Like any anime that takes the tropes of its genre and effectively flips them on their heads, Ouran High School Host Club has a wide variety of episodes that are well-remembered and loved by fans, and for very good reasons. However, like any comedy of the 2000's, some of the humor can be relatively hit-or-miss and sometimes even downright insensitive, leading to some episodes getting dragged down in retrospective analyses.
One can't expect every episode of even the most popular anime to be of phenomenal quality, so it's simply impossible to talk about the best without mentioning the worst. So, without further delay, this list will be going over the 5 best (and worst!) episodes of Ouran High School Host Club according to IMDb to see which still stack up and which can't quite compare.
10 BEST: The Door The Twins Opened! (Episode 20) - 8.2
The fifth best episode on today's list is the 20th episode, just a handful away from the finale. It takes a long time for fans to get to see the primary backstory episode for the Hitachiin twins, but it's such a well-done episode that the wait's well worth it. We see just how closed the twins' world was and how isolated they truly were- and how much it hurt them.
Even when Tamaki begins to try breaking into their little world, they're so shocked they can't help but fight him at first. As far as developmental episodes go, this is definitely one of the stronger ones.
9 WORST: The Grade School Host Is The Naughty Type! (Episode 6) - 7.6
The fifth worst spot goes to the sixth episode in the series, and it's a bit of a running theme with the worst episodes to typically feature members other than the Host Club. Most of these episodes tend to be more humorous, lighthearted episodes and not all of the jokes still land today.
A bratty fifth-grader seeks Tamaki's help with 'learning how to make every girl happy' when really he only cares about one, and overall, it's just a very standard (if disposable) episode.
8 BEST: A Day In The Life Of The Fujioka Family! (Episode 10) - 8.3
The fourth best episode is a great example of when Ouran manages to get comedy so, so right. Tamaki has a nightmare about what Haruhi's living standards might be like, given that the rich elite have no idea how poor Haruhi actually is. They end up coming to her apartment complex without asking (attracting a lot of attention, in the process) and getting into a lot of trouble with Haruhi for not understanding how most working class people actually lived.
It's still sprinkled with sweet memorable scenes as well, such as Mori sharing his strawberries with Haruhi and Tamaki paying his respects to her late mother.
7 WORST: Jungle Pool S.O.S! (Episode 7) - 7.6
This episode, coming in at fourth worst on the list, is one of the few Host-central episodes that still manages to rank rather poorly. The club spends the day at a health facility run by Kyoya's family, but trouble ensues when Honey goes missing and Haruhi along with Mori set out to look for him.
There isn't anything about this episode that makes it particularly bad, but one could argue that it's boring compared to the club's usual antics. Mori and Haruhi get some cute scenes in this episode that show Mori having slight affection for her, though, and they're adorable.
6 BEST: Tamaki's Unwitting Depression! (Episode 23) - 8.3
This episode certainly deserves its spot as third-best as it forces Tamaki to confront his true feelings towards Haruhi. This is something fans (and most of the club besides the two in question) had already been aware of until now- though Haruhi is still oblivious after this, of course.
Kasanoda finds the notion of Tamaki's 'fatherly love' towards Haruhi unbelievable, and believes it's simple, genuine love, which makes Tamaki rethink and come to terms with his real feelings for her.
5 WORST: A Challenge From Lobelia Girls' Academy! (Episode 9) - 7.5
The duo of Lobelia episodes are typically what most fans think of when they're asked what some of their least favorite episodes of Ouran are. The idea of having an all-girls school to rival Ouran is interesting, but they're mostly played for laughs rather than worthy competition.
Combine this with the fact that their entire characters revolve around trying to kidnap Haruhi from the club and essentially 'convert' her to their ways, and this is definitely one of the episodes of the otherwise strong series that aged the worst.
4 BEST: The Host Club Declares Dissolution! (Episode 25) - 8.3
The honor of being the second-best episode of the series goes to the first part of the finale, and with great reason. Tamaki is a devoted idiot who would never dream of spending his life with anyone but Haruhi, and viewers knew this from the first episode... right?
Being the only son in an incredibly wealthy family, arranged marriages aren't unheard of at all- especially when his father knew of Haruhi as well as his fondness for her and simply didn't approve. The stakes are high in this episode as it looks like Tamaki might actually leave the club he loves, and fans get a bit of Ootori family drama as well.
3 WORST: Lobelia Girls' Academy Strikes Back! (Episode 19) - 7.5
It really says something about the quality of the Lobelia duo when both of them manage to rank as two of the worst episodes overall. That's not to say that the storyline they follow here is completely un-enjoyable, but compared to pretty much anything else the series has to offer, this just doesn't compare.
In addition to trying to force Haruhi to transfer schools, they practically force her to star in a play and get a kiss from another girl. The Lobelia episodes, while they have their small moments, mostly feel like insensitive and outdated representation.
2 BEST: This Is Our Ouran Fair! (Episode 26) - 8.8
It's always lovely to see a finale be handled so expertly that fans, in turn, regard it as the single greatest episode of the series. There's typically lots of expectations and lots of ways to let those expectations down when wrapping up a beloved story, but Ouran does everything perfectly here.
Haruhi finally admits aloud that she enjoys spending every day with the Host Club and especially with Tamaki. This can be seen as her 'confession' scene in the anime since it never continues to the point of the events of the manga.
1 WORST: Haruhi In Wonderland! (Episode 13) - 7.4
Back whenever Alice In Wonderland tributes were incredibly popular, it was basically tradition for almost every anime to have an episode or even an entire OVA dedicated to remaking the classic, but with the anime's cast portraying Alice, the Queen of Hearts, and everyone else in between.
There's nothing particularly wrong with this, and this episode features the most touching scene between Haruhi and her mother- since she's asleep and can actually see her - but there's just no real reason for it to have been done through the nth Alice In Wonderland anime remake, so it didn't go over well.