I recently watched a documentary about the culture of Japanese host clubs and thought it was really interesting. I mean, if I was rich and a woman I could definitely see myself as a regular at something like this if I lived in Japan, I do love attention after all. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that the concept of host clubs was interesting to me, and when I discovered there was a pretty well-received and popular anime about hosting, I thought I’d check it out.

This one was definitely a ride. I almost rage dropped the show halfway through, the only thing keeping me going was knowing that people really like this show and it’s got a cult classic status, so I gave it the opportunity to redeem itself and luckily it did bounce back. Don’t get me wrong there are a LOT of problems with this series, oh my god are there problems. But it has a charm to it that I didn’t expect.

Things I thought were great about this show include the characters. All the host boys and the side characters are all distinguishable in design and personality. They’re not the greatest guys, we will talk about that later, but they are unique and the writers in the show tend to understand the characters and their motivations very well, so they never really deviate from what we would expect from them or break character, except for one instance I’ll mention in the spoiler section of this review.

I like the comedy as well, the show isn’t laughing out loud funny but it has a cheeky (for lack of a better term) scenes of humour that entertained me. Keep in mind though, the show is 15 years old and good god the comedy is a bit dated (I definitely cringed in places.)

The subplots were fun, and the show followed many characters in their journey to overcome challenges and become better people. For instance, Honey is challenged by his toothache, Haruhi is challenged by thunder, the twins are challenged by navigating friendships and feelings of jealousy, and Tamaki deals with being attracted to femboys/j. There are also the dynamics between the boys and their families, given they all come from money, power and fame. These aspects of the boys' lives are not overlooked and end up playing a significant role towards the end of the story, and I liked that the audience gets to know the characters on a personal level like that.

This is the kind of show I could see having several seasons, it doesn’t, but if it did I probably wouldn’t watch beyond this season if I’m honest, I feel like I get the idea. There is quite a lot of filler content in this but luckily it’s not too boring, but yeah sometimes it hits and sometimes it misses. Judging by the way the show ends, I can see it is possible that the writers were leaving certain plot points open in case they were renewed for a second season. Personally, I think it’s fine the way it is and I feel like most people agree.

Now I want to talk about the problems this show has. It doesn’t have a lot, but it can’t be ignored.

I want to preface by saying I am aware this show is 15 years old and I’m not holding it to the same standard I would hold shows today. I mean, I wouldn’t even consider Ouran to be offensive by today’s standards, not at all, it’s just super fucking cringe in some places.

The taboo topics are very hit or miss. For instance, Honey as a character doesn’t freak me out, I know the idea is that he’s supposed to look and act 5 but is actually 17/18, which is why he’s a hit with the ladies. Like sure it’s weird that the fact he’s very young at heart is what makes him attractive but like, I understand why it’s done. In an early episode, it is explained that the boys appeal to the female gaze and that’s why they do what they do so well. In the west, I don’t think men who act like toddlers are a hit with the ladies but it may be different in Japan and that’s fine, it is what it is, it’s age play, I’m not going to judge, just acknowledging that it’s all a bit weird.

Despite that, though I really liked Honey as a character, I thought he was unique and I like that he overcomes challenges in order to be his true self, at the end of the day and I think that’s a good message. There’s not really an easy way to dance around the fact that if you really wanted to nitpick at the show, the certainly an argument to be made about how it sexualises infancy, but I just don’t have the mental strength to initiate that discussion.

However, the situation with the twins is less innocent. Like for what reason is it implied that they fuck? I know it’s meant to be for the female gaze and was just an act to play into taboo female fantasies, but gee whiz, they’re still grabbing each other's asses while the girls are away. Is this fan service for the women watching the show? Look, maybe it’s just not for me, I acknowledge I am not the target audience for this show, not at all. But the boy love scenes between the twins is cringe af, I hate to kink shame the ladies who thought this was hot but please girls, go watch Haiyku to get your hot teen boy action like everyone else.

The rest of the boys in the host club are less fetishy. You’ve got the Prince Charming, the sensitive type, the dark and mysterious one, things vanilla women usually gravitate towards. But then there is the situation with Haruhi.

Now I’m not sure whether it’s just the translation I saw and if it’s different in the original but the translation I watched heavily implied for the first few episodes that Haruhi was a trans (non-binary, gender fluid or possibly transmsac). Not that she was a masculine girl, it was heavily implied based on the language used that Haruhi was trans. This excited me so much, I would have LOVED to see this plotline, it would have been absolutely groundbreaking. But like I said, the show is 15 years old, and as you continue to watch the show, you discover that at no point did the writers of the original series ever consider Haruhi’s gender identity to be up for debate. She was 100% just an androgynous girl. That’s fine too, but for the love of God, it would have been nice if her androgyny wasn’t fetishised so much. For a shoujo show meant to be about “what women want” the male gaze is so painfully obvious here.

Then there’s all the queerbaiting with the guys which isn’t cool but look, it’s an old show from a culture vastly different to mine, I'll just consider it a win that homosexuality isn't weaponised or demonised. For all I care, the boys can pretend to kiss each other for female attention all they want. Knock yourselves about boys! If the young Japanese female population lead to believe that gay men are “hot” then kudos, because over here in the west, they’re still young people growing up to believe that gay men are a personification of evil and of devils. I know which interpretation I prefer personally.

In conclusion, Ouran has its ups and downs, its peaks and valleys. At the end of the day, it was a show that surprised me with how much heart and attention to detail it possessed. I know I can safely recommend it to certain people, not for everyone, but for people I know will benefit from the messages and themes the show presents. Now, somebody point me in the direction of some Ouran fanfiction in which the boys buy Haruhi their first binder. Hurry up before I’m forced to write it myself.