Ouran High School Host Club is a manga series by Bisco Hatori, serialized in Hakusensha's
LaLa magazine between the September 2002 and November 2010 issues.
The series follows Haruhi Fujioka, a scholarship student at Ouran High School, and the other
members of the popular host club.
The romantic comedy focuses on the relationships within and outside the Club and satirizes
the clichés and stereotypes that endure in shōjo.
There are also occasional moments where the characters break the fourth wall.
The manga has been adapted into a series of audio dramas, an animated television series
directed by Takuya Igarashi and produced by Bones, and a visual novel by Idea Factory.
Plot
Haruhi Fujioka is a scholarship student at the prestigious Ouran Academy, a fictitious
high school located in Bunkyo, Tokyo.
Looking for a quiet place to study, Haruhi stumbles upon the Third Music Room, a place
where the Ouran Academy Host Club, a group of six male students, gathers to entertain
female "clients."
During their initial encounter, Haruhi accidentally knocks over and breaks an antique vase valued
at ¥8,000,000 and is told to repay the cost in service to the club as an errand boy.
Haruhi's short hair, slouching attire and gender-ambiguous face cause her to be mistaken
by the hosts for a male student.
After a brief run as such, the Hosts soon realize that she's a "natural" in entertaining
girls and promote her to full-Host status.
She agrees since Hosting will help her pay off her debt more quickly.
The members of the club discover her true gender one by one, but they keep this fact
a secret.
Ouran Elite Academy encompasses pre-school through high school and has an attached university
program.
Most students come from elite families, but a scholarship is annually awarded to the top
scorer on a rigorous entrance examination.
Haruhi is such a student for her grade level.
The school's unofficial motto is "Lineage counts first, wealth a close second," meaning
students with stellar family backgrounds but low socioeconomic status may be given top
priority over those from rich families with lesser pedigrees.
Other than Haruhi, the other members of the Host Club include President Tamaki Suoh, Vice-president
and "Shadow King" Kyoya Ootori; Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, identical 1st-year twins;
Mitsukuni "Honey" Haninozuka and his cousin Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka.
Tamaki is the charming, beautiful hafu and top draw of the club with a 70% request rate,
thus earning him the title of "King."
Kyoya, however, is the "Shadow King," the true director who runs the show from behind
the scenes with a charming facade and gracious manners.
The Hitachiin twins, who share classes with Haruhi, are mischievous imps who utilize a
devised incestuous-homoerotic angle on their relationship to captivate their guests.
Honey is from a distinguished martial arts family, but plays the role of a "boy Lolita"
who has a great passion for stuffed animals and sweets while Mori is his tall, quiet protector
with a fierce appearance and soft heart.
All the characters are parodies of shojo manga characters, with Haruhi serving as the "natural"
type, Tamaki as the "princely" type, Kyoya as the "cool" type, the Hitachiin twins as
the "little devils", Honey as the "cute shotacon" type, and Mori as the "strong, silent or stoic
type."
Media Manga
The Ouran High School Host Club manga was serialized in Japan between the September
2002 and November 2010 issues of LaLa.
The individual chapters were collected in 18 tankōbon volumes between August 5, 2003
and April 5, 2011.
Hakusensha released a fanbook for the series on August 4, 2009 titled Ōran Kōkō Hosuto
Kurabu Fanbukku: Uki Doki Kōryaku Daisakusenファンブック～うきドキ☆攻略大作戦～).
The series is licensed in English North America by Viz Media under its Shojo Beat imprint,
and in Indonesia in the monthly manga magazine Hanalala.
It is published in Singapore by Chuang Yi, and in Poland by JPF.
Anime
A 26-episode anime television series aired between April 5 and September 26, 2006 on
Japan's Nippon Television network.
The series was directed by Takuya Igarashi and written by Yōji Enokido, while the character
designer and chief animation director for the series was Kumiko Takahashi.
It also features a different cast from the audio dramas, with Maaya Sakamoto starring
as Haruhi Fujioka and Mamoru Miyano portraying Tamaki Suou.
The series is licensed for distribution in North America by Funimation Entertainment.
Caitlin Glass is the ADR director of the series.
The first anime DVD set containing the first thirteen episodes was released on October
28, 2008 in North America.
The second volume containing the last thirteen episodes was released on January 6, 2009.
On April 27, 2009, the series made its North American television debut on the Funimation
Channel.
It is available on Hulu and Netflix streaming with both English subtitles and English dub.
Music and audio CDs Three drama CDs were released in 2003, as
well as two tracks included in LaLa magazine's 28th and 29th anniversary CDs.
Three soundtracks were released by Video and Audio Project for the Ouran High School Host
Club anime adaptation.
The first, Ouran High School Host Club Soundtrack & Character Song Collection, was released
in Japan on July 26, 2006 and contained twenty tracks, including the anime opening theme
song.
The second, Ouran High School Host Club Soundtrack & Character Song Collection 2, contained an
additional nineteen tracks and was released on August 23, 2006.
On September 20, 2007, a third soundtrack, the Ouran High School Host Club Soundtrack
& Character Song Collection Special Edition was released containing eight songs from the
previous two tracks, with four additional songs.
Visual novel The Ouran Host Club visual novel was released
for PlayStation 2 on April 19, 2007 by Idea Factory.
Based on the television series, the player makes decisions as Haruhi that affect the
other hosts feelings toward her.
The game features the characters of Jean-Pierre Léo, a longtime French friend of Tamaki,
and Sayuri Himemiya, a childhood friend of Haruhi, designed by the series creator.
There are two other original characters.
The game has been released exclusively in Japan.
A Nintendo DS port of the game, updated with a fully voiced cast and new character-specific
scenarios, was released on March 19, 2009.
Live-action TV series and film A live-action TV series of Ouran began airing
in Japan on TBS on July 22, 2011.
The live-action adaption features Yusuke Yamamoto as Tamaki Suou and Haruna Kawaguchi as Haruhi
Fujioka.
A live-action film of Ouran was announced during a fan meeting on August 25, 2011 and
continues off from the conclusion of the television series.
All actors of the live-action television series reprised their roles.
The film was released on March 17, 2012.
It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on October 10, 2012.
The series had a spin-off named Ouran High School Host Club: Haruhi no Happy Birthday
Daisakusen with the same cast that was originally broadcast on January 6, 2012 by LISMO drama,
a mobile drama provided by au.
This LISMO drama tells an original story worked on by the author of the manga.
The drama revolves around the host club members becoming flustered upon learning that it is
Haruhi’s birthday.
Through their misunderstandings about celebrating her birthday, the members make Haruhi angry.
Kawaguchi, who plays Haruhi Fujioka, commented, "You will see an explosion of this well-known
bright and silly character!
It was fun playing the role, and all the host club members enjoyed the filming."
Each episode is approximately five minutes long, and there are four episodes.
Reception According to Tania Darlington in a paper published
by the University of Florida, the series is a parody of otaku culture, especially cross-dressing,
yaoi and yuri cultures within otaku culture.
The club often dresses up in flamboyant costumes, and as Renge Hosekuji is also identified as
an otaku.
References
External links Official Ouran High School Host Club manga
website Official NTV Ouran High School Host Club anime
website Official IDeaf Ouran Host Club visual novel
website Official Ouran High School Host Club DS visual
novel website Official Shojo Beat Ouran High School Host
Club manga website Official Funimation Ouran website
Official TV drama website Ouran High School Host Club at Anime News
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