Ouran High School Host Club Live Action (2012)

Fujioka Haruhi is an honor student at Ouran Academy, a very prestigious and expensive high school attended only by those with money and social status.  The middle-class Haruhi is attending the school on a full-ride scholarship and she doesn't really fit in.  One day, as she is looking for a quiet place to study, she happens upon the Third Music Room where the Ouran Academy Host Club, a group of six of the most attractive male students at the school, gathers to entertain female "clients".  During her first encounter with the club, Haruhi stumbles and knocks over a vase valued at 8 million yen.  Unable to pay back the debt, it is decided that Haruhi must work off her debt with service in the club.  In this spin off/continuation of the live action TV drama, Haruhi must learn a thing or two about how she feels about Tamaki, the overzealous leader of the Host Club, when a new face enters the school - the face of a "princess" that seems to be perfect for Tamaki.  But this princess is not all that she appears to be.  How will this affect the Host Club, Tamaki in particular?  And how will Haruhi cope with her new-found feelings?

All right, all that to get to this: I didn't expect to like this movie - AT ALL.  I went into it with the lowest of low expectations.  And I'm here to tell you, I was completely and utterly WRONG.  This movie, while it has its flaws, is SO much better than I ever expected.  But I'm totally getting ahead of myself.  First, the cast.

• Kawaguchi Haruna as Fujioka Haruhi
• Yamamoto Yusuke as Suou Tamaki
• Daito Shunsuke as Ootori Kyoya (second-in-command of the host club)
• Takagi Shinpei as Hitachiin Hikaru
• Takagi Manpei as Hitachiin Kaoru
• Chiba Yudai as Haninozuka "Honey" Mitsukuni
• Nakamura Masaya as Morinozuka "Mori" Takashi
• Ryo Ryusei as Nekozawa Umehito
• Mariko Shinoda as Monaru Michelle
• Nickhun as Monaru Lawrence

Now, first off, this review is a bit different from all the others I've done previously in that I've already discussed most of the cast to a large extent.  That being said, I do have a few comments.

My first comment concerns our leading lady.  I mentioned in my review of Ouran High School Host Club the live action drama that I thought Kawaguchi Haruna did a bit of a lackluster job in her acting as Haruhi.  I still stand by that opinion - for the DRAMA.  I don't know why, but I know that as a portrayal of the character of Fujioka Haruhi, Haruna did a much better job here than in the drama.  While she still isn't totally up to par with the whole whiny thing (she still needs to up the sarcasm), she isn't the sweet little girl that she was previously, and for that I am grateful.

Now, this next thought...  I don't know how to say this, so I'll just give you an idea of what was running through my head during this movie.  It was something akin to this: Oh, my goodness, Tamaki is actually being serious.  While he had his moments in the drama when the character became more serious, he has far more of those moments in this movie, all of which are wonderfully acted by the amazing Yamamoto Yusuke (seriously, the dude can swing from being totally doofy and off-the-map hyper one minute to being serious and calm the next - and it's BELIEVABLE!).  I was very happy to see this character get more development apart from the goofy stuff.  Also, side note...  Tamaki has brown hair in the drama.  Why is he blonde?

My next comment concerns the twins.  Oh, Hikaru, Kaoru...how I love both of you.  I especially love that someone thought to give them actual serious development right alongside Tamaki.  Seriously, these guys are probably my favorite characters in the live action version of OHSHC, and I am so happy that they got a serious part of the subplots that were going on.

And finally, before I move on to discussing the characters unique to this movie, a quick note about another character that I really like.  Mori.  Mori is awesome.  I did have one problem with how he's portrayed in this movie though.  He's too talkative.  He got a total of maybe, what, seven or eight lines in all eleven episodes of the drama.  In this movie he gets about five or six.  The drama was five and a half hours total - this movie was an hour and forty-five minutes roughly.  You can see my point.  Not that it detracts from the character...much.  I still like him, but I just think he's a bit too talkative to fit the impression I got of him from the drama.

All right, new faces.  First is our lovely "princess", Monaru Michelle (I'm only putting the name Michelle second for consistency...it kinda bugs me though) and she's played by Mariko Shinoda.  The only comment I really have to make about this girl is that she's a fairly decent actress.  I wasn't too blown away by her performance, but the emotion she portrayed felt pretty believable and real.  Her character is kind of bland to begin with, so given that, I'd say she did a pretty good job with what she was given.  She does get more interesting in the second half of the movie though, so there you go.

The only other new face worth mentioning (in my opinion) is Michelle's brother, Monaru Lawrence (again, consistency...it still sounds weird to me).  Playing this character is K-pop boy band 2PM's Nickhun.  The only reason I really think this character is even worth mentioning is because he has a pretty major role in the climax and main plot resolution in this movie.  Other than that, he only has probably three or four scenes, most of which are in English, but he's a pretty good actor nonetheless.  For how small his part was, he did a good job.

All right, whew.  Writing is of course next.  Like I said before, this movie totally blew away my expectations.  I was expecting this to be rushed, not well thought out, and very choppy.  Again, like I said before, I was WRONG.  I was so wrong I don't think I've ever been this wrong...ever.  This movie takes place after the main story of the drama has concluded (that fact is kinda hard to pick up though - it took me until about halfway through the movie to figure that out).  For the most part it is what I would consider a well written continuation of the drama.  As far as I know this story is not part of the original manga (I haven't read it, so if this is in there, great - it's a good story), but the movie doesn't suffer for that.  Whoever had the reigns as far as writing goes on this project should definitely handle more of these things.

That being said, I do have one rather minor gripe with the storytelling in this movie.  In the beginning of the story, Haruhi has to have some way of telling her story of how she came to be in the Host Club in the first place.  That must've been difficult to come up with, I'm sure, but my gripe is in the fact that she's pretty much just telling the story.  She might as well have started the whole thing with the phrase, "Here's my story".  It would've been about as subtle.

As for warnings, I stand by what I said about the drama with one addition.  The homosexuality thing I discussed before is a little bit more prominent in this movie than it was in the drama (as a whole).  I do think though that if you got through the drama, you'll be fine here.

On the flipside, I still stand by the focus on family ties and the message of family being the most important thing in the history of the universe.  I jest, but seriously, the heavy focus of this movie is the same as the drama...turned up to eleven.  That's not necessarily a bad thing though.  I think it works to the movie's credit.

Once again, by way of wrapping this up, I will say that this movie far exceeded my expectations.  It has a good heart behind the story, and while it still keeps the goofy tone and silly antics of the drama, the seriousness of the character arcs and main story are wonderfully maintained as well.  The characters are well fleshed out and developed (that was the part that REALLY made me happy) and the relationship issues that some people had with the drama I think are addressed well here.  All in all, I will probably watch this movie again sometime soon, and I suggest that if you liked the drama, you should watch this too.  I will comment that you probably should watch the drama first if you haven't seen it already, but that's only because the story is explained better and you get a better sense of who the characters are by way of introduction.  Aside from that though, watch this movie.  I liked it and I think you will too.

The Quiz Show (2008)

People will do anything for easy money.  But does that include going on a game show where they are forced to reveal their deepest darkest secrets to the entire world?  Apparently it does.  Welcome to the Quiz Show, a game show where a series of seven questions and only seven will win you 10 million yen - if you answer correctly.  The catch is that each of these questions becomes more and more personal and uncomfortable to answer as the show goes on.  Yet it seems contestants keep lining up to participate - or do they?  As the series progresses it is revealed that each contestant seems to have a strange roundabout connection to the host and producer of the show.  It seems that the contestants being selected are there for a reason much darker and more sinister than just a chance at a life-changing amount of money.

Okay, before I go any further - oh, my gosh, this show is amazing.  Once again, I know I say something to that effect every week, but who cares?  I love this show.  I've already seen it twice and I'm planning to watch it again very soon.  But anywho.  Let's take a look at the cast, shall we?

• Katagiri Jin as Tazaki Toru (host)
• Totsugi Shigeyuki as Yamanobe Kengo (producer)
• Yamamoto Koji as Murase Ryuichiro (contestant ep 1)
• Takahashi Mai as Nitta Hitomi (contestant ep 2)
• Sato Jiro as Smiley Kitajima (contestant ep 3-4)
• Sato Eriko as Uchida Kiyomi (contestant ep 5-6)
• Okada Yoshinori as Manaka Noboru (contestant ep 7-8)
• Horiuchi Keiko as Makikura Ryoko (contestant ep 9-10)

So for this review I'm going to be doing things a little differently since the cast is a bit different from anything else I've ever reviewed.  I'm only going to talk about most of the contestants in passing, as I don't think some of them had quite as much impact on the plot as the others.  I mention the names of all of them, however, so that if I refer to one of them, the list is there to look at to see what I'm talking about (sort of).  Anywho, on with the show.

The first person to talk about that really (and I do mean REALLY) deserves every accolade he gets is Katagiri Jin playing the host of our game show, Tazaki Toru.  This character is fascinating.  He is something of a tortured soul with no memory of what happened to make his life fall apart two years prior to when the series begins.  Let me just cut to the chase: Jin is fantastic.  There were times during this show that I had to stop and remind myself that it wasn't real (this is the first time I've ever had to do that, mind you; I don't usually get so wrapped up in things) and that HE wasn't a real person.  The way this character was written and performed is awesome, and I give everyone props for that.  But I especially applaud Jin.

Next is our main antagonist Yamanobe Kengo, played by Totsugi Shigeyuki.  This is the character everybody loves to hate, and for good reason.  He's wicked, conniving, and just plain evil.  From the get-go he knows exactly what he wants (or so he thinks) and he knows how to go about getting it.  Amazingly, this performance was also very good, but there were a few moments when the over-the-top tone and attitude that was actually making the whole thing work, STOPPED making the whole thing work (if that makes any sense).  In other words, the performance was a little bit too over-the-top.  Aside from that, though...  This is one of the best "villains" I've ever seen in a drama (or anything for that matter).

Now comes the interesting part.  I do have a few things to say about the contestants and their performances, but for the most part I will be speaking in generalities.  I really liked the people that were cast as the contestants.  They all did amazing jobs at conveying what was supposed to be happening.  One of the biggest commonalities for all the contestants is the presence of a deep dark secret that they are all running away from or trying to hide from.  Hence as the questions get more and more uncomfortable, the contestants need to get more and more uncomfortable.  That was achieved very well here, I think.

Watching the contestants squirm is something that I think most people will find interesting, but one thing you will note as you watch is this: none of the acting feels fake or hokey (thank God).  This could have been a terrible ordeal to go through if the actors that had been cast had been bad or even slightly below average.  A lot of the contestants do seem to go through real traumatic breakdowns as they answer the questions, which was, of course, the whole point.

Now, on to the writing.  One thing that is really quite interesting about this show is that it is, in its own way, a murder mystery.  The whole premise is based around the host of the Quiz Show trying to regain his memory and understand why his life fell apart, along with making peace with the past and some nasty demons that want to follow him throughout the future.  As the story progresses, the audience is shown flashes that don't seem to bode well for the host, as he realizes he might be guilty of the worst crime he could've ever committed (in his mind): killing his girlfriend.  I won't say anymore for fear of spoilers.

But really, there is almost nothing wrong with the pacing or storytelling or writing in general here.  I say almost because no story is perfect.  There are little tweaks that could've been made to maybe make it flow better (that's a big MAYBE though).  But aside from that, this show is wonderfully well written beyond what I would've ever expected.

As for warnings, all you need to be warned about is an extreme amount of suspense.  Side effects of this may include: pacing back and forth uncontrollably; biting your fingernails; constantly sitting on the edge of your seat wherever you are; and not being able to sleep well.  You have been duly warned.

On the flipside, there is (as you may have guessed) a heavy emphasis on running away from the past and what that will do to a person.  Also there is a focus on bringing your secrets out into the open to be dealt with.  The ending will leave you pondering about your own secrets (seriously).

On the whole, I'd say this show is a must-see for any fan of suspense, mystery, drama, thriller...  The list goes on and on.  The story is incredibly well done, the characters are well cast, and overall this is one of my favorite non-romantic dramas I've ever seen.  I said before I've seen this show twice and I will see it again very soon, and I mean that.  I really enjoyed watching this, and by the way, even if you've seen it all the way through and know the end to the mystery, that doesn't matter.  The show still rocks.  So go watch it.  Right now.  Go.

Paradise Kiss Live Action (2011)

Hayasaka Yukari is an average high school student who is trying very hard to be above average.  She attends a prestigious high school, but can't seem to find any sort of meaning in her daily routine.  She feels as though she has not truly lived.  One day, a strange boy approaches her on the street and "asks" her to be a fashion model for a small group of students attending a fashion and arts high school, the school that Yukari views as being beneath her.  Given her snobbish attitude and reluctance to join the project, it takes intervention from Isabella and George, two other students in the group to get her to stay.  Once she's in, though, she's discovered a whole new world where she may just find the meaning in her life that she's been searching for all along.

All right, despite the rumors and opinions floating around out there about this movie and how it "doesn't compare to the anime", I don't care.  I still love this movie, mostly because I've decided already that I don't want to watch the anime (personal reasons), and so this movie is a great stand-alone feature for me.  But we'll get to all that later.  First, the cast.

• Kitagawa Keiko as Hayasaka "Caroline" Yukari
• Mukai Osamu as Koizumi "George" Jouji
• Yamamoto Yusuke as Tokumori Hiroyuki
• Igarashi Shunji as Isabella
• Kaku Kento as Nagase Arashi
• Omasa Aya as Sakurada Miwako

So, let's dive right in.  First up is our leading lady in this story, Hayasaka Yukari, played by Kitagawa Keiko.  Now, unlike ninety-five percent of the actors I've discussed so far in previous reviews, I have heard of Kitagawa Keiko, and I have seen her in a couple of other things.  I was rather pleased to see her in this movie, as I know she is a good actress and quite beautiful to boot.  That being said, however, I will say most of the acting in this movie from her was good, but there were moments where it definitely felt over-dramatized (I don't know, maybe I'm just not catching the spirit of the anime...or whatever they call it).  I don't think this detracts too much from the story, but it did get a little irritating sometimes.

Next...oh, my goodness.  I love Mukai Osamu.  He's so amazingly good-looking (sexy too).  They couldn't have gotten anybody better to play George.  The first time I watched this movie I remember staring in awe when George came on the screen and fangirling every time he had a closeup.  Anywho...on with the review.  George is a somewhat...interesting character, and I think Mukai Osamu did a good job of capturing that.  He has a quirkiness to him that really draws the audience in (or maybe that's just the looks...and the hats).  From what I've seen of the anime (I did watch the first couple of episodes before I swore it off entirely) I think George is actually supposed to be a little bit more...I guess it could be described as assertive...than he is in the movie, but frankly, as if you couldn't already tell, I don't care.

And now, another familiar face...well, to me anyway.  Yamamoto Yusuke plays Tokumori Hiroyuki, the soft-spoken quiet boy that Yukari has a crush on.  This character is one that I think exemplifies just how good of an actor Yamamoto Yusuke is.  This is the only time in all of the things I've seen him in that I've seen him play a quiet character.  Every other character is loud, boisterous, silly, goofy, etc.  It was quite surprising to see him in this role.  He did a great job too, given that the character really isn't all that interesting and he doesn't really do very much.  I still prefer Yusuke's role in Atashinchi no Danshi, but here he did a good job too.

Now we come to a character that honestly creeps me out just a bit.  I suppose you get used to her after a while, but still...  The character I'm referring to is Isabella, played by Igarashi Shunji.  Isabella is the major player in getting Yukari (or Caroline, as they start calling her) to stay with the group and be their model.  I don't know what to say regarding how well this character is done, as I have nothing to compare the performance to and that's that.  As far as I can tell, she is played convincingly and I think for the movie she plays the part well.

Next is another strange-ish character named Nagase Arashi, played by Kaku Kento.  This is one of those times where you look at the character in the anime and you think, "How on earth are they going to find someone who'd be willing and able to play a character like that?"  Well, they somehow managed to pull it off.  Arashi in the anime and Arashi in the movie are honestly so close in personality, character (which they should be), and looks (apart from the hair) it's amazing.  Granted, his role in the story apart from being an art student and being the one that ropes Yukari in in the first place is not much, but I still really liked his character.  He's obnoxious as heck, which is one trait I think it can be difficult to pull off and still make the character likable.  So overall I think Kento did a good job with this one.  I'm just really glad they didn't actually put a safety pin through his lip.

All right, now comes the token annoying chick.  Filling this role in the story is one Sakurada Miwako, played by Omasa Aya.  This character really annoys me.  Her only role it seems is to add a minor subplot and help make clothes, aside from being Arashi's "playmate" (if you know what I mean).  I understand why she's there.  I think were she not there the group wouldn't feel quite as cohesive or realistic (I never thought I'd be applying that term to this story), but still...  She annoys the heck out of me.  As for the acting, it's decent.  It's not stellar, but it's not terribly bad either.  Overall, she fills the shoes of the anime character as well as she can (once again, having only seen two episodes of the anime, I may be a little out of my comfort zone in saying that; still, I stand by my opinion).

Okay, writing.  This is another one of those tricky sort of movies where the source material is regarded as a very well-done story with great characters and good writing.  I can't fairly assess whether or not this truly translates to the movie, but as I mentioned before, as a stand-alone this movie is pretty decently well done.  The writing, while it feels a bit forced at times, is not terrible.  It does sometimes feel like they were trying to cram too much story into too little time, but that is easily understood given the original source material.  This is a rather complex story, so to try to cover every facet of it in two hours is really stretching it.

That being said, the reason why I love this movie so much (apart from George...eeeeeee!!) is mostly because it's about a bored high school student trying to find her place in life.  That is something I can totally identify with and get behind.  The writing in general does convey the difficulties of Yukari's life appropriately and convincingly.  There are certain spots where the melodrama does get a little out of hand, but that's forgivable (again, my opinion).

As for a warning section...  Oh, boy.  There are some rather adult subjects touched on in this movie (far more so in the anime).  Most of it involves sexuality of some sort, but it's not nearly as strong as it is in the anime.  Fair warning has been given.

Apart from that, though, there is a very strong, very complex message about being who you are and following what you feel is your "calling".  Yukari struggles with the pressures of a very strict mother who values grades and academia above everything else, and this pressure is dealt with in a rather mature way.  The message is very much "do what you want to do with your life" and "don't live your life for someone else".  Both of these are things I can get behind.

On the whole, as I said, I love this movie (or rather I'm IN love with this movie).  While it might not be the greatest adaptation in the world (understandably so), it still makes a pretty good stand-alone movie.  The characters are strange, the world they live in is different, and the story overall is very much a sort of coming-of-age kind of story.  Learning about where you want to go in life and what you find meaning in is a rather important thing for teenagers (well, for anybody, really), and I think this issue is dealt with rather well in this movie.  It could've been better, but it could've been SO much worse.  So now go watch this movie.  But don't watch it for me.  Watch it for George.

Meitantei no Okite (Conditions of a Great Detective) (2009)

Tenkaichi Daigoro is a great detective - or so he thinks.  He spends most of his time going around solving cases with the help of police captain Ogawara Banzo and rookie female cop Fujii Mana.  In this series of episodic cases, we get to know the characters very well as we see how they interact with one another and the other players in this very strange, very interesting world.


Oh, boy, am I totally looking forward to this.  I love this show.  But before I start gushing as I will later on, let's see the cast.

• Matsuda Shota as Tenkaichi Daigoro
• Kashii Yu as Fujii Mana
• Kimura Yuichi as Ogawara Banzo
• Chisun as Moriyama Mizuki
• Irie Jingi as Uematsu Keita

So without further ado, let's dive right in.  The acting in this show was pretty good.  Not stellar in some roles, but really good nonetheless.  First up is Matsuda Shota as Tenkaichi Daigoro, the main "great detective".  I'd only heard of Shota in passing before I watched this show, so I didn't know anything about his acting and such.  After watching this, though, I have to say, as a whiny, clingy, comedic detective Shota was wonderful.  He does a really good job of being that right mixture of annoying, whiny, and just a little bit manly (just a little tiny bit, but it is there).  Despite everything else, he does play the character as a well-rounded doofy guy that just happens to be an "amateur" detective.

Kashii Yu is next playing Fujii Mana.  This is the character that we as an audience enter the show through.  She's the one that asks all the questions the audience is probably asking from beginning to end.  In this role, I will mention that the acting was mostly good, but there were a few places where she could've done better.  It's hardly noticeable until you hit the episodes where she is more of the focus of the action rather than Tenkaichi and the others.  Once she gets more of a main role, the acting, while it is good, it's not the best I've ever seen.  She's good as a supporting character, just not in the spotlight.

Now a character I absolutely loved in the show.  Ogawara Banzo, played by Kimura Yuichi.  This police captain is not like any you've ever seen.  He's just as doofy as Tenkaichi.  As far as the acting goes, Yuichi did a really good job at portraying emotion as well as being silly and lighthearted.  There are a couple of moments in which the story does get serious, and Yuichi can definitely take you there.  There's a fair amount of emotional back story to Ogawara as well, and that's definitely portrayed well.  Looking back on this series, I can say Ogawara Banzo is probably my favorite character (besides Tenkaichi).

Now our major supporting characters.  I only really mention these two characters because they have some of the best jokes in the show.  They don't do much and they're really only there to be plot devices most of the time, but that's okay as far as I'm concerned.  First is Moriyama Mizuki played Chisun.  This character is a female police officer that mostly serves as the mouthpiece for explaining the setup for the various mysteries.  She brings in suspects sometimes and does a few other things, but overall she doesn't do much.  The acting from this actress is good given what she was told to work with.  But the second character has a bit more of an emotional foundation.  Uematsu Keita played by Irie Jingi is a worker at a local cafe as well as a good friend of Tenkaichi's.  Keita actually does do some things in the show, like being the one that Tenkaichi talks things over with when he's stuck on a case and being the one that checks into things when Tenkaichi has a hunch about something.  But despite the obvious use of this character as a plot device, Keita does actually have a bit of an emotional foundation.  The acting from Jingi on this character definitely reflects that.  Though you don't see much of this character, you do sort of get attached to him, and that can only be a reflection of the quality of the acting.

Now comes my favorite part of this review.  The writing.  This show is so unique in many ways, but mostly it is unique in how the story is handled.  This series is a definite parody of typical whodunnit mystery shows with every stereotype and cliched twist thrown in.  Every type of mystery is addressed in this show.  But aside from that, this show does something in the story that I've never seen before.  In this series there is a room which the characters cannot enter unless they understand their role in the story.  In essence this allows them to step outside the story and see "what has to happen for the plot to move forward".  And of course this whole idea is totally played from the standpoint of hilarity.  It's really quite funny since there are remarks sprinkled throughout the show that stem along the lines of "I can't do that.  If I do that the plot can't move forward" and so on.  Most of these remarks come from the captain by the way (you can start to see why I like him so much).

Something else along those same lines is the treatment of the fourth wall in this show.  I know all of what I just explained kind of deals with this already, but I have to call this out.  Whoever wrote this or had the idea for this is an absolute genius.  Throughout the show with the addition of the room and everything, it's almost like the writer(s) of the show said, "The fourth wall?  Pshh, what's that?"

Of course, there's really nothing to warn anybody about.  The only thing I have to point out is that none of this show is meant to be taken seriously.  NONE OF IT.  Even in the dramatic moments (which are few and FAR between) just when the show seems to be getting serious, it pulls you right back out of that mood and throws in some more comedic goofiness.

As far as a message of any sort, there really isn't one.  It's basically a straight up parody of mystery shows.  Of course, if I HAD to parse a message out of this show, I'd have to say it would be a focus on friendship and what your friends mean to you.  I think this is a very subtle theme in this show and I think if you want to get something out of it, that's what you're going to take home.

So final thoughts.  While this isn't a drama I'd watch again anytime soon, I will say I did thoroughly enjoy it.  The humor is goofy, the characters are silly and lovable, and the cases are fascinating (most of the time).  Sometimes the mystery really isn't the point of the episode, but I still like to try and figure it out before Tenkaichi announces who did it at the end of the episode.  All in all, a really fun watch.  I'd recommend it to any hardcore fans of mystery shows and fans of silly nonsensical humor everywhere.

Ouran High School Host Club Live Action (2011)

Fujioka Haruhi is an honor student at Ouran Academy, a very prestigious and expensive high school attended only by those with money and social status.  The middle-class Haruhi is attending the school on a full-ride scholarship and she doesn't really fit in.  One day, as she is looking for a quiet place to study, she happens upon the Third Music Room where the Ouran Academy Host Club, a group of six of the most attractive male students at the school, gathers to entertain female "clients".  During her first encounter with the club, Haruhi stumbles and knocks over a vase valued at 8 million yen.  Unable to pay back the debt, it is decided that Haruhi must work off her debt with service in the club.

Right off the bat this sounds like it's going to get weird, and oh, boy, does it ever.  I have many comments to make about the acting in this drama, but first, let's see the cast.

• Kawaguchi Haruna as Fujioka Haruhi
• Yamamoto Yusuke as Suou Tamaki (the leader of the host club)
• Daito Shunsuke as Ootori Kyoya (second-in-command of the host club)
• Takagi Shinpei as Hitachiin Hikaru
• Takagi Manpei as Hitachiin Kaoru
• Chiba Yudai as Haninozuka "Honey" Mitsukuni
• Nakamura Masaya as Morinozuka "Mori" Takashi
• Ryo Ryusei as Nekozawa Umehito

Most of these people did a pretty good job, but as you will see, there a couple of people that didn't do so well.  First on this list is Kawaguchi Haruna playing Haruhi.  I saw most of the anime version of this story long before the live action version came out, so I knew what Haruhi was supposed to be like.  Haruna I'm sure did her best, but in the end, the acting was a bit lackluster.  Haruhi is a bold character.  She has a relaxed attitude about life, so much so that she even says she doesn't care whether people see her as a girl or a boy.  She's very snarky in some ways, as well as being rather sarcastic and level-headed when Tamaki goes off on one of his "speeches".  Some of those characteristics came through in Haruna's acting, but she needed to be more up front and relaxed and far more sarcastic than she was.  She came across as sort of a sweet girl who's always a bit whiny when the boys in the club do something stupid (which is quite often, believe you me).  Not really what the character was meant to be.

Switching gears now, we have Yamamoto Yusuke as Suou Tamaki, the ring leader of the host club.  Tamaki is the most obnoxious, goofy, silly, arrogant-in-a-funny-way boy I've ever seen.  He was that way in the anime, and Yusuke did a fantastic job at bringing that across.  His "speeches" are some of the funniest parts in the drama.  Yusuke also has a knack for pulling some of the most interesting facial expressions I've ever seen, which works wonderfully well with the character.  He's supposed to have a bit of a romance with Haruhi (that's not really a spoiler; it's kinda obvious from the very first episode) and Yusuke did a good job with making it awkward and silly, which was definitely what this drama called for.

Daito Shunsuke plays Ootori Kyoya, the second-in-command, as well as PR man for the club.  Kyoya is a calm, level-headed guy with an ever-watchful eye on the club's finances.  Shunsuke did a great job in portraying the character accurately, even with a few twists they through into the live action that weren't in the anime (maybe they were in the manga, but I wouldn't know since I've never read it).  He keeps the character calm and plays the polar opposite of Tamaki quite well, while still managing to be suave and sexy all at the same time.

Takagi Shinpei and Takagi Manpei play the Hitachiin twins, Hikaru and Kaoru, respectively.  I must make a comment up front about these characters: they are supposed to be the homosexual "token" characters, if you will.  Granted, they're brothers, but that supposedly makes them more attractive to "clients" of the club.  In the anime, the relationship is taken to gag-inducing levels, but THANKFULLY they toned it way down in the drama, which I will be eternally grateful for.  As for the acting from the Takagi brothers, I commend them for being so good at portraying these characters accurately.  They did a very good job at putting the right amount of goofiness and drama into the relationship, and I say kudos to them.

Next is Chiba Yudai playing Haninozuka Mitsukuni (say that three times fast), otherwise known as "Honey". He is the cute one in the club (fuzzy-bunny cute).  This character must have been difficult to translate to live action because of the things he's supposed to do (he jumps into Haruhi's arms at one point; he's supposed to be the size of an elementary school boy).  Yudai's acting in this role is pretty good.  He did well at bringing the cuteness in the enormous quantities required for the character, but when he does eventually have a serious moment, it's done well.  It doesn't feel forced or overly ridiculous like it could've been.

The sixth and final member of the club is Morinozuka Takashi (another tongue twister), known as "Mori", and he's played by Nakamura Masaya.  Mori is the stoic "man of few words", yet somehow he's one of my favorite characters.  I must say, kudos to Masaya, because he got simultaneously the easiest and the hardest parts in the whole drama.  Easiest because he doesn't have to say or do much, but hardest because he has to convey emotion and give the character believability with little to no dialogue or action.  That means it's pretty much all in facial expressions and body language, which are appropriately subdued and well communicated.  I was mostly indifferent to this character in the anime (mostly because I don't remember seeing much of him in the anime), but in the live action, I really like him.  Overall, Masaya did a very good job with what little he had to work with.

The last character really worth mentioning is Nekozawa Umehito (yet again, difficult to pronounce quickly) played by Ryo Ryusei.  Nekozawa isn't a member of the host club, but he gets enough attention in the drama that I can't not talk about him.  He's the creepy dude.  Nekozawa is the leader of the black-magic-ish club at Ouran, and thus is always dressed in a black cloak.  He's supposed to be rather intimidating and "scary", but mostly creepy.  Ryusei did a really good job with the whole creepy thing.  His voice was perfect and he had the right look to him to make people stare (as well they should).  All in all, well done and not too freaky for this drama.

Now, on to the writing.  This drama is a little different because the original writing is known as one of the better mangas ever written (at least in my opinion).  Of course the writing's good.  Even through an anime adaptation and a live action adaptation, it's still really good.  There are some things I didn't particularly jive with in the pacing of the story in the live action, but I can understand why they had to do what they had to do.  The anime had been cut down to 26 half-hour episodes from 83 volumes of the manga, and from that the live action was cut down to 11 half-hour episodes.  Thus a few issues in pacing are perfectly understandable.

Of course, now comes the obligatory warning section.  The only thing I feel I must mention before sending people to out to watch this is this; as I said before, Hikaru and Kaoru are homosexual.  They are incestuous homosexuals, which is even more uncomfortable for some people.  However, most people already know about the Hitachiin brothers and how...er...uncomfortable scenes with them can be.  If you don't already know, just be warned (it is FAR worse in the anime than the live action though; just saying).

On the flip side, if you don't already know, this drama has wonderfully goofy comedic moments and focuses heavily on the importance of family ties.  In the few serious moments this drama has, the message about family being the most important thing (along with a few other things...thank you, Tamaki) comes through loud and clear.

Overall, I really like this drama.  I've seen it several times and I'd watch it again in a heartbeat.  The goofiness, the ridiculousness, the quirkiness of it all is totally what draws me in.  Personally, I think if you're looking for a TV representation of the manga, go with the anime; but if you always wanted to see what the story would be like if it was live action, this drama is for you.