The premise is pretty simple, the lead female Haruhi gets into a debt with an all boy club, which is based on pleasing the other girls at school. Romantically, sheesh. Haruhi then has to dress as a boy in order to work off her debt, leading to countless situations where she's mistaken as a he. Simple enough, right? Not exactly...
Seeing as this is a "reverse harem" it means everything is sort of a parody, I think. It would explained why everything is jacked up to 11 when played for laughs, such as the extremes of the other boys in the club. You have your strong and silent type, your identical twins with a cheeky side, your prince charming, the intellectual, and the younger cuter one. Everything they do becomes so outlandish and extravagant that you won't be able to stop laughing. They're the kind of people who'd have a desert themed party and fly in sand from the Sahara, just for the day. Each character has a downright charming personality, and the trouble they get into is so much fun to watch. Better still, the most successful "host" for the girls is another girl. I gotta say, my favourite part of the show is how the boys try incredibly hard to keep Haruhi's secret that she really is a girl. Try getting through a physical exam at the nurse's office!
The art style feels a bit like Revolutionary Girl Utena (read: there's a strong flower motif) which I actually really enjoyed to my surprise, while the limbs looked a little spindly for my tastes, but the show really did make it work quite well. The animation is very nice, I don't remember a single scene where something was obviously out of place or rushed. I can't say the same for the music however. Music is one of the big things I try to pay attention to, you can always tell when a lot of effort gets put into it because you get this feeling of completeness. I liked the cheesy intro theme but the ending one was like rubbing alcohol on a fresh cut, but I will admit they fit in quite well to the theme. The actual soundtrack to the show was enjoyable, but not entirely memorable. I can remember it fit nicely with the visuals, but I can't remember any specific themes or pieces.
The show itself is largely episodic, which really helps to change the setting. New episode? New party. The comedy is done so well, it's even surprisingly high brow. It never reverts to crude sex jokes, as easy as it would be, but relies instead on witty dialogue, financial separation, mistaken identity, and playing around with gender rolls. I'll admit, I was pretty weirded out when the twins pretended to be romantically involved, but then the penny dropped and I couldn't stop laughing at their acting. If you're familiar with harem personality types, you'll enjoy how committed each character stays to them. If you're like me, this is a great title to try to see if they're for you. The final few episodes I really enjoyed, they added just a splash of extra emotional depth to the main lead characters and the closing scene did tug a bit on my heart strings. By the end of this show, I ended up enjoying it so much that I bought the DVD so I could share it with others. This is a show best enjoyed with friends.
