Customer Reviews

Ouran High School Host Club, Vol. 8

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I truly love this series. It makes me laugh out loud. The characters are entertaining and the author just keeps adding layers to their personalities. I find it difficult to wait for the next volume.

The book description listed above is slightly inaccurate. The correct preview as shown on the back cover of Volume 8 reads:

The first-years in Class 1-A are taking part in a test of courage, where the loser will receive the dubious honor of being dubbed "Best of Cowards." Kazukiyo Souga, the class president and a fraidy-cat at heart, is happy to be on a team with the levelheaded Haruhi, but will he be able to stomach the antics of his other teammates - the twins Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin?

That only describes the first of 5 episodes featured in the eighth volume of Bisco Hatori's series, Ouran High School Host Club. You can expect the same amount of hi-jinks and antics in this volume as in the previous episodes. However, this volume also involves the self-examination of the "family" that Tamaki Suoh, the self-proclaimed host king, has created within the Host Club. Certain characters in the club will come to certain revelations concerning the existing relationships within the host club, most of them revolving around Haruhi Fujioka.

There is also another flashback episode to the beginnings of Kyoya and Tamaki's first meeting and how they came to be friends.

Most of the fun comes in the latter chapters when a kind but fierce-looking 1-D student seeks out the aid of Mori - and consequently the Host Club. It becomes typical Ouran comedy when the interfering members of the club try to re-make the image of Kasanoda-kun, mistakenly/jokingly referred to as Bossa-nova by the male host club members and Casanova by Haruhi. However, Kasanoda threatens to destroy the "family" dynamic when he discovers the Host Club's most highly protected-secret.

Just purchase Volume 8 to find out more about what happens next, it's pure comedic gold.

Other recommendations if you like this series:
Hana-Kimi, Volume 1: For You In Full Blossom (Hana-Kimi)
Ouran High School Host Club, Volume 9

I have been a fan of this series from the beginning, and volume 8 just added to my love. In the later chapters, you could say that 'the plot thickens', though not in a way that I expected!

What better way to spend a day of recreation than with a test of courage? At least that's how the members of Class 1-A see it. Class Vice-President Momoka Kuragano is excited, and so are the twins, Hikaru and Kaoru. While plans are being made, class President Kazukiyo Souga slinks out of the room. An observant Haruhi follows him, and learns that he is actually quite afraid of the dark. As he confesses his fears to Haruhi, the twins overhear him, and when Momoka takes requests for teams, they ask that they, the President and Haruhi be one team. Unbeknownst to them, the Black Magic Club plans to have some fun of their own with the first years. <lj-cut text="Let the frights begin!">

The twins aren't helping Souga's fears any with their inappropriate masks and their spooky stories, much as Haruhi tries to keep him calm. But then they start to see things outside the window, and a clattering skull rolling down the steps only serves to heighten the excitement. Who is actually scaring who?

The second story in this volume takes us back to when Kyoya and Tamaki first meet, giving us a glimpse into Kyoya's home life, and his expectations as the third son in his family. Tamaki has just arrived at the school, and Kyoya gives him the tour. What Tamaki wants to know is does Kyoya have a kotatsu at his house, assuming that they are a staple in Japanese homes (he's lived in France all of his life). When he learns that Kyoya has none, he is afraid he has committed a faux pas, and is mortified. Now that he's in Japan, he wants to experience everything, and Kyoya tries to accommodate, but dealing with Tamaki is often like dealing with a child! Kyoya is becoming frustrated, until he gets a glimpse of the real Tamaki, and he understands what is behind the apparent childishness.

In the final episode of this volume, Mori receives an unusual request from a boy named Ritsu Kasanoda - a first year who wishes to be Mori's apprentice! Kasanoda, whom the Host Club quickly nicknames Bosa Nova, is the son of a Yazuka. Because of his anachronistic yanki style, people are put off by him and tend to fear him. As a result he has no friends. All he wants is to be able to play kick the can with his friends. He sees how Mori is - silent and communicative and expressionless, and yet well-liked. How does he do it, Bosa Nova wants to know. And so Mori takes on an apprentice. The twins offer to help with the transformation but their suggestions just aren't cutting it, and no one seems to be listening to Haruhi, who usually has the best suggestions of all. When Bosa Nova accidentally learns Haruhi's secret, he starts to come to the Host Club as a guest, and he requests Haruhi attend him! Then, to make matters worse, he bursts Tamaki's bubble as far as his being Haruhi's father, throwing the President into a decided tizzy. Can he be fixed, and can Bosa Nova be made to see himself and the people around him for what they are?

Another cute volume of Host Club, this one spotlights some of the other members more than Haruhi, but it's nice to give everyone a turn in the sun now and then. I liked all the stories, but especially the one with the young Kyoya and Tamaki--that was especially sweet. I'm just a sucker for Tamaki, though. And his torment in the last one was priceless--especially when he found out that Bosa Nova not only learned Haruhi's secret but actually got a glimpse of her in her underwear, something neither he nor the Host Club ever have! I'm waiting for the light bulb to go on over Tamaki's head one of these days, and for him to figure out that he's in love with Haruhi--not as a father! There is a bonus episode about a member of Kyoyo's staff, Seizaburo Tachibana, and a day in his life. I can't wait for volume 9!