Ouran High School Host Club Manga: Box Set or 18 Singles
Ouran High School Host Club is complete in 18 VIZ paperbacks, and the Complete Box Set holds the same 18 plus a notepad. At list the box is about $26 cheaper than the singles.
Ouran High School Host Club is complete in English in 18 VIZ paperbacks, and the Complete Box Set contains exactly those 18 plus a notepad. Buying the whole series at once, the box is the cheaper route at list. Finishing a partial shelf, buy the singles you are missing.
Singles or the box
| Route | Contents | Dates | US list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shojo Beat paperbacks | Vols. 1–18 | July 5, 2005 to June 5, 2012 | $11.99 each; $215.82 for all 18 |
| Complete Box Set | Vols. 1–18 and a notepad | November 6, 2012 | $189.99 |
VIZ’s box page reads: “Includes manga volumes 1-18 and an exclusive notepad featuring character art.” It lists 3,528 pages, ISBN 9781421550787, at the same 5 × 7½ inch trim as the singles. At list it costs $25.83 less than buying the 18 paperbacks one by one. The notepad is the only addition; there is no nineteenth story volume in it.
The singles
Vol. 1 (ISBN 9781591169154, 184 pages) opens with Haruhi, “a scholarship student at exclusive Ouran High School,” breaking “an $80,000 vase” that belongs to the Host Club and being made to work for the club to pay it back. Vol. 18 (ISBN 9781421541358, 232 pages) is marked “Final Volume!” on VIZ’s listing. Every single lists at $11.99 in print and $6.99 digitally. The run took seven years in English, with gaps of up to nine months between later books.
Filling gaps and buying used
Check the ISBN against the Ouran catalog if you want to be sure you have the VIZ English paperback. For a used box set, ask the seller to confirm all 18 volume numbers and whether the notepad is still there, rather than assuming either. The guide to box-set extras explains how to check a used box for every advertised extra, not just the story volumes.
Which to buy
- Trying it: Vol. 1.
- Buying all 18 now: the box, if you can find it near list.
- Own some already: the missing singles. The box repeats your books.
Our essays on the opening and performed status and on Haruhi Fujioka cover what the first volume sets up. Other boxes are compared in the box set guide.