. Like the strong (and very) silent type? Mori’s the man for you. Can’t get enough of high school students who still look like little boys? Get ready for Hunny (Ed note: And jail!). Into “brotherly love”? Twins Hikaru and Kaoru will make you both very happy and very uncomfortable. Have a thing for cunning and glasses? Then you want Kyouya. Want to be swept off your feet? That’s how Tamaki makes his money. Between all their quirks and a multitude of side characters, this series never has an opportunity to get boring.

Haruhi is also a wonderfully atypical female lead; she’s blunt, not particularly energetic, and a bit of a bookworm. Watching the boys interact with her goes to show that she’s a kind of novelty to them; she isn’t like all the other girls who just want the Host Club to look their way and flatter them over tea. The boys treat her alternately as a fellow student, a friend, an oddity, a pretty doll they want to dress up, or as the subject of newly realized (and yet completely innocent) adolescent attraction. It’s complex, to say the least.

A series that has this many characters and manages to use every one, and to the best of their abilities, deserves the kind of devotion it has demanded. While some cliché situations do arise (“Oh no! Haruhi’s been kidnapped by our rival club!”), certain touches are always added for comedic effect (“Haruhi’s cross-dressing father is going to tag along!”). Whether it’s the twins scheming together or an appearance by the club’s self-appointed otaku manager (a screamy young lady named Renge), a series this hilarious, original, and well-executed hasn’t been seen in a long time. The production values are just icing on the cake, but of course, I’ve sung the praises of BONES before. Elaborately animated chandeliers never fail to amaze.

Manga

The Ouran manga has been running in LaLa magazine since 2003, and since being brought over by Viz, the English releases have almost caught up with their Japanese counterparts. Even better, the story is still going, so the manga should provide any closure the anime doesn’t manage to, if the similar fate of Kare Kano is any indication. Everything after Volume 9 of the manga will be completely fresh to any Ouran anime fans.

Story-wise, the manga isn’t very different from the anime – minor details were changed during the transition from page to small screen, and they were overwhelmingly for the best. For disclosure: It’s not that I don’t like the manga, it’s just that I believe the anime is a superior take on the source material, for reasons the manga couldn’t have helped. It’s one thing to look at a drawing of Tamaki, but until he starts talking you can’t tell the real extent of his over-the-top quality as a character. And when the setting of a dance changes from Christmas time to spring, with token cherry blossoms falling, you can think “The animators would have done a good job with Christmas,” but when they already did such an amazing job with spring it never occurs to you. So I guess what I’m saying is that the anime wins out in my mind because it has sound and animation, and the manga doesn’t. It’s not so much a reflection on the shortcomings of the manga as much as it’s a reflection on the successes of the anime.

After the anime and manga stop going head-to-head, however, is when I really start to like the manga. In the latest chapters, little adventures start to take a backseat to character development, and that’s where things get moody, complicated, and really interesting. It’s a club with six guys and only one girl, after all. If you’re like me, and under all the humor you still want some substance, don’t read this story for how it begins – read it for how it will end.

Merchandise

It’s a wide world out there, folks. I got me a clear file, a pencil board, Ouran branded tea bag packets – and those were the only flat pieces of merchandise my friend could fit in her suitcase for me when she visited Akihabara during the original broadcast of the anime. She also brought tales of key-chains, jam jars, and seriously, have you seen the mini-figurines that come with the Region 2 DVDs? Makes you wish this show got licensed by the same people who brought over Scrapped Princess, doesn’t it?

Drama CDs/Music

Drama CDs are a funny thing, because when a show centers on a bunch of good-looking characters and uses a lot of visual humor, just having the audio is going to take away from the experience, especially if the voices are unfamiliar and the language is foreign. Such is the case with the lot of Ouran dramas, which cover the manga story arcs. Since the anime was based off the manga, it’s not impossible to follow the dialogue - I can pick up most of the lines that were also used in the first anime episode. However, I much prefer the anime voice actors and background music to those featured in the early Drama CDs, so luckily a drama was recorded with the anime seiyuu as well (with a second CD yet to be released).

On the topic of background music, when listening to the anime soundtracks how can you not find yourself instantly cultured upon listening to songs titled “Menuet of innocence for chamber orchestra” and “Serenade for piano trio”? Track 17 of the second OST is titled “Romance for violin and piano.” A little on the nose, don’t you think? Truly, music worthy of taking out the fine china…and loading it with bubble gum.

And for the trifecta: character singles! By this point we should all know that Maaya Sakamoto (Haruhi) can sing, but the boys are another matter. Specifically, Tamaki and Honey, yes, Kyouya and Mori, not so much, the twins, meh. I personally thought both Kyouya and Mori were handed dreadfully boring singles, although it appears they don’t have the range to pull off more upbeat ones. In contrast, Mamoru Miyano (Tamaki) manages to charm the pants off me every time I hear him confess (through SONG) “The crime is that God made me beautiful.” Oh, you poor blonde Adonis! Let me hold you!

PS2 Game

Renge was onto something in Episode 4.

You see, every fangirl knows that the most beautiful view of a beautiful man is seeing him fall in love, preferably with you. And if that can’t happen on account of him being fictional, the next best thing is to live vicariously through the fictional woman he falls for. And instead of one beautiful man, make that six. And then throw in some flower petals for good measure. And if you can, learn Japanese. You know, if you have some free time on the weekend.

I imagine that not many people reading this have actually played a “dating sim.” For one thing, the image that popped into your head at the phrase “dating sim” is probably a tad more risqué than what we have here, for the sole reason that this game is aimed at teenage girls, and not 20-something men. And while I don’t doubt that there’s a market for higher-rated games for the ladies demographic (Ed note: Oooh yes, there’s a market), the Ouran game is certainly not one of those. The point here is to make a bunch of guys fall in love with you, and by “you” I mean Haruhi, and by “fall in love” I mean earn scenes where a boy blushes and animated hearts come flying out of his head. You have more reason to shield your screen while watching prime time television than while playing this game.

When describing the gameplay, it’s probably more apt to use the term “visual novel,” because essentially the game is a series of still images with animated overlays (like flower petals) and text laid overtop. You spend time with each boy, in “heart-pounding” situations, and communicate by choosing Haruhi’s dialogue from the options presented, with the ultimate goal of having him fall for her (you). The game suffers the same pitfall as the Drama CDs, however, in that without working knowledge of Japanese, the meanings of the text, the options, and the audio, are lost on the player. It’s still possible to achieve your goal, but chance plays a bigger role, and all those whispered words aren’t quite as charming when you can’t understand them. Luckily, the awesomeness of the art and seeing Mori convey emotion (!) do a bit to make up for that.

For anyone especially interested, there are four original characters included in the game – three boys, and one girl. One of them is Tamaki’s childhood friend from France, and let’s just say that when he’s introduced, some Kaoru x Hikaru fans might be swayed away from their favorite pair.

Fandom

The manga not withstanding, for an anime that has yet to be officially released on English-speaking shores, Ouran’s fanbase is really quite large. Tons of fanfiction, tons of fanart, and with the uniform as easy as it is to make or shamble together using that blue dinner jacket in your father’s closet, the opportunity for cosplay is rife. The best fansite (with, hands down, the best layouts) is For Richer or For Poorer, although it appears to have a monopoly in the “fansite” domain, as there are zero other sites that can even compare in terms of available information. (The manga picture and overview picture are also courtesy of For Richer or For Poorer.) I also found this site, which is also quite lovely, but I don’t speak Spanish. Until next weekend, that is.

Overview: And as an added bonus, Ouran is very good at making your friends accidentally reveal their inner fetishes once they mention which handsome young man they prefer. So, what’s my type? I’ll give you a hint: I’m naming my MacBook “Kyouya.” 4.7 stars out of 5.

Nothayama: You wouldn’t think a series about emotional prostitution could be this sweet and genuinely romantic. Ouran is one of those great series that works on a lot of different levels — it’s a genre satire, an innocent love story, a comedy, a bishounen show, and a full-on, roses-and-hearts-spurting girl fest all at once, not terribly deep but entertaining as hell. And as for types…I’m a Mori-senpai kind of girl. 4 stars out of 5.

Lianne: I don’t like crappy fanservice/cheap harem stuff for either gender, so I walked into this show expecting to hate it. But it’s so damn funny and sweet and full of biting genre satire that I loved it despite myself, and recommend it to everyone - boys included. (And yes, plenty of boys have been known to laugh at this show, because it’s genuinely funny.) I would have liked it to be a bit more focused, but that isn’t really the point of the series, and it does what it intends to do remarkably well. Also - twins. Why be satisfied with one boy when you can have two? 4.5 stars out of 5.

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