Ouran High school host club anime review

Ouran High school host club is a 26 episode series about a host club in Ouran High, a school for the ultra-rich and elite. The members of the club are Tamaki Suou (the prince type), Honey senpai (the cute type), Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin (the naughty type twins), Kyouya Ootori (the cool type) Takashi Morinozuka (the strong, silent type).

The host club members are all very popular in the school. Haruhi Fujioka is a relatively poor and tomboyish student with excellent grades who joins Ouran in her first year of high school. There she mistakenly stumbles across the host club room and breaks an expensive vase. She is given a choice either to repay the money or work as a host. Since she doesn't have money, she agrees to be a host. The problem? She's a girl. The solution? They disguise her as a boy. This plot sounds like a cross-breed of Hana Yori Dango and Hana Kimi, and drew me to watch the anime instantly.

Hence the series starts. The first two three episodes are extremely good. There is plenty of hilarity. The following episodes start to become monotonous and cliched, with the characters being very stereotypical and having a cardboard-cutout personality.

Haruhi's character is the best because she is so realistic and three-dimensional. Honey was cute, too. The series should probably be awarded the anime with the best eye candy in history. Everything, from the guys to the roses (loved how there was a different color for each one), to the school and costumes was done with excellent aesthetics. It's a treat for the eyes.

Around the sixteenth episode is when things start to pick up and you start realizing that something good is going to be coming your way. Each character gets an episode which makes their personlaity more three-dimensional. The characters also start to bond really well during this time, especially with Haruhi. These episodes were great and finally broke the characters away from their stereotypes.

The last few episodes build the mystery by revealing Tamaki's secret past, difficult roadblocks and a mountain of problems for the host club. The last episode was tear-jerking but the series has a happy ending. I felt totally great watching this series.

Although there are quite a lot of filler episodes in the beginning, I kinda expected it because the manga is still running and the anime makers didn't have a whole lot of material to put into the series.

When I started watching Ouran, I expected a silly, shallow, rather underwhelming series, the way the episodes were moving. But this is surely a series worth watching, even though it is a bit of a late starter.

Ratings-

Characters-4.5
Plot-3
Animation-4.6
Visuals-5

Pros- Extremely beautiful visuals
The characters actually develop
The last few episodes are very suspenseful and addictive
Great ending

Cons- Too many filler episodes in the beginning

I realize that the manga is still going. The anime has inspired me to read the manga so that I can know how the story develops further.