Review: Ouran High School Host Club

Anime: Ouran High School Host ClubGenre: Drama, Reverse-Harem, Romantic ComedyAge Rating: Good for AllStudio: BonesMusic: Yoshihisa HiranoAuthor: Bisco HatoriDub/Sub: DubEcchi Level: Conservative

I saw one episode of this anime a long time ago, and loved it. But I never finished it. So recently I found it again and watched it to completion. And I gotta say, no regrets.

Ouran High School Host Club follows the protagonist, Haruhi Fujioka, a scholarship student at the wealthy and renowned Ouran Academy. After stumbling into an abandoned music room that was unknowingly used by a host club, Haruhi ends up inadvertently joining the club and becoming a part of the chaos that is rich boys hosting parties for lovely, rich young ladies.

For those who don't know, a host club is a group of young men who cater to women for fun, socializing, and simply the pleasure of being in their company. At least, that's the high school version. There are more corporate ones as well that offer male companionship (yes, just companionship) to ladies for money rather than the joy of it.

I've gotta say, I really enjoyed this anime. The diversity of characters in the Host Club, and each role that they fill was actually really well done. From the role of the prince charming Tamaki, loving twins Kaoru and Hikaru, the boy lolita Honey-Chan, and so on. Despite them all being rich...and male, there isn't anything that can be painted across all of them. They are about as diverse as characters get, and that works miracles for this anime. So many times an anime can lose your interest with a wide array of characters by making them all blend together, and making you rely on the sight of them to be able to tell them apart. But here, each one of the characters has issues, they have pasts, and they have hilarious character traits that make them unique from everyone else. Well...except for Mori, who falls into the tropish role of the "strong silent type." But somehow, they even managed to work that in.

The entire anime basically just follows the daily life of Haruhi and the Host Club, and showing us what it's like from the view of an outsider to be a part of a rich, slightly pretentious host club that caters to ladies. It's more of a slice of life, and doesn't rely heavily on a followed storyline. If there were an overarching story to the whole anime, it would be Haruhi's relationship to the different members of the club. And that's perfectly fine with me.

The animation is solid, nothing special or bad about it. Actually, I have to say that the character animation is really charming with the lack of the typical anime "must have as many reflections in the character's eyes as can fit!" With the lack of said numerous reflections, the characters look more...real I guess. It's a bit hard to explain, but I like it.

The music was as it should be for a pretentious group of rich guys. Mostly orchestral with violins and lots of woodwind that you'd expect to hear played in an extravagant place like this Host Club. Unfortunately, that kind of limits the variety, but at the same time, there isn't much variety needed in an anime like this, so I'd say it gets a pass. The dub is one of the best I've seen, with each character being perfectly portrayed by their voice actors. Even Haruhi's relatively monotone, "I've had enough of this." voice matched her personality perfectly.

TLDR

If you go into this series, know what you're getting into. The most action packed thing in the entire series is someone riding a horse carriage at high speed. This is an anime for people who enjoy stories solely about character and relationship building, rather than epic plot lines with action backing it up. If it sounds like you can tolerate it, then watch it. It's become one of my favorites, rapidly surpassing many others simply for the simplicity and charm.

Ratings

Animation: 7/10

Music: 7/10

Story: 9/10

Comedy: 9/10

Overall Rating: 8/10

SPOILER TALK BELOW!!! IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO HAVE ANYTHING SPOILED, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!!!

Best Girl: Haruhi. Read below for more.

Gotta say, Haruhi took the spot for my favorite female protagonist in an anime. I really don't know what it was about her, but she got me. Who knows, maybe I'm just falling for the same thing that Tamaki, the twins, and Kasanoda have all been hit with. Either way, I fucking love Haruhi and her ability to keep the guys of the host club off guard. Despite being a strong heroine, she's not without her own personality quirks as well. Her obliviousness is just hilariously awesome. Speaking of which, it amazes me that the guys who actually have feelings with her allow said obliviousness to stop them. It would simply be as easy as them straight up asking her out to get around it, but they seem incapable for some reason. I'd just stock up on fancy tuna personally, but then that's just me.

Anyway, if you're reading this part and haven't seen the show, then you've already found out one of the plot points of the anime. Haruhi is actually a female member of a boys Host Club. It's a good time, so watch the damn thing.