Ouran High School Host Club hasn’t been the most popular anime franchise when compared to the likes of Dragon Ball, One Piece, and My Hero Academia but the series manages to explore a completely different genre from those Shonen stories. Ouran instead dives into the story of Haruhi and her ridiculous adventures in trying to pay back a destroyed expensive vase by joining a high school host club. The series manages to parody the Shojo genre and we had the opportunity to chat with Bisco Hatori, the creator of Ouran High School Host Club, at Anime Expo to chat about how the franchise managed to make light of this specific genre.
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So what is “shuojo”? Shuojo is a type of anime/manga that focuses on creating stories that focus on “audiences who are primarily girls” focusing on romance and slice of life comedy scenarios rather than out of this world action. Ouran definitely falls into that genre but also manages to make light of it at the same time!
Comicbook.com: “Ouran High School Host Club, its very self aware of the troupe of the Shuojo genre. You know, makes fun of certain things that you’ll see in fandom stereo types. Especially with the twins whom I love very dearly. So what inspired to kind of explore those kind of periodic moments, and touch upon some of the deeper things in Shoujo genre?”
Bisco Hatori: “I did have your typical Shoujo Manga prototypes. I was there… but at the same time kind of introducing something new. So for your old school Shoujo Manga fans, you have… I’m pleasing that audience because you have the prototypes. But then for the more newer books were newer to the younger Shoujo Manga genre. They’re kind of looking in to this tension, or this tension between the characters.”
Are you a big fan of OHSHC? What’s your favorite example of Shuojo storytelling? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and Ouran!
Ouran High School Host Club debuted in September 2002 under LaLa. Bisco Hatori is the writer behind the shojo title, and Ouran High School Host Club has since become a staple of the genre. After Bones gave the title an anime run in April 2006, the series has produced several live-action adaptations along with audio dramas.
As for the series itself, it follows a girl named Haruhi as the scholarship student attends Ouran Academy. The school is a haven for rich kids, leaving Haruhi to stick out. However, her plans to go unnoticed end when she finds herself in debt to the school’s host club. Her meek look makes its leader Tamaki think she’s a boy, so she begins working as a host in the club. So, as expected, things go awry when her gender is revealed and Tamaki falls for the headstrong heroine.
