Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori ★★★★☆ Completed Series (18 Volumes) Genres: Drama, Reverse Harem, Romantic Comedy, Bishonen I have this friend, the one who introduced me to the world of manga. I was resistant at first because I didn't think I was going to care much for it, but I was also very afraid that I'd get sucked into it. And let's be honest. Manga is an expensive hobby. $10.00 or so a volume and there likely being several volumes within a series.
So I'm lucky. She buys the manga, and she becomes my library. What happens when I've read everything she's got? Well... I've already started my own library of first volumes. So here is my review of the first manga I ever read. I agreed to read The Host Club because I had seen the anime several times and loved it (this story is like, one of the funniest things out there), but I was sadly disappointed by the lack of romantic closure between the characters. Well never fear! There's a manga for that! (Like many animes adapted from manga they didn't finish the series. They only did a first season to tease you and get you to go read.) My girlfriend found out my woes and offered to lend me her books. I reluctantly agreed. I mean. Was I really going to like this form of storytelling? I breezed through those volumes in a couple of days (granted I skipped the ones that were covered in the anime which I guess ought to be a no no because they're not always perfectly the same, but alas). I finished and thought... gosh darn it! I was hooked. The manga love blossom had bloomed. So. The Host Club. Japanese story tellers (and audiences because the storytellers keep using this story form so it must be popular) really love putting a girl in guys clothes and making several guys fall in love with her. That's right! This is a bishonen (beautiful men), romantic drama-comedy, reverse harem piece! Whoa what a mouthful. In other words, it's a romantic comedy taking place in everyday life (usually in a school setting) where a guy and girl fall in love under interesting though somewhat normal circumstances. Haruhi is a "commoner" who has been allowed into a rich kids school due to her academic awesomeness. She can't afford a school uniform so walks around with glasses, a shabby sweater, and messed up hair. She's just looking for a quiet place to study when she ends up in an unused music room. Should be quiet, right? Wrong! Upon entering, Haruhi is greeted by the bishonen boys! A host club with just about every Japanese character archetype (yes, they are somewhat different from western archetypes depending on your genre) available to the imagination. Due to her shabby appearance they not only peg her as a "commoner" but mistake her for a boy. When she accidentally breaks a very expensive vase they force her to become the club's dog or errand boy to pay them back what she owes. Things take a turn however when they realize that she's a pretty boy (not yet figuring out she's actually a girl) and they decide to make her a host. Tamaki, the club's king and prince-type, takes her under his wing and starts to train her, but she turns out to be a natural. Girls know what girls like, y'know? But then, one by one, each the club members realize that he's a she, the order of which proves their intelligence and or observatory skills. Mama, or the club's manager, is the first to notice and doesn't say a thing as the other members come to discover it for themselves, Tamaki being the last and not getting it until he walks in on her changing. And in that moment, unbeknownst to him, love has blossomed and he mistakes his affections for her as that of a doting father's. How he expects to compete with her actual doting (trany) father becomes an entertaining cycle of abuse and alliance. And no matter how Tamaki presents his love, Haruhi is always resistant, not understanding his flamboyant displays are the true feelings of one who's fallen for her. But throughout the story the two grow closer and Tamaki not only realizes that his feelings aren't a father-type at all, but Haruhi starts to suspect that she has feelings for him herself. Haruhi is also (I have come to discover) a refreshing heroine. She's not girly, she's not timid, she's not really all that shy. She's herself, a down to earth girl who isn't afraid to say no. She's a little reckless in her desire to help people and that can cause trouble, but in the end, she comes to realize that there are not only certain things she can't do alone but she doesn't have to do alone. Full of silly cracks at classic manga and anime tropes this story is full of cute scenes, awkward brothers (you get over it though), and knee slapping, guffaw worthy satire. The characters are well rounded, each having a side to them beyond the archetype from which they were manifest from, and all supporting the heroine in his own way as she becomes more comfortable with her feelings for the prince who's been unwittingly trying to steal her heart. For a fun read with little to be sad over I'd recommend Ouran High School Host Club. Have fun!
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