Ouran High School Host Club
Bisco Hatori's Ouran Academy (ミー蘭カ桜アデ Attack of the Evil Roses ) presents the wacky hijinks at prestigious Ouran Academy. Ouran High School Host Club plus Neon Genesis Evangelion equals Revolutionary Girl Utena.
Plot Summary[edit]
Haruhi Fujioka is an absurdly poor young woman
in love with a young Frenchman, Tamaki
who teaches her how to act in high society
on a bet in an anime that has nothing
to do with My Fair Lady. (Nothing to do either
with ''Alice in Wonderland'', though the writers try
mightily in one episode.) She has a scholarship to
this private school because we often hear how smart she is;
she certainly dresses nerdy enough, and is socially inept.
In an unforseen a turn of events she breaks a
vase worth $80,000 US, and is to repay the cost (somehow
in a few years, at an absurd hourly wage) as errand boy
for the Host Club, a chance for the members to flirt with
childish classmates in exchange for money.
The girls who visit the club are obsessed with her. The
others in the club have by this point gradually realized
she is not a boy, but they keep this a secret since in
real life she would be a dyke. The rest is a romantic comedy
that satirizes romantic comedy. Through volumes and volumes
of "hilarious" mixups and misunderstandings, we ask "will
they or won't they"; eventually Tamaki and Haruhi do. In the
meantime Haruhi is paid as a host, and must entertain thousands
of guests (the number goes up every time she irritates Kyoya
or breaks something), which she does in a couple years; she stays
after that for the sake of the plot (this is how it's actually
explained.)
It's a zany coming of age/romance at an absurdly wealthy school
full of mostly harmless eccentrics. Basically as though
everyone in Ootori Academy
had gotten Jesus.
What Is A Host Club?[edit]
The host club or hosuto kurabu is widespread throughout the Orient. It consists of a group of men or women, well-trained in polite conversation and etiquette, and the artful mixing of drinks who are paid to entertain men or women. Even gentle gratification is not implausible though rare in such quarters.
In this series, it is a very much sanitized host club. As to any other club at this prestigious school, students between classes pay vast sums of money for the wares and socialization the host club offers.
Characters[edit]
Haruhi Fujioka is mistaken by everyone either as a really delicate boy or a really butch woman. Contributes most to her family income, as her mother died and her father is a dead beat. In spite of zero chemistry, no personality, no looks, and no money, and nothing helpful to offer in any conversation, she fascinates not just everyone around her but mainly Tamaki whom she someday marries while pursuing her law career (having constantly ruined everyone's day in the host club, she will someday ruin everyone's day in the courtroom). She talks with her mother who is now in heaven when she is confused, and whines about how rich and lazy everyone is. Considering her irresponsible father's laughable finances, if Tamaki hadn't come along she would have been in dire financial straits and destined for much worse.
Takashi "Morrie" Morinozuka is the strong silent type. He dreams of being
the titular character of a novel not written by a childish Japanese woman.
Honey-sempai is Takashi's older cousin who looks and acts like a six year old. Numerous fanfictions have suggested he is Tamaki's younger brother but those people are stupid. He takes vitamins to stunt his growth; someday he'll die of cancer but no-one cares.
Tamaki Suoh (full name, according to fifteenth volume of the
manga, Rene Tamaki Richard de Grantaine) is mostly French,
his dead mother being Japanese. He owns the host club he considers Haruhi, the
girl of his dreams, to be like his daughter. A flamboyant young
man straight out of something by Oscar Wilde. Though constantly
confused and having no idea what he is talking about, we are told
he is top of his class.Likes costumes and dresses as a woman occasionally.
Kyoya Ootori runs the host club; he also owns it, though he lets Tamaki think he does. He was intended as fetish fuel for girls obsessed with guys wearing glasses. Tamaki calls him Mother.
The Hitachiin twins, Hikaru and Kaoru are really just alike (the author can't even remember which is which, she has to use which side they part their hair on). No point in having both. Their gay incest act (which gets rave reviews from customers) doesn't even require twins, just brothers.
Eclair Tonerre, her name meaning "lightning thunder" in French (Haruhi is afraid of both), stalks Tamaki, whose dysfunctional scheming relatives manipulate his weak mind to arrange the affair. Thinks Haruhi is a man, prompting numerous anti-gay slurs. Often bullied Renge and Tamaki and made them cry when they were all three growing up together on the French seacoast, cyberbullied them in later years. (Only shows up in the anime.) Ends up living alone with six cats.
Renge Houshakuji is from France. Thinks she runs the Host Club. Often hallucinates and thinks mainly in terms of common manga and animetropes with which she is obsessed. She produces a magazine of Otaku culture. She eventually majors in business, an unfortunate undertaking as any networking skills are undermined by her social retardation. Hatori intended her to be a main character but lost interest.
Ryouji Ranka Fujioka is Haruhi's alcoholic father who barely scrapes together room and board in drag as a prostitute, plying his/her trade at a bar. He drinks most of his earnings.
And a new character every episode. Numerous other people with too much time and money on their hands.
Theme Tune[edit]
The theme tune of the anime is Sakura Kiss by Chieko Kawabe. The music video is so-so; stupid nonsense such as dressing in plush bunnysuits and frogsuits, but Chieko herself is a nice piece of ass and plays a Gibson.
Romantic Egoist[edit]
Also featured regularly in the manga is "Romantic Egoist", an earlier endeavor by Hatori. Girl named Yurine, also at Ouran Academy, does drugs to impress a guy. It doesn't work.
Egoistic Club[edit]
Bisco Hatori first rose to prominence on early incarnations of DeviantART and began to devote her light and life to manga. Her life's masterwork is Ouran High School Host Club. She constantly complains about deadlines, which is understanding considering the nature of her work. Also present in her end-of-volume rantings[ are innumerable drawings of alternate designs of her characters which did not come to fruition. She is also noted for her seminal work Millennium Snow, the rollicking (and better) inspiration for Twilight. Her Romance of One Moment and her Detarame Mosoryoku Opera are both shite.
Born and raised in obscurity, she will likely die in obscurity.
Often talks about how hard all the characters are to draw, and how everyone says her art sucks.
Critical Acclaim[edit]
The anime was praised, Haruhi Fujioka being "actually written smart and acts smart", as opposed to what one might expect from the rest of the show.