At your fan service

// Synopsis: Haruhi is a poor scholarshipped student that attends the prestigious Ouran high school academy for the ultra rich. One day he stumbles across an eccentric social club that caters to and entertains all of the female students for profit. After Haruhi breaks an expensive vase they decide to make him their slave to work off the debt, but then decide it would be more fun to give him a make over and turn him into a club member instead. Oh yeah, Haruhi is a she not a he, which the rest of the Ouran host club have all fallen for.

// Review: Anime is not just for the sexually repressed emaculated guys anymore. The last few years have seen the explosion of quality shoujo (anime and manga aimed towards females). Instead of mechs, lime green haired pink eyed double d girls, and protagonists with fabulously sculpted hair, shoujo focuses on character development and implausible romantic situations.

/ Ouran isn’t quite that. Rather it’s a pretty funny parody of shoujo. Each member of the host club is a handsome sterotype including: the strong silent one, the small cute one, the intelligent calculating one, the charismatic golden boy and the homosexual twins (apparently Japanese girls flip out over gay boy love).

/ This is a light hearted series that doesn’t take itself seriously at all. Every episode involves some crazy themed party that gives them an excuse to play dress up, help out another student, or focus on a particular character’s background.

/ Haruhi is novel as an atypical anime female character. She’s pragmatic, plucky, independent minded, and isn’t naive or obsessed with all things cute. Since that’s the only kind of girl the club members have ever known, they are all in their own way drawn to her. The rest of the anime follows their carefree misadventures as they goof off and try to keep Haruhi’s gender secret. The ending is so absurd it fits in perfectly with how ridiculous all slice of life romantic anime is. Hint: it includes a horse drawn carriage chase.

// Wrap up: This is the first reverse harem anime I’ve seen before. It’s an entertaining watch with lots of that distinctly Japanese humor.

Entertainment rating: 3.5