This series slipped past me when it first came out in 2006. After all, at the time I was obsessively watching The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (a review of which will be available here eventually), and simply could not spare the time nor attention to watch what I assumed was just a silly reverse-gendered harem series.

Well, at the time, I was sharing an apartment with three women who had a thing for bishie-bishie boys. As a result, I and the other male flatmate found ourselves outvoted when it came time to watch anime in the living room. That’s how I ended up watching Ouran High School Host Club. Those cunning women decided to show one of the funnier episodes in the middle, thus forcing me to backtrack and watch the whole thing from the start.

I enjoyed myself far more than I had any reasonable expectation to, given the preponderance of men on-screen.

The series revolves around Haruhi Fujioka, a scholarship student at the ultra-exclusive and oh-so-terribly expensive Ouran Academy. The school’s students are comprised of the absolute cream of society, the richest, classiest, most elite and best bred that Japan had to offer… which made for some horrific awkwardness for a perfectly normal, middle-class girl who is suddenly plunged into this strange, new world.

Making matters worse for her, she managed to accidentally break an extremely expensive urn owned by the eponymous Host Club. Her short hair and rather ambitiously-gendered attire confused the host club members into believing that she was in fact a guy, and she was forced to become a member of the club in order to pay off her sudden, humongous debt.

The hosts of the club serve much of the as would be expected in a real host club. They engage their female clients in conversation and keep them entertained… partly by simply being very, VERY pretty for them. In fact every member of the club were especially selected to represent cliched stereotypes, specifically designed to appeal to their female clientele. Interestingly, this appeal, which in the course of the story is aimed at their clients, is clearly generated for the benefit of the show’s fans.

The Club’s members run the gamut from the president’s princely persona, the glasses-wearing cool and serious type, a hugely-built strong and silent type, one guy who’s actually the oldest member of the club but caters to those with boy-loli-shota tendencies, and a pair of devilishly mischievous pseudo-incestuous twins. Haruhi, with her androgynous appeal, fit in perfectly. If you had any doubts at all that this series was aimed at women, I’ve probably just stomped on those.

Even given that, there’s a lot here to enjoy for everyone. Each of the characters, although seemingly a stereotyped cardboard cutout at first, is a well-developed and distinct personality. You may not realize it, but you can easily find yourself growing very attached to these boys as they engage in their varied antics and live out their angst and antics.

The comedy is hilarious, ranging from slapstick to clever gags driven by the varied personalities of the boys, and the culture clash that they encounter as a result of having Haruhi (a girl and a “commoner”) among them. These can range from silly, to witty, to cliched with a twist to just plain bizarre, but it’s all a lot of fun.

Keep in mind that it’s not all about pretty boys flirting with pretty girls (and occasionally each other). There are more serious episodes later in the series, giving insight into the boys’ various issues, both familial and personal. These episodes felt well-paced, since by the time they come into play, we’ve come to care about them and all their earlier actions can be put into another light by the new information.

Despite any prejudices you may harbor, this series is definitely worth checking out. (And yes. It involves cross-dressing, so  there’s no need to wonder why we like this series. :3)

The Prince

The Cool guy

The Stoic

The Loli-shota

The Twins