Description
“Ouran High School Host Club” is the animated rendition of the manga written and drawn by Bisco Hatori. The story follows a middle class teenage girl, Haruhi Fujioka, who got into an elite upper class school called Ouran Academy. As she was looking for a place to study, she comes across an unused music room, which turned out to be the clubroom for the Ouran Host Club. The Ouran Host club is a club made up of rich boys who entertain their female clients with romantic gestures.
Haruhi accidentally knocks over a vase worth 8 million yen, which she can’t afford to replace and is made to join the Host Club to repay her debt. With her short hair, Haruhi is able to blend into the club and fool the female clients, and even convinces the host club members that she’s a boy for a while.
About the Mangaka
Bisco Hatori is well known for the series “Ouran High School Host Club“, but her debut in the manga industry was a one of story named “A Moment of Romance” in “LaLa DX“, a magazine dedicated to short stories in shoujo category. Bisco’s first series was “Millennium Snow” that was featured in “LaLa” which is dedicated more to completed stories in the shoujo scene. Just like its predecessors, “Ouran High School Host Club” was featured in a “LaLa” magazine which skyrocketed it into popularity, even earning a place in the 50 top selling manga of Japan in 2008 and 2009. Bisco’s work is influenced by mangas such as “Please Save My Earth” a shoujo science fiction series and “Slam Dunk” a sports manga about basketball.
Characters
Haruhi Fujioka
Haruhi is the protagonist of this series, she’s an extremely intelligent first year at Ouran Academy and yet while being middle class she is seen as poor to the other students at the elite high school. Before attending Ouran Academy, she used to take on more of a feminine approach to her appearance, but after getting gum in her hair before the school year started, she cut her hair short. Also, while not being able to afford the female school uniform, she decided to take on a more androgynous look before she was forced to join the host club and was given a male school uniform by the host club members. While having more of a masculine/androgynous look at school, Haruhi still identifies as female, she believes that gender should be irrelevant to how someone is perceived or their roles in society. Even though she is blunt in her communication and honesty with others, she is completely unaware of her feelings to others, especially romantic ones.
Tamaki Suoh
Tamaki is the son of the chairman of Ouran Academy and the president of the Ouran High School Host club. Tamaki is actually half Japanese, with his mother being French he has been ostracized by his grandmother on his father side. Not being able to live in the same mansion as his father and grandmother, his grandmother doesn’t like to acknowledge Tamaki or his mother Anne-Sophie, who lives in France. Tamaki can be seen as flamboyant, dramatic and even egotistical, but he is truly a great friend to others and his host club members who he sees as his family. In the host club, he plays a “princely” type role by entertaining the clients with upper class etiquette and flattery.
Kyoya Ootori
Kyoya is the co-founder and vice-president of the host club and third-youngest son to a CEO of a medical company. Being the youngest son in his family, he tries extremely hard to surpass his older brothers to please his father to hopefully become the next patriarch of his family, even if it’s unlikely. Kyoya has a strong sense of business and is usually seen calculating costs and deals for the host club despite Tamaki being the president of the club. Kyoya plays a cool type at in the club, being self-assured and charming to the female clients.
Hikaru Hitachiin
Hikaru is the older twin between him and Kaoru, despite being the older one he’s less mature than his younger brother. When the twins were younger, they were inseparable, not liking or trusting anyone who couldn’t tell them apart. The first person to actually tell them apart was Tamaki even though on his first attempt to get the twins to join the host club. He initially didn’t guess the correct twin, but then he begged the twins to let him guess again and won based on intuition. Hikaru and his brother are often planning mischievous schemes and games at the host club to mess with the club members.
Kaoru Hitachiin
Kaoru is the younger Hitachiin twin, and is the more levelheaded brother, usually calming down his older brother. When the twins were younger, they were inseparable, not liking or trusting anyone who couldn’t tell them apart. The first person to actually tell them apart was Tamaki even though on his first attempt to get the twins to join the host club. He initially didn’t guess the correct twin, but then he begged the twins to let him guess again and won based on intuition. Kaoru and his brother are often planning mischievous schemes and games at the host club to mess with the club members. Even though he’s just as playful as his older brother, Kaoru is more easygoing and insightful than him and was the first out of the two of them to realize they need to become independent of each other.
Mitsukuni Hanninozuka
Mitsukuni most often referred to as Honey is the oldest host club member despite his appearance. He comes from a family of excelled martial artists which goes back for many generations, with him even being a martial arts champion. Honey is often seen carrying around a stuffed bunny named “Usa-Chan” / “Bun-Bun” that was gifted to him by his late grandmother. At the host club, Honey plays a cute type character, often eating cakes and sweets and enjoying other cute things which he loves. Despite that, Honey is extremely mature and has keen insight when it comes to the feelings of others.
Takashi Morinozuka
Takashi, most often referred to as Mori is one of the more quieter host in the club. He tends to only speak when something needs to be said. Mori is always seen with Honey, since they are actually cousins. Historically, the Morinozuka family served the Haninozuka family for years until a mariage joined the families and ended the servant relationship between the families. With Mori’s stoic appearance, it often hides the fact that he loves animals. In the manga, he adopts a baby chick and a tanuki. In the anime he played the role as strong silent type at the host club, but in the manga he was more portrayed as a wild type.