Ouran Highschool Host Club Anime Review

OURAN HIGHSCHOOL HOST CLUB SCORE: 9.25

INTRODUCTION & SYNOPSIS

A bit of forewarning, Ouran Highschool Host Club is an anime that I absolutely loved every minute of, and it may be difficult for me to find a lot of fault in it since it is (in my opinion) one of the best rom/com anime I have ever seen. The anime made me laugh out loud, feel great bonds between characters, and just gave me this inexplainable pleasant feeling the whole way through. I was probably sitting there with a stupid smile on my face every time I was watching it because I enjoyed the characters and situations they would get into so much. 

Our story begins with Haruhi Fujioka, a poor and tom-boyish girl who tests her way into an extravagant high school for only the wealthiest students - Ouran Academy. Amazed by its size and grandeur, Haruhi looks for a quiet place to study. She opens up the door to an abandoned music room, shortly thereafter she knocks over an extremely expensive vase. At that, six handsomely dressed boys appear to introduce themselves as the "Ouran Highschool Host Club." Because Haruhi has knocked over their vase, she must join the Host Club to repay her debts. In case you didn't know, a host club is a place in Japan that young women go to be served tea and food by handsome men, and to receive personal attention such as being smiled at, listened to, and talked to. So, herein lies the issue, Haruhi has been mistaken for a boy! Shortly after, the boys all find out that Haruhi is a girl, but have her continue to dress as a boy and work at the host club - comedic situations ensue.

Many episodes open with a great description that will set the scene for you:

"Only those with excellent social standing, and those from filthy rich families, are lucky enough to spend their time here, at the elite, private school, Ouran Academy. The Ouran Host Club is where the schools handsomest boys with too much time on their hands, entertain young ladies who also have way too much time on their hands. Just think of it as Ouran Academy's elegant playground for the super rich and beautiful."

PROS

Stand out best part about the anime: The characters. Every character was lovable and intersting, and they all had unique back stories that brought them to the host club. First, there's the twins Hikaru and Kaoru. They are both energetic and fun characters with an emotional backstory involving the fact that no one can tell them a part. Then we have Mori and Honey Senpai. Honey Senpai is one of my favorite characters; he plays the "lolly" type, and I love the fact that he gave up being a badass to eat cake and sugar all day. Mori Senpai is his best friend who carries him around all the time. Then we have our main male character Tamaki. Tamaki is the French ladies man of the group who can't seem to put the charms on Haruhi. I love how we get to see the depth in his character in the later episodes and how he banded together the Host Club. Lastly, as the narrator of the show and the manager of the Host Club, we have Kyoya. He's the cool type that cares deep down, and is always looking out for the club. All of the boys have episodes and moments with our main girl Haruhi, like in any reverse harem, but this one does it in such an enjoyable and comedic way that is not too often seen. I love that they didn't take the stereotypical route of a happy, sweet, girlish lead with no personality, but instead made her a hard-to-get tom-boy who isn't charmed by anyone's appearance. It contrasted really well with all of the guys personalities.

Another big pro for this anime was its comedy. Most of the comedic elements just worked brilliantly in my opinion. I was always laughing and enjoying myself from episode to episode. I think one of the funniest situations was when all of the boys met Haruhi's dad; I won't ruin the surprise, but it was a crack up. I also found Haruhi and Tamaki's relationship to be really enjoyable and fun; when they were interacting with each other, I was always laughing.

Something else that I didn't expect, but really enjoyed was the setting and atmosphere. The extravagant academy is somewhere I think everyone would dream of going and it lets you live vicariously through Haruhi; seeing her get the chance to be surrounded by all these amazing things and experiences.

Finally, The animation had a welcoming and light-hearted Shojou feel that I loved. It was simple, yet detailed, and at the same time completely natural. The voice acting for the English Dub really added to this anime, Funimation did a superb job with the casting. To go along with that, the sound tracks all complimented the anime well, and the opening theme song really grew on me!

CONS

I do not have many negative things to say about this anime because I think it did it's job really well. I will say that the ending was slightly over dramatized and didn't match the tone of the rest of the anime; however, I was still satisfied enough with the ending. I know it's difficult to pull off a perfect ending to a light hearted comedy, so I can't knock it down too much. My last gripe is that it kind of creeped me out when the twins were pretending to be romantic partners for the girls at the Host Club, but I found it a little quirky and funny as time went on. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

I really enjoyed Ouran Highschool Host Club; it was easy to watch, I didn't have to think too much, I was consistently laughing, and it had a welcoming vibe that I loved. Flaws were few and far between, leaving me with an overall score of 9.25 out of 10. I would recommend you watch Ouran Highschool Host Club!

Watched on: Dubs2go.net (free source)