Ouran Koukou Host Club Episode 24

This episode has a kotatsu theme (more on that later) and most of the episode is about how Tamaki and Kyouya met and became friends. It was all spurred by Haruhi's enquiry as to why such a cool guy like Kyouya would be involved in co-founding such a bizarre thing as the Host Club? 2 years ago, Tamaki moved to the school, just in from France. It's sort of a trial period with his family to see whether he would be fit to be the Suou successor. This was a desperate last measure seeing as his father had no other biological sons and took custody of Tamaki, the son of his mistress. 3rd son Kyouya of the Ootori family was more or less ordered by his intimidating cold father to befriend possible Suou successor Tamaki.

And they met. Tamaki is boisterous, lively and so outrageously charming that it's such a huge contrast next to Kyouya's cool and broody exterior. Tamaki declared Kyouya his friend and with his out-there ways manages to reel in Kyouya's company. He hankers on about wanting to be in a kotatsu even though it was late spring/early fall I think it was. When he finds out Kyouya doesn't have one, he makes a rather blunt but astute remark that Kyouya must not have a good family relationship. This rings more true than he can imagine.

Inadvertently, through all Tamaki's flamboyant exploits and Kyouya dragged into the mix, Kyouya is seen by his sister to be more 'happy'. Having felt forever trapped in his position as the 3rd Ootori son, unable to reach beyond his 2 older brothers, yet still under pressure to polish the Ootori name, Kyouya snaps at Tamaki's carefree attitude. He is angered that Tamaki, despite being "an idiot", as he puts it, is able to see right through his dissatisfaction. In the end, we realize that Tamaki has made an impact and carved a niche for himself in Kyouya's life as a friend.

Towards the end, it is *wintertime* at the Ootori house and Tamaki gets his sought after wish of sitting in a kotatsu! With mandarin oranges and everything! Kyouya sits with him while listening to Tamaki's enthusiastic plans about forming a Host Club, and I guess the underlying symbolism is that they have a great friendship going on=)

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Kotatsu

I'd seen people sitting in a kotatsu in various anime and doramas and generally just thought "wow, they sure look cozy!" And the people sitting close to each other looked like they were happy and comfortable together too. Soo...I wiki-ed kotatsu (what else?;D) to see what they said about them.

A kotatsu is a low, open wooden frame which is covered by a blanket with a tabletop over the blanket. A person then sits underneath the blanket or with most of their body when napping anf this keeps them warm in the cold climates, especially in underheated rooms! Often, there is a built-in heat source underneath the table. Today, there are 2 types of kotatsu in use.

1. One with a frame (yagura) set on top of a thin mattress and an electrical heat source. The table-top and frame go over the mattress.

2. A more traditional style with a pit about 40cm deep cut into the floor. A heater is placed in the pit's floor, wall or table-frame.

The kotatsu was originally designed for people wearing Japanese robes and the theory is that the heat would travel from under the hem of the robe up and out through the opening at the neck, thus heating the entire body=) Families huddle around the kotatsu to enjoy food and spend time together during the winter months. You could imagine that pets, and in particular, cats (notorious for claiming the warmest spot around!) would just looove this arrangement;) In fact, there is even an animation character called Kotatsuneko (Kotatsu cat)!

Kotatsuneko is a really huge ghost of a cat that froze to death a long time ago after being kicked out by his abusive owners one cold winter. This ghost decided to haunt those who rejected him shelter. Kotatsuneko is attracted to warmth since he died under freezing circumstances and in particular, had an attachment to kotatsus since his owners never let him near one. He basically just sits with his paws under the table and drinks tea and snacks on fish shaped pancakes ("taiyaki"). He doesn't bother anyone, unless they bother him first and being a ghost, he has incredible supernatural powers to his advantage! Just goes to show how kotatsu is so embedded in Japanese culture!

Lastly, as Tamaki says kotatsu brings to mind mandarin oranges or tangerines ("mikan"), which I think is the popular winter fruit in Japan. Also, to complete the experience, is a serving of hot green tea, which I suppose is to warm you up even more! It's too bad it's unfeasible to have a kotatsu in my tiny room at the moment lol, and it's similarly unfeasible to have it back home where the only seasons to speak of are hot and humid or hot and rainy. Ahh well, all the same winter = kotatsu month! And maybe I'll get to spend some time in Japan during winter one day eh?;)