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「Episode 4」
Taking a page out of the anime, the drama also sees the debut of Houshikaguji Renge (Tsuchiya Tao) in the fourth episode. Of all the female characters aside from Haruhi, she’s definitely one of the most interesting additions, largely in part to how she’s absolutely relentless with all the club members except Kyouya. From her playing “Doki Memorial” on PS3 (a play on Tokimeki Memorial) and dreaming about Ichijou Miyabi to smacking Tamaki in the face and calling him a fake, I was pretty sold on the real-life portrayal of her character. I actually had to do a double-take on the scene where Tamaki tried to sweet talk her and she sent him reeling with both her hand and her words, since most of my enjoyment in that scene from being reminded of Renge in the anime. That’s not to say there’s anything particularly bad about Tao’s acting. I was simply amused by the idea of Renge’s Medusa hair-like when she went off on a tangent about her otaku-ism and wanted to redefine everyone’s character for added appeal (much to their dismay).
It’s been a while seen the Ouran anime aired so my memory of it is somewhat fragmented. Because of that, I usually end up skimming the related anime episode or manga chapter afterward. I’m often surprised by the stuff that I’ve forgotten about but were included in the drama, such as the baking scene between Haruhi and Renge. I even forgot about the movie that Renge was shooting at first, until it all came rushing back to me when Tamaki came rushing to Haruhi’s aid in “serious mode”, only to find out that she teared up because of her contact lens. In hindsight, forgetting did give me an unexpectedly fresh look on the drama itself without all the unconscious comparisons. The basketball melodrama was somewhat awkward to watch, but the lonely prince bit was pretty amusing because it reeked of deadpan humor. If there’s one thing that this drama’s done well so far, it’s the subtle humor from delayed reactions. It’s a form of goofy delivery that I’ve come to associate with Japanese dramas and it works particularly well when Tamaki’s involved. It seems like anything that puts him in a depressed state is all in good fun for me.
With Renge’s subplot more or less wrapped up, I’m curious as to whether she’ll become a recurring character like she was in the anime. I was a bit surprised to learn that she had much less prominent role in the manga, so it could go either way here. Hopefully she’ll show up again though, since she’s one of the few characters whom even Kyouya will buckle under to a certain degree. The added benefit is of course how Kyouya (and everyone else) dumps the burden on Haruhi while capitalizing at the same time. All the while, the whole Tamaki x Haruhi bit is steadily moving along and should pick up more with the beach episode next time. A 3D beach episode at that! (For better or worse…)
* As pointed out in the comments last time, Sakamoto Maaya (Haruhi in the anime) does the narration for this drama. She was also recently married to fellow seiyuu Suzumura Kenichi (Hikaru in the anime). In addition to the Ouran anime, the two of them starred in Gundam SEED Destiny and Kara no Kyoukai together.
Preview
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i really enjoyed the live-action adaptation, mainly because they’re quite faithful to both the manga and anime.
Honey-sempai was very cute in this scene.
https://randomc.net/image/Ouran%20High%20School%20Host%20Club/Ouran%20High%20School%20Host%20Club%20Drama%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2023.jpg
when he tried to state vehemently that he doesn’t mean all the “evil” things that he said to Haruhi.
Haven’t watched the episode yet but I absolutely adore that scene as well as the one with the twins teasing Haruhi with the cookies. I wonder if that was included. :3 Need to finish homework already…
At least Hikaru wins in RL =D
Haha, this made me lol.
I second that! Love Hikaru x Haruhi more than Tamaki x Haruhi 😀
ooh can someone please tell me that Renge’s ‘ohohoho’ made a return in the live action version? ):
😀 wow. The drawing on this show is atrocious. 😀 Although, that first shot of the dating sim isn’t bad. I love how they can translate everything from the anime into live-action and not make it look weird, because they embrace the cheesiness of it all!
Ah yes, Renge…the reason I watched the anime in the first place.
lol, Zack got Aerith in the end~
Anyway, this looks like a nice episode, waiting for subs *v*
Yes! I saw that Sakamoto married Suzumura and was like WOAHHHHHH! Good for them, I’m definitely going to think about that when I watch KnK again.
On another note, does anyone feel that Tamaki is ridiculously unattractive in this drama? 🙁
I really, really enjoyed this eps. I giggled my way through this eps and I don’t know what will happen if we get a Ranka-san eps-i might die laughing! Granted that Renge was not as high-pitched as the one in the anime, but her characterization is good. I’m loving this series as weeks pass by :))
Oh and SuzuKen with Sakamoto Maaya, I wish them all the happiness in the world and it’s like Zack and Aerith got together finally :))
how cute i loved the anime, do you happen to know a good website to this drama?? Are they subbed? Great post by the way 🙂