Ouran High School Host Club: When Comedy Hides Tenderness

The first notes of “kiss, kiss, fall in love” still flip a switch. This solo deep dive revisits Ouran High School Host Club with fresh eyes and a full heart—why Haruhi’s grounded kindness cuts through the glitter, how Tamaki’s theatrics hide a fierce tenderness, and what makes Kyoya’s “Shadow King” strategy more protective than cold. We walk through the early episodes where comedy sparkles and the stakes feel light, then follow the threads that pull everything taut: identity, class, obligation, and the courage to choose your people.

We break down the hosts beyond their archetypes. The twins weaponize performance to mask loneliness, only to be disarmed by someone who truly sees them. Honey and Mori reframe strength as care. Renge crashes in like a meta tornado, poking fun at tropes while spotlighting how the club protects its culture. From the physical exam shenanigans to the “which one is Hikaru?” prank, the show’s humor primes you for the emotional gut checks that follow.

The Oran Fair storyline raises the curtain on power—Eclair’s leverage, family politics, and what happens when romance meets reality. Tamaki’s carriage, Haruhi’s leap, and Kyoya’s quiet rebellion build to a finale that feels both theatrical and true. We also touch the manga’s continuation, sharing satisfying reveals and futures that reward fans who wanted more than the anime delivered. Whether Ouran was your first anime or a comfort rewatch, this review maps what makes it timeless: satire without cynicism, romance without melodrama, and the chosen family that blooms in Music Room 3.

Hit play to relive the best scenes, meet the cast anew, and pick up details you missed the first time. If it made you laugh, cry, or believe a little more in found family, share this with a friend and drop your favorite Ouran moment in a review. Subscribe for more deep dives into gateway classics and the stories that still shine.

Chapters

• 0:00 Why Ouran Still Matters
• 1:50 Meet The Host Club Cast
• 6:30 Haruhi’s Secret And Role
• 10:05 Tamaki And Kyoya Dynamics
• 13:20 The Twins And Their Appeal
• 16:45 Honey And Mori Explained
• 19:50 Side Characters And Setup

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:02

It's time to kiss, kiss, fall in love. Hey, it's everybody, it's Sebbie Phantom here doing a solo review on my favorite anime, my first, my start, or on high school hose club. Now I can go on and on and on about this anime, and I'm going to. This anime is something that is close and dear to my heart. I've read the manga, I have watched the anime, I have prayed for a second season, even though we're not going to get one. I wish. But this anime is special to me. So Oran High School Host Club, known as From Oran Academy. They're located in Music Room 3, and they're sufficed of some members, right? Alright. So let's get into this. So we have, like I said, our members. It was founded by Tamaki Subo, who is the prince character and president of Oran High School Host Club. And our vice president, Kyoya Otari, who is the vice, like I said, vice president and assistant to the prince, Tamaki Subo. Now, the Oran High School Host Club is an independent, functioning high school club, like I said, founded by Tom King Kyoya, and is located in music room 3 of none other than the high school building of Oran Academy. So, who are these beautiful and amazing hosts? You have Tamaki Suo, the Prince Charming type, Kyoya Otari, the cool type, Mitsukiri Honey Nozuka, the lolish type, Takashi Mornozuka, the wild type, or the strong and silent, Kyoya, Kyoya, sorry, Kaori Kaoru Hitachin, one of the little devils, Hikaru Hitachin, the other twin brother, and then Haruhi Fujioka, the natural. So I'm gonna go into why this anime and go into it. So we'll start off with Haruhi Fujioka, our main character and our main female heroine. She's forced to join the host club after breaking an expensive renaissance vase. Haruhi is the only girl in the club, although when they do first meet her, they mistake her as a gay boy. Loving it already. Each host realizes the truth, and she reluctantly accepts the invitation to become a host club in order to work off the cost of the vase. Continuing to disguise herself as a boy over time, they become welcome and a valued member. She is known as the natural rookie and attracts customers with her modesty. And of course, her rose, each guy has a rose. Her rose is the color of deep red. And even Haruhi admits that she enjoys the romantic attention from all the girls. By the end of the manga, she has entertained over 200 guests, and the six hosts love her dearly in different ways. And we're shown how protective they can get. And she turned grows deeply attached to each of them. Well, Tamaki, Hikuru, Kauru, and Kyoya, they develop romantic feelings. And in the anime, unfortunately, the romance is not really explored, but it is revealed that she does marry Tamaki. So let's go in now to who is Tamaki? Tamaki, like I said, is the Prince Charming. He is the leader of Oran High School Post Club. He is the president, like I said, and the most popular member with 70% of the request rates going to him. And his color is white. He enjoys being called king. And he personally recruited all the other members except for Haruki. And of course, he's persistent in declaring his affection for Haruki, even sometimes calling himself daddy. But eventually he does realize that he falls in love with her. So then we have Kyoya. He is shrewd in calculating and he's known as the Shadow King because he controls it from he's like behind the scenes. He allows Tomaki to serve as its figurehead and top draw. He and Tomaki have a kind of different personality. So like Tamaki's so outgoing, while Kyoya is so like, I'm kind of here. They're actually really good friends and they met back in middle school. He is the mommy of the host club while Tomaki is considered daddy, and they reference each other like that majority of the anime and even in the manga, but he is rarely seen talking to guests and he keeps track of expenses. Um, he's also a second year just like Tomaki Suo. The club's existence depends on fundraising, and he keeps the host club's treasury full with and without their knowledge. And he claims he never does anything that will not benefit himself. However, he's much more like Tamaki than he lets on. Next, we have Kaudu and Hikaru. They're known as the Little Devils or the Twin Cest. Uh Hikaru's rose is pale blue and Kaudu's rose is orange. When hosting, they demonstrate the excessive brotherly love, which is, like I said, borderline incestuous, but that appeals to 90% of their clientele. Now, this manga and anime came out in the early 2000s, so you're gonna hear a lot of yowie. Yeah, that's all I'm gonna say about that. Um, no one else had had Haruhi, so like Haruhi becomes a really significant part of their lives because they're all freshmen, they're all first years, so they all tend to come together. Um, and she uh Haruhi was even the first ones to identify identify each of them and their different personalities. Um, next up is gonna be the third years, so Mitsukuni, Honey, Hani, and then there's Takashi Mori. So those are the two eldest members. Honey is the only club member who is smaller than Haruhi, and even though he's 18, he's he looks to be about six years old, and his rose color is pink. The Mori Nozuka family. So going with Takashi Mori, um they are cousins, yet they do have like a master servant relationship. Mori continues to watch out for honey, and we're definitely gonna see that when I talk about some of the episodes. Um, but they're almost kind of like brothers almost. Honey is known as the boy Lolita, and he charms the girls by being really excessively cute, while Mori is the strong and silent type, and his rose is dark blue. After they graduate in high school, they constantly visit the host club, and they actually entertain quite often. So, and there's also some other characters such as Renge, who's the house club's self-proclaimed manager, and then we have some like some hosts that come in, so Casinoda, and then I'll go on to talk about the rest of them here soon. So let's get started on these episodes. So there is a total of 26 episodes, starting with today you are a host and ending with this is our Auron Fair. So I'm gonna go over each and every single one of them so we can get to know a little bit about each one of them. So starting off with today you are a host. So Haruhi is looking for a place to study, and unfortunately, Haruhi Fijioka, she's the honor student, and she comes upon this high school host club's whole like music room. Um, it's composed of spoiled boys with wealthy families, and the host club entertains and pleases young girls using their individual charm. I mishap, which index Haruhi to them, they call her or him the commoner, and is taken as their dog to work off the debt. But Tamakisu senses potential and soon upgrades Haruhi's status to host. As the training begins and parties ensues, they don't really catch on to the vital difference in the fact that Haruhi isn't a boy, she's a girl. So when we first saw this, we got to see our main characters, you know, Haruhi Fujioka. Like, she's strong, she's witted, she's straight to the point. Like, I know there's a word, I think that my favorite quote is there's a word to describe people like him. What is it? Obnoxious, yeah. While Tomaki's in the background, like, here's a tip when setting down your glass, extend your pinky finger as a cushion. So when you set it down, it won't make a lot of noise. I still do that. That's how like that's just how crazy it is. Like, yes. Um, going on to the next one, the job of a host club host. Now, this like I said, this came out in 2006. I know. So the second episode has to deal with a young lady named Kaniko. She's having trouble with her fiance, Toru, who's planning to leave to study abroad. So there's a ball that's about to happen. Um, it's like a spring dance almost. So they state that the group plans to reunite them at an upcoming dance by making Haruhi dress like a girl and approach Taru as an admirer. Though he feels flattered, he does care for someone else. Um, they confirm that they still have feelings for one another, and at the end of the dance, Kanako is chosen as the queen to be given a kiss on the cheek. However, Tomaki realizes this is Haruhi's first kiss. And though he runs a stop her and stumbles, he slips on a banana peel left by the twins. He pushes Haruhi's face with Kanako, and surprise, it doesn't land on the cheek, but on the lips instead. Episode 3 is Beware the Physical Exam. So the house club scrambles to find a way to prevent Haruhi's gender from being discovered because she's still trying to be a boy. Um, however, this fails miserably until like they're trying to like cosplay. So Tomicky shows up and just like, Yeah, I'm Haruhi. And the twins are laughing because they're like, Yeah, this is gonna work great. But Kyoya steps in with a doctor who promises not to reveal the secret. However, a man of the name Dr. Yabu enters the room searching for his daughter, and he grabs the girl's shoulder, another student, and the female student thought he was making a pass. Um, Kyoya assesses that this man is not, his daughter's not at the school, but at public high, due to Dr. Yabu's financial difficulty, Tamaki provides him with directions and that realizes how do he realizes that you know Tomaki isn't that bad at all. He actually is super sweet and has kindness, so she decides to stick with him. Episode four is my favorite episode. Well, one of mine. Attack of the Lady Manager. We meet Renge. Renge is a French ataku who arrives to the host club claiming to be Kyoya's fiance. Why? Because she looks like an anime, he looks like an anime character that she idolizes. She declares herself club manager and makes a film highlighting the host's darker side. So they kind of like as they film, she enlists like two main characters, like students to play villains. So she makes Haruhi the bullied character and has two, like I said, two students play villains, um, alongside Mori and Honey. Um poor Honey cries during this episode, and he's like, I'm so sorry. And then the twins are basketball stars, and one of the twins like twists their ankle that you have to go on, it's just so much stuff. Um, however, at the end, Kyoya breaks the camera because he deems this violent because it starts to get kind of crazy. Um however, the club's reputation is not damaged, but they were actually able to submit that existing footage to their customers. They were able to sell it, and Renge no longer crushes on Kyoya, but Harohi. The next episode, the twins fight. Hikudu and Kaudu trick Haruhi into letting them play the which one's the Hikuru game. So they put a cap on and they're like, oh, which one is the Hikaru game? But Haruhi correctly identifies them, which triggers like a huge fight, one dyeing their hair pink, one dyeing their hair blue, and the feud carries into the classroom where like they start fighting. Kaudu threatens Hikuru with Bielzanef, a curse to all obtained by Nekozawa, who is the president of the Black Magic Club. And this whole fight is staged. Like they don't apologize, they don't do anything, it's just that they were staging, they were just trying to play around. So they dyed their hair two different colors, pink and blue, again, except they switched it, and then they started playing which ones that he could do game. And when Hadu goes, you're that one and you're that one. They're like, Nope, we've dyed our hair again. Ha ha. The next one is the grade school host is the Naughty Type. This is where we meet Shiro Taka Oji. So he's one of the young boys who end up becoming the Naughty Type um Shota boy. Um, Shiro denounces the club uh idiots and runs away, but the host club infiltrates a school and discovers that Shiro has a crush on a girl named Hina who will be moving away soon. So they prepared to play a duet, and Shiro is unprepared, but Tomaki being the Tomaki that he is, he is actually an accomplished pianist and tutors Shiro, where they invite Hina to play the duet together before she moves away. I'm not gonna go through all of these episodes, I'm just gonna go over now a couple of my favorite ones. Of course, we have the challenge from Lobelia Girls Academy, where Benebara, head of the Zuka Club at St. Lobelia's, realizes that why is a girl having to be a man? And they realize uh they don't like the host club because they're men and believe in female superiority. Um but they realize that she leaves the like Hadohi realizes like she leaves the club in anger because they started selling some of her stuff, and then she realizes that she doesn't need all these frilly dresses like to be a part of the like Hadohi will always be a part of Oran Academy and that she'll never leave. But they warned the Zuka Club warned her that they'd be back anyway. One of my other favorite characters that we get to meet is Ronka, Hadohi's father, father named Ryoji. Um, they are a professional transvestite named Ronka, and this is like one of my favorite episodes. When they go to Haruki's apartment and she serves him tea, but Tamaki lags behind to like pay her specs because Haruhi's late mother, because unfortunately she passed. Um he and Hadohi exchange a moment of empathy, but he trips and falls on top, creating a bad impression with Ronka. Now, when she when Ronka comes in is like, oh what are you doing? Get off my child and pushes it, like it's great. Haruhi is thoroughly annoyed with Ronka, but Ronka's been in contact with Kyoli ever since then. So Tomaki tries to impress Ronka, but Ryuji refers to him as the enemy. Of course, we have to it. This is in a 2006 anime without an Alice in Wonderland, except it's called Haroki in Wonderland. Because why would you not? Um we have an episode where the Lobellia girls come back, they have a Halloween episode, um, depression, the day that they met, and then it comes all the way down to this is our Oran Fair. And I'm gonna skip back to one episode. The host club declares dissolution. So the annual Oran Fair is a chance for the school's club to showcase student leadership. The host club is using the main salon to entertain when Yozuru Soa, Tamaki's father, meets Haruhi for the first time, and Hadohi notes that they don't look alike, they share a flair for flirting. Um, Yoshio Oturi, Kyoya's father, he's upset because his son, his third son, is wasting his time on this club. But Haruhi defends Kyoya, beginning to see the downside of the wealth. She learns more when Sizui Sua comes here and is very curt and dismissive to Tamaki, but introduces Lady Eclair. The mysterious diva who his grandmother commands he chaperone. While Eclair is deemed like wealthy and powerful, um, she's also very selfish. She then releases the fact, like Tamaki then releases the fact that he's actually engaged to Eclair on his grandmother's orders, and that the host club is to dissolve after this episode, like after this festival. Tamaki will leave Japan with Eclair and go back to France. Hadohi also learns of Tomaki's mother, who was his father's mistress. So Tamaki's father had an affair with Tomaki's mother, and how Tamaki's entrance into the prestigious suo family was on a condition that he would never be able to see his mother again. And the very last episode on September 26, which is coming up in when I record this, Lady Claire pays off Haruhi's debt once she notices Tomaki's interest. But Haroki declines leaving and realized she doesn't want to lose her friends. And the host host race across time to try and get Tamaki back. But Yoshi Yoshio Otari ordered the what's called the Black Onion Squad, which is a police command, which the Old family police, they have like a huge thing. But Haruhi, so they take this horse-drawn carriage and they start bolting towards them. Haruhi catches up to the car carrying Tamaki and Eclair as they cross a bridge and she stands begging for Tamaki to return. Tamaki begins to respond, but stopped by Haruhi. Haruhi falls from the carriage off the bridge, and Eclairs finally realizes Tamaki is his heart is with Haruhi. So she releases him and thanks him before he jumps off to save Haruhi. At the Oran Ball, Haruhi dances with all the members. Yozuru and Yoshio discuss their sons, with Yoshio revealing that Kyuya outmaneuvered him by stealing his company, then giving it back to him as proof he didn't need it to be happy. Both men agree to remain friends, but disagree over whether Tomiki or Kyuya will marry Haruhi. And of course, the final scene returns to the music room 3. Because the host thanks the viewers for watching. This anime is, like I said, something so very special. It was my first anime that I ever watched. This was something that I looked forward to. Like I started watching it when it was coming out on Funimation at the time. This it's a 10 out of 10 for me. Favorite character is Kylia. But to know that this anime had such an impact on a lot of people, it's very heartdeering to me. So I recommend watching it to anybody. Like I said, this anime, I could go on and on and on, and I could talk about this anime for hours upon hours. The manga continues on after season one. It shows things that we didn't even realize. For example, Honey, after he graduated, he was actually the first to marry. He married a goth girl. So that just tells you what you need to get started on. But that's it for me today. This was, like I said, Oran High School Host Club. 10 out of 10. Recommend you should watch it. But again, this is Sebi Phantom. Thank you so much for listening to me, and I'll see you guys later.