Ouran High School Host Club Part 2 Episodes 5-8

Through a seemingly cruel twist of fate, Haruhi Fujioka has become the newest member of the esteemed Ouran High School Host Club: a collection of the most popular and beautiful men in the entire school.  Even though Haruhi is a girl, she maintains the façade of being a boy to work off the massive debt she owes to the club.  While it’s taken time to adjust, Haruhi is coming to learn more about her six gorgeous fellow Hosts and see there’s more to them than their outward gimmicks.  And perhaps, with more time, the Hosts can learn a thing or two about themselves as well.

So I’m half and half on Ouran High School Host Club right now.  Eight episodes in and I know the show is trying and can be entertaining and even fun.  Buuuuut there’s a large part of me that cant get used to how cruel and ridiculous the Hosts can be towards Haruhi (4/6 anyway, Honey and Mori haven’t done anything wrong so far).  Tamaki wants Haruhi all to his vanity obsessed self, Hikaru and Kaoru see Haruhi as a plaything like everything else in their lives and Kyouya is getting his kicks out of Haruhi being his guinea pig in daily social experiments.  So you’ll have to forgive me that my favorite moments of Ouran so far have been when Haruhi completely takes control and shows these guys that she might be a member of the club but she suffers no fools just because everyone sees her as a frail and vulnerable girl.  And yet, both sides can stand to learn a lot about themselves and each other and THAT is when Ouran is truly at its best…with some comedy working for sure.
 

The March to Year 9

Hey there, Dear Readers.  I’ve gotta say, the last couple of years have been a bit mind blowing when it comes to this blog.  We’re now in 2022, which I’ve built up to be a pretty ambitious year in terms of the shows I’m covering.  And in about a Months time, we’ll enter the 9^th Year of the Gundam Anime Corner…call me crazy but that’s just…whoa…we’ll be at the 10 Year Marker before you know it.  But that’s all what lies further ahead.  What about in the here and now?  Well with Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai just about done, March is gonna continue my trend of shows I wouldn’t necessarily review unless requested…except this one HAS been requested for a long, long time, probably back since the 3^rd or 4^th Years.  Since I normally do a quick heads up about what’s coming in the lead up to the big Anniversary Review, figured I’d talk about all that right now.

 

Toonami Flashback Friday Episode 8-Gundam Twilight

The year 2000 on Toonami belonged to Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.  For the first time in Toonami history, it’s reigning Anime champ, Dragon Ball Z, was threatened by a newcomer whose influence was unexpected and game changing.  The first couple runs of the series, along with that of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, resulted in record viewing numbers for Toonami.  Naturally, Cartoon Network knew they needed to keep the train going and they had a vast universe of Gundam material to draw from, including a couple of popular titles from the 90’s such as G Gundam, Gundam X and Turn A Gundam (which actually wrapped its Japanese run while Wing was airing in the US).  And yet, Toonami decided not to lean on Gundams recent iterations closest to Wing.  Instead, they made the curious choice to go back to the beginnings of the Gundam franchise. 

 

Ouran High School Host Club Part 1 Episodes 1-4

Haruhi Fujioka just wanted to a quiet room to study.  Instead, she found her way into the headquarters of the most eligible bachelor club at Ouran High School, the Host Club.  When she accidentally breaks a priceless artifact under their care, Haruhi becomes the newest member of the club to work off her debt.  There’s just one small problem: Haruhi is so adept at dressing like a boy that everyone thinks she is.  Only the Host Club know the truth…much to Haruhi’s dismay.  Cultures clash and worlds will collide and the Ouran High School Host Club might never be the same again.

 
So a little bit of unknown history about the Gundam Anime Corner.  From the very beginnings, my goal has been to go through as much of my personal Anime collection as possible and review it all.  I started with a recent purchase in March 2014, Eden of the East.  Then I tackled some of the more popular titles right out the gate: Record of Lodoss War, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.  But since the beginning there have been a small handful of shows I’ve always wanted to cover but never did either because of lack of interest or a filled up schedule.  One of those shows is the one that I’m finally going to go through starting today: Ouran High School Host Club.  Yeah, this is another one that seems well outside my wheelhouse considering what the story is about.  But like many others I was drawn to it back in the day for various reasons.  The question is, will Ouran hold up now that I’m looking at it through a microscope.  Free and Yuri on Ice impressed me but a revisit to Love Hina a few years back showed that a few old favorites might not be as shiny as they once were back in the day.  Ok, I’ve rambled enough and it’s taken almost 8 years to fit this into the review queue.  Ouran High School Host Club.  Let’s do this.
 

T5W#342-Top 5 Thoughts on the Fullmetal Alchemist Live Action Sequels Announcement

Finally, a topical Top 5 right after an announcement.  Just announced yesterday, to celebrate the 20^th Anniversary of the Fullmetal Alchemist Manga, we’re going to be getting not one but TWO Sequels to the 2017 Live Action Fullmetal Alchemist Movie.  These two new (and judging by the title Final) chapters will be released within a month of each other: Fullmetal Alchemist: Final Chapter-The Avenger Scar will arrive on May 20, 2022 and Fullmetal Alchemist: Final Chapter-The Last Transmutation will follow on June 24.  A full trailer for both films was released and show that A LOT is going to be thrown into both of these movies.  Given how I was pretty disappointed with the first live action venture of the Elrics (you can read that Anniversary Review here: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2018/03/fullmetal-alchemist-2017-special-fourth.html) I have some thoughts on this announcement overall.  So, for today’s Top 5 Wednesday I’m looking at my Top 5 Thoughts on the Fullmetal Alchemist Live Action Sequels Announcement.  I’m not writing everything off just yet as some of what has been shown looks very promising.  But I will be bringing up my issues with the previous film where I see it…and if you go read the review before hand, you’ll know what my #1 choice will be.  Either way, let’s break it all down.