Ouran High School Host Club

Episodes 5-6

Pretty much all the characters in Ouran High School Host Club pique my curiosity, by virtue of thus far having distinctive quirks with more detailed aspects of their personalities still begging to be explored. The twins, Kaoru and Hikaru, expressly double-up on that interest, naturally inviting the question of who they are individually from each other, apart from their played-up twincest gimmick. The idea of them as the ‘playful’ type has been their most recurring way of interacting with Haruhi and the others, and that comes up in several facets of the focus they receive in the fifth episode of the show. What we get for them so far doesn't really constitute character development so much as character definition, but it's still interesting to see, and ends up being one of the funniest episodes of this show I've watched thus far, so it turns out pretty cool by me.

One reason I've dug the Super Hitachiin Bros from the word go is how they're furthest along on the sliding scale of Ouran's foundational gimmick. Everything about their ‘character’ is totally an intentional exaggeration by them for the part of the host-club show gimmick. They differ in that way from the likes of Tamaki, whose moe gap is generated by him just thinking he's the dashing princely type only to regularly devolve into a shrieking brat. Kaoru and Hikaru are so deep into their presentation (a flashback reveals that they've been playing with the twins gimmickry since they were little kids) that they keep it up virtually all the time they're in public, a two-man version of a facade personality meant to isolate people from getting too close to them. There are actually some fascinating reads you could get on their character just from this: They remark a couple times this episode on not letting anyone else into the world of the brotherly relationship they're attached to, and keeping people at emotional arm's length hits differently when you've got a loved one to lean on regardless, rather than simply retreating into your own feelings. It comes off more as a case of the twins doing it out of complacency rather than a fear of being emotionally exposed.

The ennui that comes with such complacency is thus explained as the motivation for all the ‘playing’ they do, manipulating other people as ‘toys’ for entertainment rather than bothering getting to know anyone other than themselves. Anyone who's been there knows that mere boredom is one of the strongest motivators for trolling, after all. And trolling is what these guys have been all about, reveling in a spat this episode that turns out to have been a work of fiction all along, which I really should have seen coming. Honestly, for all that I typed up there about reading depth of characterization on these bad boys, I was actually delighted by the revelation that their ‘fight’ had been a calculated ruse all along. I think I'm really coming around to engaging with Ouran on its own terms as a character-based comedy, and the payoff of the long con they pulled on Haruhi here was just too funny. This I know from experience: Do not mess with close siblings. Besides, there's spots of character growth anyway, such as more examples of Haruhi's ability to see and judge people apart from appearances, or the indication that the twins might be ready to shake up their tight fraternal world by letting her in. Previously, any interest they showed in Haruhi seemed to be purely to screw with Tamaki (a noble pursuit, to be sure), but now they seem to be coming into more genuine feelings. I find myself eagerly curious to see where that might go and what it might mean for their aligned dynamic shown off so delightfully in episode 5.

The sixth episode, to my consternation, doesn't hit the same highs. This one concerns elementary schooler Shiro, who seems to slot into the ‘problem of the week’ character narrative the show has deployed regularly, but also seems to have moved into the Host Club as a regular by the end of this episode. That might just be an ending bit, though. The show's Wikipedia tab, which I keep open so I can keep everyone straight while writing these reviews, doesn't list him anywhere near the main cast, and I hope that's the case since this kid is a real piece of work. Kaoru and Hikaru may be trollish jerks, but they're the fun kind of bratty, while Shiro here just comes off as a little tool. His defining character trait is his brutal honesty, clashing ‘hilariously’ with his attempts to learn the lady-charming Host Club ropes, but in practice is just a few rounds of him insulting our main characters then throwing a tantrum when he doesn't understand why they aren't helping him.

There's potential here with this plot, and the idea of the hosts using their powers on a cute case of puppy love rather than anything resembling more mature romance. There's an earnestness to their efforts once they realize what Shiro is actually trying to do; Tamaki especially comes off well in his serious espousal of understanding the difference between the show the Host Club is putting on and genuinely trying to show your love for someone. But that comes after stretches of him getting in spats with a literal child and rehashing his princely pratfall routine. Tamaki's generally fun, but seeing flashes like in this episode make me yearn for the show to do just a bit more with him. It's also still pretty funny in places, like Renge's now-apparent running gag of rising up out of the floor's inner workings to dispense some otome game nerd wisdom. Her ‘training’ of Shiro into a more familiar bratty kid archetype was probably as entertaining as this episode got with his character, since he otherwise came off as a total misfire that torpedoed my appreciation for much of the episode.

That makes this week's episodes of Ouran an appreciably even split of what I like and don't like about the show so far. The comedic capabilities of the personalities of its main cast are strong enough now that just leaning into them can carry a whole episode of antics, as in the Hikaru and Kaoru episode. But just using those as vehicles to show the Club interacting with guest characters and stock sitcom scenarios? We end up with something like the Shiro episode, which is a lot less fun. I'm here at the Host Club to enjoy hanging out with these boys; the other guests are hardly the main attraction.

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Ouran High School Host Club is currently streaming on Netflix, Funimation, and Hulu.