Ouran High School Host Club

Ouran High School Host Club (Japanese: 桜蘭高校ホスト部, Hepburn: Ōran Kōkō Hosuto Kurabu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Bisco Hatori, and serialized in Hakusensha's LaLa magazine between the September 2002 and November 2010 issues. The series follows Haruhi Fujioka, a scholarship student at Ouran High School, and the other members of the popular host club. The romantic comedy focuses on the relationships within and outside the Club and satirizes the clichés and stereotypes that endure in shōjo manga.[3]

Ouran High School Host Club
Volume 1 tankōbon cover, featuring Haruhi Fujioka (left) and Tamaki Suoh (right)
桜蘭高校ホスト部
(Ōran Kōkō Hosuto Kurabu)
Genre
Manga
Written byBisco Hatori
Published byHakusensha
English publisher
MagazineLaLa
DemographicShōjo
Original runSeptember 2002 – November 2010
Volumes18
Anime television series
Directed byTakuya Igarashi
Produced byToshio Nakatani
Manabu Tamura
Masahiko Minami
Masahiro Yamashita
Written byYōji Enokido
Music byYoshihisa Hirano
StudioBones
Licensed by
Original networkNippon TV
English network
Original run April 5, 2006 – September 26, 2006
Episodes26
Television drama
Produced byChoru Han
Yasuhito Tachibana
Written byIkeda Natsuko
Music byKyo Nakanishi
Original networkTBS
Original run July 22, 2011 – September 30, 2011
Episodes11
Live action film

The manga has been adapted into a series of audio dramas, an animated television series directed by Takuya Igarashi and produced by Bones, a Japanese television drama series, a 2012 live-action film adaptation, and a visual novel by Idea Factory.

Plot
See also: List of Ouran High School Host Club characters

The comedic series revolves around the escapades of Haruhi Fujioka, a scholarship student at the prestigious Ouran Academy, a fictitious high school for rich kids located in Bunkyo, Tokyo. Looking for a quiet place to study, Haruhi stumbles upon the abandoned Third Music Room, a place where the Ouran Academy Host Club, a group of six male students, gathers to entertain female "clients" with sweets and tea. During their initial encounter, Haruhi accidentally destroys an antique vase valued at ¥8,000,000 (around US$80,000) and must work off the debt as the club's errand boy. Her short hair, slouching attire, and gender-ambiguous face cause her to be mistaken by the Hosts for a male student, though they soon realize her actual gender and the fact that she's a "natural" in entertaining girls, promoting her to full-Host status.[4]

Media

Manga
Main article: List of Ouran High School Host Club chapters

The Ouran High School Host Club manga was serialized in Japan between the September 2002 and November 2010 issues of LaLa.[5] The individual chapters were collected in 18 tankōbon volumes between August 5, 2003 and April 5, 2011.[6][7] Hakusensha released a fanbook for the series on August 4, 2009 titled Ōran Kōkō Hosuto Kurabu Fanbukku: Uki Doki Kōryaku Daisakusen (桜蘭高校ホスト部(クラブ)ファンブック～うきドキ☆攻略大作戦～).[8] The series is licensed in English North America by Viz Media under its Shojo Beat imprint, and in Indonesia in the monthly manga magazine Hanalala. It is published in Singapore (in both simplified Chinese and English) by Chuang Yi, and in Poland by JPF.[9]

Anime
Main article: List of Ouran High School Host Club episodes

A 26-episode anime television series aired between April 5 and September 26, 2006 on NTV.[10] The series was produced by Nippon Television, VAP, Bones and Hakusensha. It was directed by Takuya Igarashi, with Yōji Enokido handling series composition and writing the scripts, Kumiko Takahashi designing the characters and Yoshihisa Hirano composing the music. It features a different cast from the audio dramas, with Maaya Sakamoto as Haruhi Fujioka and Mamoru Miyano as Tamaki Suoh.

The series is licensed for distribution in North America by Funimation Entertainment. Caitlin Glass is the ADR director of the series. The first anime DVD set containing the first thirteen episodes was released on October 28, 2008 in North America.[11] The second volume containing the last thirteen episodes was released on January 6, 2009. On April 27, 2009, the series made its North American television debut on the Funimation Channel.[12]

Music and audio CDs

Three drama CDs were released in 2003, as well as two tracks included in LaLa magazine's 28th and 29th anniversary CDs. Three soundtracks were released by Video and Audio Project for the Ouran High School Host Club anime adaptation. The first, Ouran High School Host Club Soundtrack & Character Song Collection (Part 1), was released in Japan on July 26, 2006, and contained twenty tracks, including the anime opening theme song. The second, Ouran High School Host Club Soundtrack & Character Song Collection 2, included an additional nineteen tracks and was released on August 23, 2006. On September 20, 2007, a third soundtrack, the Ouran High School Host Club Soundtrack & Character Song Collection Special Edition was released containing eight songs from the previous two tracks, with four additional songs.

Visual novel

The Ouran Host Club visual novel was released for PlayStation 2 on April 19, 2007 by Idea Factory.[13] Based on the television series, the player makes decisions as Haruhi that affect the other hosts feelings toward her. The game features Jean-Pierre Léo, a longtime French friend of Tamaki, and Sayuri Himemiya, a childhood friend of Haruhi, designed by the series creator. There are two other original characters. The game has been released exclusively in Japan. A Nintendo DS port of the game, updated with a fully voiced cast and new character-specific scenarios, was released on March 19, 2009.[14]

Live-action TV series and film
Main article: Ouran High School Host Club (film)

A live-action TV series of Ouran began airing in Japan on TBS on July 22, 2011. The live-action adaption features Yusuke Yamamoto as Tamaki Suou and Haruna Kawaguchi as Haruhi Fujioka.[15]

A live-action film of Ouran was announced during a fan meeting on August 25, 2011 and continues off from the conclusion of the television series. All actors of the live-action television series reprised their roles. The film was released on March 17, 2012.[16][17] It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on October 10, 2012.

The series had a spin-off named Ouran High School Host Club: Haruhi no Happy Birthday Daisakusen with the same cast that was originally broadcast on January 6, 2012, by LISMO drama, a mobile drama provided by au. This LISMO drama tells an original story worked on by the author of the manga. The drama revolves around the host club members becoming flustered upon learning that it is Haruhi's birthday. Through their misunderstandings about celebrating her birthday, the members make Haruhi angry. Kawaguchi, who plays Haruhi Fujioka, commented, "You will see an explosion of this well-known bright and silly character! It was fun playing the role, and all the host club members enjoyed the filming." Each episode is approximately five minutes long, and there are four episodes.[18]

Reception

The series is a parody of otaku culture, especially cross-dressing. The club often dresses up in dazzling costumes, and Renge Hōshakuji is also identified as an otaku.[19] Rose Bridges, writing for Anime News Network, regards Ouran as being the first example of a "fujoshi comedy" genre—loosely defined as humorous anime with predominantly male casts that cater to shipping-obsessed fangirls.[3]

Mangaka Bisco Hatori appeared at Anime Expo 2019 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California, USA. During several interviews and panels, she indicated that she would welcome another project concerning the characters and topics covered in Ouran but could not produce an anime and advised fans to continue petitioning the studio. When asked about the Boy Love suggested in the series, she stated that Ouran has always been meant to be a parody of shōjo manga, but doesn't feel there is a thematic gap between shōjo and BL themes. As for Haruhi being a female, it was revealed that the character was originally meant to be a boy, but one of her editors suggested a gender swap. Thus, Hatori invented a female character that "doesn't need to dress up like a boy other than the fact that those are the clothing she wears and likes" without subtext. She expressed that she isn't hung up on genre parameters or gender orientation because every person should be proud of being unique while remaining true to themselves. In summation, Hatori stressed Ouran being a story about family and friendship, without any intention of being a pioneer of "fujoshi comedy," though admits that it happened just the same.[20]

References
  1. Bridges, Rose (September 2, 2015). "The Secret Revolution of Ouran High School Host Club". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  2. "The Official Website for Ouran High School Host Club". Viz Media. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  3. "The Secret Revolution of Ouran High School Host Club". Anime News Network. September 2, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  4. "Ouran High Host Club". Chuang Yi. Archived from the original on 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
  5. "Ouran High School Host Club Manga to End in September". Anime News Network. August 23, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  6. 桜蘭高校ホスト部(クラブ) 1 [Ouran High School Host Club, Vol. 1] (in Japanese). Hakusensha. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
  7. 桜蘭高校ホスト部(クラブ) 18 [Ouran High School Host Club, Vol. 18] (in Japanese). Hakusensha. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  8. 桜蘭高校ホスト部(クラブ)ファンブック～うきドキ☆攻略大作戦～ (in Japanese). Hakusensha. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
  9. Salva (2 October 2007). "Ouran High School Host Club". Tanuki.pl (in Polish). Małgorzata Kaczarowska. 845. ISSN 1898-8296. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  10. 桜蘭高校ホスト部 (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan). Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  11. "Ouran English anime official website". Funimation Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
  12. "Funimation Week 18 of 2009". Funimation Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2009-04-20. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
  13. 桜蘭高校ホスト部(通常版) (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
  14. "桜蘭高校ホスト部DS(限定版)" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
  15. "Ouran High School Host Club Gets Live-Action Show". Anime News Network. May 19, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
  16. 川口春奈、初主演ドラマ『桜蘭高校ホスト部』映画化決定　来年3月公開 (in Japanese). Oricon. August 24, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  17. "Ouran High School Host Club Manga Gets Live-Action Film". Anime News Network. August 25, 2011. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  18. "Spin-off drama of "Ouran High School Host Club" to begin distributing as LISMO drama". Tokyohive. December 24, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  19. Darlington, Tania. "The Queering of Haruhi Fujioka: Cross-Dressing, Camp and Commoner Culture in Ouran High School Host Club". University of Florida. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  20. Ortiz, Alfonso "Fonzy". "Bisco Hatori at Anime Expo 2019". Honey's Anime. qdopp, Inc. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
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