My first two weeks of April are packed for me, because of my nephew's Easter holiday from primary school. But this "surprise break" and and some ill feeling that prevented me from eating (we all do waste a lot of time eating food, even on the go) I had a lot of free time that day's afternoon (before Doctor Who and Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway) so I decided to watch a DVD that I purchased a long while ago but didn't develop the will to make time to place in the DVD player let alone press the play button soon after buying it (I have a lot of them - movies, series and so on).
On that sunny Saturday afternoon I watched the first several episodes of the anime romantic comedy series Ouran High School Host Club. Starting as a manga first published in LaLa magazine in September 2002, it was adapted to animation in 2006 and then was adapted to live action in 2011 (which isn't unusual in Japan).
It involves the students of a fictional elitist high school in Tokyo, an unusual school club and one scholarship student named Haruhi Fujioka. One day, while trying to find a quiet place to study (like you do in high school and college) Haruhi stumbles into an music room and encounters the school host club that occupies it. During this meeting of cultures Haruhi accidentally breaks an renaissance-era vase worth ¥8,000,000 (US$80,000 in the U.S. English manga tranlation) and is made to pay back the costs by becoming a host for them. But (and here's the clincher) the club members soon within a few hours of making Haruhi a host find out that Haruhi is actually ... a girl. All sorts of hilarity (and some fourth wall breaking) ensues afterwards.
Now, a "host club" (you will have to click this link to learn more) is an establishment where well-dressed or theme-dressed young men (for a fee) engage in sweet loving conversations with (mostly) female clients over a drink or two of various beverages. Some mild kissing could happen in such places, but that's it. Nothing beyond that. There other places for that, which has nothing to do with host clubs and they like to stay as far away from that territory as possible thank you very much, ignorant pricks.
Now, it will take me forever to explain to the non-otaku among you the cultural concepts this series mostly parodies and satirizes, so below is a link to a paper written by Tania Darlington from the University of Florida entitled "The Queering of Haruhi Fujioka: Cross-Dressing, Camp and Commoner Culture in Ouran High School Host Club" which thankfully covers everything I would have said if I had to explain why the series is a hit.
But, I'll add this. If your a fan of Little Britain, you'll like this series (but you may need to develop a tolerance to the colour pink, as its the most dominant hue in the show's colour scheme).
Now to the main reason for this entry. One of the "hosts" is the shockingly-seemingly-innocently-cute Mitsukuni Haninozuka (also known as "Hunny" or "Honey"). Here's a picture of him.
In fact, he likes cake so much that for a few nights a week, he'll have "cake nights," which can only be described as extreme midnight snacking. But the thing is, he has to metabolism to eat a lot of cake and gain no weight at all. It's... kind of creepy..... (according to his younger brother Chika).
If cuteness were a weapon, he'll be an atomic bomb (and I use to term "weapon" for good reason, which I'll explain later). Now, when I first saw images from this series in Neo magazine back in 2009 "Honey" didn't stand out to me. I saw all the characters on a flat equal platform (a raised pink platform, as they were on the cover and the anime of subject in that month's main article).
But now that I have seen them move and talk on liquid crystal something about "Honey" hit me. He somehow remained me of someone. Another anime character from years ago. But who.....
Oh yes, now I remember. The character on the right eating noodles is Max Tate. And here's a few pictures.
He is the youngest (12 when we first meet him back in series 1) member of the makeshift team of unlikely mates in an alternate universe the Bladebreakers. He is a good-natures, happy-go-lucky kind of guy (which, isn't surprising, considering he's half American). He is a bit of a flirt (It was once revealed that he dyed his hair to impress the girls, which may explain the slight change in shade from series to series (as seen in the pics above). If he were a dog, he'll defiantly be a golden Labrador. So, so far, he is like "Honey."
This 17-year-old(?) is a huge draw to the club. Why? Just look at him. His blonde hair, big brown eyes and short stature make him look like a child (and he knows it). He has a child-like voice (just listen to it in the anime), takes afternoon naps, owns a cuddly toy (which was made by his late grandmother (striking the heart strings already) and.... he loves cake (boy he love the cake!).
Really. He really likes the cake!
Look at that pile of empty plates!
In fact, he likes cake so much that for a few nights a week, he'll have "cake nights," which can only be described as extreme midnight snacking. But the thing is, he has to metabolism to eat a lot of cake and gain no weight at all. It's... kind of creepy..... (according to his younger brother Chika).
If cuteness were a weapon, he'll be an atomic bomb (and I use to term "weapon" for good reason, which I'll explain later). Now, when I first saw images from this series in Neo magazine back in 2009 "Honey" didn't stand out to me. I saw all the characters on a flat equal platform (a raised pink platform, as they were on the cover and the anime of subject in that month's main article).
Neo, Issue 56 - April 2009. Where I first heard of the host club.
Oh yes, now I remember. The character on the right eating noodles is Max Tate. And here's a few pictures.
Max Tate (left - series 1, middle series 2, right - series 3).
However, unlike "Honey," Max is not a big sweet tooth. His most noticeable food craving is mayonnaise (or mustard in the English Dub), which he has on everything and is very willing to have others try his dietary passion (to the annoyance to some....).
But if you browse the pages of Beyblade fan fiction on fanfiction.net (which numbers over 20,000 by the time of writing (which is surprising for such a series), putting it in the top 20 most written about franchises in the anime and manga group. Ouran High School Host Club is also in the top 20, just below Beyblade with over 18,500 in the time of writing) you'll find that Max is portrayed many times in a role similar to "Honey's." He is portrayed many times as a flirty sugar-crazed maniac. Here's a few examples that really show this characterization.
You get the idea, especially that last one where Max (in a sugar high state) thinks he's Robin Hood (with hilarious results).
Despite the fact that Max has probably never been pictured eating a piece of cake, chocolate, candy or anything that most people can call "sweet" in any of the 150-odd episodes of the animated series (which I have watched for "research reasons") and the 14 volumes of manga first published from 1999-2004 (which I have flicked though also for "research reasons") the fan fiction writers do so anyway. Why?
Its become such a cliche in this fan fiction forum that prominent Australian fan fiction writer AquilaTempestas wrote this chapter in the fan fiction "Dear Beyblade Authors," in 2012 imagining his disgust....
Chapter Two: Sincerely, Max
Dear FanFiction Authors,
Why do people think I'm always high on sugar? Do you think I'm a drug addict? Have you considered I might just be a happy person? I like noodles. NOODLES. Not sweets! Besides... sugar rush is a myth. Geez.
Yours sincerely, Max
Is there something about small white boys with blonde hair and big eyes that instantly sends a message that says "I'm a glucophile" (see Invented Word 2)? Their not children, their teenagers. And also, why is it the blonde, not the brunettes who get the cake. It seems a bit borderline racist. And this could seriously damage them (health-wise). They could be many blonde-haired Caucasians out their who are now diabetic because of girls feeding them so much sugar (sometimes against their will)! I'm worried about this. If these "kids" get overfed with sweet things (and are not careful) they'll soon lose their cuteness, which will affect their chances later in life. In extreme cases, they will become so obese that the only people who would make a pass on them in their late-teens will be elderly perverts.
With that in mind, could "Honey" or Max become a possible Chris Griffin? No. "Honey" is 17 and has the metabolism to process a lot of cake, so he will be fine. And if he did start building weight, he can easily get rid of it. Why? Remember that I said that "If cuteness were a weapon, he'll be an atomic bomb"? I said that with good reason. That is because, behind his cute exterior "Honey" is a fierce weapon of mass destruction. He is a martial arts black belt. In fact, beyond that! He was a champion before he entered high school and was head of the school's karate club, until he defeated his dad in a friendly fight. "Honey" proved so powerful that he was told not to fight, all-out, in public in risk of making Japan look like it had a secret weapon. It was this incident that led to "Honey" becoming part of the host club (no need to fight and all the delicious cake he could eat). Only occasionally you'll get to see this darker side of "Honey," as he's done a very good natural job hiding it. So what about Max? He never touched the stuff in the first place, so why are you worrying? The idea that he is a glucophile is your invention.
So what can we learn from this observation? First of all never assume that all cute-blonde-haired boys like sweet things and that even the most innocent-looking glucophile can have a dark side.
So what can we learn from this observation? First of all never assume that all cute-blonde-haired boys like sweet things and that even the most innocent-looking glucophile can have a dark side.
And now the final sketch, and as this entry has been about Ouran High School Host Club its about the misjerious Hitachiin twins Hikaru and Kaoru and their silly game of "Which one of us is Hikaru?" As twins who have perfected the art of been identical and been different at the same time, their childish game could easily be adapted as the final game in a daytime gameshow.
(Sorry for the delay. A lot had happened at my end in the past two weeks which AFKed me.)
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