Ouran High School Host Club (桜蘭高校ホスト部 Ōran Kōkō Hosuto Kurabu?) 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 first
meeting, Haruhi accidentally knocks over and breaks an antique vase
valued at
¥8,000,000 (
US$80,000 in the U.S. English manga)
[1]
and is told to repay the cost in service to the club. Haruhi's short
hair, slouching attire and gender-ambiguous face cause her to be
mistaken by the hosts for a male student. The hosts all agree that
Haruhi would be a good host, thus making her join the host club.
Ultimately she agrees to join the Club as a host herself (dressed as a
male) in order to pay off her debt.
[2]
She agrees to join since she does not mind hosting as long as she can
pay the debt off faster. The hosts do later find out that she is, in
fact, a girl. They keep this a secret, so no one will be able to tell.
The Ouran Private Academy encompasses kindergarten to twelfth grade
(along with a university). Most students come from wealthy families, but
in special cases, merit scholarships are granted to exceptional
students from a lower income bracket. 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 club consist of the
president Tamaki Suou, a student who treats Haruhi like she is his own
daughter and is hugely jealous of anyone else who approaches her; Kyoya
Otori, the bespectacled calculating vice-president who serves as the
brains of the club; Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, a pair of mischievous
identical twins
who like playing tricks on the other club members and playing up a
homoerotic angle on their relationship; Mitsukuni "Honey" Haninozuka
("Hunny" in the manga), a small, cute boy who has a great passion for
stuffed animals and eating cakes; and Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka, a tall,
quiet boy who is protective of Honey. 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, mysterious type".
Manga
The Ouran High School Host Club manga was serialized in Japan between the September 2002 and November 2010 issues of
LaLa.
[3] The individual chapters were collected in 18
tankōbon volumes between August 5, 2003 and April 5, 2011.
[4] Hakusensha released a fanbook for the series on August 4, 2009 titled
Ōran Kōkō Hosuto Kurabu Fanbukku: Uki Doki Kōryaku Daisakusen (桜蘭高校ホスト部(クラブ)ファンブック～うきドキ☆攻略大作戦～?).
[5] 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 (in both simplified Chinese and English) by
Chuang Yi, and in Poland by
JPF.
[6]
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.
[7]
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.
[8] It is available on
Netflix and
Hulu streaming.
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 (Part 1) (桜蘭高校ホスト部サントラ&キャラソン集 <<前編>>?), 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 (桜蘭高校ホスト部サントラ&キャラソン集 <<後編>>?), 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 (桜蘭高校ホスト部 サントラ&キャラソン集《特別編》?) 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.
[9]
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.
[10][11] It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on October 10, 2012.
