Karen Flores

                It is one thing to be the poorest student at a prestigious high school academy. But, it’s another thing to be the poorest student at said high school that winds up breaking an expensive antique vase and owes the equivalent of $80,000 to an all-boys host club as compensation. This is the case for Haruhi Fujioka, the main protagonist for the anime Ouran High School Host Club, who also happens to be the only female lead in the show. To give a quick rundown of the series and its history, Ouran Host Club was a manga written by Bisco Hatori back in 2002 up until th finale in 2010. In 2006, the series was given an anime adaption initially aired in Japan on the Nippon Television Network before being aired in English from the Funimation Network, later the series would be streamed through online services such as Netflix and Hulu. Interestingly, though the manga was written by a female author, the anime was directed and produced by all males including the script writer. The series follows along the school life of Haruhi, who is biologically a girl, but cross dresses as boy to work off a debt that requires her to obtain 100 paying customers. The boys in the host club at first are unaware of her being a girl up until the end of the first episode. After it is revealed they all work hard to keep Haruhi’s gender a secret to which she really doesn’t mind whether it’s revealed or not.
                 As for my reason as to why I chose this series to discuss is because aside from the fact that I was a complete anime nerd at the time. Haruhi as a whole is a very interesting character, from her character development throughout the series to the interactions she has with her fellow club members, to her unique backstory. Those together make Haruhi an amazing character.
Being a Father to a Girl Doesn’t Mean She’s a Princess
                  A running gag in the show comes from the president of the host club Tamaki Souh, who dubs himself the “daddy” of the group. This gag is shown throughout the series when Haruhi fails to display actions of femininity, Tamaki would proceed to lecture her pleading for her to be “daddy’s little girl” again (due to her originally having long hair before cutting it off) and surround herself with other girls. He has also gone to attack boys who try to flirt with Haruhi as well on the claims that his daughter is off limits. Of course Haruhi rebuffs his actions, but it is very interesting that these same actions are displayed by her own biological father. Haurhi’s father, Ryoji or commonly known as “Ranka”, is a bisexual man who works as a professional cross-dresser and entertainer for a bar. Unlike his daughter, he always dresses up in girly clothes to which others have noted he is prettier than his daughter. Now usually one would imagine that something like this would harm his daughter’s self-esteem; however, the two have displayed a loving relationship and she is also unfazed by these words. As explained by Asbah Zia (2015), the behavior of a father is important in shaping a child’s personality and modifying their behavior, Haruhi’s relationship with her father has taught her how to become a responsible individual who is able to manage caring and maintaining the house by herself as well as hardening her emotions to really taking smack from no one. He may have also been the one to indirectly cause Haruhi’s androgynous tendencies unknowingly.
You are Just like Your Mother, Only More You
                  Karen Ross (2011) explains that the mother ideal stands to represent the nurturing and caring traits which is assumed to be women’s natural work. There’s a great absence noticeable in Haruhi’s life, and that is her mother, Kotoko.  Having passed away when Haruhi was just a little girl, she isn’t mentioned as much in the anime aside from one episode when it focuses on the boys meeting Haruhi’s father for the first time. In the manga though her character is introduced more and better developed. Kotoko was described to be a loving mother to Haruhi, she was also the breadwinner in the house due to Ryoji being unable to find work due to his sexual orientation and gender lifestyle. Kotoko through flashbacks is displayed as a strong independent woman who worked as a lawyer. It was these things that had Ryoji fall for Kotoko as he felt it made her very cool and stand-offish. Now, how she has been reflected off of Haruhi through this absence, it has been shown that after her mother passed away Haruhi studied the recipes left behind by Kotoko so that she could care for Ryoji who worked late hours. Through this Haruhi developed a sense of paternal care herself towards her father taking on the role of mother in a way. Ryoji also notes that Haurhi's beauty and brains, which she is most known for, were all inherited from Kotoko.
Does it Matter if I'm a Girl or Boy?
                  I mentioned before that Haruhi displayed characteristic that would have her be androgynous from her outfits outside of school, including the fact that at one point her father switched her luggage with girly frilly clothes. Carole Brugeilles (2002) reemphasis that sex is the differences between male and female, whereas gender is a matter of culture giving social classification into masculine and feminine, Haruhi is nearly the perfect embodiment of this description. From not being fazed at the news that she would have to flirt with girls, as well as losing her first kiss to a girl and still not being fazed. Though Haruhi is biologically a girl, she rarely ever displays femininity and is perfectly adapt in following the boys actions.
Conclusion
                  Being an anime that has garnered such a large following both inside and outside of Japan, I feel that many overlook the true development behind Haruhi both internally and externally. Perhaps with this text it’ll shine a light on the possible hidden traits behind the main protagonist. It’s also interesting that the series was meant to be a parody of otaku culture, but perhaps unknowingly they created a girl who represents a clear embodiment of gender fluidity.
 
 
Reference
Ross, Karen (ed.). (2011) The Handbook of Gender, Sex, and Media. John Wiley & Sons.

Zia, A., Malik, A., & Ali, S. (2015). Father and Daughter Relationship and Its Impact on  Daughter’s Self-Esteem and Academic Achievement. Academic Journal Of Interdisciplinary Studies, 4(1), 311.

Carole Brugeilles, Isabelle Cromer, Sylvie Cromer. (2002) Male and Female Characters in Illustrated Children’s Books or How children’s literature contributes to the construction of gender. Population. Pg. 261-292

 

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