Forum - View topicREVIEW: Ouran High School Host Club DVD - Season 1 Part 2
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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I've never been a huge fan of the closing arc myself either. I wonder if the reason it falls a bit flat is connected to the fact that it is one of the bigger deviations from the manga, done in order to give the series a clean end point. Though as far as anime-only content goes, I still think it is pretty good (and highlights the major difference that the anime got right, which is not ignoring the passage of time as the manga very clumsily does, IMO).
I agree with pretty much everything in the review, though I must admit I have never managed to watch much of dub (I love Mamoru Miyano's performance of Tamaki too much). |
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Big Hed
 Posts: 1607 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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Yeah, the closer was pretty stale. The show should have just stuck to what it knew through the end.
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neocloud9
 Posts: 1178 Location: Atlanta, GA |
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Yes, really. 
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KrisEllieOphi
 Posts: 111 Location: Texas |
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You say that Haruhi's earnestness at the end basically comes out of nowhere. I can see your point, but I think it's also important to remember that sometimes you don't know what you had until it starts slipping away. There's a moment, when she sees him leaving, and everything falling apart, where it dawns on her that she cares a lot more than she thought she did. Maybe not necessarily for Tamaki (it's not like she's rushing out to kiss him), but for the group, for their "family." If I remember correctly, she still calls him "senpai" even as she's rushing after him. If it was more of a "OMG I love you don't leave me!" wouldn't she use his name?
I don't know...I just didn't get the same feel from the ending. There were hints as to what was coming. We knew Tamaki was disliked by his grandmother, and had to please her. In real life, these things hit suddenly, like a brick. So why not here? On the other hand, it can also be seen as a quick way to end the show, if there wasn't going to be another season. I can see that. But I don't think it was unfounded in any way. Vic as Tamaki does throw me off somewhat. There was just something off about his performance, and I couldn't really pin it down. It's the voice he uses for Fay in Tsubasa, and I think it fits that character well; but I didn't think it fit Tamaki. Caitlin Glass though, well I thought she was perfect. Tatum was also an excellent Kyoya. The rest were hit and miss for me. |
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Loren Leah
Posts: 45 Location: USA |
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I think the reviewer is unnecessarily harsh on the final two episodes. The production team knew they weren't getting another season, they needed to wrap up the plot somehow -- even if the plot arc in question did not happen in the manga, I think it's nice that they tried to wrap up in an affirmative and satisfying way, rather than doing two more episodes of slapstick that might have been funny but would've left things feeling unfinished.
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kakoishii
Posts: 741 |
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I disagree. By the very episodic nature of the show, and it's choice to never take anything too seriously, I don't think I was ever expecting a definitive ending. Had the closer been open ended I don't think I would have been dissatisfied as long as they went out with a bang. I did however really enjoy the series ending and all. |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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But it's not anime-only. All those scenes are basically in the manga. The order of events is altered, true (although I'd add that the manga writer seems to take glee in having whole years pass without anyone graduating; it is, after all, a comedy), but it gives a nice finale to the piece. Why? Because I agree with KrisEllieOphi that you shouldn't read the ending of Ouran as spoiler["Haruhi falls madly in love with Tamaki"] but as spoiler["Haruhi finally realizes she actually likes being in the Host Club,"] which makes perfect sense if you've watched the whole thing. (Shippers can feel free to read it the other way if they like  ). Which is a nice conclusion-but-not-a-conclusion to the series. spoiler[The Host Club goes on, but Haruhi reaches a turning point in her feelings about it.]
(I'm being perhaps overly cautious with these spoilers; they're very vague ones at best.) |
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RhymesWithEmpty
 Posts: 208 |
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I can see why the last 2 episodes may stand out like a bit of a sore thumb for some people, but they didn't really bother me that much. I thought they fit in well enough - they had the same charm that made the rest of the series so lovable, just with less comedy, and seeing as the 2nd half of the series deals a little less with the humor(although it's obviously still quite strong) and a little more with the serious, more personal and emotional content as far as the characters go, well, I don't think the final 2 episodes were that out of line at all.
I think it would've been more awkward had they, after all of those episodes exploring the characters' pasts and revealing the hidden sides of their personalities, ended the series with one big wacky retrospective/who knows what kind of episode. What I like about the way it's done is that it emphasizes the point that Haruhi isn't just finding a family, rather, she's become the glue of that family - she's what takes them from being a club to a family, even, imo. It's that second element that I got more from the last 2 episodes than I did from, say, the more whimsical Wonderland episode at the end of the 1st half of the series - not to say I don't like that episode, these episodes just belong where they belong, which is exactly where they are. That's my take on it, anyways. I will agree that the dubs of the opening and closing songs really aren't that great. But otherwise, I think Caitlin Glass could carry the dub of the actual show by herself. I haven't actually seen much of the dub, but she seems absolutely perfect. Vic's voice is so distinctive that it does kind of throw me every time I hear him as Tamaki, but I'd probably get used to it if I saw the whole dub, and the rest of the cast seems good enough to make it worthwhile, too. |
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phoenixphire24
 Posts: 260 Location: SoCal |
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The dubs are ok. I used them for the first few episodes on pt 1, but then switched back to subs. They're not terrible, but I got used to the Japanese cast.
Ouran, like the Fruits Basket anime, ended far too soon with so much of the plot left untouched. Granted, also like FB, the manga is ongoing, and therefore they had to end it some how. I'd rather the show have a weak ending than another season of filler. |
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jr240483
 Posts: 4374 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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As usual people shouldn't judge the casting so seriously.People said the same thing when JYB was cast as Renton,but eventually fans growed on the dub version.Same with Tamaki. Sure Vic would've been better as the other guy,but i think he's a decent Tamaki.It goes to show you that you shoudn't judge a book by it's colors.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18166 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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That metaphor is so not applicable to this situation. 
And phoenixphire24: Plot? What plot? |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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My guess (having not read much further in the manga than the anime covers)? The answer to the question "Who will Haruhi inevitably wind up with?" My hope? "No one." I mean, there is a character I'd rather she end up with than the others, but I'd worry the series would fall into shoujo angst if Bisco ever made anything canon, rather than keeping it light. |
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Maidenoftheredhand
 Posts: 2633 |
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I think I liked where the Ouran anime ended with Haruhi spoiler[realizing that she loves being in the host club] and I didn't mind finding out about Tamaki's spoiler[mother and grandmother.]
But what I disliked about the last 2 episodes was spoiler[Eclair]. I just really hate the trope of the spoiler[snobby girl stealing the guy nonsense] I guess in the end it turned out okay spoiler[because she turned out to not be so bad and she let Tamaki go after Haruhi after she fell]. But still the rest of the parts with that character were just painful for me. My other issues with Ouran are on a series level I never felt Honey & Mori were that interesting compared to the other characters. Mori especially seemed useless except as an extension of Honey. But I did enjoy the twins, Haruhi, Kyouya, and Tamaki and especially liked how in the 2nd half of the series the episodes were more focused on the host club characters then random one shot characters that the club was helping. |
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marie-antoinette
Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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I agree. There are a few different pairings that I personally quite like but I think it would change the club dynamic so much if anything actually happened in the series that it's best to leave such things to fan's imagination (and their own creative works). That said, I don't really think "who will Haruhi choose" really is that big of a plot in the series and have to agree with Key that there really isn't much overall plot. Which is something I usually don't like but with comedy it works because the humour is the payoff. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18166 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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A very similar series that I thought did a much better job of turning dramatic in its last 2-3 episodes in order to give the anime version some kind of resolution is Fruits Basket. The writing there was so much better and it was built much more solidly on a foundation that had been gradually laid out over the course of the series. As a result, the tension there didn't feel as manufactured and forced as it did here.
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