Your artstyle is like your gut microbiome in the way its everything you consume and like and it also has all your bacteria up in it. Thats probably how that works
“oh no, my audience has begun to guess the big twists of my story and are accurately predicting what will happen!”
incorrect response: write the rest of the story to be as twisty, shocking and counter to expectations as possible, regardless of whether this is a logical or satisfying way for the plot to go
(you’re not stupid. I posted this thinking it would amuse a handful of mutuals who all knew the context and that would be about it, so I didn’t think about providing any other explanation. I had no idea it would spread this far.)
I’ll start from the very beginning just to be thorough. so this is Alex Hirsch, creator and head writer of Gravity Falls, a show which had a big focus on mystery, conspiracies, codes and ciphers, etc. the whole plot is kicked off by one of the main characters finding a mysterious old journal in the woods, which detailed all kinds of weird and supernatural things, but then ended abruptly with the author saying they had to hide the journal because they were being watched. the central driving mystery of the show, therefore, was the question of who wrote the journal and what happened to them.
now, the thing about Gravity Falls is that, while it must be said that the writers weren’t always quite as sure of their plans as we tend to like to think they are, it is very much a fair play mystery, with legitimate clues to what was going on. but the writers were caught off guard by how quickly the show attracted a dedicated audience, including a lot of people outside the primary presumed demographic, who started solving the clues faster than expected. so some of the fans were able to correctly guess who the author was before it was revealed in the show, and the theory started spreading. this put the writers in something of a panic, because this was THE mystery that the whole story revolved around, with ¾ of the show building up to the dramatic reveal in the middle of season 2. they wanted it to be a mystery that could be figured out, sure, but they weren’t prepared for people to solve it so far in advance of when it was planned to be revealed, which would have really taken away from the big moment. they weren’t going to change the main story itself, but having been caught unaware by how much attention the fans were paying, they wanted to up the ante and make the mystery more complex to solve going forward–but first they needed to buy some time and throw the fandom off the scent for a little longer.
hence, Alex’s plan as described above. they whipped up a fake shot that appears to give away the identity of the author as being another character in the show, put it on a screen in the studio as if it was a real animation frame, took a picture of it, and ‘leaked’ it online. it was initially decided to be a hoax (albeit, I think, presumed to be a hoax originating from outside the production team), until Alex posted this tweet:
…before quickly deleting it (though not so quickly that it didn’t get seen, of course).
it worked well enough to distract most people for a while, and wasn’t revealed as a hoax until a year later, when an episode aired that definitively proved that the supposed screenshot could never have happened, at which point Alex owned up to the whole thing as seen in the tweet above. by then the episode with the real reveal wasn’t far off, and while people did still work it out ahead of time, it was more of an “OH MY GOD I KNEW IT!” moment than a “booooooring, we’ve known that for ages” moment, which of course was what the writers wanted all along.
personally I find this a fascinating approach to dealing with the problem of spoilers, because it doesn’t affect the story itself at all; if you watch Gravity Falls today–or if you were watching it when it aired without any significant contact with the fandom–you’d never know about it. ultimately, the problem the writers were facing wasn’t that some people might guess the answer to the mystery–they never wanted to make it completely impossible to predict–so much as it was that they hadn’t designed the story to stand up to so many people working on the puzzle together, which resulted in a sort of total output of puzzle-solving ability that far outstripped the capability of any one solo human being. so their solution is something that’s very much targeted toward delaying that group problem-solving, without actually affecting the experience of any individual person watching the show.
plus, it’s very in keeping with the overall tone of the show.
Ahoy hoy! are you or a loved one unable to see episode 9 in theaters!?! are you stressing about getting spoiled for the finale of TADC!?
well as someone whos not always immediately on top of new releases of my special interests ive picked up some skills for avoiding spoilers without going totally dark while im behind. so thought id share!
now admittedly i only really use tumblr and YouTube so my advice only goes so far but i think it should be applicable to other sites.
TUMBLR!
Alright what we are gonna do here is block as many of the tags on here relating to the spoilers you want to avoid. to do this go to settings.
On the website it will just be on the normal settings. just scroll down.
your gonna want to use this here to block the tags and we will do the same using the "filtered content" function as well.
on mobile its in general settings.
scroll down to filtering
click '+new'
and then youll be able to type here!
what you want to do is list as many possible iterations of the media you want to avoid. go for the obvious first like "TADC" "the amazing digital circus" "TADC ep 9" and so on. but also get less obvious stuff like character names, again as many forms as possible. "jax" "TADC jax" "the amazing digital circus jax" and so on. possibly ship names too.
we are going to repeat this step with the "filtered content" page as well. luckily these are words and phrases tumblr will block for you and so you should only have to put each word in once lol. itll look this this then someone you follow posts something you have blocked:
now that the spoilers are blocked you should be safe to be on tumblr.
Youtube!
okay so i cant for the life of me find a built in way to block certain content on youtube that cant easily be undone. but! i have found a method to do that! it just wont work on mobile and im not 100% sure it'll work for youtube shorts. but i have advice for youtube even without blocking stuff!
First find an extension like this one here:
please ensure its in whatever browser you use's official extension library to make your best attempt at not downloading fishy files.
this extension will allow you to block content using words you specify. there should be versions of this kind of extension on chrome and other browsers.
we are going to just repeat what we did on tumblr to youtube! on the extension i found itll look something like this:
it will look like this when you block content on youtube. ive tested this method and its 100% undo able.
okay so thats youtube on your PC covered lets solve the issues on your phone!
so what your gonna wanna do is avoid content related to the spoilers your trying to avoid starting before the spoilers even drop, like 3 days or so. delete TADC content from your history and utilize the "watch later" playlist built into youtube to save vids you wanna see later.
now this is gonna sound weird but now your gonna fall down a rabbit hole. doesnt even need to interest you just find some like idk fish tank set up videos to watch back to back and so your replacing TADC with some new content. also throw in some hour long playlists or like nintendo music or some shit idk. basically you WANT to enduce that shit when you watch like 1-2 vids of one thing and suddenly thats your entire recommended.
for youtube shorts id honestly just avoid them if i were you since you cant control whats next. worst case impliment the tride and true "scroll away ASAP and go into your history and erase that from your history" method but i find it risky and i think we can all do without some doomscrolling for a couple weeks lol.
alternative method is also just watching youtube logged out but you gotta still be careful there too. avoid any indie animation content.
SHIT TO DO TO KEEP BUSY!
here are also some ideas on what you can do to keep yourself busy and entertained so you can minimize exposure to spaces with spoilers.
✦ Widdle down the list of "must watch" shows you've got.
✦ Play some steam games i KNOW are dusty in your library from that one steam sale.
✦ New hobby! explore a hobby like cooking or embroidery! you can occupy your recommended pages with content about those hobbys!
✦ Start a project of some kind!
✦ Learn a new skill or hone your own!
✦ Watch twitch streams! those shouldn't contain any spoilers so its a good place to watch stuff without getting spoiled since its someone streaming a game or art.
I'd love to see some more advice and recommendations to survive the 2 weeks! also if everyone could list what tags or phrases/words would be best to block that would be great so we can all plan out together how to survive.
Alright! now to all my fellow folk who were able got movie tickets: DONT YOU DARE POST SPOILERS UNTAGGED! lets behave and not spoil our fellow fans.
posts containing spoilers better look something like this:
wondering how i did it? ill show you!
so when you want to put in a "keep reading" part of the post youll click the lil white zig zag thing at the far right of the post options bar.
and when you do click that this will pop up:
anything below this part will be below the cut and therefore people will have to click it to view things past it. please put any spoilers about episode 9 under the cut and please include a title like this:
anything below this part will be below the cut and therefore people will have to click it to view things past it. please put any spoilers about episode 9 under the cut and please include a title like this:
⚠️TADC EP 9 SPOILERS!⚠️
that way its clearly communicated there are spoilers ahead. also please properly tag the post with not only the usual TADC tags but include stuff like "TADC spoilers" and "TADC EP9" as tags so hopefully people get it filtered out anyway but if everyone does filtering and this kind of spoiler barrier then we can help everyone survive the 2 weeks by letting those who see it get to yap about it and have fun and those who havent dont get spoiled!
There’s a difference between a female character who exists in a story and has a romantic relationship with a male character versus a female character who exists in a story to have a romantic relationship with a male character
Basic rules for analysing fiction, an incomprehensive list jotted down in a hurry:
The protagonist isn’t always right
The protagonist isn’t always good
The protagonist isn’t always written to be relatable or likeable
The narrator isn’t always right
The narrator isn’t always good
The narrator isn’t always telling the truth
The narrator isn’t always the author
The protagonist’s moral compass, the narrator’s moral compass and the author’s moral compass are three entirely different things that only occasionally overlap
Pay attention to what characters do and not just what they say
Pay special attention when what the characters do is at odds with what they say
A lot of the time the curtains are blue for a reason. If they aren’t, you should read better books
So many times I have seen people apparently just … forget that it’s possible for fictional characters to be (a) mistaken or (b) lying, and say things like “we know this to be true because [character] said so here” (or, worse, “this fact is canon because [character] said it”).
The antagonist isn’t always telling the truth, the protagonist isn’t always telling the truth, the secondary and minor characters aren’t always telling the truth, the narrator may be telling the truth but if the narrator is also a character in the story then don’t count on it.
Something I’m trying to do is get into the horror genre. I’m having a nice time doing that; it exposes me to good and so-bad-it’s-good movies, and it works well as something to analyze when determining success or failure of writing and tropes.
Something about it that I’ve gotten attached to is the Final Girl trope. The sole female survivor who becomes responsible for killing or escaping from the villain in the end. Since I am an action fan, I can never deny the rush of a scared underdog claiming the advantage against the embodiment of pure evil. But my “horror movies are action movies in reverse” thesis can wait for another day.
I’m here for the analysis of the Final Girl herself.
When I think about what it takes to be a Final Girl, I tend towards thinking about the ones that defeat the villain and the reasons they pull it off.
What comes to mind is that most Final Girls tend to be clever. When you’re up against someone impossible to fight head-on, cleverness becomes a necessity; ambush tactics, trap setting, psychological warfare, improvised weapons, nothing is off the table for beating the villain. The key phrase I want you to notice is “nothing is off the table.”
Which leads into the next point, the Final Girl needs to be vicious to face the main villain. This can be to an equal or a greater extent when compared to a slasher. Those cheesy long-running horror franchises show that you’ve only beaten the slasher when he stays dead; and to stay dead, he has to be dead. A Final Girl who finishes off the villain doesn’t have the luxury of contemplating sparing the monster, otherwise they’ll reclaim the advantage and continue killing, starting anew with her.
All of this ties to why the Final Girl beats the slasher, but not why the Final Girl beats the slasher.
For those older movies, a trend is set where the victims who die first are bad in some way. As mentioned in Randy Meeks’ ruleset from Scream 1, they’re either promiscuous or they consume drugs or alcohol. By contrast, the Final Girl abstains from all three and is thus clean of body and soul. It very much embraces Black-and-White Morality as a survival system where the purest of heart end up surviving.
I work this understanding into a Foil system where a slasher embodies pure evil while a Final Girl embodies pure good, which I see as adding some more overarching stakes to their conflict, final battle, and status as arch-enemies. For a better understanding of my view, it’s akin to Nagito Komeada’s philosophy on Hope and Despair. Despair rises so that Hope can rise to conquer Despair and become all the stronger for it.
For those of you wondering how a pure good character can embrace viciousness and still be pure good, it makes me happy to know you’re paying attention. The truth is that such a thing makes no sense whatsoever; it’s paradoxical.
Where it all comes together is that this concept already existed before horror films. Heroes who are pure good in personality and choices while also being so unrepentantly ballsy that they don’t blink at decapitating an enemy. The concept? Arthurian Knights.
A good reference for what I’m talking about would be this video from FOBEquestria. Its narration is “The Necessity of Chivalry” by C.S. Lewis and it describes the concept well.
Admittedly, I prefer Galahad over Lancelot, but that’s not the point here.
The point is that a Final Girl can stand as an example of Arthurian Chivalry, being the purest good against the purest evil and fighting like hell to end it (hopefully for good).
It’s like the essay was saying, the Final Girl’s goodness ultimately stands out from the crowd. It almost expands the concept of being the villain’s Foil to being everyone’s Foil. It is because of that unique nature that they become the only one who can end (whether temporarily or permanently) the threat.
The only thing that’s missing is artwork of prominent Final Girls as Knights of the Round Table. Believe me, I checked.
Yes, that is an open invitation. I shared the idea with my little brother, and he added the idea that they should carry their iconic weapons.
Ouran High School Host Club – Episode 13: Haruhi in Wonderland!
Have I Seen This Before?
No.
A Recap:
We open to a flashback showing Haruhi at an entrance interview for attending Ouran High School. After highlighting once again that Haruhi is self-sufficient, the scene transitions into a dream.
Haruhi’s mind takes her on a journey using the contents of previous episodes and imagining her friends as characters from Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.”
Highlights of this journey includes: some Looney Tunes shenanigans with banana peels, an escape from alligators in a pool of tears, the forever-goth Umehito turning into a baby, Renge adopting a freshly babied Umehito, Anayokoji lamenting that she’s always the villain, a slightly less freshly babied Umehito turning into a cat doll, a set of twins having their “teleporting” magic trick fail, and a tea party where this show’s greatest mystery is almost revealed (thanks for nothing Tamaki).
Everything comes to a head when it gets revealed that Renge is on trial in the royal court for abandoning her cat-doll-child. Haruhi volunteers as Renge’s lawyer and defends Renge by claiming that a child can understand when a parent has to leave for work. The dream then starts expressing self-awareness as the prior cast members point out that Haruhi recognized the characters as her friends, even though the episode’s context should prevent that kind of recognition.
The trial ends with the reveal that the king and queen of Wonderland are Haruhi’s parents, with Haruhi being stunned to see her dead mother. The mother apologizes for not being present and asks Haruhi to enjoy her life. Haruhi then wakes up in the clubroom before she can hug her mother.
The episode ends with the reveal that the club members are dressing up as Alice in Wonderland characters, with Haruhi noting that reality is not that different from her dreams.
Which Character is the Strongest in Terms of Writing?
Haruhi.
While this episode didn’t cover any new aspects of her character, I did find a few points to analyze regarding her dream.
For a starting point, as the ending of the dream highlighted, Haruhi knows her friends well. Each dream character was an accurate depiction of their real-life counterpart. This shows that all the time Haruhi has spent with her peers is important to her character; she knows them well enough to accurately re-create them in her mind. This is good from a writing standpoint as it makes all the past events relevant to Haruhi.
Speaking of making past events relevant, the fact that her mind conjured images from past episode strengthens the continuity by guaranteeing that nothing prior to this episode is a one-off to write off. A good way to put it is that Haruhi’s dream rewards the viewer for seeing the past episodes.
Another point involves the pool scene amongst the highlights in Haruhi’s journey. After analyzing that scene, I realized that it can be seen as proof that Haruhi has been traumatized by water. That scene begins with Haruhi falling into the pool from a great height; I found that it resembled the scene in Episode 8 when Haruhi was almost murdered by being thrown of a cliff and into the ocean. There’s also the matter of the alligators that show up, with their basis being the memory of the alligator attack on the club from Episode 7.
When I remember the above two points and recall that Haruhi had faced bullying in Episode 1 (with her belongings being thrown into a fountain), I find that the dream is a good reflection on how every bad point in Haruhi’s school life is tied to water. I rather like the idea that Haruhi develops thalassophobia over the course of the show.
Which Relationship is Strongest in Terms of Writing?
I pointed out above that Haruhi’s dream stands as evidence that she knows her clubmates well, and that it strengthens the show’s continuity. So, the answer is: Haruhi and the rest of the club.
Which Character is Weakest in Terms of Writing?
Something I find funny is the argument that there is only one character present for most of the episode. That character being Haruhi.
Since everything else is her dream, it means she never interacted with the other cast members, only herself.
Aside from that obscure philosophy session, I have nothing meaningful to complain about with the cast.
The only gripe I’d have is that Tamaki interrupted Haruhi before she could answer the question about why she wanted to attend Ouran High. But that’s less a writing problem and more me being annoyed with his usual antics. After all, it’s in-character of Tamaki to create three minor problems whilst he solves one major problem.
Which Relationship is Weakest in Terms of Writing?
None of them. Again, there only one character throughout most of the episode and she’s showing that she understands the people in her life to a great degree. There’s not much I can comment on with that.
How is the Conflict?
There doesn’t feel like much in terms of conflict when anything that can generate turmoil is rendered moot quickly.
The trial being about a mother abandoning a child could have some power if it was meant to imply that Haruhi has any ambivalence to the absence of her mother. However, Haruhi has made it clear that there is no ambivalence and she loves her mother unconditionally.
The tea party scene has Tamaki question Haruhi on if she intends to have any fun in her high school years. This could have had some power if Haruhi was at odds with the club’s silliness. However, Haruhi has long since adapted to being part of the club, so there’s no ideological conflict about school being fun or serious anymore.
The dream itself could have also had power as an avenue to show if Haruhi has anything she dislikes about herself. However, the dream has only reinforced the image of Haruhi’s pre-existing self-assurance.
Overall, there’s no inner or outer fights to generate drama. It’s fitting for an episode that’s a long set of goofy shenanigans, but it doesn’t feel as meaningful.
Is there Anything Else I Can Praise or Criticize?
Unique take on the Recap Episode:
Most anime pulls out what tropers call the Recap Episode when it reaches the halfway point. They aren’t that interesting considering that they’re a retelling of events the audience has already seen. But this episode takes that concept and makes it interesting.
As I’ve said before, Haruhi’s mind conjures up objects and people from the past episodes and it strengthens the continuity because it proves that these events and people are important enough for Haruhi to remember in her dream.
I also see it as more of a bonus that rewards the viewer for seeing the past episodes, since they are being trusted to remember everything and to know why it’s all important now.
A harsher way to put it would be that this episode is expecting the viewer to be smart enough to remember everything they’ve seen. I can appreciate that the show is making a point not to treat its viewers like idiots.
What Writing Lesson Can I Take from This Episode?
This episode works as an example of making continuity work.
As I kept stating, we can see that all prior episodes matter because Haruhi remembers them and they show relevance in the dream world.
Now, I’m not saying that every character should dream up their past, but the writer has to show that the past matters. Having characters remember past events is key to making the totality of a story matter; because if it matters to the cast, then it matters period.
In short, show that your characters remember what they’ve been through. But do not make it a retelling of the past stories. Your audience is smart enough to remember what already happened, and they won’t be impressed with the old materials being recycled with no alterations.
Ouran High School Host Club – Episode 12: Honey’s Three Bitter Days!
Have I Seen This Before?
Nope.
A Recap:
Following their formation of the “I love Haruhi and am also stupid” subsection of the Host Club, the twins and Tamaki create easily resolvable and preventable shenanigans with their bad decisions. Specifically, they stain Honey’s plush toy Usa with tea and spend most of their time cowering in fear of an angry top-level marital artist. Fortunately, Mori is there to keep them from feeling the consequences of their actions.
Some time later, Honey develops a cavity due to his unhealthy eating habits and the Host Club enforces a ban on sweets until Honey recovers. Don’t ask me why they didn’t send Honey to a dentist, because I don’t know. In an attempt to subvert the ban, Honey begins to lie, manipulate, and guilt-trip his peers and clientele, but his tactics fail every time.
On two sidenotes, Renge has taken over the peanut gallery and Mori is dealing with a romantic subplot.
Everything comes to a head when Honey starts lashing out and attacks Mori. After Honey leaves, Haruhi deduces that Mori was riling Honey up as a form of self-punishment; Mori confirms this and admits that he feels responsible for Honey’s cavity because he forgot to remind Honey to brush his teeth. Fortunately for Mori, Honey overhears everything, apologizes for the attack, and promising to be more careful with his oral hygiene.
The episode ends with the romantic subplot being resolved when the girl crushing on Mori joins Renge’s peanut gallery.
Which Character is the Strongest in Terms of Writing?
Honey.
It shown right at the start with the idiot trio’s fears about Honey that this episode is meant to be about exploring more about Honey as a person. One of the best ways they did this is by making Honey the antagonist of this episode.
Bear in mind, I’m not saying that Honey is evil. In terms of writing, the Host Club carries the protagonist role because they have a well-intentioned goal that they strive towards, while Honey carries the antagonist role because he attempts to subvert the goal for selfish reasons. I can see an argument being made that Honey is the villain of this episode, as long as it’s being acknowledged that Honey is not evil.
Making Honey the antagonist was a good decision because we got to see what kind of person he is when he opposes the Host Club; and he is someone who proved every concern that Tamaki and the twins had about him to be correct.
Case in point, the three idiots were afraid that upsetting Honey could cause him to throw a tantrum and resort to violence against his peers. Honey proves this concern to be correct when he attacked Tamaki’s teddy bear to express his frustration, attacked Tamaki without provocation, and attacked Mori out of frustration.
As another point, the trio of lovesick morons also put Honey and Kyoya on a comparative level, and Honey proves those concerns correct too. Over the course of the episode, Honey lies to Mori, manipulates the club’s clientele, and guilt-trips Haruhi in an attempt to get the sweets that the club is denying him.
Another way to summarize what happened with Honey is that he validated the bully image that Renge gave him in Episode 4. He showed that he’s not above violence or emotional blackmail when he doesn’t get what he wants.
As a matter of fact, seeing Honey’s capacity for manipulation, dishonesty, and violence made me think that his character comes with an inherent dilemma; because the idiots were right, Honey is dangerous. Moreover, he’s not above using his martial arts expertise when angered, so the Host Club is less trusting of him and more afraid of him. The question this leaves is, “Can Honey be trusted?” Is he the Host Club’s most precious ally? Or is he a time bomb waiting to go off? The idiot trio certainly think that latter, while the episode’s ending suggests the former.
Any concerns I have with Honey are settled since he apologized to Mori. Maybe Honey should give Tamaki lessons, he certainly showed how easy it was to recognize being in the wrong and say, “I’m sorry.”
Which Relationship is Strongest in Terms of Writing?
I’m torn between Honey’s relationship with Mori, and Honey’s relationship with the greater Host Club.
Honey and Mori:
There are three areas of focus with this episode which are shown as the episode starts, continues, and ends.
First, the beginning of the episode demonstrated that Mori is a key part of keeping Honey from destroying the Host Club. He was aware of how to defuse the situation with Honey when Haruhi’s love interests started causing trouble. Most importantly, Honey listened to Mori and calmed down right away. This suggests a relationship akin to a grenade and the pin. If Honey is a bomb, Mori is the reason the bomb doesn’t explode.
Second, as the episode carried on and Mori enforced the sweets ban, the relationship started to take on the image of a misbehaving child and an ever-patient parent. The best examples of this involved Honey’s attempts to smuggle sweets into the club, and his attempt to lie about being cured. On both accounts, Mori knew Honey was lying but never made the direct accusation. Instead, Mori played into the lie and physically acted to prevent Honey’s schemes from working.
The last area of focus was after Mori admitted to his self-punishment by earning Honey’s ire. Mori admits that he worries about Honey constantly and sees himself as the problem if Honey goes through anything difficult. It’s an unreasonable amount of pressure, but it’s clear that Mori takes on that self-made pressure out of love for Honey. Honey himself was clearly touched to know that Mori loves him that much.
Honey and the Rest of the Club:
With the exception of Mori and Haruhi, this episode suggested that the rest of the club operates under the assumption that Honey could betray and brutalize them at any given moment. In other words, most of the Club doesn’t trust Honey, they’re scared of him.
With Tamaki and the twins, they made it clear that they expected Honey to rearrange their skeletal structure after the ordeal with Usa. Given the contents of this episode, it’s suggested that our three airheads were right to be afraid, since Honey isn’t above attacking his friends when angered.
The case is more subtle with Kyoya but I believe he’s scared of Honey too. This interpretation would explain why Kyoya doesn’t remove the money sink that is Honey’s snacks. This interpretation also adds another dimension to Kyoya’s episode-wide happiness; not only did he not have to buy Honey any snacks, he was clear from any retaliation since Mori enforced the ban.
As of the end of this episode, it seems that Haruhi and Mori are still the only ones not actively afraid of Honey. This could make for a good spot of drama in a follow-up episode.
Which Character is Weakest in Terms of Writing?
Renge.
Renge wasn’t just being annoying, she was unnecessary!
As I said in the recap, Renge’s role was a narrator in the peanut gallery. This only functioned to add humour, but it wasn’t funny at all. Every time she showed up, I just wanted her to leave.
To make things worse, Renge’s peanut gallery routine is the only reason the romantic subplot exists, and I hated the romantic subplot (I’ll explain later), so this whole routine isn’t doing me any favours.
Which Relationship is Weakest in Terms of Writing?
Nothing comes to mind here.
How is the Conflict?
If I look at the Conflict’s content, it all seems petty. It really was just a misbehaving child not listening to the authority figures looking out for them.
However, the drama of the Conflict was everything.
This episode carried the question of what Honey could do to the club if he used his powers for evil, and it left some chilling answers. Honey is capable of lashing out, hurting others, disregarding his capacity for harm, and even stooping to emotional manipulation. Honey could be a terrifying opponent if he had a reason to oppose his peers.
Moreover, Mori was important to the Conflict because we got a view of the emotional effect Honey has on him. This conflict was important to him because Honey’s friendship is important to him. This conflict wasn’t just about if the Host Club could fall, it was about if Mori could lose his will to live.
Honey has too much power, and it’s scary how it could be misused.
Is there Anything Else I Can Praise or Criticize?
The Romantic Subplot:
I hated it.
When the subplot first showed up, I was wary of the girl talking to Mori. The language she used made me very uncomfortable. For instance, “I need you to accept my feelings.” I didn’t like seeing that because it suggests less that she cares about if Mori reciprocates and more about if he’ll indulge her. That’s a pretty selfish way to go about starting a relationship.
Moreover, I inferred from that sentence that the girl had already confessed and was turned down. If she’s being persistent when already turned down, then I’m worried for Mori’s safety. No means no, end of story.
There was also the part of her asking if Mori’s refusal to accept was if he had someone else. That’s a really narrow-minded and narcissistic view of the whole thing! It suggests that she can’t comprehend that Mori would say no out of a lack of attraction to her, and it enforces an amatonormative image onto the whole ordeal! Speaking as a biased asexual, I’m not happy with that.
There’s one last reason I hate this subplot. That reason being IT WAS COMPLETELY MEANINGLESS! The whole thing amounted to a joke where the girl joined Renge’s peanut gallery and cooed over the homosexual subtext between Honey and Mori! That’s all it was! A joke! Nothing meant anything here!
What Writing Lesson Can I Take from This Episode?
This episode was a good demonstration of using how the character is perceived to expand their characterization and create drama. This episode did this using Honey. Instead of viewing him as the cutesy child as per usual, it changed the view of Honey by making him technically the villain. And by using the villain role, I got a more three-dimensional view of Honey as a person and even got to ask some interesting questions about the structure of the Host Club.
So, the lesson here is to consider how the characters view each other, and lean into a viewpoint that is valid and suggests a different side to the character.
Or to pull a simpler variation, try to imagine the hero as a villain in a different character’s point of view. It could make for a revelatory view of an existing relationship or the hero’s characterization.
Ouran High School Host Club – Episode 11: Big Brother is a Prince!
Have I Seen This Before?
Nope.
A Recap:
Kirimi Nekozawa comes to the Host Club looking for her older brother and finds the Host Club instead. Kirimi lets her inner nerd shine and proceeds to mistake Tamaki for her older brother Umehito Nekozawa since they are superficially identical when Umehito isn’t gothing it up.
It is then revealed that Umehito was born with an inner goth so stubborn that he’s can’t stand in direct sunlight, and that Kirimi is afraid of the dark. Since these issues keep the siblings from forming a meaningful connection, Tamaki decides to call in Renge to change Umehito’s character, even though Renge’s methods never work.
True to form, Renge’s methods fail and the Host Club prove unable to change Umehito’s inner goth. However, Umehito manages to secure a win for himself when he jumps out of a window to protect his sister from a cat before collapsing in the sunlight.
The episode ends with the Host Club accepting that they lost this one, but with a reveal that Kirimi accepted Umehito, darkness and all, because she can trust him to go to bat for her.
Which Character is the Strongest in Terms of Writing?
For once, it’s not the Host Club members. It’s Umehito Nekozawa.
I’ll admit to having forgotten that he existed before, but with the reveal of his backstory and his issues being central to the episode I can say that’s he’s well-established as a member of Ouran lore.
General points aside, it was nice to see some depth be added to his character. Giving him a beloved little sister, a reason for his nature, and still letting him keep his occult interests makes him feel less like a joke and more like a human being.
I’ll admit that if he doesn’t pop in every now and again, I’ll likely forget he exists. However, with the focus he got here, I feel that this episode managed to do him some justice.
Which Relationship is Strongest in Terms of Writing?
There’s only one relationship in focus here. It’s between the Nekozawa siblings.
I’ll admit that the relationship feels really goofy because it felt like this episode was running with an extra nerd factor. On one side, a mega goth and on the other a tiny nerd who’s afraid of the dark. I can’t look at the basics too seriously and not say that it feels too nerdy.
Goofiness aside, it does capture the drama and glory of siblinghood very well, especially on Umehito’s end. As the older sibling, Umehito is called to be something of a hero to Kirimi and he fails at it until the end. When the twins said that Umehito should have been making the effort for Kirimi instead of expecting the effort from her, they were right. Fortunately, Umehito spends the episode making up for his failures.
Umehito proved himself to be a good older sibling when he showed how well he knows Kirmi and how seriously he’ll take her opinions. Others would have called Kirimi melodramatic for having a fear of animals since that the cat she encountered didn’t seem violent, but Umehito took his little sister’s fears seriously and didn’t hesitate to take action. That is very much the ideal image of an older brother, and I’m rather proud of him for taking up that image.
I feel that the happy ending between them was both heartwarming and well-earned. Umehito put in the effort to be the good brother he wanted to be while Kirimi was honorable enough to recognize this effort and respect her brother for making it.
Which Character is Weakest in Terms of Writing?
The Host Club.
Interestingly enough, I don’t consider their failure to be a bad thing. It’s humanizing to see that the Host Club can’t get all of the answers and solve every problem they come across. However, this comes at a cost. Since their contributions to the solution was negligible, I’m left wondering if they even needed to be in this episode.
The only thing they offer in terms of the plot is Tamaki’s superficial resemblance to Umehito and the whole character change shenanigans, but that’s it. And it’s worth clarifying that the character change shenanigans did nothing in the end.
When I look at the general story, the Host Club feels more like a collection of background characters that are trying (and failing) to be main characters. This isn’t a bad thing, but it makes them feel unimportant to the episode’s narrative. It’s something of a double-edged sword and I’m not sure what to feel about it.
Which Relationship is Weakest in Terms of Writing?
Again, there was only one relationship to focus on, and it was written well. I have no complaint with anyone else.
How is the Conflict?
Silly, but nice.
As I stated before, this episode seems to take an extra nerd factor with Kirimi and Umehito’s problems and their characters, this can make their problem hard to take seriously. However, there’s still some good elements that the conflict managed to pull off.
First of all, bringing Renge into the Conflict was a good idea. The nerd factor works as a theme and bringing a nerd in to help and treating it like an extreme measure fits with that theme. The “extreme measure” aspect is helped with Renge’s character being an extreme type of person.
Another good thing about bringing Renge into the Conflict is that her methods fail like they usually do. In her debut, it was established that her methods are extreme, unreliable, dehumanizing, and nobody likes going through them. Keeping that consistency also reinforces the idea that it’s bad to treat people like manga characters.
The second element that was good is the Host Club failing to help in any way. When Tamaki took on the mission of helping the siblings, I was getting the sense that such a problem is beyond the Club’s capacities.
Whether Umehito’s problems with sunlight are a physical or mental condition, I couldn’t see any way the Host Club could cure it; especially since Umehito’s family is rich and had already tried to help him themselves. It’s humanizing to acknowledge that just because the Host Club is good at problem-solving doesn’t mean they can solve every problem.
The last element is how the Conflict was resolved. I already praised it earlier by taking siblinghood seriously and having those elements contribute to Umehito’s victory. Since I am an older sibling, I can see the value of how this was written and I can appreciate the message it gives the audience.
Is there Anything Else I Can Praise or Criticize?
I’ve already acknowledged all of the other elements I liked or questioned.
What Writing Lesson Can I Take from This Episode?
Despite my feelings of the Host Club’s presence being weak in this episode, I will stand by the idea that it was good for them to lose their battle.
Having characters lose in some aspects of their Conflicts is humanizing. The heroes shouldn’t have all the answers or should face challenges that they have difficulty with, this is how drama is created. Having the heroes lose is also important to prevent them from becoming a Mary Sue. Heroes who don’t struggle are boring, and writers should strive to never bore their audience.
Ouran High School Host Club – Episode 10: A Day in the Life of the Fujioka Family!
Have I Seen This Before?
Nope!
A Recap:
Tamaki has a nightmare that Haruhi lives just above the poverty line, and his solution is to invade her privacy with the rest of the Host Club. This is quickly resolved when it is revealed that Haruhi’s lives a more middle-class life. Her three love interests proceed to spend the rest of the visit trying not to make fools of themselves and failing miserably.
The comedy and drama start to pick up when Haruhi’s father shows up and steals the show.
Ranka establishes three pieces of information. First, he hates Tamaki. Second, he’s been in contact with Kyoya to keep tabs on Haruhi. And third, Haruhi has been independent and altruistic from a young age following the death of her mother.
The episode ends with the Host Club tailing Haruhi to the supermarket and establishing the idea that Ranka and Tamaki have a lot in common.
Which Character is the Strongest in Terms of Writing?
There’s a three-way argument between why it’s Haruhi, Tamaki, or Ranka.
Why it’s Haruhi:
This episode is making a point to establish the foundation of Haruhi’s character. We now know that she’s middle-class, has been independent from a young age, has dealt with Tamaki-esque nonsense thanks to her father, and is still dealing with the loss of her mother even if she’s not grieving.
While Haruhi has always been an altruist, it was the flashback with her father that has emphasized most of all that it comes from a place of love rather than a second-nature reflex.
And what catches my attention most of all is the emphasis on the mystery of why she entered Ouran High. The most that’s been revealed is that she signed up for it herself, but there’s still no answer on why she did it. Much like the last episode, this is fostering my curiosity.
Why it’s Tamaki:
Despite this episode being about revealing more about Haruhi, Tamaki steals the show by being the focal character and having his good moments.
One early part that I loved seeing is his inner monologue stating that he never questions his clubmates on their personal lives. I can see both the greatness and the problem of that mindset. On the one hand, Tamaki is trying to be honorable with his clubmates and professional with his club. On the other, this signals that he isn’t friends with his clubmates.
To explain the latter, I realized that his fear of pushing the envelope is holding him back. He isn’t being social with his clubmates, so he doesn’t actually know them that well. Moreover, this would hold back his relationship with Haruhi and it explains why he can barely understand her as a person despite both his interest and the time he’s spent with her so far.
This is a good establishment of an unexpected flaw. Despite all of Tamaki’s charisma and his insistence on teamwork, his fear of taking the extra step to be friends means that he actually has no friends.
Why it’s Ranka:
Ranka hits the ground running with establishing his character. We quickly learn his backstory, his ideals, his practices, his passions, his job, and even his sexual orientation.
It was really good to know that Haruhi mentions the club members to him and that he’s been in contact with Kyoya, because it keeps him outside of a narrative vacuum. To establish that characters are doing their own activities and have their own involvements offscreen helps to make them feel more three-dimensional.
Something else that I like is that Ranka has it out for Tamaki and isn’t in the wrong for his judgements. Tamaki really is an idiot who has little understanding of Haruhi as a person, so when Ranka calls Tamaki out on these he’s not being a jerk, he’s making a point. I also see it as karma for the victim-blaming incident. Tamaki may have gotten away with picking on Haruhi, but her dad will give no quarter.
Which Relationship is Strongest in Terms of Writing?
One of my favorite writing devices is the Foil. Having characters who are comparable yet contrastable makes for interesting revelations and interaction if they come together. Tamaki and Ranka are no exception to this.
It’s clear that Tamaki and Ranka have similar personalities and views on Haruhi as a person, and that Ranka himself recognizes this at the end of the episode when Tamaki parrots the shopping basket excuse that Ranka used in a flashback. What makes this interesting is that Ranka refuses to get along with Tamaki anyways. This comes with an aspect of protective parenting, but there is also their contrasting aspect that justifies this animosity.
The one thing that sets Tamaki and Ranka apart is that Ranka has a full comprehension of Haruhi as a person, while Tamaki does not. Tamaki’s constant fantasizing of Haruhi acting girly and his insistence that she conform to those fantasies presents how little he’s come to understand her.
Case in point, in this episode Tamaki and the twins kept acting like they were in a social minefield while the other club members could be casual with Haruhi. While Tamaki’s common sense is a problem, he hasn’t come to understand that he doesn’t need to overdo anything or worry about offending her because she’s not the woman he thinks she is.
On the opposite side, Ranka has a full comprehension on who Haruhi is and has chosen a compromise; he chose to allow Haruhi’s independence, but act as a backup to keep her out of mortal danger. When I look at that previous sentence, I can see that he’s trying to be a good parent.
The difference between our flamboyant goofs is their understanding and general intelligence, and I can see that Ranka understands that Tamaki is lacking in both areas in regards to Haruhi. So, Ranka’s active hatred for Tamaki is an interesting twist on a relationship between Foils, but it is a relationship that makes sense.
Which Character is Weakest in Terms of Writing?
Nobody.
None of the cast members bought the episode down at all.
Which Relationship is Weakest in Terms of Writing?
None of them.
How is the Conflict?
The Conflict was nice. Tamaki being overly worried was accurate to his character, helped to bring the plot forward, and got Haruhi’s backstory established so I can’t complain about anything.
As for Ranka showing up, I’ve made it pretty clear that I respect him and all the shade he throws at Tamaki. Not to mention throwing Tamaki at the nearby wall, call me salty but he had it coming.
So yeah, good Conflict all around.
Is there Anything Else I Can Praise or Criticize?
Outdated Views:
Man, this show really likes taking the early 2000s and having it rear its ugly head. I know that everything here is a product of its time, but that doesn’t make the twins feel any less punch-able when they use derogatory terms to Ranka’s face.
What Writing Lesson Can I Take from This Episode?
Ranka stands as a good example of keeping characters out of a narrative vacuum. When he’s introduced, we quickly learn that he’s busy with other things, but not uninvolved in Haruhi’s life.
This is a good way to introduce a new character. You have to justify why they weren’t present before and establish why they’re important to the overall narrative in a way that doesn’t make their existence seem sudden.
Keep this in mind when you want to bring in the new cast members. Justify their absence, then justify their place in the narrative. Do not keep them in the narrative vacuum, that’s just too cruel.
current fan creation landscape is kinda like if you went to a party with a homemade cake and everyone takes a slice and silently thumbs up at you with no attempt to start a conversation except for occasionally some guy sits in the corner with a tape recorder critiquing the cake as though he was a restaurant critic and another guy is handing the cake to an uber driver like "yeah i need you to find a restaurant that makes cake like this so i can have more of it" and the only person that's talked to you in 30 minutes is a very sweet little guy who was like "hey i liked your cake" and then ran away apologizing for bothering you the moment you said thank you.
someone brought a cake analysis robot to feed the cake into to determine the exact ingredients and supposedly it can spit out the exact same cake. and if you're like dude. what. then they're like well if it bothers you you should have made more cake. i'm hungry and i deserve cake. and you're like dude we're at a party.
Three months later you find out that fifty people locked themselves in a room to discuss how much they loved your cake and how they wished you made more. None of them ever told you.
Ouran High School Host Club – Episode 9: A Challenge from Lobelia Girls’ Academy!
Have I Seen This Before?
Nope.
A Recap:
A big cultural event at Ouran High brings the Zuka Club to the school. The Zuka Club is a theatre club from Lobelia Academy, but they are otherwise considered an all-female version of the Host Club. The Zuka Club establishes themselves as hyper-feminist lesbians who: hate the Host Club, can deduce Haruhi’s identity within nanoseconds, and want to battle for custody over Haruhi.
The Host Club refuses to take the Zuka Club as a serious threat and undermine any attempt Haruhi makes to stop the fight and defend her clubmates. Afterwards, Tamaki points out that Haruhi might thrive in the Zuka Club and everyone begins to overcompensate for their earlier apathy by dressing in drag.
This plan fails to convince Haruhi to stay with the Host Club… mainly because she was never planning on leaving them in the first place. The only thing Haruhi explains about her choice is that she has a personal reason to stay at Ouran High and nobody asks what that reason is.
The Zuka Club leaves with a “you haven’t heard the last of us” villain speech, and the episode ends with an implication that Renge masterminded the conflict.
Which Character is the Strongest in Terms of Writing?
As per usual, I have nothing but respect for Haruhi.
However, there is something very important that Haruhi does for the writing. She introduced her personal motivation, but didn’t say what it was. This is a good hook; it adds a mystery aspect, and the promise of providing the answer will get me to keep watching the series. It’s a very good idea for writers to foster the audience’s curiosity. And since Haruhi’s character is already very likable, I have a reason to care about seeing the answer.
Whether looking at Haruhi as a person or as writing, I can proudly say that she’s never let me down.
Which Relationship is Strongest in Terms of Writing?
At first, I was baffled during the moment when the Host Club shot down any attempt Haruhi made to defend them from the Zuka Club’s criticism. While I came to see this as a sign of how little the Host Club took the Zuka Club as a threat, I was also able to realize that the scene was a demonstration of the flaws in Haruhi’s relationship with the Host Club.
For the specifics, the Host Club members stopped Haruhi from arguing about: Tamaki’s half-Japanese ancestry, the time the Host Club has been around, and the profits the club makes. When these got bought up, I realized that it was emphasizing how little Haruhi knows about the Club and the members. She’s not on a social basis with Tamaki, so it’s not surprising that she knows very little about his family. She’s also the newest member of the Host Club, so she has no idea about its inner working, like how their profit is generated. The problem is that Haruhi’s involvement with the club is still minimal, she’s not getting involved in their inner workings and her clubmates aren’t keeping her informed.
On the opposite side, I came to the realization that the Host Club not bothering to fight the custody battle until later was a sign of their own apathy in their relationship with Haruhi. Until Tamaki bought it up, the Host Club wasn’t concerned with the possibility that Haruhi could leave them. They were taking Haruhi’s independence for granted until they realized the threat of losing her was real.
Emphasizing that the relationship is flawed due to the inaction on both sides helps strengthen the writing quality of the relationship. It generates drama by showing us a problem, and it promises more as it works to a solution. It also justifies the length of the story and any future events, because now we know that these characters need to go through more in order to resolve the relationship problems. This is also satisfying for me on a personal level because I’m still mad at the Host Club for their victim-blaming antics, but now they’re being held responsible for how they’ve taken Haruhi’s agency for granted.
Which Character is Weakest in Terms of Writing?
The Zuka Club as a collective. I couldn’t tell you anything about them as individuals because they’re barely portrayed as individuals. Only the leader stands out for having one scene where she’s without her clubmates… and also because she’s tall. In addition, I can’t remember their names. The most I can recall is that the leader’s name starts with the letter “B” and might be a nickname, but that’s it. It’s not a good sign if the character’s name doesn’t stick because it means they can’t be considered important enough to remember. I can only remember the club’s name because it’s easy to remember and it’s important to the story. In short, the characters are important as a club, but not as people.
Which Relationship is Weakest in Terms of Writing?
None. I can’t think of any relationships that were badly written in this episode.
How is the Conflict?
This conflict comes with one notable problem; they tried too hard to make the Zuka Club seem evil when they actually aren’t. This isn’t just about how Tamaki’s homophobia has aged poorly; the show portrayed them as literal Nazis for wanting to take the Host Club down. Honestly, as soon as I saw that I realized that the show is trying to make them look evil, when they have no reason to be evil. To put it differently, the show’s reason for the Zuka Club being the villains is, “Because I said so.” That’s not a strong way to establish a villainous identity, that’s lazy writing.
Honestly, the Zuka Club has no evil traits, just very human flaws. They’re overzealous enough to pick needless fights, and they’re hypocrites who claim to be above lust only to openly declare their sexual involvements.
The fact that I’m speaking as a biased asexual and this show espouses outdated views does not help; it’s just a sad fact that this aspect of the writing has aged poorly.
Is there Anything Else I Can Praise or Criticize?
Reactions to the Zuka Club Performance:
Something I liked seeing was the aftermath of the Zuka Club performing for both schools. Particularly, while their students were cheering from the front, the Ouran students can be seen looking baffled from the back of the hall. That was very humanizing to see because it’s a demonstration of both schools having different values and overall cultures that they follow and are defined by.
The scene also comes across as realistic because it’s hard to find anything that can be considered universally beloved. Chances are there’s always one detractor, or someone that can’t get passionate about a particular work. It’s a nice slice of reality when you see that not everyone in the crowd is cheering.
What Writing Lesson Can I Take from This Episode?
The Zuka Club stands as a good anti-example of writing characters who are supposed to be villains. Portraying them as Nazis was a lazy way to establish a villainous identity, especially when nothing they’ve done throughout the episode was actually evil. Making a villain takes more than just saying someone is evil and being done with it, the writer and the character both have to put in the work to be the bad guy.
An alternative solution would be to abandon the villainous angle altogether. The Zuka Club had everything to be the antagonists since they were motivated to separate Haruhi from the Host Club. All that had to change was portraying the Zuka Club as evil for doing what they wanted to do.
In short, if you want to make your antagonist evil, it’s not enough to just say they’re evil. “Show, don’t tell” applies to writing your villains. But it’s also valid to have an antagonist who isn’t a villain; if you do it right you can make them an interesting and likable three-dimensional character in their own right.
Ouran High School Host Club – Episode 8: The Sun, The Sea and the Host Club!
Have I Seen This Before?
No, but I’ve been forewarned that this episode is widely hated because it includes instances of victim-blaming.
A Recap:
The Host Club makes good on the ending of the previous episode and they choose to go to the beach along with their clientele. We get our mandated fluff with a seafood hunt, a get-rich-quick scheme, and some contest to determine what Haruhi is afraid of.
Afterwards, thugs begin to sexually harass the club’s clientele. Since Haruhi is the only one present during this attack, she stands up to the thugs and is forced to fend for herself. After narrowly being murdered, the club members unanimously blame Haruhi for the sin of… standing up to some bullies, protecting innocent people, almost getting killed in the process, and being a girl… What?!
Haruhi stands by her actions until her clubmates peer-pressure her into apologizing. Also, Kyoya threatens to sexually assault her and is not vilified for it because he invokes the power of “It was just a prank, bro!”
In a relationship focused moment, Haruhi is revealed to be afraid of lightning and Tamaki realizes that Haruhi has a habit of facing terrible ordeals on her own, which is why she never asks for help. Tamaki gives a non-apology for his part in the victim-blaming, and promises to be active in helping Haruhi. This event flag is then torn up when Tamaki is accused of being into BDSM.
Which Character is the Strongest in Terms of Writing?
I’m not in the mood to think highly of any character that isn’t Haruhi, and it’s the writer’s fault. The writer has stopped focusing on plot importance and character development to make some kind of point about an inherent wrongness in Haruhi; however, that didn’t work because I only think better of Haruhi now.
This episode tries to show Haruhi’s lack of respect for the gender binary and her altruistic love for humanity as a character flaw, when such traits have only been portrayed as strengths in the past episodes. We even know what her actual flaws are! Right from the start of the series we see that Haruhi’s flaws are that she’s an apathetic grouch who distances herself from others. In Episode 1 we even see that she thinks of bullying in particular as nothing more than an inconvenience that’s not worth speaking up against.
When Haruhi stands up to the thugs in this episode, she’s showing signs of Character Development. We’ve gotten to a point where this apathetic grouch is a protective altruist who won’t back down when someone tries to make her feel small, AND THE NARRATIVE IS PUNISHING HER FOR IT! Let me say that again, the narrative is punishing Haruhi for the character development that it has been encouraging for the past couple of episodes!
Honestly, this episode feels like it was written by someone who hates Haruhi and wants to make her look like the bad guy for being herself. Given that she’s portrayed as being in the wrong for being a better person than she once was, it harms the writing because it makes the story seem indecisive about: it’s goal for Haruhi, the point it’s hoping to make, and if character development is even a good thing anymore.
Which Relationship is Strongest in Terms of Writing?
If the scene with Tamaki comforting Haruhi while she’s scared of the storm happened on its own it would’ve been a great scene. It has some good elements that show the progression of a romantic relationship: Tamaki develops a new understanding of Haruhi; he realizes that he has failed her in some capacity; and he promises to make things right by putting in the effort to improve her circumstances. The only thing wrong with it is that he doesn’t apologize for mistreating her as soon as he understands her reasons. The closest we get to that is “I lose” which is not the same as “I’m sorry.” To put it simply… yes, I can recognize good writing when I see it, but I’m also still mad.
The only thing that’s wrong with this scene is the context that led up to it; aside from that, it’s perfect.
Which Character is Weakest in Terms of Writing?
The entire Host Club sans Haruhi. My opinion of all of them was tanked thanks to them victim-blaming Haruhi and being shown narrative favoritism for it.
Something I was told about in a writing class is that you must never play favorites with your character because you’ll spare them any torment that could lead to good drama. But this episode shows the flipside of that lesson. The Host Club is shown favoritism because the narrative is making no secret that it agrees with their view. This comes at Haruhi’s cost since the narrative is tormenting her when she’s done nothing wrong.
It also comes at the cost of the audience’s respect because humanity is inherently intelligent and inherently argumentative. Whenever a writer espouses any views, they’re throwing it out into a world that can not only argue back against them, but can make the argument convincing.
Case in point, it’s easy to say that Haruhi isn’t to blame.
Tamaki has espoused since Episode 2 that the Host Club’s goal is to bring happiness to girls. Thus, it can be argued that Haruhi standing up to the thugs reflects that principle because she was protecting the Club’s clientele. To have run away from the danger would have betrayed that principle and even damaged the Host Club’s reputation if Haruhi was labelled cowardly for running away to get help. Thus, Haruhi is innocent and Tamaki is a hypocrite for judging Haruhi when she kept true to the Club’s standards as a host.
Kyoya’s family owns the private beach, and his security force was present when the thugs intruded and began harassing the club’s clientele. Thus, Kyoya’s lax security measures resulted in the near-death of one of his clubmates (again) and he is to blame for the entire incident.
As for the others, Tamaki claims that everyone was close by and all Haruhi would need to do is come to them for help, but they weren’t. If everyone was really close enough to the point where Haruhi wouldn’t need to step in, they’d have already been fighting the thugs. If Haruhi ran off to get the others, it could have wasted precious time and the clientele would be suffering under a more serious crime that Haruhi didn’t prevent by virtue of not being there. As it stands, Haruhi facing the thugs bought the others time to get involved themselves and resulted in the clientele escaping unharmed. Moreover, it bought Tamaki time to comes to her rescue and prevent the thug’s murder attempt. Thus, Haruhi’s actions led to a utilitarian outcome and she is not to blame for the incident.
Which Relationship is Weakest in Terms of Writing?
I’m making no secret that I don’t think highly of how the Club views Haruhi, and I feel I’ve already made my point as to why that is.
How is the Conflict?
I’ve only just reached this section and I feel I’ve said my piece.
Is there Anything Else I Can Praise or Criticize?
No. The two big things I took away from this episode are that Haruhi’s clubmates are victim-blamers and that the relationship scene at the end would work perfectly without the context of the rest of the episode bringing it down. And I’ve already talked plenty about those.
What Writing Lesson Can I Take from This Episode?
Never play favorites with your characters, especially if you want to use them to espouse some kind of personal viewpoint. The fandom is smart enough to tear you apart, and depending on what your viewpoint is you might end up deserving it.
Ouran High School Host Club – Episode 7: Jungle Pool SOS!
Have I Seen This Before?
Nope. This is a blind review.
Which Character is the Strongest in Terms of Writing?
The obvious answer would be Mori or Honey given that they received the most focus, character expansion, and even a reveal of their backstories. But I’d like to explore the more subtle option, Kyoya.
He caught my attention the most through this episode by being the primary instigator of this episode’s drama, showing his responses to the situations, and having moments of character expansion when I read between the lines.
The first point that caught my attention was Kyoya explaining that his family’s multiple businesses primarily focus on the happiness of their consumers. This is important because Kyoya has no established reason for being either a member or the secret leader of the Host Club, but now I can see hints of a possible answer.
Said answer being that Kyoya is in the Host Club because he sees it as a form of his family business. This also explains why he’s secretly running the club. Perhaps it’s practice for his future or habit from his past. What’s important is that the Host Club reflects a big part of Kyoya’s background, future, and identity.
The second point was Kyoya needing to see the Host Club face the danger from the crocodiles to know that he has to start actively containing them. I always assumed that Kyoya is the smartest character at any given point in time, but this moment challenged that view because it suggested that Kyoya lacks common sense.
The idea that Kyoya lacks common sense is only furthered by his delay in calling his private police force and his realization (which he subsequently disregards) that he sent a fully armed platoon of trigger-happy professionals into the field with vague instructions and incomplete information. It didn’t seem to occur to him after the fact that he put his peers in mortal danger.
This also makes me rethink my evaluation of him in Episode 5. When the twins tricked everyone with their elaborate lie, I saw it as a testament to their capacity to lie. But now that I know that Kyoya isn’t the smartest member of the Host Club, I realized that he’s just not smart enough to know when he’s being lied to. I had the wrong idea about Kyoya this whole time.
Which Relationship is Strongest in Terms of Writing?
Mori and Honey. It was good to have their relationship expanded upon and to explain why they’re always together. It gives me a fuller picture of both of them, and it helps their dynamic make sense.
One thing I enjoyed was that their families’ backstory mentioned that one family served the other and how all the club members thought that Mori was keeping that tradition alive as Honey’s unofficial servant. When I saw that, I immediately pegged it as a setup to a plot twist where Honey is Mori’s servant. However, that twist did not happen.
After some time thinking about it, I am glad that the twist did not happen. If it did, it would have invalidated the dissolution of the master-servant relationship in their backstories. And the fact that these two care for each other while not presenting a master-servant relationship works well to emphasize that they are friends because of their friendship, not because of their families’ mutual pasts. It makes their bond more valuable that it’s defined by them and not their history.
Which Character is Weakest in Terms of Writing?
Renge. I did appreciate her setup for a conflict driven by Honey’s insecurity over Shiro, but that became meaningless since the idea was never explored afterwards. That conflict was thrown out in favour of the rescue mission. So, it never mattered that Renge bought anything up in the first place. Renge could be removed from this episode and it would change nothing.
Which Relationship is Weakest in Terms of Writing?
None of them. When I call a relationship weak, what I’m really saying is that it brings the story down. But there wasn’t any relationship drama that ruined this episode for me.
How is the Conflict?
The whole ordeal with Honey turned out to be dull. The issue with Shiro making Honey insecure about his place in the Host Club is never addressed after it’s introduced, so the whole subject is rendered pointless. And the issue with Honey being lost in the river is made meaningless when the episode’s ending reveals that his combat talent means he was never in danger to begin with.
But that is the obvious conflict; the subtler conflict was far more meaningful.
The subtle conflict is between Tamaki and the twins as they act out against each other over their 4-person love triangle drama. The conflict is interesting in that it proves self-destructive in two ways and is not resolved by the episode’s end.
The first way the conflict is self-destructive is that the fighting is what led to all of the danger the Host Club faced in this episode. The twins and Tamaki having their water battle and making it about Haruhi is what led to Tamaki tripping into the switch that sent Honey down the river. In other words, if these boys had behaved themselves, this episode wouldn’t have happened.
The second way is more significant to the overarching narrative. It stands out the most when Haruhi leaves the group to find Honey with Mori and her love interests don’t notice because they’re having a meaningless circular argument. This was when I realized that Haruhi isn’t important to her love interests.
Allow me to elaborate, in Disney’s “Aladdin” Jasmine walks in to see Prince Ali, The Sultan, and Jafar having an argument over her. Her response is to say, “I’m not some prize to be won.” What Jasmine saw was her personhood being disregarded because the men fighting over her were more interested in winning the argument than showing that she mattered to any of them.
This same principle applies to why none of Haruhi’s love interests saw her leave. Tamaki and the twins aren’t getting a relationship with Haruhi because they’re prioritizing one-upping each other over showing Haruhi that she matters to any of them. In the end, Haruhi is less their love interest and more their prize, and I’m sure she won’t appreciate that.
Another way to put it is that this episode showed me why nobody is worthy of Haruhi’s love.
Is there Anything Else I Can Praise or Criticize?
Nope. Everything I said before captured my feelings.
What Writing Lesson Can I Take from This Episode?
I like to think of this episode as a subplot. While we have hints of the main plot with Tamaki and the twins having their spat, it really is shown as less important compared to the current episode’s current events. Just to clarify, I see this as a good thing since this episode stood well on its own while not ignoring the main plot or the continuity. So, I look at this episode as a good example on how to write a subplot.
stormborns
turnnoffyourmind
amandla
gamechangershow
romaincrisis
2087
izzy806
