Ouran High School Host Club Chapter 81

Aghhh! I can't stand it! Chapter 81 of the Ouran High School Host Club manga was supposed to be out by July 24 but I still can't find it online. There are a lot of previews though, and people are talking about how this is where Tamaki plans his first date with Haruhi and where the two of them have their first kiss. Ohhh... I can just imagine how cute Tamaki will be! Haha!

But I'm also sad to hear that Ouran High School Host Club will end at Chapter 83. (Is that true?) I mean, there are still many things that are unresolved. There's Kyoya's situation for one. And what about the Hitachiin twins? Will the last three chapters of Ouran High School Host Club focus solely on Tamaki and Haruhi? Well, I like Tamaki and Haruhi as a couple, but I kind of like Haruhi with Kyoya too. And I also like Haruhi with Kaoru... or was it Hikaru? Haha! I'm obviously a confused person when it comes to love. Not! Hehehe... Anyway, I've been waiting two months for Chapter 81 to come out and I'm about to fail the marshmallow test. I want it now! ;P

Anime Recommendations: Good Anime Love Stories

Recommending animes to watch can be a tricky thing. I've been to many forums where they say that an anime that I didn't particularly like was the "best anime" they've ever seen. Of course I understand that different people have different preferences, but my point is that recommendations should be taken with a grain of salt... whatever that means. Haha!

I'm going to divide my recommendations into categories. This one is a list of anime titles that I would recommend to those looking for "kilig" or otherwise want to feel like high school kids falling in love for the first time. I have to warn you though that some of these anime contain violence and gore as well as love and romance. The list is in alphabetical order and only contains anime that I have seen from start to finish. Take a peek into the first episodes of each by watching the videos.

Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO) Anime Summary and Review

(Warning: This post may contain spoilers.)

Great Teacher Onizuka is a totally ridiculous yet lovable anime about a 22-year old, crazy, over-the-top, good-for-nothing, ex-gang leader named Eikichi Onizuka whose dream in life is to become a high school teacher just so he can get close to all those high school girls. After several failed attempts at passing the exam to qualify as a teacher and even more disastrous attempts at getting hired, he gets a lucky break when a school principal notices his passion for never belittling students (since he was always belittled by his teachers when he was in school). Unfortunately, he gets assigned as the class adviser to the most notoriously problematic middle school class ever, and to his dismay doesn't even get to see any high school girls at all.

But between Eikichi Onizuka's idiotic antics and highly unconventional teaching methods, his students are gradually learning not only from textbooks but also from life itself. As I was watching the 43-episode series, I found myself wishing I had had a teacher like Onizuka when I was in high school. Because... while Eikichi Onizuka may not fit the description of a "good role model" or even a "good teacher" for that matter, what with his bad habits and all (e.g. smoking, being a ladies man, breaking the law, etc.), the life lessons he teaches his students impacts their lives in a big, positive way. And when all is said and done at the end of the day, his students are better off having known him.

This is an anime that I would definitely recommend watching. Who knows, you might even learn a few things from the Great Teacher Onizuka. :)

Added bonus:
The opening and ending themes are very catchy tunes that you can listen to all day and sing in the shower.

Ouran High School Host Club Anime Summary and Review

(Warning: This post may contain spoilers.)

The story of Ouran High School Host Club revolves around a smart girl named Haruhi Fujioka who, by her own merits and determination, was able to get a scholarship at the elite private school known as Ouran Academy. There at the Ouran Academy, while looking for a quiet place to study, she stumbles into an old music room where a group of boys who call themselves the Ouran Host Club hold their meetings, and she accidentally breaks a renaissance vase worth eight million yen. Tamaki Suoh, founder and self-proclaimed president of the Ouran Host Club, mistakes Haruhi for a boy and orders her to become the Host Club's "dog" (i.e. errand boy) in order to pay off the eight million yen. And so begins the story of the Ouran High School Host Club.

Throughout their adventures or should I say, misadventures (and they are quite hilarious), in the Host Club, Haruhi Fujioka, Tamaki Suoh, Kyoya Ootori, Kaoru and Hikaru Hitachiin, Mitsukuni Haninozuka and Takashi Morinozuka learn about friendship, love and acceptance. What started out as one of Tamaki's capricious whims turns out to be the best thing that's ever happened in their lives.

You know at first I thought this reverse harem anime was going to be one of those brainless, shallow, childish animes that are so common, and quite honestly I wasn't going to watch it at all after seeing the words "High School" so blatantly advertised in its title. But I'm very happy that I did because Ouran High School Host Club has now become one of my favorite animes of all time. The hilarious parodies and witty dialogues cracked me up, but what surprised me the most I guess was the depth of the story and personalities of the characters. It was also quite refreshing to see that Haruhi, the main girl in the story, had backbone and inner strength (unlike a lot of anime girls who whine and nag and fuss a lot and can't seem to do anything else besides being helpless and annoying).

I confess that I have watched the entire series of 26 episodes three times already, and I haven't gotten tired of it yet. In fact, I liked it better the third time around. And I loved the ending to the anime as well, and a good ending is quite rare in anime. Another thing I like about Ouran High School Host Club is its soundtrack. The orchestral tunes as well as the opening and ending themes are quite perfectly suited to the anime.  Overall, I give Ouran High School Host Club a 10/10. I would highly recommend watching it.

Bad English Dubbed Anime

I wasn't expecting it to happen, but I seem to have run out of good English dubbed anime to watch. And I'm not talking about the plot of the story itself because a handful of the anime I've been watching lately have somewhat decent storylines, but the voice acting, voice quality of the English voice cast (and also the way they pronounced words), and overall sound mixing sounded terrible! Now I understand why a lot of people say that English dubbed anime sucks. They probably watched the same ones I saw recently.

Why do I say the voice acting was terrible? Well for one, the characters sounded like they're reading from a script. They over-enunciated each word and spoke so slowly that they just sounded unnatural if not flat. Their voices did not contain the emotion portrayed by their character's face or body during some scenes. Their voices were annoyingly shrill at times probably in an effort to make the character sound young. Then there's that "pausing at the wrong time in the middle of the sentence" habit that they seem to have. My poor heart (and ears) can't take it!

Examples of anime I've seen recently which were, in my opinion, horribly dubbed although I've never seen the original Japanese versions:

• Ayashi no Ceres
• Kyo Kara Maoh!
• Weiss Kreuz

Too bad, because these anime had a few hot guys in them. Hehe.