Genre: Comedy, Reverse Harem, Slice of Life (school life), Drama
Call me lonely, bored, or just tasteless, but for the past few months, I've been watching a great deal of harem anime. What is harem anime you ask? If you were to take a guess at what it would be like, even for those who don't watch any anime, you would most likely be right. It's exactly as it sounds, a show in which the main protagonist (usually male) is surrounded by a harem of girls/women. Most of these plots revolve around these girls trying their damnedest to win their lover's heart. This is all fine and dandy, but what irks me the most about this genre of anime is that the main protagonist is always dull/lifeless as a manila folder. Most often times they are also completely oblivious to their surroundings and have the worst case of tunnel vision ever. When I came across Ouran High School Host Club and found out that the main protagonist was female instead of male, I just had to watch and see whether or not she would be as bland as her manila-folder male counterparts.
Story
Haruhi is a tomboyish girl at Ouran High School, a school for the affluent and ultra wealthy. She is able to attend by means of a scholarship but is frequently reminded of her status amongst her peers. On her way looking for a place to study, she stumbles across the infamous Ouran Host Club, a group of handsome guys who give hospitality to girls who seem to have plenty of time (as well as money) to spend on these 'hosts'. She tries to leave, but accidentally breaks a very expensive vase which she is unable to pay for. The club forces her to stay and pay off the debt by doing various chores and odd jobs until they notice that she would best serve as a host instead. Still oblivious to Haruhi being a girl, hilarity ensues as the host club prepares her to be a host; she's a natural and the club later decides to keep her despite knowing the truth. For the most part, the series revolves around the Host Club and the various activities they partake in as well as a number of problems that arise along the way. Problems that arise are merely episodic and although there is an existing storyline, nothing overly dramatic or powerfully moving ever happens; fairly normal for a slice-of-life anime.Characters: Meet the Host Club
From left to right: Mori, Honey, Kyouya, Tamaki, and the Hitachiin twins (Hikaru/Kaoru). Last but not least is Haruhi sitting in the chair.
Some brief descriptions of the Host Club in order of relevance:
Fujioka Haruhi: The heroine of our reverse harem anime, sad to say she's fairly dull, but for some reason I don't necessarily hate her as much as her male counterparts. She's a fairly average person who just happens to make various/conveniently strong connections with the harem at hand. Her eyes got creepy for me at times (watch out they're deadly), but as long as you don't stare into them, you'll be okay.
Suou Tamaki: The president of the host club, Tamaki is very forward in his advances during his host duties. He plays the overly romantic and chivalrous 'prince-type' character. Aside from his typical personality, he is very oblivious to his surroundings as he incessantly obsesses over Haruhi.
Hitachin Hikaru/Kaoru: Honestly, you will rarely see these two not mentioned together on the show. You honestly can't tell the two apart on the show; which becomes a lingering problem for them. Surprisingly enough, Haruhi is the only one who can distinguish the two. The twins actively take advantage of their 'forbidden' brotherly-love to charm girls.
Ootori Kyouya - An intellectual type who is very transaction-oriented. He handles the finances/logistics of the club while constantly looking out for various ventures for his personal gain, often times for wealth or prestige.
Haninozuka Mitsukuni (Honey) - Probably my favorite host just because he's so damn cute. He's the infamous loli character of the show. Appearing to be a fairly harmless high school senior, there's more to him than his bunny-carrying-cake-eating self.
Morinozuka Takashi (Mori) - Often times linked with Honey, he's the stoic character who doens't get too many lines or appearance time on the show, but he's just inherently cool. A man of few words to say the least.
For the most part as with any harem anime, reverse or not, the characters fit within the typical archetypes of a shoujo manga. An unfortunate result of this is that these characters are fairly static. Towards the latter half of the series some of the host club members' personalities are expanded upon; but nothing too groundbreaking. It made me wonder why they didn't spend some time developing the characters for the rest of the cast. Regardless, I felt that the cast was instantly likable.
Voice Acting/Sound
As far as the music goes for this series, it's all fairly standard. The various settings, environments, and moods are introduced well with a mix of different strings/piano melodies. Humorous slapstick moments are evoked with cartoon-like sound effects while dramatic moments are stimulated by tense high-tempo beats. The opening and ending tracks "Sakura kiss" by Chieko Kawabe and "Shissou" by LAST ALLIANCE seem fairly standard to me. The opening's very girly lyrics may turn off some viewers from watching the show but for those willing to look beyond the OP, they surely won't be disappointed with the show.I was thrilled to hear Miyano Mamoru's voice work for Tamaki as he sounded like a true prince and displayed his true talents during Tamaki's assorted outbursts of anger, remorse, and daydreaming. For those who are unfamiliar with Mamoru, he does the voice work for Yagami Light in the very popularDeath Note. I was also impressed with Saito Ayaka's voice for Honey; I don't think anyone can outdo her when voicing a loli character.
Loved
Self-Awareness: Despite Haruhi being a very dull main protagonist, at numerous points during the show the other members of the cast will mention how boring or lazy she is. Every episode has countless captions describing different objects and scenarios to add humor to the show, and it works. It feels like a director's cut version of anime with non-verbal commentary.
Houshakuji Renge: A fairly minor character on the show, (below) Renge pops in and out of the Host Club's activities. Due to her fanatical knowledge about moethemes she often appears to voice her opinion on certain scenarios. She's extremely loud and outspoken and simply makes me laugh whenever she rises from the floor, often times through some lift; which makes me always wonder why she's always around.
Hated
No Ending: Although the series spans over a whopping 26 episodes, as I mentioned above, nothing too significant happens. The ending left a few questions unanswered and left an overall sense of emptiness. This often happens with various comedy/slice-of-life series; they tend to emphasize the gags and humour in expense of cohesiveness and closure towards the end. I suppose this is where they hook fans into the manga afterwards.
The Lowdown: For those looking to have a couple of wholesome laughs or those looking for a change of pace with their harem anime, this is your ticket. I wasn't expecting too much when I started watching, but I was surprised for sure.
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