Ouran was the only show that Sarah bothered to watch every week as it was fansubbed. Fluffy, occasionally obnoxious, self-parodying - and it had a demonic puppet.
No spoilers in this one.
Click the thumbnails for larger photos.
Character: Tamaki Series: Ouran High School Host Club Bear Type: Premade, about 12" Clothes & Styling By: Sarah Date: 2008 (Tekkoshocon) Notes: It's a neutral bear color, so it could have been any member of the Host Club, but the rose kind of pushed it over the edge into Tamaki-land somehow.
Character: Nekozawa Series: Ouran High School Host Club Bear Type: Handmade, about 18" Clothes & Styling By: Sarah Date: 2008 (Tsubasacon) Notes: Nekozawa has an Ouran uniform under his cloak (Why? Um...who knows?), a fringe of fur attached to his cloak, and a miniature Nekozawa. Fittingly, he seemed to lurk in the background of our table.
Character: Haruhi Series: Ouran High School Host Club Bear Type: Handmade, about 18" Clothes & Styling By: Sarah Date: 2009 (Tekkoshocon) Notes: On the other hand, this medium brown puts this bear squarely in Haruhi-land.
Character: Beelzenef (a.k.a. Bereznoff) Series: Ouran High School Host Club Item: Hand puppet Made by: Sarah Date: 2007 (Tekkoshocon) Notes: Of course we had to do this one. Beelzenef was one of the few non-pin items that we made in "quantity," and we made about ten or twelve before official (?) ones started turning up in Dealer's Rooms in 2008. We're still trying to figure out whether they're really official, so Beelzenef may yet make a comeback. Our Beelzeneffs were/are made with a felt-backed plush with a very short pile, and appliqued features.
Character: Beelzenef Source: Ouran High School Host Club Item: Hand puppet Made by: Sarah Date: 2010 (Matsuricon) Notes: We brought 'em back in 2010 after some more research into the "official" ones. Smelled like bootleg, so we decided to give Beelzenef another round. These were made of a slightly different plush, but are otherwise the same as the first set.
Character: Beelzenef Source: Ouran High School Host Club Item: Hand puppet Made by: Sarah & Jay Date: 2011 (Tekkoshocon) Notes: Beelzenef was still going strong at Tekko IX, which was a pleasant surprise. This year's round was made from a new pattern after the last one got misplaced, so they're a smidge smaller than the first two sets. These are also made of a slightly stretchy plush with a nice soft backing. Fun(?) fact: most of these Beelzenefs' mouths were made from velvet bits left over from the Giant DS Plushie; the rest (including the one pictured here) are felt.
Character: Hikaru & Kaoru Series: Ouran High School Host Club Item: Hand puppets Made by: Sarah, designed by Jay Date: 2008 (Tsubasacon) Notes: This duo of puppets was based on the "The Twins Fight" episode, when each of the Hitachiins dyes his hair a different color, because it was more visually interesting to make. Also, the colors were easier to find in felt. Don't tell.
Character: Various (Bun-bun/Usa-chan, Bear, Beelzenef) Series: Ouran High School Host Club Item: Cell phone cases Made by: Sarah Date: 2008 (Tsubasacon) Notes: Sometimes the materials you have on hand lead to a good idea - in this case, Ouran-blue bottomweight and rose-shaped buttons led to this set of four cell phone cases. All are lined, and all but the tie stripe case have a rose button closure; the tie stripe has a gold button closure (just to un-girlify it a tad).
