Ouran Koukou Host Club

Haruhi Fujioka is a studious girl who has recently enrolled at the prestigious Ouran Academy. One day, while looking for a quiet and peaceful place to study, she stumbles across a seemingly unused music room. Upon entering, Haruhi is welcomed by the members of the well-known Host Club: a club in which attractive boys amuse girls from across the entire school. However, when Tamaki Suou—the founder and president of the club—startles the bright scholarship student, she accidentally breaks an expensive vase.

With repayment looking difficult for Haruhi, the Host Club members come up with the perfect solution to the girl's problem: work for the club and ultimately become a Host herself! Mistaken for a boy by her peers, Haruhi has to entertain various female students while coping with her fellow Hosts' extravagant personalities.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Suou, Tamaki Main

Miyano, Mamoru Japanese

Fujioka, Haruhi Main

Sakamoto, Maaya Japanese

Hitachiin, Hikaru Main

Suzumura, Kenichi Japanese

Ootori, Kyouya Main

Matsukaze, Masaya Japanese

Hitachiin, Kaoru Main

Fujita, Yoshinori Japanese

Haninozuka, Mitsukuni Main

Saitou, Ayaka Japanese

Morinozuka, Takashi Main

Kirii, Daisuke Japanese

Nekozawa, Umehito Supporting

Ueda, Yuuji Japanese

Kasanoda, Ritsu Supporting

Hatano, Wataru Japanese

Houshakuji, Renge Supporting

Yoshizumi, Kozue Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Minami, Masahiko Producer

Tamura, Manabu Producer

Nakatani, Toshio Producer

Reviews

Jan 16, 2026

purplealchemist

Recommended

One of the best pieces of literature out there.

It worries me a little to see the new generation of teenagers seeing this anime as "old" or "outdated", when the animation is a masterpiece. Not many series can pull off the amount of detail that this show bestows, especially when you compare it to the animation of the 2020's these days (unfortunately, since we're in an animation crisis).

Not only is the animation great, but also the story and the voice acting. It might be one of the best dubs out there, and humor is hard to nail.

I know we won't ever get a ... season 2, and I can see why. Imagine drawing that many roses. Like, that would be crazy.

I treasure this series so much and watch it whenever I'm not feeling well.

If anyone is looking for a great, hilarious, heart-warming series, then you found it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jul 25, 2025

cronaaa

Mixed Feelings

»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» This review contains a minor spoiler. «««««««««««««««

I’ve been seeing this anime all over my feed for a long time, and I finally gave in and started watching it. Tbh, I’m not a fan of this kind of animation style—it looks a bit outdated to me. But I understand that this is an old, maybe even classic anime, so I tried to keep an open mind.

Watching it felt like riding a roller coaster. At the beginning, I was enjoying it a lot, but there were also moments where my interest dropped. Sometimes it felt a bit repetitive or too dramatic, but somehow, I would still ... find myself enjoying it again. It’s that kind of show that brings mixed emotions, but in a good way.

One of the characters I really liked was Tamaki. He’s dramatic, emotional, and a little over-the-top, but that’s what makes him lovable. He may have a hard time processing his feelings, esp when it comes to Haruhi—but I still found their interactions charming and sweet.

However, there were also things that made me uncomfortable, which is why I didn’t give it a perfect 10:
⤿ Some of the humor felt off – There were jokes and scenes that crossed the line for me. I know the show is meant to be silly and exaggerated, but sometimes it felt like they took it too far.
⤿ Flirty club scenes – Since the story revolves around a host club, the flirting is expected. But there were moments when it felt a little too much or even disrespectful toward women. As someone who appreciates anime that treats female characters well, that bothered me.
⤿ Sexist ideas – There was a part where Haruhi stood up for another girl, and the others reacted like she was wrong for doing so. I get that they were concerned for her safety, but the way the show handled it gave off the wrong message—like girls should always depend on boys instead of being strong on their own.
⤿ Kyoya’s scene with Haruhi – This was one of the most uncomfortable moments for me. There’s a scene where Kyoya tries to “teach Haruhi a lesson,” but the way it was portrayed came off as threatening. As a viewer, it felt like it was hinting at something much darker, even giving off a non-consensual/r4pe implication, which is disturbing. I know the writers probably didn’t intend it that way, but it could definitely be interpreted like that—and that’s not okay.
⤿ The twins’ act – I also found the “brotherly love” scenes between the twins very awkward. I know it was part of their act for the club, but since they’re actual brothers, it felt uncomfortable to watch. I’m not against BL (boys’ love), but the inc3st-like scenes just didn’t sit right with me.

Despite these, I still gave this anime an 8 out of 10. Why? Because in the end, I genuinely enjoyed it. The characters, while flawed, have charm and heart. The show made me laugh, feel emotionally invested, and stay curious about the story. My rating is based on how much fun I had watching it—not because it was perfect, but because it made me feel something.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jan 29, 2025

Curlybrace101

Not Recommended

One of the worst sins a work of parody can commit is to use the guise of “parody” as an excuse to earnestly do the thing they’re “parodying” and presume self-awareness excuses it from any criticism. This presumption is very false, yet it’s one that Ouran High School Host Club subscribes to.

All things considered, the premise of OHSHC is both the perfect setup for not only the reverse harem genre but especially a parody of it: Our female lead, Haruhi, is a poor girl on scholarship who must crossdress as a male to work at a very rich host club she has found herself indebted ... to. Being in a host club, this means she is not just surrounded by pretty boys, but specifically by pretty boys who make themself into a certain “archetypes” that they can sell to women—literally a pre-made reverse harem that comes purposefully packaged with the classic archetypes, as well as the fact that these archetypes clearly aren’t at least 100% genuine. And honestly, a parody of shoujo tropes that uses a host club setup to deconstruct these character archetypes by showing who they truly are when they’re not selling images of themselves sounds awesome! But even though that’s what people act like OHSHC is about, that is absolutely not what it is about.

The archetypes are as follows: Tamaki, the “princely” type, Kyoya, the “cool/megane” type, Mori, the “strong and silent/stoic” type, Honey, the “shota” (or “boy lolita” in the English dub) type and Hikaru and Kaoru, the…technically they’re called the “little devil” type, but really they’re the “twincest” type. Actually, another character later calls them the “twincest” type so I don’t know why the club pretends they’re a different archetype (also, what does little devil even mean? Gadfly?).

So, right off the bat, there are some “inappropriate” archetypes in this club—very specifically inappropriate archetypes that women tend to find themselves attracted to in shoujo manga. It’s a pretty obvious and documented fact that twincest and “shota” characters appeal to certain demographics (in particular women, especially considering the twins are both male), so it makes sense that people would take advantage of the fact they can fit into these archetypes, even though they’re “taboo,” to market themselves to customers. It’s just business, after all. And this fact would make for a pretty clever parody of and commentary on specific shoujo tropes and possibly even the hosting business if that’s what was actually happening!

While there is more debate about the twins (put a pin in that), Honey instantly disproves the “parody” argument. I would love it if they truly were parodying shoujo tropes by having the boys very specifically only act this way to sell themselves to women (which would make for good satire too), but Honey instantly makes it clear that this is not what’s happening by the fact he continues to act like a five year old boy even when no customers are present.

For anyone who somehow is unaware of this character, Honey is a third year in high school (so, about 17) but he happens to look incredibly young, so the joke is that everyone calls him “senpai” even though he does not look like he should be called that. Yes, Honey is 17 years old, and he never acts his age. It would actually be funny if he only acted like a “shota” in front of customers, but he continues to act like a literal five year old even when there are no customers around. I cannot fathom why he does this unless it’s because the mangaka genuinely wanted to include a “shota” character and thought that being self aware about it would make it less weird.

Actually, part of the reason he joined the club was because he was allowed to act childishly there which…obviously there’s nothing wrong with teens and adults liking “childish” things such as sweets and stuffed animals, but he doesn’t just *like* childish things. He acts like an elementary schooler in every single regard and every action he takes. Like childish things all you want, but like, grow up.

It gets even worse when they temporarily let an *actual ten year old boy in elementary school* join the host club, and Honey feels threatened. Yes, Honey feels threatened. By a ten year old boy.

And the unfunny jokes about children don’t even stop there! A few episodes later they joke that a very young girl is like Romeo and Juliet with her teenage brother! It never stops! And it’s never funny!

Anyways, let's take that pin out. The twins have more of an argument on the “parody” ground because they don’t actually flirt with each other outside of work, but they still act like a single celled organism in the middle of division, so really, what’s the point?

Alright, to be fair, their unhealthy attachment to and inability to be their own people outside of each other is examined in the story as something they need to work past—and apparently in the manga (I say apparently because I am not going to read this) they have a full character arc about learning to be different people outside of each other. However, this doesn’t really start to get addressed until episode 20, and the show had already lost me by episode 2 because the way they act has me feeling like, even if they don’t flirt when alone with the club, the incest still isn’t actually just a show for the audience; I don’t know what they get up to behind closed doors! I mean, we do see them canonically sleep in the same bed. Naked. And when they wake up they wrap their arms around each other. So forgive me for raising an eyebrow or twelve.

Now, depiction of incest obviously isn't inherently a bad thing, but OHSHC really only depicts it as a “joke” (quotation marks because jokes are supposed to be funny). Because it’s a romantic comedy, it isn’t serious enough to actually examine incest in a thoughtful or meaningful way, so it will have tamer drama during the more serious parts and then play incest as a joke. It’s a lose-lose scenario.

Also, in regards to their apparent character arc, no twins I have ever met (and I’ve known quite a few) have ever had that problem. Even identical twins I have known who have had the exact same interests and friends naturally developed into unique and independent people, if similar. The idea of (usually identical) twins being unable to have identities outside of each other very much seems similar to the “raised as the opposite gender” trope to me in that it is weirdly common in fiction but it never happens in real life. Why are writers seemingly unable to grasp the fact that identical twins just…are fundamentally different people?

Actually, I want to talk about the twins some more. It took me 16 entire episodes to be able to tell the difference between them in terms of personality. It wasn’t until we were *16* out of *26* episodes in that I was able to tell you what the difference in their behavior was. Before that, they literally just acted like a hive mind.

And you know *how* I was finally able to differentiate them? Because Hikaru decided to get pissy that Haruhi has friends outside of the club (driven by romantic jealousy) and Kaoru was left to clean up after his mess. Yes, not only was he upset that Haruhi had friends, but he couldn’t even get ahold of himself and fix the mess he made himself. I don’t like either of the twins, but I almost felt bad for Kaoru with the way he seems to be responsible for his brother’s behavior.

Moreover, he continued to let this jealousy overtake him until he realized he had left Haruhi alone and scared because he had ignored the hints she was dropping all day that she was getting scared. Which…

Is it an intentional character flaw on Hikaru’s part? Yes. Do I find it compelling or interesting? Not at all. He’s a spoiled rich kid in a romantic comedy. It is absolutely entitled behavior without a sympathetic or compelling reason behind it, and when I see him work on this flaw I don’t feel happy to see him grow but frustrated that he hasn’t already learned this lesson yet, because it seems like common sense to me. I guess it wouldn’t be common sense to a spoiled rich boy, but why should I sympathize with that? Get over yourself.

Fun fact, at one point in the show, Haruhi says Hikaru gets worse on his own. Why did they just so casually move on from that? That’s terrible lol. If someone told me that I would change my name and flee the country.

Sorry, I seem to have gotten sidetracked. The point is, the “parody” defense holds no water. Just because Haruhi says that shoujo romance is full of debauchery (her exact words), that doesn’t mean this show isn’t also doing those “debaucherous” tropes just because they’re self aware about it. Every time I see someone who likes this show say that these “taboo” elements aren’t actually weird because it’s parodying or even *satirizing* these “fetishy” tropes I have to laugh.

Speaking of laughter, this show *is* primarily a comedy, and even setting aside the incest and shota jokes it just really is not very funny. A lot of the jokes are horribly dated including a joke about characters *doing the nazi salute*—although honestly, I don’t think that was appropriate even in 2006. Reminder that Japan was one of the Axis powers.

Despite the fact that the show is self aware of its more “problematic” aspects, so to speak, it is absolutely not self aware about the rest of its comedy, which is honestly kind of impressive.

But the poor quality of the writing does not stop there. We’ve already covered the comedy and how it tries to avoid criticism of certain tropes by being self aware, but what about the romance and the rest of the cast?

Well, the one saving grace is Haruhi. She’s witty, charming, relatable, caring and compassionate, and adorable. And, as you’ve probably heard, in spite of some other aspects of the show, she’s a surprisingly progressive character when it comes to her attitudes towards gender and gender roles. Many viewers enjoy this show because they relate to her, especially in how she views gender as something unimportant. She is an absolute delight of a main character and I love her dearly. Honestly, without her I doubt I would have been able to finish the show.

Her main love interest is the “princely” type—Tamaki. And honestly? *This* is the show’s biggest pitfall.

Tamaki sucks. I am not afraid to say it. I love blond pretty boys but this one is terrible. He is controlling, possessive, and egotistical. He doesn’t want people to know Haruhi is a girl or for her to wear revealing clothing because he doesn’t want other guys looking at her, as if it’s his decision. He even calls her “my Haruhi.” And this is in spite of the fact they’re *not even dating yet.*

I’m sorry (well, actually I’m not), but you have no right to say that about someone you’re not dating. If you’re going to act like that about her, at least have the balls to ask her out.

Well, actually, it’s not that he doesn’t have the balls but that he’s too stupid to recognize his own emotions, which, contrary to popular belief, does not make it better! In fact, there is a running joke where he repeatedly *refers to himself as her dad,* because rationalizing why he feels possessive over her that way is easier than admitting to himself he has a crush on her. Because, you know, dads tend to be irrationally overprotective of their daughters. Like Tamaki is over Haruhi!

In all fairness, he is not consciously aware of the fact he is doing all of this out of romantic jealousy, but frankly, I don’t care. Intentions only go so far, and I don’t care that his stupidity and unawareness of his own emotions makes him the butt of the joke. I wasn’t laughing.

I think the author confused the word “uncomfortable” with the word “funny.”

There’s an episode of this show titled “Tamaki’s Unwitting Depression” which is about how another man saw Haruhi changing and it not only aggravated all of the hosts but sent Tamaki into shell shock, in spite of the fact Haruhi literally does not care. Yeah, it’s hilarious how these men are possessive over her body.

Again, they *weren’t even dating* and some other guy seeing Haruhi in her bra sent him into a state of shock. Even though Haruhi literally didn’t even care.

At the end of the episode, there’s a “joke” where Tamaki asks “if [she doesn’t belong] to me, then to who?!” and Haruhi has to say she doesn’t belong to anybody. And that’s supposed to be funny?

*This* is the winner of the harem?

Man, I know when I’m looking for a man, I’m looking for a lack of self awareness and emotional immaturity!

And I fully understand that all of this is clearly meant to be an intentional character flaw, but this is a comedy, meaning character flaws are played for comedy, and it is so horrendously unfunny.

It’s weird, Tamaki actually has a sympathetic backstory when they get around to revealing it, but his flaws are completely unrelated to it; he’s just like that. Not that this is some sin of writing, or even a real criticism on my part, but I just find it odd. Of course nobody needs a sympathetic reason to be a flawed person, but this is a fictional story in which everything is a deliberate choice by the writer in order to mean something. Unlike real life, everything happens in a story for a reason. I just felt like that could have been a bit more tightly woven, although that’s simply my opinion.

Now, I don’t want to be unfair, so I’ll say that Tamaki isn’t *entirely* terrible, as the show actually takes time to highlight his main virtue: compassion. Despite his inflated ego and severely out of touch nature, he routinely does good things to help people simply because it is the right thing to do and he doesn’t give up on people. And ordinarily this could curry some more favor for me (even though compassion is like, basic human decency), but it gets absolutely drowned out by the fact he spends most of his screentime yelling about how people are going to take his “little girl” away from him or whatever.

What I really mean by this is that at least she didn’t end up with Hikaru! Because he has the exact same flaws as Tamaki but he’s also mean!

Oops, did I get sidetracked complaining about Hikaru again? My bad.

There are two members of the host club I haven’t mentioned yet. The first is Kyoya, and thankfully he’s easily one of the less annoying characters because the “cool” archetype naturally befits amiable behavior. However, passing the “not obnoxious” bar still isn’t doing much in his favor, and *his* intentional character flaws that don’t work in romcom are selfishness and a lack of empathy (so he can serve as a foil to Tamaki). Although, I will say that for what it’s worth, his flaws actually make the most sense out of all of the club members considering how his father is when you eventually meet him, so he’s easily one of the more bearable characters—well, except for that one time. Put another pin.

The last remaining character is Mori, who I am mentioning last because given that he is the “strong and silent” type, it’s easy to infer that he doesn’t do much. He seemingly just exists to carry Honey around. Like, genuinely he has no character outside of Honey and is surprisingly boring. It’s like the author just didn’t know what else to do with him.

There’s really only one “Mori episode” and it 1) is not until the end of the season (episode 22, to be precise) 2) spends most of its time focused on a new character in comparison to Mori rather than Mori himself, and 3) spends the rest of its time lampshading the fact that Mori has nothing going on outside of Honey. And how many times do I have to say that self awareness of a problem doesn’t excuse you from it?

Unsurprisingly there’s some yaoi subtext between Honey and Mori—they have a master/servant dynamic going on; Mori’s family has been serving Honey’s for generations—which would be fine if they weren’t also cousins. This isn’t even a bit like with the twins. They just genuinely get Too Close for people who share a family tree. Like, customers may ogle their close relationship but they’re not putting on an act. They’re just genuinely like this.

Anyways.

I just can’t find the screentime of any of these guys enjoyable. Haruhi is awesome, but she is surrounded by a bunch of pretentious men who think they’re God’s gift to Japan—some of whom spend the vast majority of their screen time pandering to a fetish that, dare I say, most people not only do not have but are actively uncomfortable with.

Oh, and don’t forget they’re all rich. I don’t care that this is meant for the women who want a rich man to take care of them; I immediately lose all sympathy for them and their rich boy feelings when Haruhi is too busy worrying about if she’s going to be able to afford to eat that week—especially considering that (with the exception of the last two episodes) their rich boy feelings are very entitled and self-centered. I just cannot sympathize with that. Entitlement can be a good character flaw but in a low-stakes romantic comedy? Extremely hard sell—especially when the characters have this flaw because they have privilege most people can only dream of.

And the characters are also really weird about Haruhi’s class. Like, I know they’ve always been rich so it’s not like I expect them to be unsurprised, but their attitude towards it made me genuinely uncomfortable at times. Stop acting like lower class people are martians.

Also, for a show meant for teenage girls that’s weirdly progressive in the gender department, it’s also weirdly sexist?

It’s time to talk about the infamous episode 8.

I am not the first person to criticize episode 8. You’ll see it criticized in other reviews on this site. It is widely hated even by fans of the show. However, I have to bring it up anyway, because it is just that egregious.

In episode 8, Haruhi defends some girls from being sexually assaulted and as a result, she gets hurt. And this is portrayed as *her fault.* Tamaki tells her that she shouldn’t have done that because women can’t protect themselves from men, and everyone else agrees with him. And rather than having the boys learn the lesson that no one is at fault but the assaulters and the right thing to do is to try to help women being sexually assaulted (especially when there is no one else around), Haruhi eventually realize she was wrong and decides she has to apologize to Tamaki. What????

I don’t care that Tamaki said that because he was worried about her; that’s insane.

And to make matters worse, do you know how Kyoya tries to prove this point? He threatens to rape her. I’m not joking. Take that second pin out!

Yeah, I’m being dead serious. It wasn’t just a verbal threat either. He turned off the lights and pinned her to the bed underneath him. The way she asks him why he’s turning the lights off makes my stomach drop.

In all fairness, he wasn’t planning to actually do anything and was just proving to Haruhi how vulnerable she is because she’s a woman—you know, to prove that she shouldn’t try to stop men from sexually assaulting other women—and, luckily, Haruhi sees through the act and calls his bluff. But as I said previously, “intentions” only go so far.

I’m a woman. If I were in Haruhi’s position, I would not see through the act. I would assume my friend who I had trusted is about to rape me.

The worst part of all of this, though, is that he was pretending he was going to force himself on her to prove victim blaming is correct and she needs to apologize. And do you know what Haruhi says in response?

“I never realized what a nice guy you are.”

At this point, I don’t even care that he wasn’t planning on doing anything, because excuse me?

The target audience for this show is teenage girls. That’s the message you want to send to them?

You know, I find it funny when people complain about Haruhi ending up with the wrong guy, because aside from the fact the obvious winner of the harem was clear from the start, what better option is there?

Oh boy! Who is Haruhi going to end up with! Just look at her options!

1) Immature and controlling
2) Threatened rape to prove it *is* the victim’s fault
3) Shotabait
4) Will cheat on you with his brother
5) Will cheat on you with his brother and then get mad at you for having friends
6) Boring. Also will cheat on you with his cousin

Oh no. However can she choose.

Honestly if I had to pick one I’d pick Mori but it’s just because you can’t do anything wrong if you don’t do anything at all!

Except make bedroom eyes at your cousin who acts like a child.

Moving on.

Quite frankly, I know that earlier I mentioned it’s actually somewhat progressive, but I was exaggerating. People love to praise this show for being progressive for its time, but they’re really overhyping it. I already said that Haruhi’s gender non-conforming nature is progressive, which is true, but as for everything else…well…

Remember the Nazis salute I mentioned earlier? It’s done by a character who is canonically a lesbian and is a total man-hating caricature of both a lesbian and a feminist. Her hatred of men is compared to the literal actual Nazis. Diversity win! We included a literal feminazi!

Somehow, she was still one of the better characters! Actually she’s not; I lied. I’m just saying that because she punched Tamaki in the face. She’s actually also obnoxious—because, you know, she’s a caricature. She even tries to kiss Haruhi against her will, because everyone knows lesbians love to prey on unwilling straight people.

The most ironic part is that Tamaki is also canonically homophobic to her, which is *crazy* considering he was clearly attracted to Haruhi from the very beginning, even when he thought she was a boy at first. Insert “the demons are bisexuality” meme here.

But wait, it gets worse! The club she leads is a troupe of actresses called the Zuka club, taking its name and inspiration from the Takarazuka Revue.

The Takarazuka Revue is a historical all-female theatre troupe known for its feminist takes on classic theatre and challenging gender roles. They’re hugely influential on Japanese feminist and especially queer feminist media. They inspired Osamu Tezuka (you know, the godfather of manga, known for Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, Blackjack, etc) to create Princess Knight, which would pave the way for Rose of Versailles and Revolutionary Girl Utena—two of the most famous queer feminist works of animanga of all time. They even inspired some parts of Sailor Moon! (Which makes sense, as one of the team members behind it would go on to create Utena).

Their influence didn’t stop in the 90s, either. To this day they’re still inspiring female-led queer anime and manga such as Revue Starlight and Kageki Shoujo.

And in 2006, after *decades* of making leaps and bounds for feminist media, OHSHC made fun of them, likening them to strawman caricatures of man-haters and going so far as to compare them to Nazis.

Christ.

OHSHC is praised for its surprisingly progressive take on gender roles and gender expression, yet this is what it thinks of some of Japan’s most influential feminists.

Anyways, the funniest part about Tamaki’s involvement here is that he’s so afraid that this evil lesbian will take Haruhi away that the entire host club crossdresses, and then he proceeds to be a bit weird about Haruhi’s crossdresser father during the next episode. Her father is also canonically bisexual even though the English dub cuts this out. The worst part though is that he (and another character) gets called a transphobic slur multiple times. You know, for the sake of comedy! It’s funny!

Okay, I’ll admit I’m being mean. He’s actually treated better than a lot of GNC characters of the time period. He’s a loving father and a character we’re clearly supposed to like, and it’s clear that Haruhi’s forward views on gender expression and identity are inherited from her father, who had been very happily married to his loving wife who was totally cool with him being a bisexual crossdresser—not to mention any initial apprehension the boys have about him wears off quickly. But the way he’s treated is still not great; there’s no excuse for the literal, actual slurs.

Granted, the word used in Japanese is “okama” which is significantly less derogatory (and even more of a neutral word in certain contexts) than the word used in English, which I do not care to repeat, but it *is* still a derogatory word at the end of the day and *who* is using it and why matters. The English dub also uses the word “transvestite” at times which is significantly less derogatory so I have no clue why they didn’t use it 100% of the time. Tamaki using the slur in question is insanely funny when you remember he has canonically worn women’s clothing before.

When Haruhi crossdresses it's cool, but when her father does we call him a slur, I guess. Sure, whatever.

Did you know that on Crunchyroll this series is rated 14+ for “profanity, slurs.” There is no profanity.

It’s all just…exhausting, honestly. This is possibly the unfunniest comedy and least romantic romance I have ever seen.

And listen, I am not here claiming moral panic and censorship because at the end of the day, it’s just a television show and you are well within your right to be a fan of it. However, while it’s true that this is a work of fiction and it’s not really hurting anybody, I’m still allowed to find it weird, uncomfortable, and deeply annoying—and no matter what, I just don’t think it’s responsible to market to teenage girls. If you fully understand that it’s not real and should not be real so you love OHSHC and its tropes, then more power to you—but I don’t like it. Honestly, I’d be less dissatisfied with it if it just did its “debaucherous” tropes in earnest without pretending that its self awareness makes it different.

And you know what? The show claims that shoujo manga is full of “debauchery” which is why they’re “parodying” tropes like shota and twincest, but quite frankly that’s giving a bad name to shoujo manga. It’s true that it has its “problematic” tropes, but every genre and demographic will have tropes like that. To act like this is a problem specifically with media for girls, or that all of this media for girls has these tropes (which is why OHSHC is *affectionately* “parodying” them) feels really…weird. I don’t want to say *sexist* but then again episode 8 exists, so if the shoe fits…)

There is plenty of shoujo manga out there that does not have those tropes. Stories for teenage girls are not inherently full of “debauchery” and inappropriate behavior.

In the end, OHSHC is just emblematic of every single frustrating and uncomfortable trope of 2000s shoujo manga, and then it thinks its above criticism because it claims all shoujo is like this and then makes fun of itself just enough to pass off as “parody.”

Dare I say teenage girls deserve better than this. And dare I say there *is* better than this.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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