Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori

Title: Ouran High School Host Club
Mangaka: Bisco Hatori
Age Group: Teens
Series is: Completed with 18 volumes
Volume(s) Reviewing: 16
My Rating: 4/5

Mori declares a fight with Hunny, just before graduation. Does it mean they will separate for good?? Along with that, it seems like there is something suspicious cooking up in Tamaki's household.

For the past couple of volumes, it has been building up Tamaki's personal life and his family business. With his grandmother who hates him for who he is, she is finally letting him move into the Suoh's main mansion. However, it seems like there may be a hidden agenda. This volume is full of family politics. To the point where you wonder why the mangaka did not fast-forward the characters age to college or at least senior year of high school since the story has been going on for so many volumes and it would be more appropriate.

This volume is the peak of where Tamaki and Haruhi fully realize their feelings for each other. Acting exactly like high school students (which they are), they get embarrassed every time they see each other and sometimes end up in shojo scenarios that drive them insane. At this point I am waiting for the ending and hopefully see where everyone is in 10 years.

The end features two bonus stories, one where you FINALLY get to see Haruhi's mother. It is where Haruhi's father relentlessly pursue after his interest in a woman six years his senior. And honest to god, it is an adorable love-at-first sight story. And the second story is with the twins' grandmother and you get see how she contributes to their quirky personalities.

Review copy provided by Viz.

Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori

Title: Ouran High School Host Club

Mangaka: Bisco Hatori

Age Group: Teens

Series is: Complete with 18 volumes

Volume(s) Reviewing: 14-15

My Rating: 4.5/5

In volume 14, Hikaru finally confesses his feelings to Haruhi. Poor Haruhi, who has been so oblivious up until now, has no idea how to react to this situation. Later the plot spins off when she gets kidnapped while she and the host club were visiting the shrine for the New Year's!

The last time I reviewed the series was in December of 2008. Since then when there were only a few volumes out, the story lines and characters have developed so much ever since. Hatori's art style evolved ever since volume one so there would be a difference if you compare her style now and then. Tamaki and the twins I have noticed did change a lot in terms of their personalities. If you have read up to thus far, you would know that some of the Ouran characters became more complex over time in terms of their backgrounds and so on.

In this volume, Hikaru finally decides to be brave and tell Haruhi how he feels about her. This is a big step in his character especially and it is nice to see the clear difference between him and his brother. After Hikaru told Tamaki that he likes Haruhi, poor Tamaki gets into this confused state of mind. He then became a deep and philosophical person as he tried to sort out what he was really feeling inside.

We then get introduced to a new character named Megumi Kanoya, a girl who is practically twin to Haruhi in terms of appearance! Classy and gentle, Kanoya is similar to Tamaki because of their background history and is attached to the king of the Ouran Host Club. She is slightly bland in this volume so I wasn't paying attention to her as much.

I particularly enjoyed the side story at the end of volume 14 with Mori and his racoon and chicken pets. They are simply adorable. Too bad in real life they aren't that cute to actually own.

In volume 15, the host club decides that in order to get Tamaki out of his moody state, they host a race for the school!

Through the race, you get to see Kanoya's personality a lot better. I like her after this volume because she turned out to be very cute and has this funny personality. Tamaki did get out of his weird mood in this volume and turned out to misunderstood things a bit more than before!

Surprisingly up until now, the mangaka never mentioned about Hunny's and Mori's graduation since they are older than the rest of the club. So that is now thrown into the plot! This is pretty much hinting that the story will sometime ends soon in the future.

After reading up to volume 15, I really hope that in the last volume it would show where everyone would be in 5 or 10 years from now. That would be so amazing to see where our beloved characters end up at!

I definitely look forward to the next volume!

Review copies provided by Viz.

Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori

Title: Ouran High School Host Club
Mangaka: Bisco Hatori
Age Group: Teens
# of Pages: Approx. 200
# of Volumes: 13
My Rating: 5/5

Haruhi Fujioka is an intelligent girl who receives a scholarship to one of the most prestigious school around, Ouran High School. Every single student there comes from a rich family. When I say rich, I do mean rich. So rich that they know nothing of the common class because all their life is filled with expensive restaurants and clothes from the latest designer along with luxurious vacations that celebrities can afford.

In need of a place to study, Haruhi searches for a quiet room within the grand school. Thinking that one of the music rooms is unused, she enters but to only find herself the "Host Club". The club consists of six gorgeous and wealthy-beyond-your-imagination boys; they will give you all the attention in the world with the right price and they'll make sure your money is well spent. They welcome Haruhi with much affection that she freaks out and accidentally breaks a vase nearby. It wouldn't be too bad if it wasn't an antique with a $80 000 tag on it. To repay for the cost, Haruhi is forced to become their "dogsbody" because unlike everyone else, she comes from the other side of the spectrum. Thrown into the fabulous world of the rich and with a huge debt over her head, how will Haruhi manage??

Ouran Host Club is one of my favourite crossdressing manga series of all-time. I started reading it three years ago when it first came out. But then there was a phase where everyone was crazy about it online so I took a break after the second volume. I started to pick it up again this year and fell in love with it once more.

It contains wacky moments that are downright fun to read! Not to mention there is a bit of romance. In the beginning of the series, the plot is very light and fluffy. Eventually as it progresses, the mangaka dives into the background of the individual hosts. So it gets a bit dark for certain hosts and you see the reasons for why they are in the club. There is great character development as the plot line moves on.

In the story, it is quite obvious who she will end up with. But deep inside, I keep on crossing my fingers for her to be with Kyoya, the Shadow King of the club. Oh well, I can always look into the fan fiction for that. I can't wait to read more of Ouran; the eleventh volume has recently been released by Shojo Beat! Is recommended for Hana Kimi and Hana Yori Dango/Boys Over Flowers fans and those who are just into the romantic comedies!