Ouran High School Host Club - S1E1 - Starting Today, You Are a Host!

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Starting Today, You’re The Host Club’s Dog!

When I first saw the cover, I figured Ouran High School Host Club would be one giant ball of romance and angst with the typical heroine who has every guy in the series fall for her *coughMarySuecough*. But then I got around to watching it, and was delightfully pleased to see a great sense of humor with only a dash of romance.

The first episode started out nicely enough: Haruhi stumbles upon The Third Music Room, she meets the Host Club, breaks a vase that was ¥8,000,000 (around $100,000, I believe), and ends up working as some sort of errand boy for the club.

Yeah, an errand boy, because Haruhi is so poor that she can’t afford the school uniform and has to use some of her dad’s old clothes, and thus, ends up looking like a dude.

And then there’s the Host Club members themselves.

So, my first impression of Tamaki was the typical idiot who over dramatized things. While he was an idiot who tended to take things to the extreme, he also had a nice side of him that was actually charming and prince-like, which fits since he considers himself to be the ‘King’ of the host club.

 

Kyoya, at first, seemed like that one character who I was going to hate because I thought he was too serious and was all work and no play. But then his… err, darker side came out, and I felt that he was a bit like me; all smiles and gentlemanly one minute, and then demonic and devious the next.

Well, I’m not a gentleman, but I think you get the point.

 

Hunny/Hani/Honey/WHATEVER is just an adorable little fluff ball who is nearly impossible to hate. And then I found out his age. Yeah. Did not see that coming. Seriously, is it even humanly possible to look like an eight-year-old when you’re a seventeen-year-old? Unless you’re vertically challenged. His adorable nature and large sweet tooth just makes it even harder to believe that he’s almost in college.

 

Then there’s Mori; not much to say about him, really. I see him as a tree actually; you know he’s there, but you just don’t see him of any importance. I apologize for all of you Mori fans out there, but seriously, what do you see in him? He only speaks, like, a total of two words in the episode if any at all. Is it his looks? His voice? His personality that doesn’t even seem to exist?

 

And now, my favorite for last, the Hitachiin twins. It just rolls off the tongue, that name. Though if anyone who’s never heard Japanese pronunciation were to see it, they’d probably think of ‘Hit a chin’ or something. The fact that they’re identical twins is only just part of the reason why I love them. Another part is their devious nature, and the major part is their ‘Brotherly Love’ act. It’s adorably cute, and I also love how none of the fangirls are bothered by the fact that they’re both guys and, more importantly, brothers. In fact, that seems to be the exact reason why the girls like it. I believe the word is call, ‘yaoi’, pronounced YOW-EE.

 

Another thing I like about this episode is the whole process of how each member of the club finds out about Haruhi’s true gender. It shows a row of 6 light bulbs, all of them off at first, and whenever a new person figures it out, one flickers on (or for the twins’ case, two, since they figure it out at the exact same time). At first, I didn’t understand it, and so I had to re-watch it a couple of times to figure out just what they meant, but then it hit me. Brilliant.

I also love how Kyoya is actually the first to get it, even when Haruhi has only been in the room for a total of about two minutes.

Speaking of Haruhi’s gender, I’m surprised the remaining members of the club (i.e. Tamaki and Mori, really) didn’t figure it out once she had her whole Host Club makeover. Her eyes were HUGE, larger than the average doe-eyes I’m sure. It makes me wonder what her eyes looked like without her glasses and no contacts.

Then it came to Haruhi’s hosting. When I saw her sitting at that table and talking casually to the girls about her lifestyle, I nearly squealed. I just wanted to tie her up, lock her in my closet, and keep her as a stuffed animal of some sort! Admittedly, I did feel bad when she was talking about how her mother was dead and she had to take up most of the chores in her house, but I still couldn’t help but feel like wanting to kidnap her.

And then there was Ayanokoji.

I’m pretty sure there is not one Ouran fan out there who has her as their favorite character; the cliché jealous girl who sabatoges the heroine whenever she has the chance. The only thing I liked about her was probably her hair color, not even the style. And Cheesus Crust, she doesn’t even have a last name!

 

That scene where she gets what’s coming to her, ah, that was my favorite. The twins pour water on her as she’s on the ground, Tamaki comes over and bans her from the club, and then she runs out screaming and crying. I remember once seeing a parody where she stuttered so much that the person who made the parody felt the need to make some sort of Twilight reference by saying, “Calm down, Bella.”

It isn’t until Haruhi has to change out of her own wet clothes (because the twins somehow ended up pouring water on her, too) does Tamaki finally discover her real gender. And he does so in the most perverted way possible: He walks in on her changing. It’s a good thing she had a tank-top on, though.

And that’s when all the light bulbs turn on and make that sound you hear when the Power Puff Girls fly off in their pink, blue, and green colors. Seriously, that’s all I think about when I hear that.

The only thing I’m wondering is where exactly did Haruhi get that female uniform when she changed into it? And why did she change into it? Was Tamaki like, “I don’t believe you, wear this dress so I can be sure!” It was just a bit random for me, though it’s also probably the only chance I’ll get to see her in the school’s female uniform.

And then, my second favorite scene would have to be when Haruhi compliments Tamaki.  He turns all red, the twins are shown in the background giving him smug looks that just make me laugh out loud, and Kyoya turns to the screen and basically breaks the fourth wall.

Amazing.

The ending of this episode was great, too. Haruhi thinks over how to act more like a guy, and thinks that if she just calls everyone ‘bro’ and ‘dude’, she automatically blends in. Yup, that’s the way to go.

Overall, I think the first episode was great, and the way each character was introduced was also good. I find it really creative that Haruhi’s true gender isn’t really officially revealed until the very end, and I actually would have thought Haruhi was a guy if it weren’t for the fact that the episode summary refers to her as a she (ignoring the fact that I think Tamaki is stupid for not being able to figure it out himself).

Looking forward to the next episode!

Ja ne~