Ouran Host Club | complete

What a brilliant series!
(note – the amount of enthusiasm in these responses is directly proportional to how much time has past since I finished watching the last ep. In this case, about 20 seconds 😉

There is just so much to Ouran that when you think it can’t top itself, it does! Really quickly I must say that something between Tama and Haruhi would have been nice, but it isn’t really necessary as it isn’t a core theme of the show – it’s just more of my selfish lust for gratuitous pay-off, something we all have 😉 Plus you have to leave such things open for potential sequels; anime is a business you know…

Where to start!
Ouran parodies so many things; the shoujo genre in general, bishounen characters, shoujo-ai, shounen-ai, manga, harem themes… and it artfully pokes fun at them all without ever being flat. Further to all the comedy though are real and genuine heart-warming moments that are among the best in the shoujo-anime genre. Every character is endearing and screen time with them all is always a treat. Each character grows in their own way and comes to wonderful realisations about themselves, their lives and their relationships and interactions. Every moment of this show really is a joy to watch.

The ending may seem a little contrived, and also doesn’t show much resolve between some of the main characters and their families, but I did greatly enjoy the narration by two important side-characters at the very end while we watch the Club dancing with Haruhi, all in all I thought it was a brilliant way to sum up what was at the heart of Ouran Host Club – both the club in context with the narrative, and the show itself.

I could watch another season of this, but the temptation would be to keep it going like a soapy and eventually seeing it decline after the millionth episode. While I would at least love another 12 eps a la Hachikuro just to fulfil a few selfish desires, the 26 episodes on show stand alone in magnificence.