Classification/Genre: high school comedy
Length/No. of seasons/episodes: ssn 1 = 26 episodes
Main Characters: haruhi fujioka, tamaki suoh, kyouya ootori, mitsukuni “hunny” haninozuka, hikaru and kaoro hitachiin, takashi “mori” morinozuka, haruhi’s father
Setting: Ouran Private Academy, present-day Tokyo
Comment: and highly entertaining series based on a silly premise that works in many ways
—o0o—
so, who goes to ouran high?
apparently a lot of goofy and rich good-looking teenage guys and girls with loads of free time on their hands.
haruhi fujioka (the lone female lead) would seem depressingly normal in a “normal” setting, but when viewed in the context of being surrounded by that hilarious dimwit tamaki, the devious kyouya, the uber-cute hunny, (who sounds and looks like), the reticent mori, the mischievous pair of troublemakers kaoru and hikaru — not to mention her harebrained cross-dressing father — she is blessedly and refreshingly sane.
forget logical. or sensible. just give in to your rollicking mirth as these guys (and one girl posing as a guy) go through high school and wreak havoc along the way. haruhi, a poor student who is initially mistaken for a boy, is roped in as the 7th member of the host club after breaking an expensive vase that the club was planning to sell. despite knowing her gender, the club members decide to continue with the charade and let haruhi serve as a “host” — ostensibly, until she has fully paid for the price of the broken vase.
haruhi’s gender and economic situation as well as each of the guy’s personality quirks are effectively used as a fodder for numerous silly gags and hilarious situations. the guys, who initially see haruhi as an amusing and interesting novelty, eventually begin to bond with her. and then, of course, there are those other interesting and bizarre support characters such as haruhi’s father, nekozawa, ritsu kasanoda, renge-chan, etc., who are always more than willing to stick their oar in.