Anime Review: Ouran Host Club

Review Ouran Host ClubWritten by WarpshadowRating very good/ excellent

There are many anime fans that say bishonen aren't there cup of tea but in the case of Ouran Host Club the tea is so good that it would be a shame not to try a cup.

Ouran is a school for the extremely wealthy and prestigious making a middle class student like Haruhi Fujioka something of an oddity. In attempting to find a quiet place to study Haruhi enters the room designated to the Ouran Host Club thinking is just an unused music room and accidentally knocks over a vase worth eight million yen (roughly 80,000 dollars). Having no way to pay for the damage Haruhi is forced to do grunt work until it is found out that Haruhi is good looking enough to do the work of a host. There is another oddity about Haruhi that is worth mentioning for while the Host Club is comprised of handsome men who's job is to entertain women Haruhi is a woman herself.

Ouran Host Club is a show that is difficult to describe in simple terms simply because it is quite different than most shows out there. It is a show about bishonen that also cleverly labels and lampoons such conventions while remaining palatable to their fans. In fact the comedy, especially Haruhi's status as comedic straight man (or in this case woman) deflates the feelings of animosity that some fans tend to have against female leads. As such Ouran Host Club is top notch comedy suitable for people of both sexes.

Yet for all the show's premise on stereotypes the characters are more complex and fresh than the show's premise would make them seem. This is particularly true in the case of the male lead, Tamaki Souh. While many shojo stories tend to have brooding and standoffish men Tamaki is either comically insecure or selfless and charismatic depending on the mood of the scene. Other characters also have their twists to them. In any case Ouran Host Club is a rare treat to be enjoyed by just about anybody.