First released in 2002, Ouran High School Host Club is a massively influential manga series. It quickly became popular in Japan and America after its release and gained many spinoffs, including a 2006 anime adaptation and a 2012 live-action television series. When the manga wrapped up in 2011, most people presumed that the live-action version would be the final piece of Ouran High School Host Club media. However, while the franchise has sat dormant for many years, it was recently announced that next year, over 10 years since the last volume of the manga released, Ouran High School Host Club is coming back. But, this time... as a stage musical.
The original manga followed Haruhi Fujioka, a poor student who got a scholarship to the prestigious Ouran Academy in Bunkyo, Tokyo. Of course, Haruhi stands out in a school full of rich kids, which is made worse by her androgynous appearance, often leading to her getting mistaken for a boy. One day, Haruhi walks into a music room and finds that it isn't as empty as she thought. Six male students run a host club out of this room, entertaining female students with tea and sweets. In the resulting confusion, Haruhi knocks over a vase, smashing it to smithereens. She quickly finds that this vase was an antique that is worth ¥8,000,000. Haruhi obviously can't pay for the damage, but the group offers Haruhi the role of club errand boy until she can work off the debt.
However, it turns out that Haruhi is a natural at entertaining girls and soon becomes a full member of the host club. Along the way, Haruhi and the host club boys get into many comical situations and become close friends. The manga parodied many different shōjo manga tropes, right down to the host club's boys being obvious references to different genre archetypes. The show's blending of comedy with reverse harem and romance elements meant that it instantly found a dedicated audience, and this audience only grew when the anime was released.
The musical will open in 2022 with shows in Tokyo and Osaka. It will be based on the manga, presumably covering the first volume. The play will be directed by Chobi Natsuki, and Muck Akazawa has written the script while the music is being handled by Yu (vague), the man behind several big anime musicals, including Beastars, Yu Yu Hakusho, Children of the Whales and Sanrio Boys. So, he has plenty of experience with both big-name anime series and romantic female-oriented content.
The announcement also named the actors who will play several of the main characters and even gave audiences a preview of them in the famous Ouran Academy uniform. Depicted in the pictures is Junya Komatsu as Tamaki Suoh, Masamichi Satonaka as Kyoka Ootori. Yuu Futaba plays the role of Hikaru, and Kaname Futaba is taking the part of Kaoru. Eito Konishi will be Mitsukuni Haninozuka, and finally, Sho Kato plays Takashi Morinozuka. Interestingly, Haruhi Fujioka is not depicted in this press release, suggesting that either the role hasn't been cast yet, or the production company is planning on doing a big reveal closer to the show's premiere. It will be interesting to see who is picked to play this beloved character as Haruhi's androgynous appearance is significant to the story.
Anime musicals are very common, with many shows making their way to the stage. However, the fact that Ouran High School Host Club is getting one this long after the original series ended proves how popular it still is. It laid down a foundation that influenced countless other shows, and for many people, it was their first interaction with the reverse-harem setup, something that has only grown more popular in recent years.
It will be interesting to see how well the stage musical performs when it hits the stage next year. If it sells well, then it seems likely that we'll see more Ouran High School Host Club media, be it a special rerelease of the old manga or something brand new.
