J-doramas have officially gone off the cross-dressing end this Summer, with not one, not two, but THREE girl-crossing-dressing-with-a-bunch-of-guys dramas out at the exact same time. And two are remakes to boot. Where’s the originality Japan? I checked out all three purely out of curiosity, discovering that while two made me run away screaming, one was an insane and infectiously adorable little drama. I never would have imagined that I would be smitten by the live action version of Ouran High School Host Club.
For the record, my verdict on the other two cross-dressing dramas are thus – HanaKimi 2011 is completely unnecessary and a giant waste of everyone’s time, and Ikemen desu Ne (the You’re Beautiful remake) lacks what made the original so charming and addicting (namely Jang Geun Seok and any actor playing an A.N.Gell member that can actually act or have charisma onscreen). But Ouran? Perfectly cast and adroitly presented. Try watching it and not gape at its ridiculousness all the while smiling with a giant lopsided grin on your face.
Ouran is the live-action adapation of the manga, and later anime, of the same name. It’s an understatement to say that Japanese shoujo mangas have a weird fixation on cross-dressing girls involved in implausible situations, and I’ve actually been shying away from these mangas as I’ve gotten older. It’s really not my cup of tea anymore. So I haven’t read Ouran nor watched the anime, but I know plenty of folks who love it to pieces. I checked out the drama on a whim, mainly to see if I’d hit the trifecta of suck with respect to all three cross-dressing J-doramas this Summer, only to be charmed by Ouran’s brand of manga-insanity mixed with quirky characters and an implausible premise.
Scholarship student Fujioka Haruhi attends prestigious Ouran Academy where the richest of the rich students all go. She dresses like a boy simply because it’s convenient, with no intention of cross-dressing or concealing her gender. One day, as she’s looking for a quiet place to study, she stumbles upon the Ouran High School Host Club, which is exactly what it’s name implies. Consisting of 6 rich and handsome young men, the club caters to the girl students of the Academy as a place to entertain and be entertained. In a very chaste way, of course.
Haruhi accidently breaks an expensive vase and finds herself forced to be a host to pay back the cost of the vase. The boys quickly discover she’s a girl, but adore her to pieces so elect to keep her gender a secret so she can continue to hang out with them. Led by Suou Tamaki, the host club is populated by what might be realistically described as a bunch of freaks (Tamaki being a complete drama queen and utter tool at times), but really all the characters have such an underlying layer of sweet charm. Two episodes in, I’m completely enjoying this crazy little assembly of kids and their oddball interactions.
Harui is perfectly played by Kawaguchi Haruna, in that she’s totally no-nonsense yet rolls with the punches. She reminds me so much of Horikita Maki‘s turn as a cross-dressing girl in the original HanaKimi, in that she’s so insanely cute that no one can possibly mistake her for a boy. But in Ouran, Haruhi never tries to be a boy, she just happens to get mistaken for one and roped into being a host, and from there she just performs her hosting duties matter-of-factly.
Yamamoto Yusuke is stealing the show as Tamaki, he of the oh-so-dramatic declarations and the man with a rubber face. Haruhi and Tamaki are of course the OTP, and their interactions are so cute, with Tamaki harboring a crush on Haruhi the moment he discovers she’s a girl, and Haruhi simply wanting to get her hosting duties done with and her debt paid. But I’m sure she’ll discover the boys of the hosting club are all much deeper than they initial appear, and of course will likely become wonderfully supportive classmates as the story goes on.
Ouran isn’t anything to write home about, so far it’s simply a solid live-action adaptation of a manga. I can’t stress enough how far-fetched the drama is, because the source material unfolds in a manga medium, which allow for greater liberties. Be prepared for an extreme dose of the silly when you are watching it onscreen, but all wrapped in a layer of genuine mirth and affection.
The directing is so smooth and effortless that the silliness blends in so well with the down-to-earth presentation of the glorious world of Ouran High School. While I don’t have a craving to go read the original manga nor am I chafing to get more episodes of this drama, I find it’s such a sweet little drama that I just want to pinch its cheeks for being so, well, cheeky. I give Ouran a thumbs up for delivering what it set out to do, and making a new fan out of me.
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I simply eager to watch ouran just because of yamamoto yusuke.since he just had small screen at hanakimi I knew it he would be big.
1st, yeah it's good actually although i was expecting that tamaki more handsome? oh well...the manga and anime are good so u should check it out.
that's *tamaki to be more handsome
I so agree with you..I DL all 3 reverse-harem liveaction, to see which is better.. and Ouran win it by a landslide. Though kinda disappointed that Yamamoto Yusuke played Tamaki's role for the reason that I dont find him that good-looking but acting wise...he nailed it..(of course..He is a VETERAN)Its fun to watch his adoration to Haruhi.. and I'm pretty sure OHSHC is the reverse harem to watch for:)
yeah i have to admit that he's acting is good and the show is also entertaining, i really love the effects, makes it more similar to the real anime or manga ^^
Just watch the first episode, but it's make me love this drama,..
I think more excited than the anime,..hahhaha....LOL..
LOve IT =))
Ouran HSHC is my ultimate anime of all times so i am definitely watching this:D and glad that Koala unnie liking it:D
UNNIE YOU SHOULD WATCH THE ANIME! ~~~ LOL^^
Koala Unnie, my comment after watching the 1st ep: you should definitely watch the 1st ep of anime (which i dont know how many times i watched that 1st episode years ago when i didnt even know what the heck is a torrent and youtube was my hero!)
it would have been better if you could have watched before live action but anyways^^
I don't know y back then, I forced myself to watch the anime, just bcuz it seemed popular, but man after a few episodes I just couldn't get enough of it, the characters just kept getting more interesting, even when they got serious. (Like fruit basket and school rumble but this one never get serious :P ) Like there's more to those shows then we think there are. I felt the same about the 2006 hanakimi, where it was much more entertaining then you'd ever think it would be
Actually i didn't like the dorama version cos the anime was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo charming. i think the main problem is with Tamaki's acting, which was not as natural as the anime version and of course the fact is tt the animated Tamaki was soooooooo charming that i just can't forget him! hopefully, he'll get the grip of it and be more natural.
it's really hard for them to match up to the level of the anime/manga but i guess one can only hope? ;)
LOL agreeing on anime's charm after watching the first episode:D
actually tamaki's acting is better than haruhi's in the live action but both of them dont get close to anime of course:D i had a glimpse of anime tamaki's talking style on live action tamaki so hope he gets better.
and what the hell is wrong with Honey sempai getting smaller! they shouldnt have done that imo.
i really like this it so cute really and funny entertaining ...... i also like youre beautiful but of course no one beat jgs hehehe , and hana kimi just watching it wishing that i can watch toma in a funny drama soon
I was like you, wasn't sure what to think and I haven't read the manga (I already started now) but I gave Ep 1 a try and I was TOTALLY HOOOKED.. I Love it to a TEE!! I Saw episode 2 yesterday and was like wanting more... the cast all fit their characters so its great.. I just wished it was at least an hour or 45 mins.. instead of the short 25 to 30 mins of each episode.. All in all, its good, for those of you who haven't watched it, you should! :)
ARGH~~~~my all time No.1 anime!!! Tamaki-kun~~Honey senpai and his cake-y~~Haruhi~~
Everyone who hasn’t watch this anime must must must i repeat MUST watch this. With the bonus of Mamoru's perfect voice for Tamaki! Can this get any better. Think i have repeated the anime least 8 times over the years. And maybe 20 times for particular scenes...
Now back to the drama. When i first come across the news that host club is going to remake into a drama 4 weeks back, i was in a roller coaster mode. From excited to calm to disappointed to happy.
Excited - i have always complain to all my friends why are there so many anime remake but never my host club and here it is now!!!! My conclusion is that the characters in anime are so perfect and charming that it simply can't be played by human. I mean...seriously how and where do you find a Tamaki?!
Calm - I keep myself calm after a few days of excitement by telling myself to have LOW expectations like REALLY low. My supreme love for the anime will most probably make me hate the live action and I really do not want to ruin it.
Disappointed – After the teaser.....my Tamaki doesn't look like that, Haruhi doesn't look like that, Honey senpai doesn't, Hikaru and Kaoru are not like that......i will just name 5 since i'm bias. From low expectations it then drop to merely zero expectation left.
Happy – So I have watched Episode 1 (took me lots of courage). Now that the actors are all playing the characters (the teaser I watched was more like a news interviewing them so they were their normal self) it wasn’t as bad I thought!! I wouldn't say it is good but I think they have already did what they can do best. I agree with someone above that Yamamoto’s acting is good. Seeing how crazy and wide range Tamaki’s character can be, he portrayed quite well so far. I am looking forward to see how he is going to play the father and his precious daughter scene!! Oh oh~~ not forgetting the puppy eyes!!
Off to watch episode 2~~
The first episode was awkward to me. It felt like everyone was trying just a bit too hard to be the characters instead of just being the characters. The second episode was definitely better and felt more natural. Having read the manga and watched the anime, Yamamoto Yusuke is a bit weak on giving off that aura of being a lord/leader/prince that Tamaki has, but is pitch perfect when displaying Tamaki's whiny, overly emotional, off-the-wall self.