CLXXVI: "Ouran High School Host Club"

I didn't think the name Haruhi was that common, but it turns out that I was misled a litlte, as that name appears in other anime as well, one of which is Ouran High School Host Club. Ever since I heard of it, I was curious, but started to like it when I actually sat down and watched it.

Ouran Private Academy is a school unlike any other. For starters, it runs from the standard Kindergarten to 12th grade curriculum, and even caters to the university level. In addition, it contains students that seemed to come from esteemed backgrounds, mostly those from wealthy families. Graded A to D classes, these students are classified based on their background. The Ouran High School Host Club, thought up by A-Class Tamaki Suou, not only consists of all A-Class students, but its members seems to be the top of their respective classes. As expected, they all come from the wealthiest of families... save for one.

The premier focal character in question is Haruhi Fujioka, who, unlike other students, doesn't come from a rich, wealthy background, instead from a poor family. However, thanks to a scholarship, this person is able to attend Ouran High as a special A-Class student. At first glance, Haruhi isn't much to look at, sporting the book nerd attire effortlessly. When a vase gets broken, a pricey 8,000,000 yen/ $80,000.00 vase at that, Haruhi is forced to join the Host Club as a means of paying it back. Set with a number of requests to gain, Haruhi has to work tenaciously to pay it off. Thanks to an incident however, the truth comes out: under that ambiguous appearance, Haruhi is actually a girl. All it's members, save for Tamaki, knew initially, and having him discover this came as a shocker. Keeping this a secret, Haruhi is still part of the Host Club regardless until her debt is repaid. Only comedy ensues in the process within and outside the Ouran Host Club.

OHSHC runs for 26 episodes, but is also accompanied by a TV Drama series that has 11 episodes, and a live-action film. The anime was created in the studio Bones back in 2006, licensed by Funimation for U.S. release. It even appeared on their channel. The series is nothing beyond a romantic comedy, which is nice, because, at least to my knowledge, it doesn't have any off-the-wall content (well, a few...) It does have it's few moments of busting the fourth wall, but that isn't a bad thing per say (unless it's repetitive...) Haruhi Fujioka is voiced by Caitlin Glass in the dub, who voiced Chachamaru and Chisame in Negima! and Maya in the Rebuild of Evangelion movie series (Evangelion 1.0 and 2.0)

Ouran High School Host Club is entertaining at best, though who the series may appeal to varies (though it feels like it's aimed for a female audience.) I honestly say that as far as romantic comedies go, this easily gets a 9 of 10. Even if I don't find anything worth laughing at, I can say that this title is up there on my list.