Welcome to Rouge Force Host Club, where we make all your dreams come true.
*Clears throat* Sorry about that. Gyt here, and I’ve been in a Tamaki mood ever since finishing watching the Ouran Host Club anime. And now, I’m here to tell you why.
Let me start out by saying three things. One, I watched the dub by FUNi so I can’t make much comment on the original Japanese version. Two, I’ve long been a fan of the manga, so I’d been waiting to see this ever since it was announced. And three, you have GOT to see this anime.
To start, I should give you a premise for the show. Ouran Academy is an institution of extravagance and prestige where learning comes secondary to luxury. As such, only the extremely rich and powerful are normally allowed to attend. However, studious Haruhi Fujioka manages to get in on a scholarship. Shortly after getting accepted, Haruhi is trying to find a quiet place to study. Haruhi eventually finds Music Room 3, and decides to give it a try – and that’s when it all goes oh so right. Haruhi stumbles upon the Ouran Host Club! Their unusual antics causes Haruhi to accidentally break an extremely expensive vase, and to pay it off the Host Club decides to make Haruhi their dog. However, they shortly discover Haruhi’s looks, and decide to make Haruhi the newest member of the Host Club! One thing leads to another however, and they soon learn that Haruhi is actually a girl! Now, not only does she have to stay in the club in order to pay off her debt, they must keep her gender a secret so she can stay a member. Tamaki Suoh, the Princely Type; Kyoya Ohtori, the Cool Type; Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachin, the Little Devil Types; Takashi “Mori” Morinozuka, the Strong and Silent Type; Mitsukuni “Honey” Hanninozuka, the Loli-Shota Type; and now, Haruhi Fujioka, the Natural Type. The Host Club is finally complete!
And so begins many random adventures with the Host Club, and a lot of other interesting characters. Seriously, there is a character for everyone here. Haruhi’s father Ranka is a doting dad and a Transexual crossdresser all in one; Renge is a demanding Otaku girl who won’t take no for an answer; Nekozawa is the president of the Black Magic Club and is afraid of any kind of lighting; and Chika, Honey’s little brother, is a strong fighter who won’t give up until he’s taken his brother down!
From the very beginning, this show is an absolute delight that you have to see to believe. Not a single episode is uninteresting, and the story is almost verbatim from Bisco Hatori’s manga – barring a few changes made to the ‘Wonderland’ episode. The animation by BONES is absolutely stunning, and the soundtrack is nothing to be sneered at either.
Now to touch on the dub itself for a bit. The voices picked were just right on almost every count I can think of, even the ones that I didn’t think would work in the beginning. I had my doubts about Caitlin Glass as Haruhi from the very beginning – partly because I really wanted her to be Renge, and partly because I could just NOT hear her for this role. But I was very pleasantly proven wrong, she is AWESOME as Haruhi. And as for Vic as Tamaki, I wanted him from the very beginning, so I knew I was going to love it. But I had no idea just how much I would, he is the perfect Tamaki. J. Michael Tatum did a wonderful Kyoya, appropriately scaring the crap out of me (so to speak) at times. Todd Haberkorn and Greg Ayres also pull out all the stops for the Hitachin twins, and I had my reservations about them from the get-go as well. They sound surprisingly perfect in sync even though the actual voices are completely different apart. Luci Christian is ADORABLE as Honey, enough said. And what little actual lines Mori says, Travis Willingham delivers them with the utmost of his abilities. Even the supporting cast is great – Monica Rial, Patrick Seitz, Mike McFarland, Chris Sabat, Brina Palencia, Aaron Dismuke, and Sonny Strait all give us their best with their respective roles of Renge, Nekozawa, Ranka, Kasanoda, Hiro, Chika, and Misuzu.
Where the dubbing suffers a bit is the opening and ending themes, which while good enough to keep me happy, aren’t near what they could have been. In the end, I’d have to give the dubbing a 9 out of 10.
To conclude, Ouran High School Host Club is an absolutely amazing anime that you just have to see. The entire series is out now in Part One and Part Two boxsets and can be picked up for a fair price at RightStuf or DeepDiscount. I give Ouran Host Club a 10 out of 10.
The Rouge Force will be waiting for you. See you then!