"To make a friend's wish come true, we would do nothing less...
And from the bottom of our hearts, we prayed for nothing more."
- from the most tear-jerking pages of Ouran

Anyways, onto the actual review.

Story (8/10)

Ouran High School Host Club is about a normal girl, Fujioka Haruhi, who is admitted to a school (primarily for children of the upper class) on a special scholarship for being an excellent student. While looking for a place to study, she accidentally stumbles upon the Host Club (which is composed of six hot guys of the highest pedigree who cater to girls that have too much time on their hands) and is mistaken for a guy herself because of her shabby dress. When she accidentally breaks an expensive vase belonging to the Host Club, she is forced to work for the Host Club for the rest of her time in high school to pay off her debt.

In most shoujo romantic comedies, slowly but surely, all the guys fall in love with her and she picks the most unlikely one and they live happily ever after. The end.

Well, this isn't exactly the case with Ouran, mostly because our main character isn't looking for the guy of her dreams; she enrolled in Ouran because she wanted to become a lawyer. So, even though she's surrounded by a variety of guys and given the luxury to pick and choose, she doesn't give a damn about them. Frankly, she just wishes they'd all go away so she could study in quiet. And so, Haruhi's life at Ouran begins.

The Host Club's philosophy is to use everyone's unique talents to attract girls who all have their own preferences. There's Tamaki, the princely type, Kyouya, the cool type, Hikaru and Kaoru, the devilish type, Honey, the cute type, Mori, the silent type, and now Haruhi (actually a girl), the natural.

Now I'll have to admit, the manga has a lot of filler content (especially at the beginning where you're still being introduced to the characters), but once you get to know the characters well, you start to realize that the main characters are all very abnormal - as in, all their personalities are ridiculously warped and unrealistic in some way. Why? Well, the brilliance of this manga lies in the journey that the author takes you on to find out.

Art (8/10)

I've got nothing special to say about the art. Bisco Hatori's style isn't very unique, nor is it totally amazing. I will say that the art significantly improves throughout the manga, and by the end, you could almost say that it is noteworthy, but overall, I wouldn't say the art is a main selling point for this manga.

Character (10/10)

If I could, I would rate this section a 13/10. The characters are very likeable, but most importantly, they are portrayed brilliantly. There is a diverse range of personalities and any reader will easily find one to his/her liking. However, the best things about the characters are, without a doubt, their backstories. In this manga, there's always more than meets the eye. Like I said earlier, as you start reading, you'll find that all of members of the Host Club (well maybe except Mori) have ridiculously warped and unrealistic personalities, but if you think about it, what could six hot guys from rich families possibly worry about?

You have Tamaki Suoh, a charming guy with a flamboyant personality who simply strikes you as shallow and annoying, and then you have his unlikely best friend, Kyouya Ootori, a cold and calculating genius who puts on a mask of perfection to hide his insecurities. You are also introduced to the twins, Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, the sons of a famous fashion designer who love to play pranks on everyone. And of course, there's got to be that really cute 12th grader, Mitsukuni Haninozuka (a.k.a. Honey), who is addicted to sweets of all kinds and also a karate master despite his small stature, and his strong and silent sidekick, Takashi Morinozuka (a.k.a. Mori), who is ironically three times taller than him.

As you find out more about them and how they became the person they are today, I will guarantee you: you will gasp, you will sympathize; you may even cry. Don't even give me the excuse of "I have seen the anime so I know about all this already" because the anime doesn't even begin to touch upon their heart-wrenching stories. Just read it and you will know what I mean.

Enjoyment (10/10)

If you're worrying about not being able to get through the fillers to enjoy the main story, don't. That narcisstic, obnoxious, self-indulgent idiot Tamaki will come to the rescue. His actions are always hilarious to look at and his comments are always ridiculously stupid. He's the comic relief of the manga, but by the same token, he's also the source of much of the story's angst.

If you're not a fan of his, then there's always the rest of the Host Club: when their diverse personalities interact, something's bound to go wrong. Or, there's Haruhi, who's always being made fun of because she doesn't know the customs of rich kids. All in all, the manga was very enjoyable.

Overall (10/10)

Overall, this is a wonderful piece. The ending was ridiculous though, but I suppose it is quite fitting of the Host Club, whose members have always been...well...ridiculous.