(L) Ouran High School Host Club Manga Discussion

[Cal-Reflector]

Taking the spelling provided by amazon and other sources avaiable:

For the discussion of manga content not yet covered in the new-released anime.

To start off: X-posted from the anime-forum.

I've just today browsed the manga up to its latest release (Chapter... 35?). As mentioned before (and I won't bother with the spoiler this time) this is truly a interesting shoujo in that romance is so neglected.

I think that mangas from a particularly polar genre, when adapted to anime, tend to be done in such a way as to move it more towards the mainstream from whatever pole it occupied before; Furuba was made a bit less girly, Keroro Gunsou was made less ecchi and less otaku-parodied; to take into consideration television's more comprehensive viewership (or, potential viewership).

Ouran Host Club may actually be considered an Anti-Shoujo; its Shoujo laughing at itself as a genre. Romance does sell however, so I think that most definitely, there should be a significantly higher emphasis on romance in the anime.

That said, here are three links below to a blog of mine. The first contains no spoilers, the second and third show scenes taken from the manga, and are probably spoilery. All have to deal with the couple I've decided to root for in this not-romantic shoujo show. *Laughs*

http://cal-reflector.livejournal.com/25767.html#cutid1
http://cal-reflector.livejournal.com/25902.html#cutid1
http://cal-reflector.livejournal.com/26279.html#cutid1

[rooboy]

I have a question. Is the manga as funny as the anime has been? I'm dying to get ahold of it, I think this might become my favorite shojo series.

[Nightengale]

Originally Posted by rooboy666

I have a question. Is the manga as funny as the anime has been? I'm dying to get ahold of it, I think this might become my favorite shojo series.

Yes. In fact, I'd say that the manga may just be funnier, but the anime of course added some quirks left and right to add in the comedy. There's some changes, like Haruhi is somewhat more..."evil?" in the manga and those typical shoujo mini-comment doodles near the dialogue boxes.

Of course, it's still somewhat early to tell, seemingly as the manga has went over ...8 volumes? and the anime is barely Episode 2 and Chapter 2 of the manga.

*Highly anticipating the Renge-otaku episode, Mori-senpai = daddy, and the Hitachin-thunder episode*

[^_Usagi_^]

the messed up haruhi looks disturbingly like harry poter ~_~ it scares me
HARuhi - HARry -_-

[Potatochobit]

apparently this has been licenesed by VIZ media.

do they have a release date set already?

[Nightengale]

Originally Posted by Potatochobit

apparently this has been licenesed by VIZ media.

do they have a release date set already?

4..or was it 5? volumes had already been released.

[Potatochobit]

wow i hadnt even seen it in the store. must have not caught my eye before the tv show came out. ill go look for it.

[crystar]

Originally Posted by Cal-Reflector

http://cal-reflector.livejournal.com/25902.html#cutid1

Spoiler for volume 3 and 4:

That is a very cute picture of Mori-Haruhi! For now in terms of who I'm rooting for, I'm swaying between Tamaki-Haruhi and Kyouya-Haruhi. I only noticed the whole idea of Kyouya with Haruhi because of volume 3 (I've read up to 4) but Tamaki with Haruhi is still really cute as well.. (especially with them all visiting Haruhi's home and meeting her father, which I thought was hilarious with what happens to Tamaki in the two chapters).

Viz has released 6 volumes, and for all those living in Singapore (and wherever else that sells their releases) Chuang Yi has released 5 volumes, with volume 6 coming out later this month (in English, of course).

[galen]

Originally Posted by crystar

Viz has released 6 volumes, and for all those living in Singapore (and wherever else that sells their releases) Chuang Yi has released 5 volumes, with volume 6 coming out later this month (in English, of course).

Err.. the Chuang Yi version isn't very good, imo. Has some editing errors, and although I can't comment on the translation, some words they use aren't exactly colloquial language. I bought the first one in English, and immediately switched to Mandarin for the rest. =P

Btw, anyone want my copy of the English Vol 1 translated by Chuang Yi? I want to get the Mandarin one to have a consistent collection instead.

[Erroll]

In my opinion, the anime is way funnier than the manga. I'm not saying the manga is bad but the anime adds extras you don't see in the manga. Renge in the manga severely annoys the hell out of me but I burst out laughing whenever she gets her high powered motor revved up in the anime.

That being said, I do also like manga. I've read all six volumes so far and it's one of my must buy series. I still don't agree with this general opinion that series is some kind of attempt to lampoon or parody shoujo in general. It is shoujo but it doesn't take the normal shoujo path. That makes it original. I don't see an attempt to be original as a dig at the whole perception of shoujo manga.

[juventas]

I've heard bad things about Viz, but mostly about Shounen series and censorship issues. How does Viz handle Ouran? Do they have bad translations/leave out translations/cut stuff out?

[crystar]

Originally Posted by galen

Err.. the Chuang Yi version isn't very good, imo. Has some editing errors, and although I can't comment on the translation, some words they use aren't exactly colloquial language. I bought the first one in English, and immediately switched to Mandarin for the rest. =P

Btw, anyone want my copy of the English Vol 1 translated by Chuang Yi? I want to get the Mandarin one to have a consistent collection instead.

I'm not the type of person to notice these things. And I'm pretty much what you would call an easily satisfied consumer, so I'm quite happy with the Chuang Yi version (plus it's like 3 times cheaper for me then the Viz version). I regret never learning to read Chinese though... I could buy so much more for so much less if I had the ability to read Chinese translated mangas.

And just for my comment on whether I like the anime or manga more. I am most likely also leaning towards liking the anime more. It's funnier just because of the use of sound and voices. I find the manga has the advantage of having more content in it though (characters making humourous remarks in the background and the like, which the anime leaves out since it can't fit that much in...). I'll see how the anime goes before making my decision (I want to see how the anime handles some of my favourite chapters... if it is long enough to reach there).

[musume_no_hoshi]

I read the first 5 volumes in chinese too, but I read the Hong Kong version (call it the canton version or something) It's easier for me to understand the HK then the Taiwan version, since I don't know much slangs in Manderin

I like the art in the anime more, they changed the style very little to make it look prettier or something. The anime stayed pretty faithful to the manga, but I liked the anime better, they kept the jokes in the manga, while adding some of their own.

I wanna see the episode about the club going into Haruhi's house...

[galen]

Hm... for all those who have read the manga, everyone knows that the series is pretty much episodic, even the 2-3 part story arcs are just extended episodes. Really makes me wonder whether the anime will follow the manga chapters.

Spoiler:

I, for one, hope that they skip a few chapters like the Alice in Wonderland one and go straight to the chapters that develop the backgrounds of the characters more. Since after all, the chapter with Hani and Mori's brothers is something like chapter 30+ and it's highly unlikely the anime will extend that long.

Which brings me to the question of how they're going to animate the episode about visiting Haruhi's house. The anime has very obviously avoided all mention of the cross-dressing father, but in the manga it's pretty much a running gag. So it makes me wonder how they're going to manage the animation of that episode while removing one really big portion of the manga storyline.

[kari-no-sugata]

Originally Posted by galen

Spoiler:

I, for one, hope that they skip a few chapters like the Alice in Wonderland one and go straight to the chapters that develop the backgrounds of the characters more. Since after all, the chapter with Hani and Mori's brothers is something like chapter 30+ and it's highly unlikely the anime will extend that long.

Which brings me to the question of how they're going to animate the episode about visiting Haruhi's house. The anime has very obviously avoided all mention of the cross-dressing father, but in the manga it's pretty much a running gag. So it makes me wonder how they're going to manage the animation of that episode while removing one really big portion of the manga storyline.

It's not really necessary to put that in spoilers - as the first post says, this thread is for "discussion of manga content not yet covered in the new-released anime." Though it's not yet really clear what's considered acceptable for this thread...

Anyway... For the first half of your comments, it depends how long the series would be. Obvious if it's 13 eps, then they'll probably just do the first 13 manga chapters. If they do 26, then while there are some things outside the first 26 chapters I'd like to see animated, it's kinda tricky deciding what to leave out. For example, the Alice story is rather funny. Personally, I didn't like the stuff with Hani and Mori's younger brothers too much - I'd much rather see the story where Kyouya gets dragged to the department store, and meets Haruhi. The story set in middle school when Tamaki first arrives and decides to setup the Host Club would be nice too...

For the second half, I see this as being a surprise for people who've only seen the anime. Ie at the end of ep 12, Haruhi's okama father suddenly turns up, giving Tamaki a double shock.

[kari-no-sugata]

Originally Posted by Cal-Reflector

I've just today browsed the manga up to its latest release (Chapter... 35?). As mentioned before (and I won't bother with the spoiler this time) this is truly a interesting shoujo in that romance is so neglected.

My favourite manga right now is Skip Beat!, which is also shoujo. (incidentally, official english version coming out soon). And, it doesn't have much romance either - less than Host Club, generally, though the romantic stuff it does have is more serious. And almost none of Skip Beat! is set in a school (despite the main character being 16). And compared to Haruhi, the main character of Skip Beat! is, if anything, even more unusual and less typical for a main character.

I think that mangas from a particularly polar genre, when adapted to anime, tend to be done in such a way as to move it more towards the mainstream from whatever pole it occupied before; Furuba was made a bit less girly, Keroro Gunsou was made less ecchi and less otaku-parodied; to take into consideration television's more comprehensive viewership (or, potential viewership).

I agree things get averaged out somewhat in the anime version. Obviously some things aren't broadcastable on TV, but that's not all of it. I sometimes wonder if this is deliberate, or simply the anime staff find it easier to deal with more mainstream versions...

Ouran Host Club may actually be considered an Anti-Shoujo; its Shoujo laughing at itself as a genre. Romance does sell however, so I think that most definitely, there should be a significantly higher emphasis on romance in the anime.

Hmm. I'm not sure what the author quite intended... but it doesn't quite feel like a parody or being "anti-shoujo". The story does have a lot of standard shoujo elements, but there is a general lack of angst, and with Haruhi being Haruhi, it's hard for things to get "heavy" or serious for long.

[Ori]

Originally Posted by kari-no-sugata

Hmm. I'm not sure what the author quite intended... but it doesn't quite feel like a parody or being "anti-shoujo". The story does have a lot of standard shoujo elements, but there is a general lack of angst, and with Haruhi being Haruhi, it's hard for things to get "heavy" or serious for long.

Awsome! Someone speaks my mind. Ouran is not suppose to be an anti-shoujo or a parody of Shoujo. It's just a very light hearted shoujo with minimal angst and minimal continuing story line (other than the reoccuring theme of Haruhi being inside a host club in a super rich school but that is more of a plot device, not so much plot).

[mishangelle]

I manage to get a hold of the volumes up to 8 but alas, my japanese reading skills allow to me understand only a sentence here and there..

Spoiler warning just in case..

For volume 5

Spoiler:

Where exactly did they go? Was that place Haruhi's grandmom's? And the delivery boy -- childhood friend? Or just a classmate? How did Hikaru end up on that date?

Volume 8

Spoiler:

Who's the new guy that shows up in chapter 34?

Thanks in advance for anyone who can answer!

[Pepperidge]

Was Renge actually a recurring character in the manga, or was her role just extended for the anime?

If so, it was a wise decision on the part of BONES.

[Erroll]

Originally Posted by Ori

Awsome! Someone speaks my mind. Ouran is not suppose to be an anti-shoujo or a parody of Shoujo. It's just a very light hearted shoujo with minimal angst and minimal continuing story line (other than the reoccuring theme of Haruhi being inside a host club in a super rich school but that is more of a plot device, not so much plot).

Finally. Two people that agree with me. This is what I've been saying all along. Ouran is not anti-shoujo or shoujo parody. It's shoujo that's being original and not following on the normal shoujo cliches.