Ouran High School Host Club

When a manga is made into an anime, it's always a joyous occasion. However, when an anime based off a manga is made into a live action drama, it's always nerve-racking as sometimes important details, scenes, and even characters themselves can be lost in translation. The Japanese drama, Ouran High School Host Club, based off the manga and anime of the same name, is one that stays true to its roots with its comical situations and dreamy, yet unique, host members. The main cast is spectacular with the main members being Haruna Kawaguchi, Yusuke Yamamoto, Shunsuke Daito, Yudai Chiba, Shinpei and Manpei Takagi, and Masaya Nakamura. It premiered on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) and aired from July 22 to September 30 of 2011 with 11 episodes to its name.

Plot

Haruhi Fujioka (Haruna Kawaguchi) is a scholarship student at Ouran High School, a private academy for the rich with privileged students that will one day become heirs to their families' fortunes and businesses. Haruhi is known as the commoner around school due to the fact that she's not from the same background as she and her family are middle class. When trying to find a quite place to study, she enters a room and finds herself in the middle of the school's famous Host Club - a place where six bored, handsome boys of the school can entertain the bored girls of the school. Being overwhelmed by the club and its members, Haruhi accidentally breaks a vase that's worth an astonishing eight million yen. Tamaki Suou (Yusuke Yamamoto), the Host Club's King and number one host, tells Haruhi to join the club in order to pay back the debt while being blissfully unaware that Haruhi's actually a girl!

However, the members grow close and now Kyoya Ootori (Shunsuke Daito) - the "cool" type, the Hitachiin twins, Kaoru and Hikaru (Manpei and Shinpei Takagi) - the "little devils", Mitsukuni "Honey" Haninozuka (Yudai Chiba) - the "boy lolita" type, and Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka (Masaya Nakamura) - the "strong and silent" type, along with their leader Tamaki - the "princely" type, are determined to protect Haruhi and her secret so she can stay in their club.

Overall

My experience with Japanese dramas that have been made from animes and mangas is not well, leaving me with doubts that this wouldn't be a very well made series and that it could put me off from seeing the manga and anime the same way. However, this drama really came through for me. It is a great live action of the anime and does it so much justice. The way the drama is directed is true to both the anime and manga that it really allows the viewer to appreciate every detail and aspect about it. The acting is brilliant and each cast member brings their character to life, Yusuke's performance being exceptional as he truly embodied Tamaki's spirit and upbeat personality. The drama follows the storyline well, however, as it only has 11 episodes, it was inevitable that it would not follow the manga or anime exactly. It leaves out some fan favorite episodes of the anime and chapters of the manga, but it makes up for what it lacks with how true it stays to what it does follow. This drama has made me appreciate Ouran High School Host Club so much more than I thought was possible and believe that this drama will bring a smile to anyone's face. I highly recommend it to anyone to watch, especially to those who are already fans of this wonderful series.