Ôran kôkô hosutobu

This is without a doubt the best anime I have seen so far. It's in the romance/comedy genre and is full of some of the funniest characters ever! Haruhi is a "commoner" scholarship student who enters elite Ouran High School, where lineage is second only to wealth, and becomes indebted to the Host Club, six male students who let the female students of Ouran enjoy their company. They each take the role of a certain "character" to entertain the girls; The prince, the loli-shota, the cool type, the silent type and the "brotherly-love" twins. Needless to say, hilarity ensues.

The plot is mainly light and fluffy, but touches on lesbianism, twincest and severely obnoxious people. Personally, I think it would be absolutely fine for anybody aged 12 or above, as none of these heavy themes are dealt with clearly. One can take what one wants from it.

I urge anyone who enjoys anime to watch this, as it will certainly raise more than a few laughs.

This Anime is quite funny! It's very original, I have never seen such a show! Truthfully, it does not have anything inappropriate, as many people reported it to be. So that should be a big weight lifted off your shoulders! What this show does include is romance and comedy (heavier on the comedy), and I suggest it to people who love those two genres. The author of the graphic novel, (which started this in the first place) had created a plot that is irresistibly funny! What it's about (mainly): How a scholarship student named Haruhi has to pay off a debt that she owes to her school's very own Host Club. And the story just builds off that. Ouran High School Host Club is wonderful for teens who like a bit of romance, and I think it may be better suited for females.

What a surprise! I've just recently gotten into anime, always trying to find new and unique dimensions to this genre; had seen a few of the classics and essentials. I assumed this would not be something for me, until I watched the first episode and there I was, a 33 year old, bearded American guy, laughing his butt off at a "teen comedy". Though I don't know much (or care much) about shoujo(?), I LOVE a good satire in any medium and this, folks, is up there, at times, with the best. The themes are familiar to Americans: the "plain-Jane", rebellious type, gets dolled up; the girl masquerades a boy for some reason; the lower-class student strives to survive or "pass" amongst snobby rich peers; the fish-out-of-water scenario. But here, they are combined in a very well conceived and, at least in our cultural context, highly subversive cocktail made from all of these generic themes.

And it is quite an intoxicating and addictive cocktail. I even find myself thinking, "dear gawd, I can't tell anyone about my taboo love-affair with this show, can I?", but then I realize it is usually 5x more intelligent, well written and poignant than anything on American TV since the Simpsons of the early/mid 1990s.

This is one anime that I never expected myself to watch. My girlfriend and her girlfriends went crazy about this anime. I took one look at it, and decided it wasn't my thing. Looked like the most girl thing in the world.

Later, I was randomly on IMDb.com, and I bumped into this show. I took a look at the story, and it was actually kind of cool. So I downloaded the entire show in English dubbed. It was 12:30 p.m. And I watched the first episode. It was one of the funniest things I have ever watched! It had hilarious and awesome characters, a clever story, amazing animation, and so on. After that, I watched the 2nd episode, then the 3rd, then the 4th. At that point it was pretty late in the day and I decided to only watch up to the half way point. When I got there, I couldn't stop, so I decided to watch a few more episodes. On episode 20 I said "forget it". Next thing I know it's 6 a.m and I finished the last episode.

It literally came out of nowhere by how much I loved it. In one day, it became my second favorite anime, (1st being DBZ). Everything about it is so cool. Not just for girls either, it's got some pretty hilarious guy humor as well.

The story is pretty clever. During scholarship student Haruhi Fujioka's first day at Ouran Academy Private School, she "accidentally" joins a host club full of six male gentlemen, (all mistaking her for a guy) from a direct cause of her knocking over an 8,000,000 yen vase. After realizing her true gender at the end of the episode, they continue to have her serve as a host to pay the debt with her guy appearance and personality. The rest of the show is pretty much her tasting the life of rich people, while they taste the life of poor people.

There's a bit more in the mangas, but I really don't care for them to be honest. Though I must say this is one anime that I enjoyed 100%. Very good and well made anime that is definitely worth checking out. Whether you're a guy or a girl, this should be enjoyable.

This is by far one of the most enjoyable animes i've seen in a long time. Following the popular idea of a girl having to pretend to be a guy at school, the show follows Haruhi, a 'commoner' at an elite school for the rich and powerful. After breaking an expensive vase, she must pay off the debt by working as a host in a club created to entertain girls. However, to do this, she must keep up the pretence that she is a guy. The plot lines are hilarious, with moments of sadness or sweetness thrown in. There are a few taboo-ish themes, like homosexuality, incest and rape, but they are dealt with in a non-confrontational manner, so it is unlikely a conservative viewer would be particularly offended by anything.

Particularly of note are the characters and their development throughout the series as we learn more about them. In the club is the 'Lord', Tamaki, a perceptive, empathetic leader who often comes across as a bit of an idiot (but there is more to him than meets the eye); Hikaru and Kaoru, the mischievous, incestuous twins who use their closeness to appeal to girls; Kyoya, the money-minded, enigmatic shadow-lord; Hunny, the loli-shota obsessed with sweets, and his loyal friend Mori, a silent, stoic type. Haruhi herself is bookish and immune to the charms of the guys, yet becomes entangled in a (very light) love-triangle, which is vaguely resolved by the end of the series. It's easy to relate to and fall in love with all of the characters, and OHSHC is one of the rare shows where you find yourself caring about every character, not just a few.

I would recommend OHSHC to anyone above the age of 13. It seems like a show aimed more at girls, but I gave it to my brother to watch and he loved it. I haven't read the manga (yet), so I can't compare; also, I hear that there will soon be an American-dub version released. As American dubs are notorious for their censorship, i have no idea how that might change the show (probably for the worse), so i'd recommend going and watching the original Japanese version with subtitles: the voice acting is pitch-perfect!