One of FUNimation's latest releases is the first half of Ouran High School Host Club, an anime that looks like a typical girl's anime that would have little appeal to males.  Looks can be deceiving however, and that's definitely the case with this program.  An anime that turns both shojo and harem shows on their sides, it's an uproariously funny romp that deserves a lot of attention.

Haruhi Fujioka is a student who earned a scholarship to the prestigious, and very expensive, Ouran Academy.  While looking for a quite place to study in one afternoon, Haruhi goes into Music Room three, which is supposed to be unused.  Unfortunately another group of students got there first, and they've spent the last year turning the music room into a host club.  (A place where women can go to have attractive men fawn over them while spending money on overpriced drinks and food.)  Haruhi is pretty surprised and turns to leave, but accidentally bumps a pedestal with a very expensive ($80,000) vase on it, which falls to the floor and shatters.  Since Haruhi is too poor to even afford the school uniform, the club decides to let the young scholar work off his debt by being a host.  There's only one problem:  Haruhi is a girl.  Because of her androgynous clothes and her short hair, everyone in the school thinks she's a he.  But without her working as a male host, she'll never be able to pay off her debt.  So the Host Club vows to keep her secret and teach her the art of making young girls happy.

The club itself consists a several wild characters, all of whom add to the charm of the show and are character types typically found in manga and anime aimed at girls.  The president is Tamaki Suou, extremely handsome and a wonderful host, Tamaki is also an idiot.  He falls for Haruhi early on and dreams of seeing her in cosplay costumes, but the plays he makes for her are always destined to fail.

Kyoya is the quite vice-president and actually pretty smart.  A lot of the schemes that the club hatches are actually his idea and they work more often than not.  Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin are identical twins who always talk in unison and possibly homosexual lovers.  Or maybe it's just an act.  In any case when the girls who come to the club see the pair so close that their lips are almost touching and declaring their undying love for each other, they nearly swoon.

Honey is the "boy-lolita" person of the club, though he' really18, he looks like he's about 10 years old.  Contrary to his looks, he's also a national champion in multiple martial arts disciplines and his family helps train the Japanese army.  Where ever Honey is, Takashi Morinozuka isn't far behind.  This tall elegant and quite man has dedicated his life to protecting Honey (not that he needs it.)

This series has little continuity and each episode is a stand alone story, as befits a comedy.  The plots often involve either a scheme to keep Haruhi's secret safe, a closer look at one of the members of the club, or a hair-brained scheme someone comes up with.  In one episode it's time for the school physicals and the members of the club have to figure out a way to make sure that Haruhi's gender isn't discovered.   In another, the club takes a trip to an artificial tropical paradise (an amusement park that is owned by the family of one of the members) and Honey gets lost.

While the plots are pretty generic, the show itself is outrageously funny.  These rich kids see nothing wrong with elaborate and expensive plans to do something simple and Haruhi is often the lone voice of sanity, screaming in the wilderness.  The show goes to great lengths to poke fun at stereotypes found in anime, especially anime aimed at women.  While the characters never break the 4th wall and talk to the audience directly, they do seem to realize that they are in an anime show.  At one point Haruhi proclaims that it doesn't seem appropriate to end a show with just a bunch of 'moe' (large-eyed characters who look cute) but that's what they do anyway.  In another a character pigeon-holes all of the members of the club based on their shojo stereotypes.  My favorite running gag however is the things that pop up in the club's room.  When they need to capture somebody, they drop a cage on them, when someone wants to make a grand entrance they raise out of the floor on an elevated pedestal.  Haruhi is the only one who finds this odd constantly asking questions like "Why is there a cage hidden in the ceiling of a music room!?"

The fact that all of the members (save Haruhi) are ultra-rich also adds to the humor.  Calling in a private police force or a trip to a private beach seems ordinary for these kids, and Haruhi's wide-eyed amazement is always good for a laugh.

Audio:

These discs come with the original Japanese audio track as well as an English dub, both in stereo.  While I'd normally chastise a release for not having a 5.1 track at least in English this show doesn't really call for one and the stereo audio suits it well.  The English voice actors did a fine job but I have a slight preference for the Japanese track.  There were no audio defects worth noting.

Video:

The full frame image looked pretty good without any significant problems.  The colors are bright like the typical shojo anime, and the lines are tight.  The level of detail is also fine.  On the digital side, things also look good.  There's a little aliasing and some minor banding, but that's all.

Extras:

This set also includes some manga pages from the series, a pretty funny 15-minute reel of outtakes, and a clean opening.  There're also a few commentaries with the ARD director and various members of the English cast.

Final Thoughts:

This is a slightly strange but never-the-less laugh out loud funny anime that deserves a lot of attention.  Poking fun at anime in general and harem shows in particular, every episodes has a lot of laughs.  This set is highly recommended.