Ouran High School Host Club - Reviews

Alt title: Ouran Koukou Host-bu

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vivafruit's avatar
Apr 12, 2007

Story

The strongest episodes in the Ouran High School Host Club are essentially nothing more than character development. In them, the show will take one of the characters and crack his very soul open for all to see. The standouts are by far Kyouya, a self-proclaimed egoist who ends up being anything but, and the identical pair of twins, whose need for personal individuality conflicts with their inability to relate to anyone else.

Unfortunately, excluding both the brilliant beginning and the fantastic character-building episodes, much of the storyline feels uninspired and dull by comparison. While watching through many of the middle episodes of Ouran, one gets the feeling that the writer is complacently leaning too much on his characters. The biting satire of the first few episodes eventually gives way to safe and surprisingly routine comedy, a problem that is compounded by the fact that there is no significant plot until near the end. Worse still, the wonderful character development is limited to only a handful of episodes; in the rest of the show, the characters remain tragically static.

The result is somewhat uneven. There are superb episodes, but sadly, Ouran is not quite the superb show that I was hoping for. At no point is the plot ever bad, but with more ambitious writing, Ouran could have been the best of its genre.


Animation

The character designs are appealing and colorful, which is almost all that a shoujo show really needs to be good. However, Ouran also happens to excel in other departments as well. Backgrounds are detailed and lively, and movement is never jerky or awkward. However, the best part is probably in the surprisingly clever and creative visual humor. In particular, I enjoyed the deliberate overuse of roses and sparkle effects – a nod to the visual techniques of other shoujo shows.


Sound

One cannot mention Ouran’s characters without praising the remarkably talented seiyuu behind them. Put simply, these characters would have only been half as likeable with lesser voice acting. The most obvious case of this is with Haruhi. Due to the character’s transgendered nature, voice-acting the character in a way that was at the same time believable and pleasant is something that few seiyuu could actually do. However Sakamoto Maaya (who was equally wonderful as Lark in Gunbuster 2) pulls off the feat fantastically. The rest of the seiyuu are nearly as impressive – there isn’t a weak link anywhere.

The music is serviceable without ever standing out all that much. Suitably wacky songs play during the (numerous) comedic moments, while pleasant instrumental music is used for the more serious moments. I enjoyed the OP, but didn’t like the song enough to actually download it.


Characters

The characters are easily the best part of Ouran Host Club. For one, in an age of generic, unmemorable shoujo leads (the interchangeability between Full Moon wo Sagashite’s Mitsuki and Fruit Basket’s Touru comes to mind), Haruhi stands out as a unique and thoroughly loveable protagonist. As in other shows, she serves as a “normal” grounding to contrast with the comparably wacky supporting characters. However, at the same time, she is anything but average. Equal parts intelligent, blunt, and pragmatic, her piercing wit doesn’t ground the other characters idiosyncrasies so much as puncture them. The result is always hilarious, and makes for one of the best characters of the year.

For the rest of the characters, the show brilliantly recognizes the numerous archetypes of the shoujo genre, and manages to build its characters in a way that both lampoons and transcends the stereotypes. To mock these shoujo “staples,” the anime’s characters cynically play to them in an effort to garner popularity among the girls of their high school (one character deliberately acts like he’s eight for the lolicon points).

On the other hand, to transcend the stereotypes, all of the characters in the show are far more complex than they initially appear. Beneath each one-dimensional façade is a compelling, loveable, and unique character of surprising depth and believability.


Overall

Ouran Host Club is a good show that could have been extraordinary. Anyone who watches the first episode can see the amazing potential in the show; the premise is clever and feel-good, the characters are loveable and unique, and the seiyuu are just plain wonderful. Oddly enough, only a lack of ambition on behalf of the writers really prevents the show from rising to the amazing heights of shows like Azumanga Daioh and Princess Tutu.

However, the fact that this anime could have been more doesn’t change what this anime is: an undeniably witty and charming shoujo comedy. If you enjoyed Fruits Basket, there’s very little chance that you won’t love this.

6/10 story
7/10 animation
8.5/10 sound
9.5/10 characters
7.5/10 overall
nerdatlas's avatar
May 6, 2015

This won't be a good review because I honestly don't know what to say except I loved it. I didn't like the shoujo genre, still don't, but I love this.

First off some complaints: 

1) I wish the opening credit animation style was used in the anime every once in a while. Its a very neat style that I couldn't take my eyes off of.

2) It stops. At only 26 episodes. I know the manga goes further than the anime and I wish that the anime could have continued on. Reboot anyone? :)

3) *spoiler*  because I realize this might be an important thing for some, just skip to 4.

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Haruhi doesn't get with anyone. My ship didn't sail, your ship didn't sail. To continue with the metaphor, the dock is full and no one wants to leave apparently. They spent the last few episodes hinting that some of the boys would start declaring their love for Haruhi but it never happened, I assume because the rest of their school thinks that she's a boy. But still. I want to see friendships deepen and romances blossom. Is that too much to ask?

4) The Lobelia Girls. I realize they were designed to be hated but that was a bit too much. They went beyond harassing Haruhi to try to get her to leave Ouran and make a bad name for ordinary feminists with their over the top man hating ways. No thank you.

That aside, here's what I love:

1) Haruhi. She's very relatable and loveable. She treats the boys of the Host Club with loving sarcasm and is unafraid to question them. Smart, dependent and absolutely not worried about getting a boyfriend, she's a breath of fresh air in the ridiculousness of this anime (in a good way of course).

2) The anime is funny. It makes fun of itself, whether there's cross-dressing, or overly dramatic shoujo moments. The entire thing highly unrealistic, but it recognizes and embraces this, using Haruhi to point this out. At the same time, it doesn't cross the line to offensive (at least most of the time. Those damn Lobelia girls need to learn a thing or two about respect and the signs of harassment dammit!)

3) The twins. As a twin myself, they were by far my favorite (and the most attractive) characters in the show. Though the fake incest thing that they pulled in the Host Club irritated me, their humor and loyalty to themselves and their friends won me over.

4) Everything? Like seriously, I love this anime too much. I need more, I'm addicted. Yeah, I can read the manga and I will, but the anime needs to get on it and be more!

So 10/10. Because I'm obviously a reliable and non-obsessive compossed reviewer here. :)

10/10 story
10/10 animation
10/10 sound
10/10 characters
10/10 overall
ThatAnimeSnob's avatar
Aug 14, 2012

- Animated by studio BONES, which means the production values will be great but the story will be messy… What? It doesn’t have much of a story? Well, in that case it is a great show!
- Directed by Igarashi Takuya, who also took up Sailor Moon Stars, Soul Eater, and Star Driver. I can’t say I love all his works but he is definitely versitile.

Ouran is a fine example of how a seemingly tired formula can be presented in an interesting way. Make no mistakes about what the premise is; it’s still the same old stereotypical shoujo where a frail dumb girl is surrounded by a bunch of hunks. What makes it so special is how it made use of ALL the clichés, then made fun of then in a sort of parody of the genre, and after than DEVELOPED the characters past their mold. So in a way it is three things at the same time (a good reverse harem, a parody of reverse harem, and a developed reverse harem). Depending on which one of these elements you choose to focus on, chances are you will like the show no matter what your preferences are. Yet it is only by seeing it as a whole where the beauty of the whole thing surfaces.

Let me make it clear that I am not a fan of reverse harems. Not by a longshot. I find them all retarded idealistic romances for prepubescent dumb girls who are still waiting for the prince from the fairy tales to appear and have a dreamy time together. So I didn’t fancy the (standard) reverse harem aspect of the show yet I must admit that it’s pulling the shoujo strings perfectly. We have the “Poor-good-hearted-dumb-chickTM”, in an elite school of super perfect rich bishonen stereotypes, having to cross-dress in order to pass as a boy, while fending off the romances from other chicks and having to deal with the constant erotic teasing of the hunks. The premise is so damn ideal to the point it works fine for its genre. Plus, the production values further make it cooler than it already is by making everything look dashingly splendid. The school is brimming with luxury, vivid colours, and snobbism, to the point you get to love it for what it is.

Then there is of course the parody of the whole thing, where they take every single stereotype and create puns and misunderstandings based on common belief. This is a nice extra if you just got fed up with the genre and want to make fun of. Most of the jokes are ok, although they do feel like they repeat after awhile. Not that I minded it that much; it is after all a parody of clichés and did the best it had with the material it was offered.

The best part of the whole show is of course how it eventually builds up on the premise and fleshes out its characters. Most such shows barely try to present their cast as anything other than a collection of statues, permanently frozen in a boring predictable and simplistic mentality. In this case though, they actually provide far more juice to each character by offering backdrop stories that excuse their attitude. So although the show begins with a group of snob bishin caricatures (and a token dumbass girl in the middle) along the way a line of flashbacks and dialogues provide revelations of how each one of them is more than he appears to be. Which is cool.

Before you start imagining that I am making it look like an amazing portrait of psychological immersion, let me make it clear that it is by no means a deep, thought-provoking personal drama. The characters grow over their initial image but they are still from super fleshed out personalities. And the overall plot is not complicating at all; in fact most of it is a storyless parody of the initial premise. It is the fact that unlike most of its genre, it moves beyond the obvious and tries to excuse everything being as such. Basically, everybody is just playing a role, imposed by his social status and the expectations of his family and fellow students. It is a direct contrast to how the heroine is forced to cross dress as means to follow certain demands, imposed by her status as a poor person in dept and making use of her natural beauty. On a basic level it is very captivating as it is showing how people are forced to play roles they never chose, while at the same time doing the best of whatever privileges they were born with, bodily or economic.

So without trying to present this show as the most amazing socio-political dramatic comedy of all times, I am just going to say that it is the best Reverse Harem ever made in anime, for the reasons stated above. Its story is by no means the best thing after sliced bread, and the characters never feel so alive that you think they can jump out of the screen or something. It’s the combination of very good production values, along with a premise that goes beyond the obvious, and a set of characters that become very sympathetic to you for excusing their ideal role to be just a façade. Marvelous!

Highly recommended if you are fans of reverse harems, school comedies, or just want to make fun of decades old clichés.

7/10 story
8/10 animation
8/10 sound
9/10 characters
8/10 overall
Bravo0723's avatar
Sep 3, 2017

Edit add Sep 7 18:40 EST

  I am adding this edit upfront into the beginning of my review of this Anime,  as I believe parents should be able to be made aware of what "Incest and Host male a form of Hostess or geisha (Japanese equivalent to our western Strip Clubs in all regards except the public stripping, thus for whoring oneself. Though many East Asian People may try to tell you otherwise, I personally have had enough live in girlfriends in my younger days between the mid 90's & 2010 that worked at strip clubs to know that though these clubs claimed they prohibited their girls from unauthorized illegal activities, that many of them still did so as that is where they made the majority of their living income as well as the $ needed for the drugs that a lot of the were pushed into by their management as originally freebies to help them relax for their job) Of 16-17 year old High School Juniors with 10 year old or less elementary school student" that their underage children are able to and may be watching on Netflix that should be rated R and be able to be Parentally Controlled but as far as I know is not and most likely most Parents do not realize that there are far more cartoons and Anime out that that are just as bad or worse for the development of your child's mind and well being than just the one called "Heavy Metal" that we grew up with.

 Especially as these Children are so far the only ones rejecting to my Freedom of Speech in speaking out about this one show finally after my having seen and not posting reviews against many others that are somewhat corruptive but not nearly so bad as this one that after just 7 episodes of which everyone having Incest portrayed by minors and Junior High Students teaching a 10 year old or younger elementary student about Host's as being OK. The pushing of Homosexuality among minors being OK driven into children's minds being put aside as more than 50% of all the Anime that has been produced in the last 8 years seems to have jumped on the bandwagon as being needed to sell their shows when it is only Leftist Propaganda being driven into our children's minds as part of their brainwashing schemes. This incest among and between minors being shown to minors is morally corrosive to their fragile minds during their developing years and as has been pointed out to me by these 13 & 14 years olds that they do not believe that last statement to be so. Though as most of us that have lived long enough to pass through our rebellious pubescent stage know that just about all of us as children believed that we knew more than anything that any adult tried to tell us. Here it is not that they are being told by adults in their minds, it is an anime about freshman through Junior high school students that these children do not totally comprehend is Adults Writing and Acting ( most of the English version voice actors (At least on Netflix you can see the Original Japanese to English translation along with the slight script changes made by these American VA's instead of having to watch the Japanese version and English Dubs separately to see the differences) I had enjoyed in other shows though a good portion of them their own homosexuality stands out in their Scifi-comic con speaking engagements) out these children.  Thankfully they haven't pushed Incest between a minor and his or her parents as far as I can recall yet, but those sexully perverted homosexual couples that have been given the rights to adopt children are most likely prone to such actions with their minor children especially when they are adopted so not blood related and can try to argue that it is not incest.

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For an anime that is mostly watched by underaged children, this one is just to much enamored with the acceptance of Homosexuality in children and not just Incest among children but Homosexual Incest. Teaching that revolting sexual deviance is OK at that age, this is just pushing the limit for anime dristibuted for minors to damned far.

  A person's sexual preferences are not something that should be mind welded into underage children. These ideals as portrayed here are nothing more than Pornographic Mind Fucks by Pedifiles looking to currupt as many children as they can and crap like this should be far more scrutinized as to the age content that it is presented to. The rebukes I am bound to get for this revue are just a matter of course for the past 11 years that this show has had on the undereaged mindset that has now become of age and other perverted shows along the same premises from then, since then & as well as those from years before that had been allowed to be shown to the fragile minds of minors.

 Here is one case that just Story, Animation, Sound and Characters should be divided by 4 to be an overall of 5 but for lack of decency to the age group it is made for, I give it a score of but only 1 out of 10.

  Edit 9-7-17 18:40 EST

 Here's a side note as this show was aired originally between Apr 05, 2006 to Sep 27, 2006 You can see that it wasn't until sometime in 2007 and taking to 2009 before the Japanese Government even began taking the illegal after hour activities with clients from the Host Clubs seriously.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host_and_hostess_clubs

"Hostessing is a popular employment option among young foreign women in Japan, as demand is high. However, work visas can be difficult to obtain, so many choose to work illegally. The clubs sometimes take advantage of the precarious legal situation of the women.<sup id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1504817834833_35288">[11]</sup> The industry and its dangers were highlighted in 1992, when Carita Ridgeway, an Australian hostess, was drugged and killed after a paid date, and in 2000 when Lucie Blackman, a British hostess, was abducted, raped and murdered by a customer. The government promised to crack down on illegal employment of foreigners in hostess bars, but an undercover operation in 2006 found that several hostess bars were willing to employ a foreign woman illegally.<sup id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1504817834833_35292">[12]</sup> In 2007, the Japanese government began to take action against these hostess clubs, causing many clubs to be shut down, and many hostesses to be arrested and deported.

In December 2009, a trade union, called the Kyabakura Union, was formed to represent hostess bar workers. The union was formed in response to complaints by hostess bar employees of harassment and unpaid wages by their employers.<sup id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1504817834833_35297">[13]</sup><sup id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1504817834833_35299">[14]</sup><sup id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1504817834833_35301">Host and hostess clubs"</sup>


 for Host over Hostess it is different, they do freely admit to sex being part of their trade.

    Same link as above

<h3 id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1504817834833_66517">"Business strategy</h3>

Usually, hosts try to make the clients feel loved without having sex with them, as it takes up their time and energy.<sup id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1504817834833_66524">[20]</sup> Sometimes, for instance if a customer pays a large amount of money and/or if the host likes them in return, the host can have sex with the client.<sup id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1504817834833_66526">[22]</sup> If the same host meets the same client, they have a higher chance of having sex than the host having sex with another client. The clients attempt to make the individuals very comfortable, thus they will feel compelled to provide for the businessmen in the future by some means. This exchange may be by political or economic means. There are other various methods of business. For example, "mail business" (メール営業) is the practice of a host emailing his customer regularly to ensure their return. Similarly, a host may call their customer, but this is fading in popularity now with the rise in popularity of mail business. Hosts will usually carry a business phone and a private phone."

 

1/10 story
5/10 animation
9/10 sound
7/10 characters
1/10 overall
Flint879's avatar
Jul 19, 2014

THE STORY IS: Haruhi Fujioka is a middle class girl who gets a scholarship to attend the high class Ouran Academy. While she roams the halls trying to find a quiet place to study, she comes across the Host Club, a group of six males who entertain female clients. Shortly after stumbling upon this group, Haruhi accidentally knocks over and breaks a very expensive antique vase. In order to repay for the broken vase, Haruhi is forced to work as an errand boy for the Host Club. The group soon realizes that Haruhi is a natural at being a host and they decide to promote her to full-time host, which will also pay off the debt quicker. The members discover one by one that Haruhi is also a girl. With that, they decide to keep the fact that she is a girl a secret.

This was one of those animes that I did not understand why it was rated real high or why it was so popular. Much like The World God Only Knows, it seemed to follow the same formula. Ouran started out that way in the beginning and got increasingly better as time went on. The story wasn't anything to brag about. Just a show about 6 guys in a host club and 1 girl that is charading as a guy and shananigans with every episode. There was not a set story to be followed. Ouran was funny at times and there were times where some of the stuff kind of got old, but it always mixed it up avoiding repetition and annoyance. This was definitely a decent anime. One of those animes that if it appeared on tv, you couldn't help but watch it. Just like an old cartoon. It may not have a definitive story, but it does have goofiness. Ouran definitely starts out a bit boring and slow, but just like The World God Only Knows, it gets better over time. The further you get into the anime, the better it is and more it's style has rubbed off on you.

ANIMATION & SOUND: The animation was a bit questionable. It reminded me of an anime made in the late 90s or early 00s. I don't know if it was supposed to be made like that. If it was, I'm cool with it. It didn't bother me one bit. It fit the overall theme they were going with.

The Sound was well rounded. The voices fit the characters and they were very good expressing the emotions and personalities of the characters. Music was good. Mostly stereotypical orchestral music, nothing special, but fit the anime well.

CHARACTERS: Every character was different, but more or less, the same in Ouran. What I mean by that is they had different personalities that made them their own person and were developed quite well for all characters. They were all the same in the matter of having the same "Crazy-high-class-rich" attitude. The characters called middle class people "Commoners" and get excited to see what a commoner's lifestyle is like with ordinary grocery stores, malls, and fast food restaurants. Besides having the same mentality of a rich person, they seem to all respect Haruhi, who is considered a commoner in their eyes. Haruhi is not rich by any means, but doesn't flaunt it. All the characters have some sort of background story to tell and it fits nicely within the realm of the actual anime. The cast of Ouran are some of the best characters I've seen in a while.

OVERALL: Ouran High School Host Club was a very good anime all around. Like mentioned earlier, it doesn't have a story that will blow your mind. Just a typical run-of-the-mill school life show. It will rub off on you the further you get into it. I was skeptical on whether I was going to be disappointed or not. I didn't want to watch a really popular anime and be one of those people that said it was terrible. It just took a little bit getting used to the flow of the show and it became quite a charming anime overall.

6/10 story
7/10 animation
7/10 sound
8/10 characters
8/10 overall