I'm still trying to decide how to handle my review-based posts, but I think the best place to start is with an anime I have no problem discussing -- Ouran.
I'll start with the basic story. Haruhi is a girl who dresses like a boy. She knocks over a vase. A pretty freaking expensive one. And then she is bombarded by handsome men. Those men make her pretend she's a boy to pay them back for the vase. Don't worry, it gets better.
One of the main selling points for this anime, to me at least, was when I heard Kyoya's voice -- J. Michael Tatum. Granted, he's in a lot of shit. But I had just finished Black Butler before this, and man.. Sebastian is sex. I was vulnerable to his voice's sexiness, and couldn't resist another opportunity to listen to it. So there's that. The other one is Haruhi. She's normal. The definition of a normal, actual person. And I love the concept of a girl being forced to flirt with other girls. But the best part is -- she doesn't hate it. She actually kind of likes it. It comes easily for her, and if it weren't for the Host Club members themselves, it would be a pretty good gig.
Now let's review the characters.
Haruhi. She's a tomboy, doesn't see gender as an issue for anything ever, and is the most level-headed, realistic person I've ever seen in an anime; I. Just. Love. Her. Unfortunately for her, though, she's pretty naive with flirting and how attractive she actually is, which is very understandable considering she's been walking around barely aware that she's a woman her whole life. Anyway, she basically is the one person in the world who understands every single one of the Host Club members' personalities; she can even tell the twins apart, and that's pretty amazing.
Tamaki. He's the face of the host club. Charming, princely, and obnoxiously self-absorbed. He's the best when it comes to seducing women, but of course, Haruhi remains unmoved by his awkward advances that border between a boyfriend-like jealousy and a father-like overprotectiveness. At times it gets grossly confusing which one he really thinks he is to her, but that just adds to the fun of the Host Club. Ever seen a father observe his daughter being flirted with for the first time? That's him. All of the time. And it's hilarious.
The Twins, Hikaru and Kaoru. The twins distanced themselves from people a lot growing up. Incidents when they were younger where no one could really tell them apart seemed to put an abnormal wall between them and everyone around them, but Haruhi, being amazing, changed that and is the only person who has ever told them apart. The fun thing about them (I say fun now because at first it was creepy and awkward) is that they draw in their customers by being in love with each other. At least, that's how it appears. One of them pretends to be the strong, willing type and the other is the submissive, easily embarrassed type. They're giant mind-fucks, though, so don't believe anything they say or do, ever.
Kyoya. The financial wizard of the Host club. He's distant, business-oriented, and straight-forward. The typical cold samurai type with depths of wisdom in human psychology, there's one in every anime and for some reason I still just love them all and cheer for them to end up with the girl. He seems to hold a particular interest in Haruhi, mostly for her ability to bring the Host Club together as friends as opposed to business partners, and doesn't appear to swoon over her like most of them. He also keeps constant tabs on Haruhi's debt to the Host Club.
Honey-Senpai and Mori. I can honestly say that the only character I had a huge issue with was Honey. I've never been a fan of the lolita boy type and I'm still not, especially after watching this. Sure, he's probably adorable to some people, and sure, his dutiful bodyguard-like friend Mori is pretty baller but damnit I hate little kids. Especially bratty ones that eat candy and roll around in a big ball of cute all day. Bleh. Granted he has some moments where you're all "Awww" and "Oh, I'm beginning to understand him," but that wasn't good enough for me. On a lighter note, Mori is bad ass and I'd probably go after him if I were Haruhi, if I didn't have to help him babysit all the time.
The best thing I can say about this anime is that it is super funny. Sometimes I belly-rolled, other times I was worried to be on the verge of peeing myself in laughter. It was great for that. But the amount of stress they put on the fragile relationships of the Host Club members draw you in in such a way that the humor just becomes a bonus. I loved this show and was devastated when I finished the series. I cannot recommend this highly enough, even to people like me who don't want to watch a cute and cuddly anime with bubbly stupid shit going on that's all light-hearted and whatnot, but this is a great break to sandwich in between some deep dark anime that make you feel drained and empty like Cowboy Bebop or something. Don't get me wrong, I fucking love Cowboy Bebop, but I certainly don't miss the feeling of "my life is pointless" I got after every episode I watched.
Overall, Ouran was very well done and a grand time. 9/10. Because Fuck you, Honey-Senpai.
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