I know Ouran dates back 2006, but oh well =P

Ouran is one of the most successful shoujo manga adaptations to date, and one of the few series out there whose anime outweighs its original manga counterpart. Truth be told, I didn’t fully enjoy the Ouran Koukou Host Club manga, so I was really wondering what all the hype was about. Until, the anime came along which I immediately fell in love with.

Ouran holds a special place in my heart, for a couple more reasons, best described by this quote from Boys Be, with the “cherry blossom (桜)” as “Ouran(桜蘭)” in my case :3

“Cherry blossoms, the noble flower, witness to many an encounter over time. Cherry blossoms, the vain flower, have watched many a farewell. And again this year they bloom to watch over a lot of faint but painful feelings in the season of beginnings called spring.”

The experience I had may not be as dramatic, but similar nonetheless.

Before the Bunny and the Hamster Met

I’m gonna do a little time travel here, going back to May of 2006, when I was still a trainee in the Japanese company I’m working for. It so happens that our batch of entrants were so special that we were sent to have our training in the main branch of the company in the country, in Cebu, where the other chefs absolute0 and Seleria are working. All the trainees are introduced to each and every project group in the company, which is how I first met the two chefs, though it was a brief and passing moment. During the course of my stay there, I wasn’t able to befriend them, nor get to know their anime fanaticism, of course. I got closer to one of Seleria’s friends, dru, but it wasn’t till a few months later that the bunny and the hamster got introduced to each other, as anime fanatics. So yeah, our relationship used to be only 2nd degree: usagijen -> dru -> Seleria

Ouran: Source of Comfort, Witness to a Time of Grief

During our training, I had some issues with some of our fellow trainees, which caused me much pain and sadness. I will never forget how Ouran turned my tears of sadness into joy, despite seeming like a lunatic who went from being depressed to super happy. In the morning of the incident, I cried from my pain, then the next thing I know, I was crying tears of joy, laughing hard while watching Ouran during lunch break. And God knows how many people noticed the “mood swing” I had >_> I was touched by the encouragement I got from fellow friends, but Ouran was the only one that managed to tickle my funny bone that time =P

Ouran: How It Brought the Bunny and the Hamster Closer Together

We went back to Manila after about three months of training, but I was once again sent to Cebu for a business trip. At this point, Ouran Koukou Host Club still hasn’t ended, and I got introduced to Seleria by chance, known to be the “anime pimp” in the office, who became my ultimate source for the Ouran episodes :p It wasn’t until we joined the blogosphere (first having separate blogs, then merged to form the Scrumptious Blog as it is now) that we became much closer, as I was still too shy to show my raving fangirl side during the encounters we’ve had throughout the business trip.

A lot of things happened, and I will always look back on how Ouran became a bridge to the relationship we have now (sorry to burst your bubble but it’s not yuri). Separated by distance, as we are somewhat in different islands, our love for Ouran, and for bishies in general, brought us closer =P

Credits to danbooru for the first two pics. The last pic is my own scan :3