Live Out of the Box

It’s very hard to get hold of a computer these days. It’s either I’m fully booked with classes or when I’m finally not surrounded with English deficient students, the computer room is locked or an IT lesson is going on in there. Sigh

But there is always a bright side to things. While I’m being torn away from the computer screen, I get acquainted with Hong Kong and its young male populace. It’s a bit hard to communicate with the students on anime as I often get a blank response when I ramble about some titles (even though they’re popular) to them.

“Naruto?” Blank.

“Hunter x Hunter?” Blank.

“Ouran?” Blank.

“The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi?” Blank.

“Nana?” Blank.

“Dragonball Z?” Okay, I am getting a bit desperate but at least I got a response.

Most likely they know the chinese version of the titles but unfortunately, I don’t know them. It’s like the frustration I felt earlier when I finally found a fellow Da Vinci Code fan only to find out he doesn’t about Mary Magdalene and the Templar Knights only because they were known under different names in the Chinese version of the book. Even my crude drawing of the Holy Grail didn’t help.

It is also very hard to let the students see the point I’m driving at that what I’m looking for are character books and not mangas or dvds. Thankfully, they have toured me in some places where I at last see some traces of the huge influence of anime in Hong Kong. Note that they’re located in establishments that contain other shops as well (including explicit porn places that display “attractive pictures” to entice the male passerbys) and are not as fancy and sophisticated as malls which explains why stuff there are so cheap. So if any anime fan who happens to drop by Hong Kong, I hope this scant information can help. I’ll make it more detailed later when I visit these shops again.

1. Unnamed place whose name I wasn’t able to catch located between Sai Yeung Choi St. South and Nathan Road (I think) in Mong Kok. It contains: 

• G. net comics in the upper level (a manga shop. Lots of titles. Was ecstatic when I saw one of their wares were the volumes The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi. Once again, I hit myself mentally for not being able to read chinese).
• 2 anime dvd shops whose names I wasn’t able to catch (authenticity dubious but the movies are clear enough and cheap).

3. 298 Computer Zone for computer games in Hennessy Road, Wan Chai.

If anybody can understand chinese characters, chinese scanlations of manga are available in WangYou.com.

Meanwhile, just saw one androgynous student squeeze his classmates’ nipples. Whee!

So I have finally got to face a computer after so many days. I wish I could have posted a warning or something but everything was rushed and I had to do some last minute packing that before I knew it I was in an airplane on my way to another country. So my apologies for not giving any forewarning about this.

I would be spending the next three weeks in an all boys boarding school near the sea in Hong Kong (hears fangirls yelling).

Yes, it sounds soooo much like Gakuen Heaven, doesn’t it? Boarding school. All boys. Near the sea. Bishie love??? Read further!

I wanted so badly to just blog about recent events but I always had stuff to do and couldn’t get a hold of the computer guy for the first couple of days. At first, I thought I’d like to blog about the anime community in Hong Kong but seeing that people keep telling me to put away my mobile phone every time I take a pic of their displays, I thought it’ll just be futile. Future analysis of Ouran and other animes I would like to (badly) watch and write about would have to wait too (sob) for three more weeks as I think I can’t download any torrents in this school’s computers (it’d be a miracle if it happened). So I will just have to blog about my *cough* observations in this exclusive school.

First, there is a big difference between fantasy Gakuen Heaven BL Academy and this school. Bell Liberty Academy is elite while this isn’t. Second, in BL they wear those scarlet formal uniforms while these real boys have t-shirts and mini shorts that end at mid thighs with slits. Yes, I am surrounded almost 24/7 by scantily clad males. Imagine a shonen-ai/yaoi series of boys with that kind of uniform. Personally, I think it’s kind of hot for a series. It would look funny at first. It’s very hard to concentrate (I mean, in real life) having a serious conversation with a guy sitting down whose shorts keep riding up especially if his legs are hairless. Your eyes can’t help but flit towards the ever rising hem. I guess that’s how guys feel when a woman with a very revealing cleavage was talking to them.

Unfortunately, this school doesn’t have a Princess Princess system though I had incessantly investigated and even launched a campaign due to fortunate sightings of some select very beauuutiful effiminate boys all to no avail (pout pout). But there are some worthy moments that would make a yaoi fangirl’s heart race. These are occurances that I had no idea happened in all boys boarding school:

1.Organ grabbing. Yes, other guys would grab other boys’ organs even in front of a stranger. In mischief or for stimulation purposes I can only guess.

2.Brutal pumping action on the desk with clothes on. Again, for mischief or for stimulation purposes, I have no idea.

3. Walking naked in dormitories even when there is a female instructor.Okaaaaay.

4.After school, the real mini mini shorts come in a.k.a bathing trunks.Woo hoo!

5.Suddenly they yank their shorts down in the middle of the lesson with no underwear. ‘Nuff said.

For the meantime, as I’m suffering from anime withdrawal (anime with Chinese dub and characters don’t count. I can’t understand a thing!) I’ll just sit here and enjoy this once in a lifetime view.

Reflection: Knowing that I was going to write about Episode 5, I actually had a hard time enjoying the viewing of this episode. I usually breeze through Ouran eps but this time found myself uneasy and looking for any material I would use for this post. Has anybody experienced this? Or when you’re writing recaps do you usually say to yourself, “Ok, gotta memorize everything that happened now.”?

Moving on….

I am always partial to twins and Ouran’s Kaoru and Hikaru are no exception. In fact, they are my favorite characters in this series. More so amplified since obsessing reading about them, I discovered that we both share the tendency to get easily bored and the same zodiac sign (Gemini. oh well, duh). But damn them for introducing me to twincest! I am sooo not into incest but I have been tempted to the dark side (groan). In fact I never get tired of their fanservice. Rather I lived for it. One of the reasons I always loved twins, especially identical ones in the anime world (except for those purplies in Gakuen Heaven. Now if they can only be a bit more loving…) and in the real world is because they have often been part of my life and in keeping with the Which one is Hikaru-kun game? or Which twin is which?, remain a constant torture.

In pre-school

Me: Dad!

Twin: I’m your uncle.

In high school

Me: Stephanie!

Twin: I’m Tiffany.

Me: Sorry.

Twin: Haha! I’m Stephanie actually.

In college

Me: Sweet!

Very irritated twin: It’s Honey.

And a memory I want to forget…

Girl A: Oh my god! I just saw your date back there kissing another girl.

Me (in passionate Tamaki fury mode): WHAT?!

Girl A: Oops sorry. Wrong twin.

And besides that, they have never ceased to amaze me. Imagine a person standing two feet away from you and another one who looks exactly like him -a total copy walks by. Isn’t that mind boggling? Since creation, we already have clones. I always feel like I’m in a science fiction movie when I see identical twins.

Anyway, I was very happy that time this ep focused on them and added more subplot and character development. Yay! More screentime for Host Club’s favorite homo twins. It just shows that they aren’t just there just for the sake of being there. I’m glad the series is veering its attention from Haruhi and Tamaki and instead focused on the development of the supporting characters of this series. And by the way, in keeping with the roses parody, I noticed dark roses upon Nekozawa’s arrival. Does that mean he’s a dark bishie?

Most reviewers have wrote that this is one of the funniest episodes of Ouran. I disagree. I actually found it to be a bit sad (the only sad one so far) especially the ending though yes, there were pure comedic performances. It’s just those twins fighting. My heart was slightly breaking when they get into their bouts of altercation. It’s probably those flashback scenes when they were little that did it for me. I really fell for their prank and thought that their unbreakable bond was broken. Fat chance! Grr….

I wasn’t expecting that Hikaru and Kaoru would separate themselves from the world. They have always acted open, mischievous and friendly to almost everyone that seeing them for once serious, sad and completely isolated threw me off track. Then I realized we have once again been duped to the constant theme and joke of Ouran High School Host Club: Appearances can often be deceiving.

Bones’ ability to insert hidden metaphors have gone up a notch in this episode. It just proves how the series keeps getting better and better and metaphors don’t quite so stand out from the scenes anymore. When I first watched The Twins Fight, I was afraid there were no metaphor scenes in this ep but I refused to back off. As my Semantics professor once said, “Almost everything is a metaphor.”

And this time the metaphors of episode 5 are — the flashback scenes of the twins as little boys.

1. The little twins clutch their hands in the opening scene when a female playmate approaches them and asks them to build a snowman together with her.

Hikaru and Kaoru have always had each other and wouldn’t want anybody to enter their domain. This is symbolized by their hand grip –a door that blocks any who attempt to venture inside their world. In a way this is selfish, but they always have each other and no one else. In this scene, they began to play their first game of which is which? and this, along with the hand grip have become their protective defense, a shell that prevents anyone from sneaking into their private world. I found the Which one is Hikaru-kun game? a mechanism that baffles the innocent person because he cannot really tell which twin is which when they look so alike and as long as nobody can the twins are safe since to correctly distinguish them would mean that they are individuals and different from each other. Therefore, they are different pieces of the same mold and this would destroy their foundation and belief that they are one.

2. When Haruhi guesses correctly on which twin is which, we are shown the little twins’ hands gripping each other tightly and trembling as if they are afraid they will lose their hold.

The door is tested. It is still strong but it’s shaking. A potential threat has appeared. Somebody can finally tell them apart. The twins hold to each other tighter. The door must remain strong.

3. In the final scene though their hair are dyed in separate shocking colors, Haruhi still guesses correctly on which twin is which and we are treated to a scene where the little twins are still gripping each others’ hands tighter and it flows to the present grown-up twins still holding hands but this time standing to see their intruder walking away to disappear into the snow. And Kaoru said, “Have you noticed, Hikaru? The world, until now, has been either “our world” or “everything outside our world”. This is the first time a real intruder has appeared.”

The twins still hold hands, trying to strengthen their bond. The threat is stronger than it looks but the danger has passed for now. Behind the twins is the chair where they used to sit when they were little in the opening scene and they are seeing Haruhi walk away. They remember their first succesful attempt at throwing out an intruder and possibly, their chance for someone to get inside their world and now a second one has succeeded. Is it a second chance for them or not? Whatever happens, they decide to leave the past (the chair) and stand to walk towards the future, still holding hands, knowing they will still have each other. And call it a girl’s intuition and why I see this ending as a sad one (or I might just be speculating on this) is the look Kaoru gives his older brother Hikaru when he never leaves his sights on Haruhi and Kaoru looks back with resignation on the intruder. He knows that Hikaru might like Haruhi and this would turn their world upside-down and they would not revolve around each other anymore. Whatever happens from now on, things would never be the same again.

Yes, the yellow thing near Pinky Hikaru is actually Tamaki’s head

On a lighter note, I love the scene where our guests of honor twins once again, seduced another young unsuspecting woman with their fiendish charms together (faints). Kaoru and Hikaru, if you ever need an addition in your sibling family, I am your missing fraternal triplet.

Can’t stop obsessing over the twins? Sorry, I can’t help you find the cure but you can infect other people with it. Help spread the disease!

Finally! Episode 4 has been subbed. And I'm in Ouran Heaven.

I watched it yesterday but couldn't stop watching it a couple of more times and sniggering and guffawing all through it.

It's all just a big farce!

Honestly, this episode is the biggest parody of all. I love how Renge added multiple dimensions to their host club personalities. At first I thought, "Okay, this is going somewhere." Then OMG! They're all so stereotypical again!

The movie sequence was so hilarious because it just emphasize their acts albeit in a different medium -behind the camera. So there are no screaming fangirls in the pictures (except for the extras in the basketball scene). The hosts being actors were plainly slapped to the audience for all to see. And the Uki Doki Memorial scene where all the male characters join forces together to battle the mafia really poked fun at Bishonen shows and games. I mean, it plainly depicts how silly these can be. "All Bishies unite, megane, shota, prince…….Let our combined beauty save the world!"

And as for that seriously hawt sexy scene where the twins in a devilish action to tease and daunt Tamaki from his chronic depressed reverie, bit the cookie while Haruhi still held it and licked the crumbs off her cheek really reminded me of those seduction "prelude to the sex scenes" in yaoi manga only a girl is involved this time. I'm thinking this scene alone could spark a doujinshi chain featuring these three as a menage a trois. That's it. I am seriously sweating over those twins. They know their charm and they exploit it.

But where are the ever present metaphors you ask? Did they disappear in episode 4? Where are the whirling teacups, the white kite, the light bulbs? Methinks, they were inserted subtly in the form of Miyabi in the dating sims game.

1. Miyabi confesses his true love to Renge in the first scene via television and PS3.

Renge is still in otaku dating sim heaven. She's still in that virtual reality world where she can control everything. This is highlighted when she chooses her answer from the choices presented on screen. It only takes a press of the button and presto everything goes her way. And it doesn't help that the virtual character she's swooning over is saying everything that she wants him to say.

2. Renge predicts what Kyouya-sama will say to her when she presents her slightly burnt cookies to him by imagining Miyabi praising her cooking.

She superimposes the faux character Miyabi over the real Kyoya. She refuses to see his true character and tries to establish a sense of control over the real world. Here she straddles the real world and the fantasy world and tries to layer the virtual reality domain over the real world by creating extra personalities for our hosts and filming that awful movie.

3. Finally, Miyabi appears to comfort her as her created of Kyouya's image is shattered (emphasized by the vice-prez smashing of the camera-lol. another metaphor. The camera lens is smashed, the mirror fragments are cracked and Renge can this time see into the real world without that protective window). This time there is no text that appears below Miyabi indicating that this is not a virtual dating sims scene.

Renge's blind faith in her made-up image of Kyouya is shattered as she realized Kyouya is not Miyabi and hence her "world" –the 'reality' she created begins to crumble as people refuses to follow what she wants. Clarity awakens inside her as she realized the lesson behind Haruhi's words that getting to look at people properly and gradually getting to know them is more enjoyable. This is thus, her transition into the real world. In her otaku way, she drifts into a daydream of Miyabi prasing her for 'leveling up' and indeed she has. She has.

By the way, a statement of Haruhi struck me when she said that if you classify people into categories then you won't be able to see what's really important. Isn't this what sums up Ouran High School Host Club? They classify their host personalities into categories but underneath their facade, in moments where no peering fangirl eyes could see, they act totally different (except for Honey and Mori but I expect the anime would add layers to their characters in the succeeding episodes. [did not read the manga]). It also awakens in us the conciousness of how prevalent and cliched categories are through their parodies. This, I think is the important part.