Ouran Koukou Host Club

Hmm … So, no one made a review for Ouran High School Host Club light novel which is pretty decent to read? I know it’s pretty late, but alright … let me to write the first review for this light novel. I will try to make this review spoiler-free.

Actually, I recently read this book after previously watching anime from this series. I found this book in the nearest bookstore. This book was published about two years ago in my country, but it doesn’t seem to be much sold. So, the price is discounted to attract customer. Lucky me! I can buy the book with cheap price. However, I feel sad to see these books still pilling up there. Without a doubt, that is the risk of physical book sales regardless the type. The light novel contains two volumes. The first one called ‘The Extraordinary Days’ and the second one called ‘The Treasured Days’.

The story of the light novel is still telling about Host Club at Ouran Academy, but all the stories are not in the manga. Each novel contains three chapters. The writing of the light novel involves three different authors which means there is a different style of storytelling. It’s like an official fanfiction which is approved by the original author. It can be seen in the writing of stories that still have characters and plot that are still related to the manga that have been created before. If we assume, the story in this light novel has the same timeline with the manga. The novel begins in 2008 to 2009 and the manga ends in 2010 with total 18 volumes.

On the whole, the story of this novel has the same drama and comedy aspect as the manga that can make you giggle. Because it’s a written work, then many stories are described in detail that can’t be imagined if you haven’t watched the anime and read the manga. Therefore, I recommend you to do one of those things so you can understand what's going on in the light novel.

All the characters here have their own characteristics so there are no character developments there. Nevertheless, their behavior never fails to amuse me. In my opinion, there’s nothing can be said about character developments because the traits of all characters are appropriate.

Although all stories are made by others, the illustrations for this light novel are still made by the original creator, Bisco Hatori. As usual, the arts she draws attract the readers as in manga. The illustrations depict particular events well, for instance when Tamaki imagined he was staring at Haruhi who was blushing. But as always, Takashi is still depicted as having no expression in any situation.

Moreover, on the front page of each volume there is a colored folding picture of host club members with different themes and costumes. The different costumes at certain time is characteristic of this club. The arts drawn are quite refreshing and full of color … and also reveal the other side of the club members. That is the selling point of this light novel.

Overall, I really enjoy Ouran High School Host Club light novel. Although it’s not a perfect light novel, but I give it 10 based on my enjoyment. The essence of light novel from a manga series is content exclusivity. It can be found in this novel. If you enjoy manga or anime Ouran High School Host Club, you probably will enjoy the light novel.

A complete, interesting, and realistic romance? I didn't know those existed until now! Now, but honestly, this manga went above and beyond my expectations in every sense of the phrase.

Let's start with the art. #1: Way better than the anime's. I don't know if it's because I'm seeing it in black-and-white or if the art style is fundamentally different between the two, but I liked the style so much more with the manga. #2: The details were amazing. To replicate the extravagant lifestyle these people live in drawing is amazing.

The characters. I'd probably say that this story's characters have close to the most personality I've seen from manga OR anime in a while. All of them got a chance at development, and all of them were extremely complex in their own ways.

The story, though. The story is what highlighted all the great aspects of this manga. I feel like I could go on about it forever, but I'll talk about two of the best story points this manga has. First of all, Tamaki, one of the main characters: if you're at all interested in this manga, please read it simply to experience the development and growth that one of the main characters goes through. As I said, the story supports his character so much, and it makes reading the story OUTSIDE of the romance way more interesting. In fact, this may be the only romance manga I've read (and probably anime I've seen) so far that hasn't, at some point, made me go, "Okay, the story is cool and all, but I'm here for the romance." I was that enthralled by it, and I'd say that's a pretty nice praise for the story itself.

Speaking of romance, that would be the second story point I felt this manga did really well. It didn't have anything unnecessary, and I really enjoyed that. I think it may depend on personal taste; if you like your romances to be more angsty, maybe this will seem a little too tame for you. However, for me, I enjoyed the realism in it. It wasn't too much, it wasn't to little, but it was natural. Also, I liked the fact that the romance was able to take a backseat sometimes in favor of developing other story points or characters that were more important at the time. The romance felt ingrained into the story, like it was supposed to be there, like the events of the story and the romance developments went hand in hand.

As you can tell, this manga is probably going to be on my favorites list for a long time. I'm so happy I found something that I wasn't depending on just for the romantic aspects. I found a great story, a great set of characters, and a great set of relationships through this manga. It feels like it'll be a comfort manga to me from now on. Sort of like these characters are family now. So, yeah. I have the highest praise for this manga, and I hope you take the chance to read it someday. I'm really glad I did.

I turned my review section to place where can i deliver my thought on this manga. so please be aware that this could led to spoiler.
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straight to the point, I gave this manga 10/10...the reason is because at this time lately I read lot's of romance manga and most of it contain terrible, unsatisfying and uncompleted ending. so pretty much I'm searching for good manga to make me recover from this heartbroken....and the answer is this Ouran koukou host club...

what I like
- GOOD and VERY SATISFYING ending...probably the only romance manga that I can say this very well.
- it's not even cross my mind that this is shoujo manga given that i am male reader. maybe because of the gold story that was present to me.
- No ecchi, no erotic scene, no ntr, no cheating, no aggressive pervert male mc,
- the love triangle is well execute here.
- all character in this series is very well develop...even now, i can't recall anyone that i really hate
-no annoying character

what I don't like
-basically NOTHING, but if have to add one would be I WANT MORE...i want to know what happen in the future...

10/10
might be update in the future

Ouran High School Host Club was one of the most iconic shoujo series of the 2000s with cosplayers at every anime con and a huge following online at the time. For those not familiar, it is a mostly light-hearted reverse harem comedy series centered around Haruhi, a girl from a relatively poor household attending a prestigious school for rich kids as a scholarship student. Due to an unfortunate accident and the fact that the lazy way she dresses caused her to be mistaken for a boy, she ends up getting recruited to be part of the high school’s “Host Club” in order to work off a debt. She must then act as a male to entertain the (mostly) female patrons of the Host Club while also dealing with the various antics of the other Host Club members.

I was originally exposed to this series around when the US English releases where first coming out and read the first 6 or so volumes around that time. I continued to collect the series, but fell behind in reading the books as I got them. Now I’ve just recently started over and read the entire 18 volumes series from beginning to end. While it did have some genuinely amusing moments and even some touching moments with fun characters, it sadly felt like a bit of a slog to get through it all. I am glad that I read the series, but I don’t imagine myself ever having the desire to read it again.

Anyway, let’s get into the category breakouts:

-----Story - 6 out of 10-----
The story was easily the biggest sticking point for me. As mentioned above, the 18 volumes were a bit of a slog to get through. For something that’s largely light comedy content, the series is much more text-heavy than it probably needed to be and many of the storylines felt a bit empty. While the overall story has its interesting bits, I didn’t feel very invested in it until the romance aspect took more of a central focus in the last 5 or so volumes. Also, a major personal issue that I had with the series was how it treated time. Early on in my manga-reading life, one of my favorite things about the series Love Hina was its progression of time throughout the series; characters aged over the years and it actually let time pass at a rate which seemed to line up at many moments with the actual real-world time when the manga was being published! However, in Ouran an artificial passage of time was used for a lot of the series similar to US cartoon and comic series like Peanuts and The Simpsons. At times the text would literally say things like, “A new school year has started, but please ignore the fact that the characters are still in the same grade.” That just really bothered me and took me out of the story. They did eventually pass on to a real new school year, but in a way that almost made the early parts worse. Like, why couldn’t you have just done this early?! Other than that, there were a number of genuinely funny and touching moments, although it did feel at times that the series was nearly twice as long as it needed to be.

-----Art - 8 out of 10-----
There was very little to complain about in the art department. The character designs were largely distinctive and fun to look at. A lot of the clothing design was particularly interesting. While there were some occasional gaffs and some awkwardly re-used panels for flashbacks from time to time, the art overall was very good shoujo material.

-----Characters - 8 out of 10-----
With a core cast of seven characters who you see over and over for 18 volumes, they need to be enjoyable. For the most part, the cast is successful in this. The boys of the Host Club are all largely presented as one-dimensional archetypes, but that was kind of the point. They’re essentially all parodies of different tropes as they play their roles in the Host Club to entertain the girls, but they also have a few nice layers to discover underneath as they interact with Haruhi and each other. Haruhi herself is a rather nice character. While she plays as a bit of a typical “I understand who you all are deep down and therefore you fall in love with me” kind of shoujo heroine, this is counterbalanced by her other personality quarks such as chronic apathy about most things, severe bluntness, and being totally oblivious about some key points (usually romance related). Most of the side characters in the series are also interesting.

-----Enjoyment - 7 out of 10-----
Again, while it did feel like more work to read through this than I would have liked, I did generally enjoy myself and don’t regret reading it. The series had some amusing comedy bits, the characters were fun, and there were some touching moments and interesting character building. Unfortunately the series’ length and bloated nature did hurt how enjoyable this could have been for me and it just barely skates by with a 7 here. I won’t ever care to re-read the series and I only have the slightest interest in watching the anime adaptation at this point. If it wasn’t for the fact that I already own the anime on DVD, I probably wouldn’t bother at all. But depending on your tastes and reading style, you may like this more than me.

-----Overall - 7 out of 10 (Conclusion)-----
So overall, I can’t give this series higher than a 7. I’ve said it many times, but it drags a lot for what is mostly a simple comedy series about reverse harem trope parody and gender-bending antics. While it does have a larger story under the surface, it doesn’t get enough of a spotlight through most of the series to keep you invested while reading. The chapters start to feel like long drawn-out episodic gag-comedy segments which can be rather hit-and-miss and provide only the slightest influence to the overall plot. I feel like the series’ biggest failing is not committing enough to what it wanted to be: Did it mainly want to be a silly gag comedy or a somewhat-serious romance story? It felt jarring as it tried to do both equally. But that’s not to say there aren’t things to like here as well. If the comedy really connects with you, then you might enjoy it for the long haul. If you’re a faster reader, the text-heavy nature may not be that much of an issue for you and not feel like as much of a slog. And of course, if you get into the characters and design of the series, then it could even potentially be a favorite of yours. If what I’ve said interests you, then I’d recommend at least checking out the first two volumes to see if it’s your kind of thing. But if some of the issues I’ve brought up might bother you, then I would not consider the series to be essential reading at this point, even if you’re a big shoujo manga fan.

I absolutely adored Ouran so much. Definitely worth reading; you get so into the characters and their stories and just how the plot develops. I adored the Host Club, Hikaru and Kaoru were definitely my favourite! I found myself crying at the end; I was so sad that it was over. If you're looking for a funny, sweet, slice of life shoujo, I'd definitely read Ouran! (:

I am not a fan of this manga. I bought the complete set because it had been recommended so much to me...and ended up selling it right after finishing.

So, what's the big deal? The characters were just not likable to me. Spoiled boys who lack morals hanging around a mediocre and lackluster girl. It just seemed to lack the depth I like in a good story. The characters needed more to them...something that could make them seem more like decent people.

Story - I'm being generous if I give it a 4/10. It was slow at times and didn't seem very grounded. There wasn't enough comedy to make up for its shortcomings.

Art - 5/10. I thought the art would grow on me...but, it didn't.

Character - 3/10. I really couldn't find a single character I liked. Mori was probably my favorite character and only because he didn't really talk that much.

Enjoyment - 3/10. I kept waiting for the story to get better and was let down. I honestly only finished it because I had bought the complete set. If I had bought it one book at a time I would have dropped it.

Overall - 5/10. I know a lot of people love this series. It doesn't do it for me, though.

English Version

BEST REVERSE HAREM EVER

Story: 6/10
Ouran is a parody and a subversion of the trophies of the Shojos at a general level, grabs the stereotypes and gives them a turn to the characters fresh, charismatic, strange and fantastic, the story is the day to day of all those who work in the "Host club" a club of hosts for rich women in the ouran school, every day a different dynamic but at the same time the same one where the host club tries to solve a problem of some person that comes before them, as you can appreciate the History is easy to follow, unlike other series of demographics here they explore in depth the characters with everyone playing a role, imposed by their social status and the expectations of their family and their peers that contrasts perfectly with the entry of the new life of the protagonist

Art: 7/10
In the beginning you can feel the work dense by this factor to be many things in the panels making it quite complicated to start with the story, this is the same because the author was very new at that time, after a while you do not have that problem and you accept that the art is very good and appropriate to the work ... In this section, the anime was much better

Characters: 10/10
Ouran is a story based on the interactions of the characters so vivid, each stereotyped character has a plot twist making it more enriching, there is a difference between the typical MC shojo and Haruhi, being this apathetic, without energy of anything, not interest in anda that surrounds him except to study and eat, in a few words Haruhi is any girl of lower class that reached that point for their effort, the cast is the best of the genre and more for the detail that each of those of Host club have a psychological immersion because they think so about the world that surrounds them in a fantastic way.


Enjoyment: 8/10
It was a great experience and it is one of the best things I have read in the year.

Overall: 7/10
Unlike other reverse harem, Ouran host club NEVER loses its way, from start to finish the story will feel so natural that you will not feel when it's over, it's a very rewarding experience if you want to start reading Shojo



Version en Español:

EL MEJOR REVERSE HAREM

Story: 6/10
Ouran es una parodia y una subversión de los tropos de los Shojos a nivel general, agarra los esteriotipos y les da un giro volviendo a los personajes frescos, carismáticos, extrañables y fantásticos, la historia es el dia a dia de todos los que trabajan en el “Host club” un club de anfitriones para mujeres ricas en la escuela ouran, cada dia una diferente dinámica pero a la vez la misma donde el Host club trata de resolver un problema de alguna persona que viene ante ellos, como se puede apreciar la historia es fácil de seguir, a diferencia de otras series de la demografía aquí exploran a profundidad los personajes con todo el mundo jugando un papel, impuesto por su estatus social y las expectativas de su familia y sus compañeros que contrasta perfectamente con la entrada de la nueva vida de la protagonista

Art: 7/10
En inicios puedes sentir densa la obra por este factor al ser muchísimas cosas en los paneles haciendo bastante complicado iniciarte con la historia, esto es igual gracias a que la autora era muy novata en esos momentos, luego de un buen rato ya no tienes ese problema y aceptas que el arte es muy bueno y adecuado a la obra… En esta sección, el anime fue muchísimo mejor

Characters: 10/10
Ouran es una historia basado en las interacciones de los personajes tan vividos que tiene, cada personaje esteriotipado tiene un plot twist haciéndolo mas enriquecedor, hay un diferencia entre la típica MC shojo y Haruhi, al ser esta apática, sin energía de nada, no interés en anda que le rodea a excepción de estudiar y comer, en pocas palabras Haruhi es una chica cualquiera de clase baja que llego a ese punto por su esfuerzo, el cast es de lo mejor del genero y mas por el detalle de que cada uno de los de Host club tienen una inmersión psicológica del porque piensan asi sobre el mundo que los rodea de forma fantástica.

Enjoyment: 8/10
Fue una gran experiencia y es de las mejores cosas que he leído en el año.

Overall: 7/10
A diferencia de otros reverse harem, Ouran host club JAMAS pierde su rumbo, de principio a fin la historia se sentirá de forma tan natural que no sentiras cuando acabe, es una experiencia bastante gratificante si quieres empezar a leer Shojo

 

How do I even put into words my feelings towards this manga. How.

Story 10/10: It has a very interesting structure, wherein it sets up a basic plot, and then it spends quite a lot of time being 'episodic' so to say, just introducing the main characters and the relationships between them and some relevant side-characters. Due to this, it might be called slow because of how long it takes to get to the serious parts, but personally I didn't mind it at all because this way the reader has a lot of time to grow to care about the characters, and the 'episodic' parts are done so well it's hard to find any fault in them.

Art 10/10: This manga is worth reading just for the art, and that is probably the biggest reason why I prefer the manga over the anime. The art is so wonderfully detailed and beautiful in every single panel, the backgrounds and especially the building shots are exquisite, so much so that I often found myself just staring at a given panel, wondering how much time and effort must've gone into it. However, my words cannot describe it accurately enough, so the best way to comprehend what I'm talking about is by reading it for yourself.

Character 10/10: Ultimately, no matter how great the story or the art are, the characters are the most important part of this manga, and honestly, they're definitely some of the best characters I've ever encountered in fiction. In the beginning all the main characters are introduced as simple stereotypes, but we slowly find out more and more about their personalities and their backgrounds through their interactions with the side characters. Though there are chapters that are mostly focused on one particular character, they get developed even beyond those chapters, and it's wonderful.

And then there's the side characters, who initially might seem like one-off characters we won't see ever again, but then they pop up later in the story and become integral to whatever the main characters are doing. It's incredible just how many characters there are in this manga, but what I love most is the various relationships the main characters have with one another and with the side characters, the conflicts that arise from those relationships, and the different ways these conflicts are resolved. Because honestly, the best thing about the characters in this manga is that they get things done. Instead of just sitting around and waiting for things to get fixed by someone else, they make foolish decisions and throw themselves into stupid situations just because they can't stand to see their friends struggling.

Enjoyment 10/10: I didn't think I would find the manga as funny or as enthralling as I found the anime, but obviously, I was extremely wrong, and somehow the manga managed to make me laugh harder than the anime, even though it has no sound effects, no crazy animation, and it really tones down the humour in the second half. It also made me cry a fair few times, which was extremely unexpected considering how light-hearted it often is. I don't know when I will ever find another manga that balances comedy with drama this well.

Overall 10/10: Of course it has its issues, but they're not things that would ruin my overall impression of this manga. It is certainly one of the best within this medium, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to just about everyone, especially if you're a fan of shoujo or comedy, but even if you're not, just read it. And.... this is probably my favourite manga ever, so I expect I will reread it quite often in the future.

Warning this review may contain spoilers.

First impressions, so after watching the anime version of this I decided to check out the manga to see where this story goes and what happens over all.



Story, 7/10

So the story of ouran highschool host club is about the main character haruhi who has gotten a scholarship to the exclusive private institution known as ouran highschool where you will find the upper crust of society go for there learning.
While looking for a place to study she comes across the host club.
A group of very handsome male students who entertain the young maidens of ouran.
So after meeting all the members haruhi by accident brakes a vary expensive vase that was worth $80000. She Realizes that she don't have enough money to pay for it
So the host club cuts her a deal that she will work for the host club intil she has worked of the dent and also I forgot to mention that they thought she was actually a boy. So while beginning her time at the host club they find at that she is actually a girl and now they must hide the fact that she is actually a girl from the school body in order for her to continue working for the club.
And so begins the wacky adventures of the host club.

The plot it self is pretty basic and episodic at the start and pretty much though out the rest of the story itself.
It's pretty much the adventures that the host club gets up to.
Which include, getting involved in some pretty funny situations that involve some of the students of oruan,help organize school events and just doing regular slice of life things.
Which sounds pretty bare bones when I think about it.
But I think what made it work is that it took the most mundane things which was school life and made it entertaining to read.
And I didn't find that a problem because
this is a comedy series by nature even thought it has drama and a reverse harem elements.

So the episodic nature of the story is pretty justified by default.
The episodic parts are generally used for comedy and getting to know the characters and makes good set up the more serious parts in the story.

Which are mostly about this kind of love triangle that popping up.
which was never mallow dramatic or over blown to the point of me face palming.
Which dose happen quite a bit in these kind of story's from my experience And some things about tamaki and kyoya famliy life which kind of shows that even though someone comes from a well off family there are still problems that even they have.
Which had a pretty nice build up and pay off.
The ending for ouran was probably a bit to anticlimactic .
But they do rap every thing up.

Another thing I must say about this story is that it took the basic shojo reverse harem formula And decided to say Fuck the cliche shit I am going to do this myself.
And for that reason it actually stands out from the rest of its kind.
The comedy was pretty funny for me.
They did really well with the kind of comedy that they where gong for
So for that I would give it a pat on the back for trying to stand out.


Characters, 6/10

The main character haruhi was pretty interesting for the most part.
Especially when you compare her to most shojo protagonists.
Her personality she kind of a tom boy who stands to her guns and has a reason for doing what he doing. She is never submissive and she was treated with respect.

The host club members.
Where at the start the very basic pretty boy stereotypes like for example.
the prince, the glasses guy, quiet guy.that would make fan girls go dokie dokie.
But as the story continued they stop feeling cardboard cutouts and actually felt like actual characters.
Which was helped by the fact that all have very eccentric personality which help add tones and tones of humor.
They where also very endearing and had a lot of energy to them.

The side characters where also a bit eccentric but not to the level that the host club.
But where different from the usual crap you generally get.

Art, 7/10

The artwork looked very nice and clean.
The backgrounds where well done as well.

The art style is very shojo and dated by today's stands.
But has some pretty interesting things added in like flowers and stars and lots of other things added into the back ground. Which breeds life into it.

The character design.
Are basically the basic designs you would find in any shojo manga.

Enjoyment, 7/10

Well I think one thing I quite liked about this manga is even though it for girls and I could kind of tell it was for girls.
It never actually felt like that because it was such a fun story.
The humor was funny and never felt repetitive
And this was the story that got me into shojo manga.
So I look at this manga with fondness.


Overall, 7/10

If you like shojo then this is definitely a must read.
You rad going to have a good time.

But you find its character design and plot beat off putting them probably stay away.
Because it probably no going to be your cup of tea.

Bisco Hatori only proves herself as a great manga writer/drawer.
The way she makes the story goes on (at a point totally apart from the anime, which makes a way better story) wraps you in the drama and you just want to read more.
From the simple scenes to the most dramatic ones, Ouran makes you dive into a world that seems totally apart from all of us, but it can still makes you feel comfortable in it.

I know my review seems like a critic but I really loved this manga and recommend to every one :D

It's so hard to say what Ouran is, it might just be easier to say what it isn't. Ouran is not serious. Ouran is not supposed to make sense. Ouran is not supposed to be remotely realistic. It will not change your world view. It does not have a deep, philosophical meaning, and is not supposed to make the reader want to go out into the world and do great things.

And that's what makes it great.

It has an overused cast description (and makes fun of the stereotypicalness itself). You have the prince, the glasses character, the twincest, the lolita, and the stoic type - something for everyone! The setting is completely unrealistic, the activities outrageous, the behaviors creepy and crazy. But the beauty of Ouran is, that's exactly the point! The entire story is based on the idea of all these characters and situations being completely absurd, hilarious, and yet still strangely relatable for the reader.

Ouran High School Host Club may seem like your typical love story. Numerous boys fall in love with single girl. It IS something like that, and at the same time, something much more.
Hatori Bisco is really creative with the making of each character-- each one has his own unique and special trait, like the idea of "brotherly love", or Kyouya being a person who takes benefit in every action, or Hunny-senpai being the lover of all things cute, but in truth a master martial artist, Mori-senpai, the man of few words, the narcissistic Tamaki cowering in a corner--- most of all, however, the fact that Haruhi is overflowing with pheromones, and appeals more to people of the same gender.
I also saw Hatori's idea that she made Hunny's birthday fall on February the 29th, so he ages only once in four years.
There are lots of characters in the manga, that makes it hard to keep up, but still all of them are interesting. I actually feel a kind of excitement whenever there is an additional character to the series, because it makes me wonder what kind of person HE/SHE might turn out to be. I was actually surprised by all of the lavishness the students of Ouran are used to, and it interested me to see how flamboyant they could get.
It doesn't lack in anything really; romance, comedy, and gender-bender, even medical aspects, fantasy (alice in wonderland chapter) or even action, thanks to Mori/ Haninozuka. Every chapter thrills me to read on, and I can't wait for the realease of 81.

I think the manga is pretty good! The art is nice, and the guys are drawn outstandingly! The character developement is also very nice! It's funny, and romantic, so I'm getting a whole lot of enjoyment out of it! To sum it up, this story is very good and I will be sad once it's over.

In the U.S. so far there are 10 published, the 11th volume comes out in November of 2008. I have read 10.
The series is so random, basically. Most of the characters are kind of clueless. Tamaki thinks of himself as a "father" to Haruhi. Haruhi is in the Host Club's debt because she accidentally broke an 80 million yen vase that the Host Club was going to auction. The Host Club has 6 members, disincluding Haruhi and Renge, who, in the anime, is supposedly the manager. Tamaki, the leader, "King", "Lord", "pervert", is unaware of his love for Haruhi. No, he is aware, it's just he thinks he's her father, and he doesn't know he's IN love with her. Kyoya, or Kyouya, is known as the "demon lord no.1" (no. 2="bossa nova", no. 2=Haruhi). When he's tired he's grumpy, he comes from a famous-ish rich family (all the students are rich at that school except for Haruhi, who is there on a scholarship), basically knows everyone's background, is very secretive, and loves it when people owe him money. Haruhi is a commoner at a rich school and is there on a scholarship. She is somewhat clueless of her own feelings. Kaoru and Hikaru are twins, they share everything there isn't 2 of, they used to hate everyone but themselves, and they don't spend much time with their parents, and their mom is a designer. Hunny, or Honey, is the oldest, or second oldest, it is said that Hatori made a mistake in the manga, and the shortest. One of the wisest, actually. He's extremely short for his age, and is like a little kid, he loves cake and bunnies and when he's sleepy he's angry. There are said to be legends about him in the book. And he used to be captain of the karate club, I believe. He has a little brother, Yasuchika. Takashi, known as Mori, is a quiet, expresionless 3rd year with a fetish for small things. Hunny for example, is his cousin and best friend. He takes care of him basically. Not much is known about him, but he does like a certain fish that I forget what it's called (according to the manga)In the manga, he has a little brother, Satoshi, who is the same age as Yasuchika (the Morinozuka family (Mori's family) serves the Hanninozuka family (Hunny's family)). Renge is...Renge. She is....otaku, according to the Host Club when she first showed up in the manga. She loved Kyoya because he looks like a character from a game. No one but the Host Club (disincluding Renge) knows Haruhi is a girl. She can't pay off her debt unless they think she's a boy. Renge starts to like her instead of Kyoya (because she thinks she's a boy). According to Tamaki, Haru-chan is a "natural host".

Our heroine, Haruhi (henceforth referred to as “commoner”), was accepted in Ouran -a high school for the richest kid in Japan- on a scholarship. The poor commoner enters Ouran wearing her dad's old uniform and a short boyish haircut and quickly gets lost in the ridiculously huge Ouran campus. A chance encounter with 6 of the most rich and handsome boys of Ouran, leads her to join the Host club and work in entertaining the rich, bored girls of the school. Of course this was made possible because everyone passed commoner for a boy.

Commoner's adventures in the host club and the antics of the 6 boys are hilarious and entertaining... for a good while. After the first quarter of chapters more than a few problems appear.

The manga-ka creates a beautiful setting with interesting characters but fails to develop any aspect of that setting at all. Half of the boys get little to no development and everything that happens with the other 3 and the commoner feels rushed and pointless. The aforementioned beautiful setting comes full with interesting side-characters as well, but again they do not develop at all.

This lack of development results in a lot of fat in the story. The manga-ka takes far fetched ideas about character traits and stretches them so much that they lose their initial charm. After literally the 20th time Tamaki says that he is the commoner's father and wonders what are those non-fatherly feelings are, I cannot take seriously the subsequent story arc where he “deals” with it. Unfortunately there are more examples like that. This trend keeps up until a disappointing build-up to a predictable and weak ending.

The best backer of my aforementioned opinions is how good the anime adaptation is. The recipe was simple: They removed the fat and they let the side-main-characters stand a little bit more on the spotlight.

So, if you liked the anime there is nothing more for you here. If you like shoujo romcoms, watch the anime -it's my favorite of the genre. If you are a die-hard shoujo manga reader, well, I guess you could do worse than this. 6/10 because the first quarter of chapters is excellent.

I would really recommend this manga to anyone who loved the anime. The anime is a great adaption and tells the story almost exactly as it was in the manga, however it's not as progressive. Nothing much happens in the anime but once you get to around chapter 40 then it will really pick up the pace.

Also, guys, don't be afraid to pick up this manga and don't be deterred by the shojo tag. The story behind it is quite good too.

{Story}
Why did I give the story a 9? Because it can be slow at times. Some pieces will drag a tiny bit while others you are turning the page constantly. It takes a lot of time to pick up too but once you get there, you will really be thankful for reading that far.

{Art}
Simple and cute. Beyond expectations for a shojo tag. It also can have quite a wide variety because in some parts there are chibis while others can be very detailed and wonderful drawings. Sometimes I just had to hold my breath and point because of all the wonderful drawings.

{Character}
The main aspect in this manga. The characters are the most well developed characters I have seen anywhere. Each character has a story to tell and a past to recreate as well as a personality that reflects there past.

{Enjoyment}
It was perfect! It can be dark, light, tragic and happy.

Ouran Highschool Host Club...oh where to start.

Story: 7
I wish I could give this series a higher score in this area. The basis for the story is quite original (even if it does include the typical male harem), but the execution could have been better. There were too many parts that I just wanted the plot to move faster, and it felt like many of the chapters were fillers. However, the comedy presented during the entire series was consistently hilarious and was one of the best parts of the series.

Art: 9
Hatori's art is beautiful and wonderfully detailed. I was constantly enraptured by the quality of the artwork presented in this manga. It also complemented the work well, with the comedic scenes having hilarious artwork to complement the dialogue.

Character: 8
Most of the characters in this manga are stereotypical of the "male harem" genre, but nevertheless they all have their own personalities. Haruhi was by far the most interesting character, being the one of the least stereotypical heroines of a shoujo manga I have ever seen. So yeah, the crossdressing thing isn't that new, but she didn't even care about genders at all. And she was good at getting the ladies...:)

Enjoyment: 7
I immensely enjoyed this manga during the parts where I couldn't wait to see what was coming next, but there wasn't enough of that. I read this manga because I wanted a continuation of the anime (which is freakin hilarious), and it did a pretty good job, it just could have been a lot shorter and had the same effect. Nevertheless, I still recommend it to any readers who love romantic comedy :)

"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.

Synopsis:
Haruhi, the female protagonist (who is a common girl from a poor family) enters the grand upper class Ouran High School on a scholarship. One day, lost in the school, she wanders into the high school’s male host club and accidentally knocks over an expensive vase. As a deal to repay her debt, she was recruited to join the host club under the pretence of a male. No one in the school knows her true gender identity except for the members of the host club and there, it all marks the start of this uproarious journey.

Story:
Great – or perhaps, close to perfect. The concept of a host club within a high school setting provides the stage for comedy and looking at children of a higher upbringing from a different perspective.

The creator did a splendid job in mixing and mashing the main characters whom each possesses distinct qualities and traits that complement one another. I found myself loving all 7 members of the host club.

Here, you have a seemingly frivolous narcissistic leader of the host club Tamaki Suoh, backed up by the cold scheming grinning Kyouya Ootori then coupled with the bad-ass entertaining Hitachiin twins (who in some aspects remind me of the Weasley twins from the Harry Potter fame), the quiet, thoughtful Takashi (who remains silent in most part of the manga and yet, you still somehow feel his presence – kudos to the mangaka on this, I wonder how she did it) and finally, the cute devilish Hunny senpai, the oldest of the group who however looks and acts like a six-year old.

Then in comes the innocent down-to-earth female protagonist, Haruhi, the commoner who possesses the endearing character of observing the upper class society with a pinch of salt. What I like about the female protagonist is that she is neither the damsel in distress nor the typical loud and furious heroine that wants to make known her entrance everyone she goes. Instead, she is the thoughtful girl that observes the happenings around her from a quiet perspective and intervenes only at the appropriate time. In a way, her low-profile and good natured demeanour complements that boisterous over-the-top antics of the male members in the host club.

The only reason why I ranked the story “close to perfect” instead of perfect is probably due to the lack of continuity in most chapters. Almost each chapter (at least up to the first 40-ish chapters) has its own story independent of one another and they revolve around the problems of the host club’s guests and how the hosts club helps solve the problems. It kind of shifts the limelight away from the main characters. That said though, they are sufficient to keep you entertained.

Art:
The art is rather flowery, with the dialogues and insertions crammed among the drawings. It got me a while to adjust to it as each chapter has a load of information to absorb – compared to other shoujo titles I have read, each chapter in OHSHC took me a longer time to complete due to the intense amount of dialogues and insertions.

Nevertheless, the art work visibly improves throughout the series and what make the characters attractive are the witty dialogues. The comical aspect is hilarious and at times, I found myself laughing out at the most impromptu moments.

Overall:
Overall, this entertaining manga definitely makes for my favourite top 3 shoujo titles! It sends out a strong positive message about friendship, love ties and learning how to laugh at life while learning it.

Even though Ouran is definitely in my top 10 favorite manga, I'm going to be as honest as I can here. When I'm reading it, I notice a few mistakes or at least some things that could be improved but I still find it an enjoyable manga nontheless. There is a slight spoiler alert. Hopefully, you'll forget before you start the manga. Anyway, let's begin!

Overall Grade: 9/10 (actual: 8.5/10)

Story: 7/10

In the...let's say at least first 9 volumes of the series there's basically no substantial plot other than "a commoner girl attends a school for rich people and breaks a very expensive vase that belonged to group of handsome and rich young men; so she has to work off her debt by becoming a host and goes through tons of silly adventures with said group of handsome and rich young men." It's pretty much an episodic-type manga. It's not neccesarily a bad thing as many people enjoy manga like that, but judging from Bisco Hatori's comments she makes on the side, I get the feeling that she got too carried away with the arcs and forgot that this is a romance story here.

Also she attempted to write each chapter and volume to correspond with the seasons she was scheduled to release them in, thus making the characters not age or graduate several times. Sure, this is a popular thing to do in the States (I swear, I've seen at least a dozen South Park Christmas specials and they were like 8 years old each time) but it seemed like it was more of a cop-out than a literary tactic, if you ask me. Hate to spoil, but nearing the last several volumes, she actually started to focus on her intended story.

Art: 8/10

As I was reading each volume, I noticed a significant improvement in the character design. I mean, it was pretty obvious that she was an amateur in the beginning. The artwork didn't really cut it for me as I watched the anime before I read the manga. It looked very sloppy. However, at about mid-series, I think she reached the peak of her improvement and even then started to climb as a better artist. I really started to enjoy the artwork and even the male cast became more handsome and resemble the anime a bit more.

Character: 9/10

The characterization is what I love most about this series. With Ouran, you get your common shoujo male and female archetypes: the clueless female lead, her friend who helps her in the ways of romance, the prince, the megane, the shota, the stoic, the twins, and even the bad boy. BUT what makes them different is that they have this comedic and almost ironic twist about them. The clueless female lead doesn't have this "I'M GONNA DO MY BEST!!!1" attitude (it's more like "do I have to...?") and didn't come to high school in the hopes she'll get a boyfriend by the end of the year, instead she actually wants to study to become a lawyer. The prince isn't so princely in that he's pretty much a hapless idiot and the token funny character of the series. The megane, even though putting off the regular megane aura, might even have a sense of compassion and consideration for others. The shota is actually the oldest character in the series and the stoic.... well the only thing I could think of is that he barely talks ^^; The twins give off the incestually gay vibe (and turning on fangirls everywhere). The bad boy isn't even bad at all! He's actually super nice.

Another thing that's good about the characterization that I love is that we really get to learn and even delve into the pasts of each character. You can totally see why they act the way they do.

Enjoyment: 9/10

Even though the story is sub-par and the art lacks in the beginning, I can't deny that I love the series.I literally lol at some parts and cry at others. I've gotten fairly attatched to the characters that I hate to see them hurt and I enjoy following their stories.

SPECIAL NOTE:

If you just finished the anime and decided to read the manga from where it left off, DON'T. The anime ends at the first chapter of volume 9, BUT the anime mixes up chapters, skips other chapters, leaves out characters, and has a made-up ending. In other words, read from the beginning of the manga series. I don't care that you're lazy. Just do it.

Questions, comments? Feel free to drop by :D