I mentioned yesterday that I’d started introducing my teens to some of my favorite PG-13 level animes. I also noted that to keep it balanced, I was sticking to two shows at once: one action oriented, and one romance/comedy. For romance/comedy, we started with one of my favorites: Ouran High School Host Club.
Originally released in the mid 2006, Ouran is essentially a reverse harem high-school anime centered around a bunch of high-school boys who run the titular host club, and the tomboy girl who accidentally ends up a part of the group. There are lots of wacky hijinks, noodly-arm waving craziness, and inevitable romantic tension. Which boy will our heroine choose?
The version we watched was the Funamation release currently available on Netflix. The voice acting is solid, with the English dub including most of Funamation’s usual ’00s folks. Some of the early to mid ’00s shows haven’t aged well, especially the ones which relied heavily on CGI, but Ouran still looks pretty good. Then again, it’s not exactly a show that relied on cutting edge action CGI either.
Maybe part of what’s enjoyable about Ouran is that it’s not even remotely “woke”. It’s a show which takes place at a school that’s “the playground for the super rich and famous” where “boys with way too much time on their hands entertain girls who also have way too much time on their hands.” Into that comes honor student Haruhi, who’s pretty poor, and is only there because she’s on a scholarship.
There’s jokes about income inequality, crossdressers, trannies, and all sorts of other not politically appropriate topics. In short, it’s hilarious, and doesn’t pull many punches.
In short, Ouran High School Host Club is definitely still worth watching. Check it out on Netflix, or better yet, pick up the blu-ray release that just came out last month!