Manga Review: Ouran High School Host Club, Volume 18, by Bisco Hatori

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5

Publisher: VIZ Media (Shojo Beat)

Volumes: 18
Spoilers?: Yes.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Reads R to L (Japanese Style), for audiences rated teen. In this screwball romantic comedy, Haruhi, a poor girl at a rich kids' school, is forced to repay an $80,000 debt by working for the school's swankiest, all-male club--as a boy! There, she discovers just how wealthy the six members are and how different the rich are from everybody else...

Final Volume!

Review:

I love this series, you guys. Just thinking about it makes me happy and re-reading it gets me all excited again and, while this wasn’t quite what I thought it’d be, it was still awesome. And I seriously wonder if Hatori can do something that I don’t love. And I want her to do more and for it to get published over here so I can read it.

This was the last volume of Ouran, which makes me so sad, because that means there’s no more of these characters to come, and I’m going to miss them so much. This was a very good ending, though.

God, just looking through this volume again as I write this makes me smile all over again.

The volume starts with the love confession between Haruhi and Tamaki, which is so completely awesome. It’s hilarious and they’re yelling at each other and they kiss and it’s so cute. The best confession ever and I don’t know how it could have been any better.

Some things get worked out between Tamaki’s father and grandmother, and Haruhi goes to talk to Kosaka. Haruhi wants to do something with Tamaki but is pretty content having just confessed to him, while he is freaking out and trying to think up the perfect date. There’s some commotion about that before they go on the date, which is over the top for Haruhi, but the gang is following them to make sure nothing goes wrong. And they end up going to Haruhi’s mothers’ grave, which is sweet.

And then we find out the big news, something that I didn’t think much about because I thought Haruhi would decide she cared too much about everyone and couldn’t possibly leave them to go away to school and there would be a big cheesy moment about it: instead, Haruhi has decided to go to school in America, as paid for by the school. There’s some trouble with this and Haruhi’s father is upset about it and the host club throws a party and do a thing for everyone at school to find out that she’s actually a she (which is particularly entertaining because they all say they knew, only to later find out that they meant they thought they knew Haruhi was a girly, maybe gay, boy). There are some very good moments between everyone. during this.

And then Tamaki tells her that he’s going with her, and he’s going to be living in the apartment right next to hers. And then everyone else moves into the apartments surrounding theirs. I wasn’t expecting this, and at first thought it was a bit too much, too cheesy, but after a while I’ve warmed up to the idea and just kind of love it. Particularly having Haruhi and Tamaki living right next to each other, with a door leading to the others’ place. I like the thought of them right next to each other, bickering and teasing and just so cute. Like a newly living together couple or newlyweds. Pretty much, I just love them. Also, I'd never noticed their height differences. But Tamaki is practically all legs in comparison to Haruhi, which is just adorable. They are just adorable and I love them.

After that, there a couple extras. There’s one long chapter featuring the group going to Spain because Kyoya’s father has set up his brother with some woman, and they end up helping her. This was mostly okay, although a bit entertaining a points, particularly at the end when Haruhi gets Tamaki all flustered.  Then there’s a tiny chapter starring Haruhi and Tamaki and a cuddle session which is just so adorable.

Throughout the volume, there are also several quarter or full page panels of the characters in the future, with what the author thinks might happen to them. She says that it’s not official, but I enjoyed them all nonetheless.

I’m so sad that it’s all over now; there’s no more Ouran for me to wait for or fangirl over. Although, since I do own them all, I can re-read them as many times as I want, which I’m sure will happen. While this volume, and several before it, never got a five star rating, the series as a whole gets one, in my mind. It’s one of my favorite manga, or story in general, if not the one at the top of the list, which is very high praise coming from me. But I just love this series so much, as I've stated before. And now I have to console myself because of the fact that it's all over now.