Customer Reviews

Ouran High School Host Club: Season 1, Part 1

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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).

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.

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.

This, along with part two of the Ouran Host club, is a great show nonetheless BUT the casing it came in was a disappointment.

On some tv shows, cds with small cd cases were cheaper than the ones with big ones(collectibles). Ouran High School host club's box was surprisingly(and disappointingly) thin.

You can get Bleach season 1 for $48, and Ouran with half the episodes for $42. Sounds like a rip-off.

If you don't care about the casing and are willing to spend around $94 dollars on part 1 and part 2(like i did), I'D RECOMMED THIS SHOW. It is AWESOME! In fact, who cares about the cover!

I have a great respect for Japanese anime but I wasn't so impressed at the english translation.. Seems there were a lot of of the little subtle hints that didn't come accross the same way as in the origional. Also, some of the voice over acters didn't really fit their characters to well. The twins for example are supposed to sound alike so you can't tell them apart but they are two different actors so it was easy. All together I would say that I prefer the origional Japanese language with the subs.

When I first heard that the english dub of Ouran was finally being released, Like most fans of the show who watched the original Japanese version got excited and nervous to see what the voices will be like. And When I heard that Vic would be playing Tamaki, My nervousnes grew bigger (Due to having bad experiences with Vic with my previous Anime).

Soon this wonderful boxset arrived to my doorstep on the day it came out to my surprise. More surprises happened on the way. For one Vic was great! He was surprisingly awesome. Secondly Hunny and Mori matched perfectly. However, Kyoya, Renge and the twins sounded extremely werid. I also didn't like Haruhi's voice because and seemed to low for my taste.

But I admitt this is better then most english dubs out there so I give them credit.

I also wasn't to thrilled with the dvd extras either. First, The Ouran manga preview for the first book (Which I have) Were to small to read (Even If I zoomed in on my TV), Secondly the Outtakes which I originally thought was deleted scenes from the Japanese version from Japan but turned out to be bloopers from the english voice acting.

44 dollors does seem a bit much for this, But, As my duty to support Ouran coming to America Im buying the second boxset. English or Japanese, You can't help but fall in love with this anime.

I love this anime. It is cute and a little fluffy, but very good. They did a good job on the subtitles, keeping close to the original translation. The dvd can be watched in english, japanese, or in japanese with english subtitles. This boxset includes episodes 1-13 as well as bonus stuff like anime trailers, and scene out takes that are very funny. This is by far one of my favorite animes, and I think it will be enjoyed by people of all ages.

Love the anime, its one of my favorites. Its fun and romantic. The cover art is of good quality as well. However, while the dub is one of the better quality jobs that I've seen, it still leaves a lot to be desired. The actors either have too little reaction, or too much. And the english version of the opening theme makes me flinch every time.

I'm so excited this series is finally coming to The States. I love the series from beginning to end. If you like the whole "Reverse Harem" anime theme, then this show is definitely for you. I've already preordered my copy! Enjoy!

A friend of mine introduced me to the series a few months ago and I'm glad that he did. This anime is in my top 5 fav. of all times. The characters are interesting and fun. And the story is great. Basic Plot: An all-the-time-study gal, Haruhi, from the average normal world ends up one day in the very rich and high class Host Club school room. One thing leads to another, a high price vase breaks, and now she has to work for them as a host to pay off the debt.