Trying to Explain...Ouran High School Host Club

Continuing on with trying to explain some anime series, I'm keeping to the theme of 'comedy' while also wanting to talk a bit more about the 'shoujo' genre of manga.

For those who are unaware, 'shoujo' manga is the equivalent of 'shonen' manga, instead focusing on girl readers instead of boys. It focuses more on female protagonists instead of males, tends to have more romantic plots and story resolutions that have characters grow as, well, characters. It has also been know to feature a lot of homosexual relationships, whether it is between boys (called yaoi) or between girls (called yuri). It doesn't exactly go to the levels were it would be referred to as 'josei' manga (more for older women), but it is an easy point for people to make light fun with (nothing serious, of course).

Something else that would need an explanation would be the 'host club'. Think of it as a 'home away from home' for female workers of hostess clubs, where instead of pampering overworked salarymen, they are the ones pampered instead. Sex isn't involved, just a lot of flattery and flirting at a cost rate that could make your heads' spin.

Here, we have the 'Ouran High School Host Club', which can be considered the PG version of a standard host club. A group of boys in a high school for the ultra rich host (get it?) the club as a means to spend some free time with the girls of the same school. A new arrival ends up in debt to them due to breaking something expensive, so they must work for them until the debt is paid off (which tends to build on occasion). They quickly find out the new arrival isn't actually a boy, but a girl, which they try to hide so that they don't get into too much trouble (I think). Don't worry about this, since its actually revealed in the first episode.

(Though, now you have the pleasure of figuring out which is the girl. Good luck.)

Let me at least go through the main cast, so that you can figure out where everyone fits in the group.
We have:

• Kyouya Otori, the business end of the host club, managing all their finances with an air of calm to counteract the group's buffoonery, 
• The twins, Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachin,
• Mitsukuni Haninozuka, also known as 'Hani' (pronounced 'Honey') is the small scale student who is actually one of the oldest students in the group,
• Takashi Morinozuka, also known as 'Mori', who is actually the friend/bodyguard to Hani due to their families,
• and we have Tamaki Suoh, the 'leader' of the Ouran Host Club with a flair for the dramatic (and goofiness, at least unintentionally).

Actually, wait, I'm leaving out one person. Haruhi Fujioka, the newest student of the ultra rich high school.

Yep, probably took you awhile to realize it too.

(The wonders of modern cosmetics and human gullibility)

Considering how there are female voice actors that also voice young male characters, it may actually come off as a surprise to anyone watching it the first time. After all, the twins and 'Hani' are also voiced by female voice actors (both in the original Japanese and English dub).

Really, the series is quite light-hearted while still having moments of drama and comedy tossed in from time to time. Not to mention some character development not just for Haruhi, but also most of the host club members themselves. It also tends to parody the 'shoujo' style of manga stories while also embracing it.

Keeping that in mind, I don't see many male viewers grabbing onto this as quickly as you would think. Some may not want to gravitate to something considered 'girly' and would do better to ignore it. Not to mention people who don't understand how characters like 'Hani', Kyouya or Tamaki are popular both within the show and without.

In the end, it is a rather well-done parody that highlights 'shoujo' style manga while also showing off what makes it popular.

Until next time...