Shameless procrastination - and thoughts on Ouran

I've got a lab report to write. And I'm still in that stage where boredom trumps fear, and I'm scrabbling to find something - anything - to occupy myself that isn't this report.

So, I turn to my much-neglected blog. What shall I talk about?

I've recently watched (and then read) through the entirety of Ouran High School Host Club, a funny and satirical shoujo anime/manga following Haruhi Fujiyoka, a poor scholarship student at a school for the rick and elite, who gets roped into the host club after she accidentally breaks a valuable vase belonging to them in order to repay her debt.

It's a surprisingly entertaining story, and one that resonated with me for several reasons. Firstly, I'm a big fan of parody and fourth-wall breaking, and this seems to take every single shoujo and romance cliche and affectionately mock it, from revealing the total unhinged-ness of 'ideal man' fantasies in real life, to a recurring character who will appear out of nowhere and actively point out common tropes as they crop up in the story, as well as characters arguing over who the romantic leads are in this anime anyway.

Also, I love Haruhi. Her bluntness shows up every single trick the men use to impress their female clientele, and her complete indifference to appearance and gender is incredibly refreshing in a lead character. Indeed, gender and gender roles are a common theme of the story - it's very premise is a fairly androgynous girl who cross-dresses as a guy in order to be a part of the host club, not to mention her transvestite father, or the 'zuka club' (look up Takarazuka) and their hyper-feminism. Just having a character who doesn't really mind how she is seen is nice (even if she does end up looking like a rather handsome young man for the majority of the time).

I could go into it more, but I think I'll just leave you with the recommendation. I have... *sigh* ...a lab report to write.