Ouran High School Host Club
Author |
HATORI Bisco |
Artist |
HATORI Bisco |
Primary Genre |
|
Sub Genres |
Comedy, Shoujo |
Volumes |
13 |
Licensed |
Yes |
| Publication History | |
Japanese Publisher |
|
Serialized in |
|
Serialization Start |
0000 |
Serialization End |
0000 |
US Publisher |
Viz Media |
| Series Summary |
Serialized in LaLa
Fujioka Haruhi just wanted to find a quiet place to study, a hard task to accomplish in the ultra posh Ouran High School. She thought that the unused music room might just be the perfect place to accomplish her goal. Instead, she stumbles onto a club peculiar to this school — the Host Club — a place for the refined rich to waste away the hours surrounded by equally rich and gorgeous men. Haruhi, the schools only scholarship student, accidentally breaks an $80,000 vase belonging to the Host Club and can’t afford to pay for her blunder. Suoh Tamaki, the reigning king of the club, comes up with a solution: Haruhi will be the Club’s slave. Tamaki, however, misses one important thing about Haruhi: she’s a girl, not a guy. Not that you can blame him, since she wears boys’ clothes, has short hair, and old-fashioned glasses. From this point on, Haruhi has to work hard to pay back her debt. Once he realizes that Haruhi actually makes an attractive boy, Tamaki dedicates himself to teaching his new pupil how to be the best host possible. With manipulative queens, mismatched lovers, fangirl fiancées, and the idiosyncrasies of her fellow host club members to deal with, life won’t be easy for poor Haruhi, and the road to repayment will be a long and hard one. Though at least it’s sort of fun to have the cute girls fuss over you... Ouran Koukou Host Club is very much a shoujo styled story, with nothing too deep or troubling presented, as of the first volume at least. The entire story is based off of, and revolves around, the characters and the situations they are placed in, especially the events surrounding the Host Club and its members. The characters are enjoyable and fun to read about, varying in personality from Tamaki, the slightly annoying and egotistical president of the Host Club, to Hunny, the club’s overly cute, bunny-carrying eldest member. Add in a set of fun-loving twins, a controlling vice president, a tall, quiet boy who is always by Hunny’s side, and, of course, our poor, lamentable leading lady Haruhi and you have our cast of characters. Since the focus of the series is a host club, we are given a revolving set of secondary characters that come and go, adding humor, angst, and back story to the plot. Undoubtedly, you’ll find at least one character in this manga to grow attached to. Hatori Bisco’s style flows superbly, with characters that are attractive when normal and cute when necessary. Of course, the female characters have quite large eyes, with Haruhi having the biggest, but they don’t overpower the rest of the face or look out of place, which can happen in other titles. The storytelling itself works well. We’re introduced to the characters and the situation early on. We as readers don’t feel lost or confused watching the plot move along. The manga-ka tells us what we need to know without ever talking down to his audience. The story is kept amusing, with constant sight gags and jokes, some of which are only caught in a second read. Despite this, there is still a slightly serious side lurking underneath, which may come out in later volumes. Released by VIZ at $8.99 as part of its Shojo Beat line, this series also boasts a lower price than most others. Furthermore, the short story “Hunny’s Bun-Bun,” a tale of a boy’s love for his stuffed bunny and the devastation that arises from its ruin, is reason enough to purchase the first volume. Any fans of series such as Fruits Basket, Hot Gimmick, Hana-Kimi, or any other cross-dressing series, will love this series about one girl’s discovery of how different the rich really can be from the rest of us.
Reviewed by: ShibbyNezumi Information last updated on Nov 4, 2008 |
