Aaron's Review: Ouran HighSchool Host Club

It’s only weird if it doesn’t work. And this works in the best way. 

Guys, Gals, & Non Binary Pals, this is Animated-Aaron’s review of Ouran High School Host Club.

The show has a pretty odd premise, so bear with me for a second. At Ouran academy, a prestigious school for rich kids, a middle class student named Haruhi gets in due to their high grades. But, Haruhi accidentally breaks a vase owned by the Host club and must work as a host to pay it off. However, the host club is a club where boys flirt and socialize with girls who request them. Haruhi, while able to pass as a boy, is a girl.

!The Story

So is the conflict about Haruhi’s identity being discovered? Yes and no. That’s a lingering factor but it’s not the overarching narrative. The show is a slice of life comedy where the club members deal with a ‘problem of the day’. However, the problems seem to have a pretty wide range.

One episode has a little girl lost in the high school looking for her big brother and can’t recognize him do to him having a skin condition where he has to shield himself from light. So, the host club helps the two rekindle the relationship. Another episode is just them goofing off at a waterpark. They could be making a movie, or helping a kid learn how to be a gentleman, etcetera.

What I liked was how the pacing of each episode was. Nothing felt forced or rushed but there were a few scenes that dragged on for too long in my opinion. I also like that it never took itself too seriously. When two characters who are twins are fighting, they dye their hair. However, one was baby blue and the other was cotton candy pink and they make jokes about how weird they look.

!Characters!

Each character gets a pretty good amount of screen time and development but there’s seven main characters so forgive me for leaving something out.

Haruhi is the main heroine. She’s very nonchalant and easy going but her club mates egocentric personalities tend to clash with that leaving her to have mixed reactions to their antics. Often the voice of reason/reality, Haruhi is the one commentating on the foolish remarks of the host club making her a good source of comedy. Since she pretends to be a boy, Haruhi’s views of gender roles can be summed up as ‘whatever’. Her personality does slightly change when acting a host club member/male. He tends to be more polite and active but still carrying the characteristics of his female personality.

Tamaki, the leader of the host club is a very arrogant and is just as compassionate. He views it as his duty to make people happy and help out others. When he’s not trying to make someone smile he’s either stroking his own ego or trying to flatter Haruhi. He’s extremely protective of the people he cares about which is hilarious in its own right when it’s used as comic relief from how over the top he can be. But, he can be obnoxious, not just for the characters but for me as well. But at no point was I rejoicing his absence from the screen. He’s a nice protagonist.

Kyouya is the vice president. He’s very calm almost never raising his voice or being shocked at anything. This is a great contrast to the other characters who are running around and doing other things that would send a high schooler to detention. Kyo is the smartest and knows it but doesn’t stoke his ego the way Tamaki does. He just shows it by taking precautions for the clubs activities. He acts as the shows exposition dump at times and it can be dry, but he’s very fun to listen to.

The Hitachiintwins, Kaoru (Voiced by Greg Ayres) & Hikaru (Todd Haberkorn) are both mischievous. Kaoru is more level-headed and easy-going in comparison so he’s often the first to realize when something is wrong or gone too far. Hikaru tends to be more emotional and dependent on his brother than Kaoru is of Hikaru. The two never take their antics to a point of malevolence, but their gimmick as host is an ‘incest play’ that some episodic characters (and myself) cocked an eyebrow at. I’ll get more into that later, but I just want to talk about the twin’s relationship right now.

The two are never separate except for a few episodes where that’s the idea. It’s always ‘we did this’ or ‘Kaoru helped me with that’. They do the twins talking at the same time cliché which, while not grating, can be annoying. The best way for me to describe them is they’re charming characters with a lot of charisma who I roll my eyes at a lot.

Honey/ Mitsukuni Haninozuka is one thing in anime that I cannot stand for the life of me. Shotas are these archetypes in anime where a character’s design makes them appear to be around the age of an elementary school child. While sometimes they are actual children, they’re often stated to be in high school. This is often done to sexualize the character. While Honey is at no point sexualized, he does carry a lot of the shota stereotypes where he’s always trying to look cute or act childish. He eats lots of sweets, has stuffed animals, mispronounces words, etc. He’s an 8 year old but the show states he’s 17. I fucking hate this trope because if you want to have a ‘short character’ then design them to look like an actual little person. If you want a child, then have his canon age be 8 and state he’s in high school due to being a child prodigy. The Shota (male) and Loli (female) concept in anime just pisses me off cause it comes across as ‘pedophile bait’. And while Honey may actually have a few funny moments many do the voice actresses tremendous job, his concept still just crawls under my skin despite him not being sexualized the way other shotas are.

The last character is Mori. He doesn’t talk a lot. I think he’s said a full paragraph in seven episodes. So…I don’t like him and I don’t hate him. Honestly, he’s just kind of in the background and just fills space.

!The Show!

Now back to the Hitachiin twins’ incest thing. At no point do I actually believe they’re actually screwing each other. The host club is just playing to girl’s fantasy of how ‘hot’ it would be for two gay brothers to be involved. The ‘forbidden fruit is more tempting’ angle. Tamaki is a gentleman who sweet talks them. Mori is the strong silent type. So on and so forth for each member of the club. It didn’t take me a long time to realize this, but it is hard to explain.

The show does this part good. It shows how each member acts toward the others and certain obstacles without being over bearing. I may not like Honey’s concept, but its how the show treated him as a character that I enjoyed. I loved watching Tamaki freak out over a kid calling him names that ended up costing him a client. I thought it was sweet how the show dwells into the twin’s lives before the host club. I liked how each episode was paced and how it would make fun of its own ridiculous concepts.

My main gripe is how it does use some clichés. There’s episodes where they go to the beach and have a play and rivals from another school come in. Not much was done with the episode tropes but how the characters tackle the issues was what I came for.

!Summary!

Ouran is defiantly a weird show that knows it’s weird but is still able to have honest fun and take things seriously. I understand not wanting to see a show where two brothers pretend to be romantically involved and a ‘will they or won’t they’ trope between Haruhi and Tamaki, but trust me when I saw it’s worth it.

!Grade!

Ouran HSHC: B

Final Word:  If you can get past the framing, the painting is gorgeous.

What’s Your Opinion?