Ouran Academy is for the super rich and super spoiled. The school’s host club (hence the title, OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB) is also for the super beautiful. And what, pray tell, is a host club?
This Japanese phenomenon is basically where women pay men to be their boyfriends. No, not that way. The man might take the woman out to dinner, or charm her, or say nice things to her.
The hosts of Ouran’s host club are made up of beguiling and handsome young men who make the ladies squeal. One day a commoner (i.e., poor) student named Haruhi who makes it into the school on the graces of good grades accidently goes into the host club room.
And accidently knocks over and breaks a very expensive Renaissance vase. Poor students don’t have money to pay for replacements, so the club decides Haruhi will have to work as a host until the debt is paid off. That might be an issue, because Haruhi is grubby-looking and doesn’t care about appearances.
However, one makeover changes everything, getting Haruhi all cleaned up and ready to be a host. Haruhi is fairly shy and reserved, something many ladies like. It seems there’s a new popular host in the club.
And it’s quite a club, to say the least. Haruhi must be the most normal out of all of them. Tamaki, known as The King, is a blond heartthrob with a vacuous personality and flamboyant demeanor. There’s also Honey, a high school student who looks like a child and carries around a stuffed rabbit. And there are those identical twins who fawn over each other, much to the girls’ delight. Haruhi thinks they’re all weird.
Things get a little more complex when Tamaki, thinking nothing of it, walks in on a changing Haruhi. And sees Haruhi’s girly underclothes. And realizes Haruhi is a girl. Their latest host, their magnet for the ladies, is a girl everyone thought was a boy. Oops. But the secret must be kept! A debt has to be paid off. And Tamaki is falling in love with Haruhi!
OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB loves being funny and outrageous. Watching it is an absolute blast. It was already popular in America as a manga through VIZ Media, and when FUNimation announced it was licensing the anime version, it got applause from all over. This is a fairly well-known anime, and with reason. FUNimation recently released the complete series — that’s 26 episodes — on both DVD and Blu-ray. There’s no resisting this host club!