Product Details

• Actors: Maaya Sakamoto, Ken'ichi Suzumura, Mamoru Miyano, Yoshinori Fujita, Ayaka Saito
• Format: NTSC, Color, Full Screen, Subtitled
• Language: Japanese, English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Funimation Prod
• DVD Release Date: October 28, 2008
• Run Time: 300 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001DN0USA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,547 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Ouran High School Host Club: Season 1, Part 1" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The outré reverse-harem comedy Ouran High School Host Club (2006) continues the tradition of gender-bending anime. Ouran High is a private academy, catering to the super-rich and superficial. To amuse themselves--and bring in a few extra yen--the richest, most attractive boys in the school have set up a host club, where they dispense tea and charm to the girls. Haruhi Fujioka, a scholarship student who's such a schlump no one realizes she's a girl, stumbles into the club and breaks an antique vase. To repay the cost of the vase, the members demand she dress as a boy and join the club. Although she's an outsider and a "commoner," Haruhi soon becomes the boys' favorite. Club president Tamaki (who represents the "blond prince" type) falls for her; Mitsukuni ("Lolita boy") adores her, as do identical twins Hikaru and Kaoru ("forbidden brotherly love"). Neither the viewers nor the characters can take these silly stories seriously, but High School Host Club will delight fans of bishonen (beautiful boys). (Rated TV 14: risqué humor, including allusions to homosexuality and lesbianism) --Charles Solomon

(1. Starting Today, You Are a Host! 2. The Job of a High School Host! 3. Beware of the Physical Exam! 4. Attack of the Lady Manager! 5. The Twins Fight! 6. The Grade School Host Is the Naughty Type! 7. Jungle Pool SOS! 8. The Sun, the Sea and the Host Club! 9. A Challenge from Lobelia Girl's Academy! 10. A Day in the Life of the Fujioka Family! 11. Big Brother Is a Prince! 12. Honey's Three Bitter Days! 13. Haruhi in Wonderland!)

Product Description

Ouran High School. An institution of extravagance and prestige where learning is secondary to luxury.

Bookish Haruhi can't afford to slack, being on a scholarship and out of place among the moneyed. No matter… The Host Club is now open! A group of handsome boys dedicated to selling their charms to their bored female classmates, Haruhi is suddenly in debt to the club after breakingan expensive vase in their lair. The only way to pay for the damage? Haruhi will work as a Host! The only problem? Haruhi is a she! Between the wildly inflated ego of the expert escorts and the potential calamities of constant cross dressing, Haruhi's freshman year looks like it will be one to remember.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Personal Favorite, October 18, 2008

By 

Niki R. "Painting Machine" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ouran High School Host Club: Season 1, Part 1 (DVD)

To try and explain Ouran with a basic synopsis does this anime little justice. There's always so much going on, and with a diverse cast of character's including the princely, yet sometimes idiotic, drama-king, Tamaki, or the mischievous, trouble-making Hitachiin twins, there's no end to the variety of often strange activities the club members get into at Ouran Academy, a high school for the rich and prestigious. Add to this, Haruhi, a scholarship student and "commoner" who was drafted into the Host Club after she accidentally broke an $80,000 vase. The twist is, Haruhi is actually a girl and only the club members know it. Being very plain spoken, Haruhi nicely complements the strange behaviors of her rich counterparts and is often the inspiration for many of their adventures, much to her annoyance.

Probably the biggest concern of Ouran fans about this dvd collection is the transition over from Japanese to English. As many fans will argue (myself included), the Japanese voice acting is flawless, making an English dub no easy task. But after getting a recent peek at episode one, I feel Funimation has met the challenge with great success. While I'm not as hard core of a critic as some, I did carry some doubts as to how well they could pull off a decent dub. Let me just say, I'm sorry I ever doubted them. Usually it takes me a little while to adjust when I switch from the sub to the dub, but that wasn't the case for me here. While there is the occasional rough patch, I think each voice actor did an excellent job matching his or her character's personality. I found nothing distracting or out of place about any of them.

My biggest beef, if any, is with the English opening and ending songs. They aren't horrible, but they are a bit weak compared to the originals. Not a big deal, though, as I'm sure you can still listen to the originals on the dvd.

Overall, I'd say this is a must buy, whether you're already a fan or a newcomer. The acting in both versions each have their own charm and you're bound to enjoy a few laughs every step of the way. This anime also has the ability to keep you coming back again and again. I never get tired of watching it, and the ability to have it in two languages just makes for double the fun. Subtract a star from my rating if absolute randomness bothers you. The Host Club members thrive on the out of the ordinary. They are a bunch of rich kids looking for entertainment after all (well, except poor Haruhi).

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The hosts with the mosts, October 29, 2008

By 

Kellyannl (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ouran High School Host Club: Season 1, Part 1 (DVD)

Look at any discussion thread on the net over the last few years about which shoujo anime fans most wanted to reach Region 1, and the resounding cry was almost deafening - give us Ouran. After a nail-biting wait for licensing news and a little bit longer for casting and English dubbing, the wait is finally over.

The plot reads like your typical reverse harem. Scholarship student Haruhi Fujioka has made the grade for the super-elite Ouran High School. Looking for a quiet place to study, Haruhi runs into the six member Host Club - filthy rich young men with too much time on their hands who entertain filthy rich young women who also have too much time on their hands. Unfortunately, Haruhi accidentally breaks a very expensive vase they were going to use to raise money - and has to pay it off by joining the club. The catch? Haruhi is a girl. So begins her crossdressing adventures with Tamaki Suoh, the loud and overdramatic fearless leader; Kyoya Ohtori, the calculating veep who's the most normal of the group; Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, the mischievous, funloving twins whose world is turned upside down when Haruhi becomes the first person who can tell them apart; Mitsukuni "Hunny" Haninozuka, who handles the cute niche with a vengeance, and Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka, your usual big, intimidating guy who's really a softie.

What makes Ouran more than just a relatively fun by-the-numbers reverse harem is that it's also a subversive parody of it's subgenre. Tamaki is an overexaggeration of almost every major pretty boy shoujo male lead. Hunny is a wickedly funny parody of all the characters probably best personified by Fruits Baskets' much more serious Momiji Sohma. Then there's the twins, who put on an incest act clearly meant to mock fanatical shounen-ai and yaoi fans who insist on reading it into characters even when it clearly isn't there. It's all done in a spirit of good natured fun, of course, and you'll definitely get much more out of Ouran if you're already familiar with two or three other reverse harem anime and/or manga to fully appreciate the parody elements. Not that the show doesn't also have heart. Although they're far from perfect, it's hard not to like the boys as they hatch hairbrained schemes - whether it be to get loving couples together, help their Goth acquaintance Nekozawa bond with his little sister or rescue Haruhi from the clutches of the fanatical lesbian feminists (yes, I did just write that) of the Lobelia Zuka Club.

The clincher is Haruhi herself, who is most definitely not your typical shoujo heroine. No shrinking violet, she's not afraid to let Tamaki have it when he goes too far overboard; and it's a joy to watch her hold her own against the twins and give them as good as she gets - all with deadpan wit.

As for faithfulness to the manga, the anime so far sticks pretty close, the most noticeable difference probably being that Renge's role has been expanded and Nekozawa's slightly cut.

As manga fans are aware, the best is yet to come in Part 2- but so far we're off to a good start.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've already seen the ENGLISH version... :D, August 31, 2008

By 

JapanFreak "Must... have... Jpop...!" (Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ouran High School Host Club: Season 1, Part 1 (DVD)

Usually I don't get excited about anime getting dubbed. I like it either way, BUT... Vic was awesome. I got to see the East Coast premiere of Ouran today at DragonCon. They did a REALLY spot on job of dubbing. They were even really faithful to the translation and intent.

I'm also excited because the series is being released in two shots, part 1 and 2, 13 Episodes at a time. The Second half comes out soon after part 1, so not much of a wait. $44 is not bad at all.