A very comprehensive review.. THanks for the effort!
It made me more interested in this anime.. haha :)
Ouran High School Host Club tv Review
Haruhi Fujioka is a poor girl in a rich kids' school. She only got to go there because of a scholarship. She happens upon the Host Club when she is looking for a place to study quietly. After getting there, she breaks an $80,000 vase. After which, she is forced to work at the club to pay off the debt.
The only problem is that the members don't realize she's a girl....
Story & Characters
Due to this week's ending of the anime Ouran High School Host Club, I feel happy to be finally writing a review for
this year's hit series.
Ouran falls under the romance and comedy genre, and is based on a manga by the mangaka Bisco Hatori. Very few people
have not heard about this show, due to the wide interest of the series' unique qualities.
Haruhi Fujioka is a new student at the prestigious Ouran High School, a place where sons and daughters of the highest positions all over the country gather to be educated. Haruhi, being a smart and reliable girl, unfortunately comes from a middle-class family and has been admitted as the one special student that Ouran has taken in. Upon coming to the school, however, Haruhi gets into an incident that causes her to be forced into a host club of rich boys who have enough time to entertain all the girls in the academy...and she ends up having to crossdress to be one of them!
One spectacular advantage of this series is its handling of stereotypical shoujo plot points. With Haruhi's beginning with crossdressing, Ouran could easily have fallen into a melodramatic angsting shoujo to be a copy of the popular manga Hana-Kimi. Or the suggested twin incest between Hikaru and Kaoru could have become a tragic tale of forbidden love instead of the fantastic comedic bursts of fanservice that it has turned into.
Just like in the series, the host club's young men entertain the people who watch the anime, just like they make
the customers of the club squeal in joy. Ouran does not have antagonists, no matter how they may be annoying. All
throughout we see the supportive and kind members display their friendship with Haruhi and each other, making themselves
likeable in each their own way.
The dramatic and cheerful Tamaki, the eccentric and mischevious twins Hikaru and Kaoru, the seemingly (but actually not)
cold and calculating Kyouya, the cute and tiny loli-shota style Hunny, and the stoic and speechless Mori - all of them
have such distinct qualities and pasts of relationships that will be told into the series. And Haruhi - the protagonist
of the series, will find herself actually enjoying herself with the involvement of the club.
Certainly the series is not realistic in any way. The characters' family fortunes are much too exaggerated, and the
characters are generally not very realistic. But the plot and characters captivate you, and motivate you to be caught up
in their world, believing and enjoying your stay at the Ouran High School Host Club.
Rating:
Art
The art in Ouran is very good, to say the least. Body proportions are always done correctly, and the faces never lose
their bishounen shine. The eyes are spectacular and often have their own look, as well as the clear difference between
each characters' hair styles. Fashion style is also a part that I must point out, as it is cute, elegant, and
beautiful (most of the time.)
The colors are well done, and the quality overall is excellent. Ouran must definately be praised for its technical
achievements.
The character designs follow the mangaka's style well, and also manages to create backgrounds that are both
beautiful and fitting.
Rating:
Sound
Upon the sound section, I must comment on the voice actors first.
Tamaki's voice was wonderful. It fitted his character perfectly, and his slightly feminine ring to his voice when
he was excited was both comedic and well suited. His voice also changed slightly when he was actually serious or
downcast, instead of having one sound to his voice.
Kyouya had a very cool and *ehem* sexy voice. It also fitted his character well, but at times I felt it was a bit too
mature.
Hikaru and Kaoru had voices that I was very impressed by. Each of them had different voice actors, and while they have
the potential to speak in unison in the same voice, Kaoru has a slightly higher and more vulnerable sound. The
twins' voices are a big part in separating them.
Mori hardly talks, but his stoic and deep voice was good enough to comment on. Hunny's voice is very cute and
childlike, as would be expected.
And Haruhi's voice is the most unique voice of all, voiced by the excellent and talented Maaya Sakamoto (voice
actress of Hitomi from Escaflowne and Lunamaria from Gundam Seed Destiny.) Once again she demonstrates a whole new voice
that absolutely NO ONE can even come close to portraying (I know this because I'm a part of the amateur voice
acting society on the net, and we haven't heard a single voice actress that can do Haruhi's voice all too
well).
The OST of Ouran is, like its setting, elegant, posh, and cheerful. This music keeps the consistent mood of Ouran stay happy and enjoyable.
The opening, Sakura Kiss is... well, it gets stuck in your head. Majorly. I swear, if you hear it once, it will never
leave you. But I guess that's alright, because it's a pretty good song which mixes well with the opening
clips.
The ending is sung by a guy, and is also very cheerful and upbeat. It is matched with one of the color images from
Ouran's manga series.
Overall, the series is good with sound as it is with everything else, despite the fact that it didn't leave that
much of an impression on me as the art did.
Rating:
Presentation
Ouran High School Host club has a better flow than most of the series that are its size.
All throughout it is entertaining, funny, and you can't get bored of it. The character stories don't veer off
from the ongoing plot, and it blends well into the series instead of sticking out and gathering more than necessary
attention. Somehow, the seemingly pointless plot of Ouran turns into a great anime series with a surprising amount of
in-depth relationships that are not romantic. The characters are able to maintain their personalities even with plot
twists and dramatic incidents - and also throughout their changing relationships.
The change of course from the manga at times was good, and much better than most of the fillers that any other anime demonstrated. The ending, which was an original wrap up from the ongoing manga, did well and blended perfectly into the series it had become. Despite its setup, Ouran survived as a great series that didn't fall into the angsting melodrama genre.
All throughout, Ouran maintained good humor and laugh-out-loud comedy, all the while keeping all of us squealing with the fanservice it provided with its charismatic points.
This is a great anime, and for all those bishie-lovers or good-quality anime fans searching for a new series to get
addicted to, this is for you!
Rating:
Final Verdict
8.8333 (very good)
Reviewed by Rosegirl18, Oct 02, 2006
Comments
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himura088 Oct 02, 2006
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anim3xangel Oct 02, 2006
In a way I'm sad that this anime has ended. Although, I must say, your review seems to speak for it very well =D
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AngelKate Oct 03, 2006
I ove this anime! Your review is very accurate and summed everything up really well. Nice job. :)
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embershadow Oct 03, 2006
Good review. :)
But I think that Kyouya's voice suited him perfectly and didn't think it was "too mature"--one of the defining aspects of Kyouya's personality is his maturity, after all...
And I have to correct you on one thing: Fumiko Orikasa, not Maaya Sakamoto, was the voice of Rukia. ^_^'
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1000878012 Oct 05, 2006
Very good review. I realy like this anime.
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enchantressinthedark Oct 10, 2006
Its a great review, very thorough and well-explained ^^ Everything is nicely said and I agree with almost everything you said, especially at their overly exaggerated wealth ^_^' I mean, chandeliers and nicely furnished rooms with a lot of expensive things, this is WAY unrealistic XD But I do love to go to such a school! Great job on the review! :D I love this anime a lot! <3
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cassandraronald Oct 13, 2006
I simply love this anime XD
nice review^^ -
Arekisu Oct 22, 2006
Nice review. Ouran rox!
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mayuka Nov 15, 2006
Oh I really really agree with you. I liked your review it really explains the series well. ^__^
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tchariin Dec 01, 2006
I'd keep seeing various livejournal icons for this series and thought "Eh, maybe I'll look into it" but your review has convinced me to try out the series. Thank you very much!
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FayetteBlack Banned Member Jan 16, 2008
I love this series! It is one of my favorites, maybe even THE favorite. <33
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star0107 Jul 02, 2008
this anime is now my fave ^^ muhahas xD -smiles-
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SchRita Jan 15, 2010
Thanks for the review!
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Sanisa Feb 24, 2010
Thanks for the review! Nice ^__^
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