Recap: Mariko

 

Hello again. Well, after months of waiting, The Wolverine is finally coming out. Hoping

to rectify the poor reception to X-Men Origins: Wolverine; this new movie is based on the

classic comic book story where Wolverine goes to Japan and clashes with Yakuza gangsters

and the villain Silver Samurai.

Due to this story, this makes Wolverine another one of the few American comic book

superheroes to successfully break out in Japan; a country where manga rules the roost (a large

chunk of anything that gets read in Japan is manga, with stories appealing to every niche and

age group you can think of). So, as I promised, I will recap the first episode of the Wolverine

anime to mark the occasion. It is indeed very good, though there is material for this recap.

So, let's open up “Mariko.”

We open on the skyline of New York City. We see a ship on the docks, with a young

woman looking over the bay.

Then, we get our approach of Logan, aka Wolverine. Even in his anime design, he still has the familiar sideburns. Many people, myself included, have tried to replicate them; to varying degrees of success. Wolverine approaches the woman and asks if it's too cold. The

woman says it isn't with him there.

Suddenly, men in scuba gear and with jetpacks on their backs come out of the water!

They start firing on the ship!

We're still angry about X-Men Origins Wolverine! If your new movie is bad, we'll come back with adamantium bullets!

Wolverine takes the blasts. I'm not sure what these people were firing, but he appears

to have burn marks all over his body. Naturally, we get to see one of the two of Wolverine's

many mutant powers that get used most in adaptations: the ability to heal within seconds

from any injury.

 

He leaps to face the men and we get the most prominent mutant power: those claws.

Adamantium claws that come out of his hands that are indestructible and come in handy in

many fights.

We then get our opening sequence, set to a heavy J-rock guitar. Much like the Iron Man

anime I recapped around the time Iron Man 3 first hit theaters; Warren Ellis wrote the story

to this one. Madhouse animated it, and apart from that opening scene, this intro does a great

job of showing off the badass that is Wolverine.

We then cut to one year later. A man is on a rooftop when he's cornered by several

people wearing invisibility cloaks. Several countries are working on this sort of thing: it's a

bunch of microscopic cameras that scan the area around them and project the image around

the space they're on.

The man, named Asano, draws his gun and fires on the men as they reveal themselves.

It turns out the suits also have force fields around them, rendering the bullets useless. The men

use a sonic shockwave gun, which renders Asano's weapon useless and emits a shrill sound that

the man cannot bear to hear. The wave continues, and the man's glasses break.

NO! STOP! This is worse than going to see X-Men Origins Wolverine in the theater!

 

Everything metal on the man breaks, until a beer falls from the sky and sprays all over

the attacker when the can bursts. It's Wolverine! It turns out he's helping Asano. Wolverine then

attacks the people after throwing his other beer into the sky.

Wolverine takes out two of the men while the other three slip away. A water tower is

destroyed, and Wolverine is all wet; with his clothes sticking to him. I may be straight, but

whether he's wearing that, his yellow-and-blue duds, or 20 pounds of black leather; Wolverine

is fair game.

You're welcome, Japan.

He's not done yet. He uses another one of his powers, animal senses (which tend to

be far greater than those of humans) to sniff them out and finish them.

 

The last one tries to leap off the building with Asano, but Wolverine dives after him, and

uses his claws to slow them down. All while Japanese rock music plays. To finish it off, he

catches the beer he threw into the air before and casually welcomes Asano to New York.

It turns out this is the first time in 10 years that Wolverine and Asano have met; with

Asano remarking he hasn't aged a day. Despite the jabs I've taken at X-Men Origins: Wolverine,

this is consistent with Wolverine having been alive since the provincialization of Canada in

the late 19^th century; having effectively stopped aging since he hit his thirties.

Asano shows Wolverine a photo of Mariko. Asano says he knows where she is.

Wolverine says she was taken from him.

 

It turns out she was kidnapped by a Yakuza clan known as the Kazuryu; who is funded

by Advanced Idea Mechanics, or AIM. Their leader is a man known as Shingen. He tends

to be very active as a master swordsman. It turns out Mariko is his daughter!

 

Asano and his group have been trying to gather enough information to convict Shingen.

Even more, Shingen is putting his daughter through an arranged marriage. Her fiancé is Hideki

Kurohage. He looks alarmingly like Aizen from Bleach. There's an idea: Aizen could come

to the human world and present himself as a Yakuza gangster! Hey, it's not much more ridiculous than most of the other stuff in Bleach.

It turns out Kurohage rose to power in his syndicate on an island known as Madrepur.

All of a sudden, I'm reminded of Enter the Dragon. The island is a sovereign state, but it's

full of crime and villainy. Kurohage, of course, lives in the penthouse of a heavily-guarded

skyscraper.

Asano says that Hideki is a very dangerous man, and that Hideki killed his own father.

With the marriage, Shingen will have a hotbed of crime, and Hideki will have untold amounts

of funding. Mariko was kidnapped and is being held hostage in her father's compound in

Tokyo. Wolverine then decides to go to Tokyo.

We then get a flashback with Mariko and Wolverine. Given what's been explained in

the past few minutes, this is a genuinely sad scene here. Wolverine then flies to Japan, vowing

to find Mariko.

We cut to Tokyo, and Wolverine is walking the streets; passing by a temple guarded

by men in black suits. 

It turns out Asano is helping Wolverine spy on the Kazuryu. Suddenly, Wolverine has

disappeared. He's jumped the fence, and has begun infiltrating the compound.

Wolverine has managed to make it to the garden without being spotted. Suddenly, Mariko comes out the door. Shingen then comes out to greet her, as do his guards. Wolverine

continues to stay hidden. Shingen then draws his sword and throws it!

I told you kids I don't want any magazine subscriptions!

 

Wolverine dodges just in time, and he's been discovered! The guards draw their guns

on Wolverine. Shingen greets Wolverine. Wolverine replies that his reputation precedes him.

I should hope so. Marvel has a habit of keeping you in the public eye. They even put you on

covers of books you don't actually appear in to get people to buy them!

Wolverine is not happy with Shingen kidnapping his own daughter, and has come for

Mariko. Wolverine claims she is her own woman. Shingen replies she has a duty to her family;

and has been promised to another. I did point out in my recap of The Sun, The Sea, and The Host Club that the Japanese have very different ideas about gender roles. Well, I must also

point out that they also have a much greater focus on continuing their bloodline and honoring

it. While in the US, marriage and having a child is indeed seen as a great milestone in a person's

life, in Japan it's vital for keeping their family from dying out. It's often why Sasuke from Naruto has his motives criticized in the US and other Western countries; but that's not important

right now.

 

Naturally, Wolverine does not agree. Shingen asks if the rumors he heard about him

are true; and Wolverine declares it's time for him to find out. He then engages Shingen's guards,

and wipes the floor with them.

 

Shingen is impressed, and challenges Wolverine to a duel. If Wolverine wins, he can

have Mariko back and Shingen will give up his plans. Shingen agrees. Wolverine goes inside,

meaning Asano and his colleagues can't track him.

Wolverine then engages Shingen in their duel. Wolverine isn't able to make one blow,

and Shingen takes out Wolverine in one strike. Still, Wolverine recovers and goes after Shingen.

Shingen is able to land many blows on Wolverine. Still, Wolverine continues. The fight goes

on, and Shingen apparently uses the Wind Scar on Wolverine to finish him.

Shingen then throws Wolverine through the door. I notice both of them seem to be holding back. Wolverine isn't using his claws, and Shingen isn't using a blade: I imagine they'll

be a more even-footed fight between them later in the show.

The fight between them continues still! OK, time to set this to some appropriate music.

The fight ends when someone shoots a dart into Wolverine's back. This

causes him to go all loopy.

Didney worl?

We then see who shot the dart. It's Kurohage! The dart was full of an experimental

chemical weapon from AIM; which affects the nervous system. OK, I'm convinced: the suave

look, the smug demeanor, the presentation of himself as a magnificent bastard; this guy IS

essentially Aizen as a Yakuza gangster in a three-piece suit!

 

It turns out the weapon takes effect faster because Wolverine is a mutant. Still, he draws

his claws, and that's how the episode ends. One of the last images we see is a pastel-chalked

freeze frame of Wolverine and Shingen staring each other down.

“Mariko” is a solid first episode to the Wolverine anime, in a similar manner to how

“Enter Iron Man” was. I'm noticing a pattern that the Marvel anime are exceptionally well- made; with great animation, writing and voice acting. On top of that, they're practically

tailor-made for Western audiences. I plan to do a recap of the first episode of the Blade anime

around Halloween, and I think I'll add a recap of the first episode of the X-Men anime to my

plans for next year; around the time X-Men: Days of Future Past comes out. Once I post this

recap, I will be saving my energy for August; where the whole month will be on the Endless 8

of Haruhi Suzumiya. See you later.

Recap: Beauty and the Beach

Hello again. By the time you read this, I will have returned from my father's. I had intended to write this recap during the time I was there, but I ended up spending more time

with my father at his request. Apart from that, it is now summertime. Just as well, it's time to

hit the beach and cover another episode of Pokémon, but this episode is a little bit different.

One of the things I wanted to do when I started this blog was to cover the banned episodes of Pokémon. Ones that were blacklisted from viewing in the US and subsequently

never got a proper home video or DVD release. I will be discussing the reasons why they

were banned, as well as the reasons why they will not be getting official releases in our lifetime.

The first of these episodes is “Beauty and the Beach”. While it was just another episode

in Japan, in the US, it was deemed offensive enough that its intended initial airing was skipped.

It later aired in 2000 as a “lost episode” with the offending material trimmed out. To this day,

it has only been rerun once and most of the official materials in the US try to pretend it never

happened.

When it first was going to be aired on Kids' WB, the second movie was in theaters. My

parents gave me a choice of staying home to watch the episode or to go see the movie. I chose

the movie. Given how I found the episode circulated on YouTube and other video-sharing sites

at age 16; maybe it's for the best that I didn't see it when it first aired. So, as the first official

recap of the summer, let's head for the sun and surf as we open up the very first banned episode

of Pokémon, “Beauty and the Beach!”

We open on a flashback of the previous chronological episode, “Island of the Giant

Pokémon;” which ended the 3-episode St. Anne arc. It shows how Ash, Misty, Brock, Jessie,

and James got reunited with their missing Pokémon.

They then happened upon the resort town of Porta Vista, and we get our title card.

About why it's like this: the copy I'm using to write this recap is from a fan-made uncut

version with the English audio over the Japanese video. You're going to find out why later.

So, with this, Ash, Brock and Pikachu decide to hit the beach and jump right in the

ocean.

Misty comes over in a very slick bikini. She asks how the water is.

Ash says “it's weird to see her looking like a girl.” Misty, not amused, throws a beach

ball at Ash. Typical, as Misty is a tomboy; only really wanting to be a lady when she deems it

proper.

We cut to Team Rocket in the very first appearance of the Gyarados submarine. They're

out to pickpocket the beachgoers in Porta Vista.

The next thing we see is that Ash has taken a boat. Everyone wonders who borrowed it.

Insert a School Days or Lonely Island joke here.

The boat and Gyarados submarine clip each other and go out of control. The boat even

crashes into a dock.

Well, there's another fine mess I've gotten us into.

An old man comes up, angry about the dock and the boat, both of which belong to him.

He notices Misty and says she reminds him of his granddaughter. Ew. Anyway, they decide

to work for the old man to pay off their debt.

 

Meanwhile, Team Rocket is on another part of the beach. They wonder how they're going to fix their sub when an old woman comes up.

I tell you, Angelica Pickles did not age well.

The woman says she doesn't want squatters on her beach. James asks if they can work

as waiters in her restaurant. Jessie objects, but Meowth says they need money to repair their

sub. They reluctantly agree to work at the woman's restaurant.

Ash and Brock are trying to attract customers to the restaurant where they're working,

to no avail. Jessie, on the other hand, is much more successful.

Ash is surprised to see Jessie there. Brock remarks that Jessie looks good in the uniform

of the restaurant as well as her Team Rocket uniform. That's weird, you never expressed

attraction to her before, Brock. Then again, her skirt and midriff-baring top are pretty revealing;

though the skirts were a lot shorter on Star Trek.

Team Rocket even dismisses the restaurant Ash and crew are working at as a “no-quality

dive”. No, I don't think it starts getting into that area until droid detectors are put up, and

Walrusman's arm and Greedo's smoking corpse are on the floor.

Nevertheless, this angers them and Ash decides to send out his Pokémon to help at the

restaurant. Pikachu and Squirtle pass out flyers, Pidgeotto helps keep the charcoal lit with Gust,

Charmander helps flame broil food, and Bulbasaur and Misty wait tables. Within moments,

the place is packed.

Team Rocket is not happy with the attention that their competition is getting. Meowth

then sets out to sabotage their rivals. Meowth uses a giant fan, an oil pump, and the old cliché

of banana peels to wreck up their competition. The customers are gone, quick as they came.

Everyone is down about what happened.

Ash apologizes to the old man, named Moe, about what happened. Moe says they at

least tried, despite all the accidents. Misty says it doesn't feel right, and those couldn't have been

accidents!

The woman, named Brutella, comes in demanding the money Moe owes her by tomorrow; or she'll take his boat. Moe says that boat means everything to him, but Brutella

merely says she'll see him tomorrow. Team Rocket then taunts them all.

Moe feels horrible, as he may have to give Brutella the boat because of the money issues. Ash asks how important the boat is to Moe. Moe says he was planning on taking it

on a cruise around the world. Ash encourages Moe not to give up on his dreams, as Ash will

not give up on his own. Ash is certain they will find some way to get the money.

Just then, Professor Oak comes in, and wearing a Hawaiian shirt no less. He also has

an idea of what to do. Way to go, professor. Here's something to commemorate the occasion!

 

What do you know, Ash's mother even shows up! The professor hands Ash a newspaper

with an advertisement for the Porta Vista Beach Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest later

that day. The professor encourages them to advertise the restaurant; as there are many people

drawn to the area to see the contest. With all the extra patrons, they will easily get the money

they need in time. Misty also decides to enter the beauty contest, as there are cash prizes for the

beauty and costume contests. With this, Ash declares that this is the end of their money troubles.

 

So, word is spread of the contest as Pokémon World plays (the dub was in the process

of airing the Orange Islands episodes at the time this episode aired). Sure enough, Moe's

is packed; much to Brutella's chagrin.

Delia (Ash's mom) explains that she and Professor Oak are touring with a volunteer

patrol from Pallet Town. Professor Oak adds that she worries about Ash. She hopes he's staying

out of trouble. Ash says not too much, but Moe interjects that Ash helped at his restaurant; and

that Ash encouraged him. Ash thanks Moe for the kind words.

 

The contest has begun as Misty takes the stage. Get ready folks. The reason I decided

to recap this episode and the reason it was initially banned, and still is to this day.

Dun dun DUN! Dun dun DUN! Foxy!

 

The Pokémon costume is Squirtle and Starmie (which Brock mistakenly refers to as a

Staryu) as aliens in a UFO. That's a pretty good costume.

 

So, now the subtitled part of this episode is here, and the reason why this episode was

banned. James is in a rubber suit with enormous fake knockers. Misty calls him out for this,

but James simply replies by inflating his chest at will. It's referred to as the most common

superpower. 

Won't you take a ride, ride, ride, ride, on Heavy Metal! It's the only way that you can travel down that road!

Naturally, this is because the standards of what's acceptable for kids in Japan is quite

a bit looser. Let me demonstrate: Death Note? Kid's show in Japan. Gurren Lagann? Kid's show

in Japan. One Piece? Naruto? Bleach? All the anime I just mentioned are a TV-14 at minimum

in the US. So, as you can imagine, while this wouldn't be that big a deal to the Japanese; when

the episode aired in the US, all the scenes with James in the suit were cut.

It's your one-way ticket to midnight! Call it-Heavy Metal!

Next, we have Ekans and Koffing as Omanyte, but then, guess who kicks them right

off the stage! Gary Oak. The swaggering rival of Kanto. You know he's going to ruin your whole day when he shows up. He is an egotistical and arrogant rival, and he makes sure

you know his name when he calls you out. 

Professor Oak sheepishly says he forgot to mention Gary was there. Ash is not amused.

Sure enough, Gary begins talking down to Ash like he always does. Ash decides to rise to the

occasion and meet his challenge.

Brock is really selling Gary's fan club. It does not make Misty happy; Jessie and James

even less so. Brutella has repaired their Gyarados sub, and gives Team Rocket a job to do for them to get it back: wreck up the beauty contest and destroy Moe's restaurant.

Back at the contest, Ash, per usual, is not happy with Gary's condescending attitude.

He challenges Gary to a match, but Gary replies that he only brought his fangirls with him.

Ash calls him chicken, but Gary fires back by calling Ash an amateur. Ash should be more

careful of who he picks fights with. Didn't he ever see the Back to the Future movies?

What do I have to fear? In 8 more seasons, I'll be the only one of the original cast to keep my voice actor!

Just then, the Gyarados sub comes on land and starts terrorizing the beachgoers. Ash

isn't fooled at all, and calls the sub out for what it is: a phony. This ends the panicking, and Ash

decides to take a stand against this.

Team Rocket then fires a missile, and what do you know, it has a face on it like a Bullet

Bill.

Gary asks Ash if he's going to freak out. Yeah, he just took control of the situation, and is

continuing to do so as he sends out Charmander and Pidgeotto to take care of the missile. Charmander uses Flamethrower to throw off the missile and send it on Team Rocket.

 

Team Rocket's reaction is priceless. Jessie and James have the standard issue wide mouths and sweat drops, and Meowth even derps a bit when they find out their plans have once

again gone up in smoke.

The missile goes all the way to Brutella's restaurant, destroys it, and sends them all

blasting off.

Moe heads off on his boat trip around the world; and thanks Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu for believing in him.

Ash, Misty, and Brock head out; with Delia and the professor remarking what a fine young man Ash has become. I love this episode, and I love Pokémon still.

“Beauty and the Beach” is a lush seaside adventure. It is a very strange episode, and not

just because of the mammaries on James getting it banned. Apart from some nice animation;

you can decide for yourself if it's worthy of its infamous status. As for what I'm going to do

next: I'm not sure. My town is facing a record heat wave, which has made it harder for me to

work on this recap. I think I might do some more recaps of mecha series with Pacific Rim

coming out, as a sort of alternative to that film. Sword Art Online is coming to Toonami this

month, but it's not a series I'm interested in. I'm working on more of my backlog. I finished

Cromartie High School, watched a little bit more Claymore, and I'm in the process of re- watching Trigun. So far, Pokémon and One Piece are the series I'm most actively following;

and I haven't been particularly impressed with most of the new series in 2013. Anyway, that's

all for now.

Recap: The Sun, The Sea, and The Host Club.

Today's recap is on one of the more perplexing anime I've seen. It's only been out a few

years, but it's already being hailed as a classic. It is a parody of a genre of anime that is alien

to me. There are men who willingly admit to watching it, when it is clearly aimed at women.

I am talking about “Ouran High School Host Club.”

“Ouran” is largely a parody of the “shojo” genre, which is targeted at teenage and young

adult women in the same manner that “shonen” is target at teenage and young adult men.

In this particular case, it parodies the harem subgenre. It consists of Haruhi, a young woman

who has a quasi-masculine appearance to her being inducted into the Host Club, where attractive young men sell themselves as playthings to the female students. And yes, this is a

show with rich humor.

As you can very well tell, the shojo parody aspect was lost on me as I had never seen

any shojo prior to giving in to a friend's request to watch it. This can be chalked up to a number

of factors. First, there is the fact that the genre was largely irrelevant in the anime circles I put

myself into. It wasn't seen, it wasn't read, it wasn't talked about. “Sailor Moon” and “Cardcaptors” do not count for me, as their adaptations were so heavily-modified that I was not

aware they WERE shojo. While Shonen Jump Magazine continued to sell well on newsstands

every month until it went weekly and digital this past January; Shojo Beat was a commercial

failure in my area and ceased publication in 2008 for Oregon. Second, there's the massive cultural divide caused by the gap in social class. I live in a town known for festivals celebrating

mud and country music. In the latter case, I even have to constantly listen to heavy metal and rap to keep from going mad. We followed the Occupy Portland movement extensively. As you

can very well tell, the Host Club was a representation of the 1%; which caused problems in

trying to comprehend the jokes. Third, and most of all, the flamboyancy of the Host Club

was construed as blatant homosexuality. I am no homophobe, and I will try to keep the gay

jokes to a minimum in this recap. For the record, I will simply state that other animated works

I have seen were at least more restrained in their flamboyancy. He-Man was a muscular warrior

in a furry thong, SpongeBob tried to brighten everyone's day, and Tracks made sure we knew

about his “stunning automobile mode.”

As such, I did not initially enjoy the series. I dismissed the idea of any man enjoying it;

even going out of my way to disparage the show. My criticism of it proved controversial, as

there were dozens of fans tearing into me like rabid dogs for making fun of the show; and I had

to quickly issue an apology, but I was still reluctant to accept the show. Time passed, and the

anime grew on me, with help from Manitoug15's “Ouran The Vaguely Abridged Series”. Heck,

if shojo as a wholecontinues to remain obscure, this parody may be the best known example of it. 

So, why bother recapping an episode, then? Well, even as I grew more accepting of the show, there were still a handful of episodes that bothered me. We will get to them as I go along

with this blog, but first things first. Today, I will recap the episode that truly got on my bad side

as far as I'm concerned. To kick off summer vacation, I will recap “The Sun, The Sea, and The Host Club.”

As always, we start with the theme song. I had watched the show up to episode 20,

“The Door The Twins Opened” (which will not be recapped, as that is when the show got

really good); but I listened to the theme song for the first time as I watched the episode for this

recap. I'm not sure what to make of it, to be honest. As I explained, shojo is not my field.

I like the action-oriented stories of shonen. Whether it's martial artists, pirates, ninjas, Soul

Reapers, or masters of monsters, I like series that can get me pumped up while still getting me

to care about what's going on with the folks involved and setting up atmosphere and tone.

I have also taken a liking to the paranormal, and even the lowbrow in anime.

The best thing I can say about it, is that it was animated by Studio Bones, the same team

behind Soul Eater. I will mention Mamoru Miyano a lot in this blog, as Tamaki was not my

first exposure to him. He is fifth, behind Light Yagami, Dent, Death the Kid, and Masaomi Kida.

Apart from that, the tune is decent.

We open on the Host Club, as the twins, Hikaru and Kaoru are showing Haruhi possible

swimsuits to wear on their beach trip. Honey, who is a high school senior who resembles a little boy (don't look at me, I didn't draw him, I just watched him) suggests a one-piece suit, but the

twins veto it in favor of a frilly bikini. I disagree, sometimes a one-piece suit leaves a lot more

to the imagination. Honey then asks if his stuffed rabbit, Usa-chan, can come. Sure, why not?

I'm not one to judge, I have the biggest Pokémon collection of all my immediate friends.

We then get our title card out of a swarm of rose petals. I can only assume this is an homage to “The Rose of Versailles”, a drama that I've heard of, but just never seen. Given how

many tributes of it are thrown around in the anime I've seen, I can only conclude that observing

the real thing is not necessary.

We then cut to the beaches of Okinawa. I imagine that would be a lovely vacation spot

this time of year.

Haruhi muses why they brought some of the guest from the host club along. Kyoya drinks a Blue Hawaii as he takes notes on the situation. I need something a bit stronger-

artificially-sweetened Pepsi One should do it.

Tamaki has a romantic fantasy about walking on the beach with Haruhi. The notes I

took on this episode originally contained a tasteless joke, so instead, let the Beach Boys

sum up my feelings about this fantasy.

Honey asks Haruhi if she wants to go Hellfish Hunting. Does Abe Simpson need help

finding those paintings again? Haruhi corrects him, saying he wants to go Shellfish Hunting.

Amazingly, they are instantly swarmed with crabs. Succulent, tender, delicious crabs.

Well, looks like Haruhi has a bad case of crabs.
I apologize, that joke is beneath me.

They start gathering the crabs, and one of them has a centipede on it. Haruhi grabs it and

throws the centipede in the direction of one of the rocks. The twins then propose a game:

“See What Haruhi is Afraid Of.” Or as I like to call it, “Make Haruhi Glad She Wore Brown Shorts to the Beach.” Kyoya agrees, offering prints of middle school pictures of Haruhi as a prize.

They take her inside a cavern near the beach, where they try to scare her with paranormal means. Haruhi says she doesn't believe in ghosts. Well, I dumped my cousin's Teddy Ruxpin in

one of those caves, that will do it.

Honey then gets a group of Kyoya's mercenaries to lock them inside the cargo hold of

their truck, to see if she's claustrophobic. Haruhi says dark, enclosed areas don't bother her.

Mori, a sort of gentle giant among the Host Club; outright threatens her with a harpoon.

Haruhi doesn't even flinch.

Tamaki then starts gathering rat snakes, hoping that will scare her and that snakes are the most vile creatures on this planet. I disagree. I think snakes are awesome. The rat snakes would

even take care of our rodent problem.

Then, a couple of drunken punks come in and start harassing the other girls. Haruhi throws a bucket of sea urchins at one of the hoods, and he responds by directly confronting her.

I never graduated high school, buddy.
Doesn't look like you will, either.

Haruhi then gets thrown off the cliff and into the water, and she cannot swim. I don't know what the Japanese call it, but here we call that attempted murder. I stress “attempted”

as Tamaki saves her.

Tamaki then berates Haruhi for her actions, saying she had no martial arts knowledge like

the rest of them. It is here that I state why I chose this particular episode to recap. In Japan,

this scene was perceived as Tamaki looking out for Haruhi's well-being. In America, viewers

saw Tamaki's behavior as misogynistic.

I'm no feminist, but I do know this: If a girl struggles in water, teach her to swim. If she

gets beaten up, teach her to fight. If she disagrees with you, work it out, but for god's sake;

throw your misogyny in the garbage!

It gets better. Most of the comments on the YouTube copy of this episode took Haruhi's

side, not Tamaki's. I don't know if Japan ever had a sexual revolution like America did, but

Ms. Magazine would not approve of this situation.

The two decide that they will not speak to each other for the remainder of the trip. If this

is a divorce, do they get to divvy up what they own by half?

The crabs are cooked, and it is time for dinner. It would make a good Red Lobster commercial.

Haruhi comes in, and she looks mighty fine in the dress she wears to the dinner.

She quickly begins eating the crab, shelling them and tearing into the meat while Tamaki looks

on in horror. If you think this dinner is awkward, you should see the one in the next room.

Tamaki is still convinced Haruhi was wrong, though Haruhi admits she could use the martial arts training.

Haruhi doesn't feel well all of a sudden, and then we cut to a bathroom, with the implication that she got sick after eating too much of the crab.

Kyoya confronts her about her actions, and makes an advance on her. He tells Haruhi

the twins beat up those hoods, and he tries to embrace her.

Since my advertisers won't let me show this scene, here's
a picture of a puppy.

Tamaki arrives, and Haruhi goes to her room. Tamaki comes to see her, then a

storm brews with a large bolt of lightning catching Haruhi by surprise.

Pardon me, sempai, but I believe my panties have become
a bit damp.

She jumps into a wardrobe, as if she's going to retreat to Narnia. Tamaki comforts her.

It is here I realize I made a mistake by watching Death Note first, because all I'm thinking about

is him taking out his Death Note and killing those hoods for her. Ladies and gentlemen,

this has been a Funny Aneurysm Moment.

The other boys come in, and they mistakenly believe that Tamaki is playing a kinky game

with her. They continue to do so even as they leave. I believe Poison can say this better than I can.  

“The Sun, The Sea and The Host Club” is not a great episode, but it was completely

ruined by our sensibilities of gender equality as opposed to the Japanese desires of wanting

women to submit to men and wear pretty dresses. There will be other episodes of this show;

but that's a matter for another day.

My next recap will be done while I visit my father in California. I am taking my computer with me. I think I'll do another Bakugan recap. Now that I think about it, I'm

not quite ready to do New Vestroia yet, I have an episode of the original series that I've

been itching to do.

So, that is all for now.