[Ricky Controversy]

The things people like about Haruka are, for me, dramatic warning signs. Allow me to paint a picture here, using my own observations and the things others have said about her.

Originally Posted by grandchaosSR

Haruka is approachable for a school idol. The usual school idol stereotype thinks highly of themselves and doesn't interact with "lesser" people. Haruka on the other hand, is down to earth and is not pretentious.

Not pretentious, sure, I can agree with that. Down-to-earth, however? I don't think so, not one whit. Because...

She has a lot of weird quirks that normal people wouldn't do but is not uncommon IRL. Like playing leap frog or wrestling with boys. She also has unintentional yuri-like tendencies, likes role playing and likes cute things to the point that would even stalk little girls.

I wouldn't consider playfulness or even vague lesbianism particularly uncommon, it's pretty typical of High-School girls. Where things start to get worth noting are that she has no sense of proportion when it comes to cute things. She doesn't consider her actions or their potential consequences when she's indulging herself in what she sees as cute. This is definitively not down-to-earth behavior, it's socially retarded.

She has funny Engrish catch phrases like WAU!!! Go go go!!!

So, basically, just a moe point? That's all well and good, but really does NOT off-set this.

Even though she is showered with affection she can't express her emotions properly which IMO makes cute.

This is not cute, at all, I can tell you that from first-hand experience. Being unable to express one's emotion is a serious issue. We call that 'broken', not cute. Normally this wouldn't ultimately lead to any harm but to Haruka herself, whom would suffer with her repressed emotions, except...

She loves to tease boys to the point that she would lie so she could be alone with Junichi in a hotel.

...that she DOES communicate her feelings, just not in a healthy way. She jerks Junichi around the whole time, plain and simple. You may not be made to question it, because Junichi goes along with it, but there's nothing else that it could be called. She can't just come out and speak her heart, she has to play little roundabout games with the poor loser, and lies to him to get him into a weird situation where she's totally wrapped up in her insecurities. I don't consider the implication that they had sex to be any kind of redemption for the way she has continually misled the guy and forced him to do everything on her terms.

Originally Posted by Knightrunner

Of course to some guys she may come across as the biggest tease at times, but I am okay with it since she doesn't seem too aware in how people adore her and isn't trying to pull in any heartstrings in purpose.

I highly doubt, based on her ultimate actions, that she is unaware of what she's doing. The whole arc, she seems to be testing Junichi's willingness to play along with whatever she presents. It seems benign solely because Junichi plays along with it and receives fanservicey 'rewards' for doing so, but what you're witnessing is an emotional fragile young guy being wound around the finger of an entirely unstable girl.

Haruka likes nice guys which is a plus. She only started to interact with the main after witnessing how the main helped Sai get some bread from the crowd of students.

How is that a plus? Would it be just okay if she liked jerks? Liking nice guys should be taken as the bare minimum of taste, not a point of pride, sorry.

I also like how she rejected him in the 1st episode. That scene showed that she liked how he had the confidence to ask her out, but she was blatantly honest when she said she want an older reliable guy at the time. She wasn't playing any games with his head which gave another plus in my book.

What? She goaded him. "Could it be that you like me?" she said, and then shot him down just as simply. Now obviously, being honest and rejecting someone firmly is best, but to pursue that point on her own and then put it down means that she is entirely aware of the situation, and is trying to remain in control of it. It is her right to reject any confession she wishes to, but the manner in which she does it is such that she wants to stifle Junichi's own expression of feelings outside her comfort zone.

She also didn't see him any different which is a good in this case. She gives all the cues that she doesn't mind if he still hangs around even though he got rejected in a nice way. I just LOL even more when she said she liked a charismatic, reliable, leadership type of guy and in the end phrase said maybe not. Her perception of guys seems like it changes time from time, but one thing for sure is that she wants to depend on the person.

Continuing to see things in the context of my above analysis, it really feels more like she wants someone that she can have total possession of, who will go with her way of doing things every time. Ultimately, after all, Junichi doesn't gain Haruka's affection for being himself, he gains her affection from playing her game. She kept putting restrictions on him and he kept coming to her. You see 'dependence', I see 'take for granted'. She know she could do quite a bit of rubbish to Junichi and he'd still be there, which is what she wants since she's so bad at dealing with emotions.

Plus, I like her type of Jealousy. She becomes jealous enough where she just moves the main away from the other girls, but doesn't lash out from them.

Textbook behavior for someone looking to 'possess' another person. She wants him to be entirely focused on playing her game.

Haruka went to the trouble of bringing him to a hotel swiming in a pool in Xmas even. How many people experiences this then later on she admits that her family members are not coming. If I was Jun I would instantly figured out she cared about me as soon as she admitted her lie.

Really? Because I've been in a very similar situation and what I figured out was that the girl wasn't looking for a healthy relationship at all, she just wanted to drag me along her little fantasy ride and keep other people entirely out of the picture, to the extent that she was willing to lie to me--which is BAD, by the way!--to get me away from other people.

Originally Posted by gault

and I think Juns character/personality goes along with what Haruka wanted, A Puppy Dog

This. This right here is exactly right. Haruka is looking for someone who is sweet and entirely subservient to her. I cannot stress enough how critical it is to see that Haruka and Junichi only get closer as Junichi submits himself to her more and more, which is NOT how a relationship works if it's going to be healthy.

So why is it that I see a frighteningly broken, clingy, borderline sociopathic manipulator where others see a 'carefree', 'cheerful' girl? Well, first off, you have to consider her as a whole package, not as a series of distinct traits, because some of her individual qualities would be endearing under different circumstances. Together, however, they paint a rather distressing picture.

Second, and I feel this is really the more crucial difference: the anime presents the arc with the intention that you see her in a positive light. Junichi and Haruka growing together in the skewed way they do is intended to be seen as a good thing, and unless you're actively evaluating the characters, rather than letting the tone of the anime decide for you, then you won't think to question her behavior.

Haruka could be an interesting character, provided the story actually dealt with her personality realistically, with the understanding that it's problematic. The fact that we are asked to find such a disturbed person attractive is insulting to me, and is a total mishandle of her.