Ouran High School Host Club Vol. 6 by Bisco Hatori

Book Jacket

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...

The school festival opens at Ouran, and the Host Club members are busy entertaining the visiting parents.  Teasing his son is a favorite pastime of Tamaki's doting father, the school chairman, but Tamaki's grandmother is cut from a very different cloth.  She despises and shuns Tamaki, banning him from the main Suoh Mansion.  It's now time for Kyoya to take action with the Host Club to help their favored leader out.

Review

This volume fell a little flat to me.  Tamaki's backstory could have been really gut-wrenching, but I didn't feel the emotion like I expected.  Maybe they will revisit it later and punch me in the gut.  Kyoya's story was a bit more interesting, what with his reveal to be the third son and therefore not the heir to his family's business.  Except he's so awesome that maybe he will be.  It was fun to see the Host Club's parents, who are either eerily similar to their children or not at all alike.

The plot with the football team didn't carry much weight, dramatically or comedically.  However, I did like that the first years would build a replica of Venice in the gym, water canals and everything.  The mystery of the letters was either obvious or insane, and well, obviously nothing really clicked for me in the school festival arc.

The last story was better, as it returned to inane humor with a poignant ending.  After all the chaos of trying to find the mystery soup, the conclusion of "The important factors for whole-heartedly enjoying a meal are the environment, who cooked it, and who eats it.  That's the story," was so delightfully deadpan and anti-climactic that my love for Ouran was restored.

Three out of five Central Salons.

Release Date:  May 2006
Reading Level:  Grade 7+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection:  Not currently part of Dunlap Library's collection.