Ohran High School Host Club (General Discussion)

[kari-no-sugata]

Originally Posted by Scribble

Are the twins actually gay? As the episodes go by, it seems more and more of an act, but I'm still not entirely sure.

I can't find the quote, but I'm pretty sure somewhere in the manga that it clearly says that everything they do is calculated. Certainly their act as Host Club members is an act. They are twins of course, so do have a special relationship based on that. I can't remember if the manga ever makes it 100% clear just what their true feelings are though...


btw, there is a minor character who is a "bi":

Spoiler for won't kill you to know but this IS a spoiler:

In vol 3 of the original Japanese manga, there is a short side-story about Haruhi and her father when Haruhi was 7 - a few years after Haruhi's mother died.

In the short story, Haruhi's father is always working hard but isn't working at a gay (okama) bar like he is currently. In talking with the owner of the place he currently works at, he says he's a "bi". However, after his wife died (who was very smart and worked as a lawyer/attorney), he decided to keep his love for his wife as his only love for another woman for the rest of his life - ie decides to only fall in love with other men from now on. Which leads to him becoming a full time okama.

As a side-note, Haruhi even at age 7 is rather like she is now. She's not at all bothered that her father is turning into an okama. She deliberately didn't tell her father about the parents meeting thing at her school, not because she was embarassed but because he works so hard every day and Sunday is his only ever chance to relax and be at home for a while.

I hope that side-story gets animated...

Originally Posted by Scribble

On a side note, I wish there were more *normal* female anime characters, like Haruhi.

Haruhi is the main reason why I like the story. She takes most things in her stride and is refreshingly angst-free (pretty much).

[Sinestra]

All i have to say is the scene where everyone screams "Oh my god shes an otaku and wiggs made me have to pause the ep for about 5 min while i stop laughing followed by the "Whoa so thats what one looks like" follwed by another pause and server laughing that made my internal organs hurt very much

[[DOT].L]

So far, every episode of Ouran has made my face sore after watching... I mean that in a good way.

[roxfan]

If you're wondering what's up with the lack of posts, like I was...

[AliceAngel]

Originally Posted by roxfan

If you're wondering what's up with the lack of posts, like I was...

Hmm, it's like Kashimashi all over again. All show discussions beware the kiss of death that is gaining your own private forum!

I thought that with Haruhi's success as it's own section people would find the transition for other shows easier. Though really there is a ton to discuss and speculate and spoil for Haruhi, but for Ouran all we can do is simply gush redundantly about how much we love this show. (Or inanely ramble about how funny we think it is that the show is being subbed by both Solar and Lunar fansubs. Day and night, like there is a feud blooming. )

Or perhaps because Haruhi has done so unbelievably well, expectations for the amount of chatter that can fill the private sections is too high and Ouran is doing just fine. Whatever the reason I hope that people are watching this show because it is so funny and so original and has such a great heart to it. Genius King > Omnipotent Deity anyday!

[Jazzrat]

It's been a long time since a show manage to keep me laughin for 6 episode. I hope they keep it up.

Tamaki is like a cross between Ayame (fruit basket) and Morita (Honey&Clover), his reaction is just so funny. Especially how he refer himself as otosan, that part just made me think of the part where Morita refer himself Okasan to Ayu.

**Haruhi's bluntness surprisingly help made this show a whole lot funnier**

[termdex]

Spoiler for title:

I don't know what upsets me more; the blatant sexism or the the guilt trip the guys tried to pull because of Haurhi's not understanding that she's a "weak girl". Also, I found the notion of being self reliant equating to being alone distasteful. I don't see much merit in relying on others over self reliance.
I know this sounds like bitching, but I have a hard time believing that women in Japan would find this "moral of the story" appealling.
Although, if sexual harrassment is as commonplace and as expected as is made out to be, then I can see they might think that way. It's just that it's too bad that they do.
I suppose it's merely a cultural difference.

[Aidan]

Only thing I can say is that you are justified in your observation, Japan is a male dominated society after all and they aren't big on individualism either.

Originally Posted by http://www.thejapanfaq.com/FAQ-Primer.html

6. Amae - Dependency

Amae means basically dependence. In Japan, mavericks and lone-wolf types are very much frowned upon. When Japanese go off alone to a foreign country or somewhere, many rapidly become insecure. It's no exaggeration to say that Japanese (particularly women) think on a more childlike level. Again, this is a double-edged sword. Japanese women undeniably have a lot of charm that comes from this. But it has its drawbacks as well. Douglas MacArthur made a remark that the Japanese should be treated like they're all 12 years old. And that was 60 years ago. That sounds condecending of course but these days you don't exactly see a large number of western women carrying around Mickey Mouse pencil cases and Hello Kitty notebooks well into their 30s. Women are taught to act and look cute, not sophisticated. Japanese pop music sounds like it was written by elementary school students, and pop-stars ("idoru", from idol) are here today, gone tomorrow. At any rate, amae is a fundamental characteristic of Japan--one (the 'kobun') presumes on a superior (the 'oyabun') in a group, and a vertical, symbiotic relationship is created. It often occurs when one joins a company or school, and a person needs something and to get integrated into a comfortable niche very quickly. The underling gets a channel to move upward and the superior gets someone to do their bidding. And as part of a group, success is shared by all, and guilt is diffused when something goes wrong. In the latter case, it can be detrimental because it's impossible to find out who is responsible, or for anyone to take responsibility. Amae has several other manifestations. Women are always portrayed as frail, delicate, or dainty in pictures, tv, movies, and music. And in adult videos women are treated like trash who are just asking for it. When movies are dubbed in Japanese, the women's voices are always ultra-soprano; the men's are very low. The same for women announcers. And regarding all the overblown praise you still hear ad nauseum about Japan's "lifetime employment system", in reality it only applies to about a third of the Japanese workforce, namely elite white collar workers and unionized blue collar workers in large companies. It does not apply to women, and it certainly does not apply to foreigners. Women are relegated to being "Office Ladies", or "OL", doing minor clerical duties, making tea, and being wallflowers (shokuba no hana). When they reach their 30s or if they marry they are coerced to quit. With Japan's population in decline and needing workers however, this may finally be changing. A take-charge woman in Japan will not get as much help or attention as a cutesy airhead who always needs the help of some big, strong, kind Japanese man. And why are things like this? Perhaps it's because some men might actually have an even bigger ego-deficit than the women, despite appearances.

[nhyn]

wow, that was really helpful. Perhaps this is the reason why many famous female leads in the shoujo genre are either tomboy or quite...outrageous in one way or another. This gender-difference was also mentioned in another manga Im following :"Kaze hikaru", in which a girl disguised as a boy and joined Shinsengumi-that wellknown samurai group-and was faced with many gender problems: no matter how much she trained and tried to be as good as a male samurai (actually she did succeed on some level), her natural body and strength never allowed her to. And she was always at the risk of being discovered her real identity and being harassed by men since even in her male clothes she was a beauty-like the other main char (who knew she was a girl) said: she was a girl, after all.
Anyway, I think the anime is reasonable in saying that a girl is still a girl-we have certain "disadvantages" (unless one doesnt care about that), and it doesnt try to be sexism (isnt Haruhi, being a girl, is totally unique and doesnt she surpass a boy in many ways?)
About that self-reliant thing, since Im very familiar with such notion from watching
Asian dramas (and being an Asian myself ^^), I can assure you that its not relying on others being better than self-reliance they are praising. Melodramas and graphic novels often feature a lead (regardless of gender ^^) that relies on her/himself too often that s/he distances her/himself from others, which is when self-reliance becomes solitude. And it is also true that Asian culture in general values collective consciousness more than invidualism.

[Jinsoo]

So my friend recommended this anime to me yesterday. Just finished two eps and I like what I see so far. It's very silly x3 Although, the whole concept of a male/female posing as the opposite sex and putting them through crazy stuff has been done quite a bit. But that's been done a lot in manga rather than anime. So it's fun seeing this crazy stuff being animated.

Haruhi is admirable. She's more normal than any other anime character out there in my opinion. She's much more cooler than MoSH's Haruhi XD

D; I liked Haruhi's messy hair though.

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by termdex

Spoiler for title:

I don't know what upsets me more; the blatant sexism or the the guilt trip the guys tried to pull because of Haurhi's not understanding that she's a "weak girl". Also, I found the notion of being self reliant equating to being alone distasteful. I don't see much merit in relying on others over self reliance.
I know this sounds like bitching, but I have a hard time believing that women in Japan would find this "moral of the story" appealling.
Although, if sexual harrassment is as commonplace and as expected as is made out to be, then I can see they might think that way. It's just that it's too bad that they do.
I suppose it's merely a cultural difference.

That was not sexism. He was simply stating that girls are physically weak. He even asked (sarcastically) if she had martial arts training like Honey to believe that she could fight three boys. Their point was that Haruhi should have realized that trying to attack 3 boys when she had the physical strength of a girl and no fighting experience was not only pointless, but put herself into danger. He was angry were upset because everyone was worried about her. Also, she could have done a better job of rescuing those girls by calling for help from people who have the strength and experience to beat up such bullies.

He said she was a weak girl, but the context was that she is physically unable to effectively fight. That is a fact, not sexism.

As for the guilt trip, they only wanted the assurance of knowing that Haruhi wasn't going to throw away her life doing futile things instead of asking for help. I would want the same from someone I care about. Imagine you saw a friend risking her life and think how you might get her to realize that.

[Kikaifan]

Basically, they go from being impressed by her fearlessness to believing that she has insufficient concern for her own safety.

I don't see it as sexism because I don't think it'd be any different for a guy. If one of my friends was starting fights with people they *knew* they'd lose to I'd probably want to slap some sense into them too.

She's much more cooler than MoSH's Haruhi XD

I admire Ouran-Haruhi for her stoicism, self-reliance, and perceptiveness, and I admire Melancholy-Haruhi for her fierce desire to enjoy life... they're pretty much the epitome of the observer and the doer respectively. Ouran-Haruhi actually kind of reminds me of Kino in that respect. But since I'm already pretty stoic, I have to say that Melancholy-Haruhi seems more outstanding to me.

Ouran-Haruhi gets points for making me laugh more though. Melancholy-Haruhi is just plain outrageous, she depends on Kyon as the straight man to actually be funny.

[abang brother]

Like the story ...

I know i'm a guy but omg!!! honey is so kawai!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! I really cant the girl face in haruhi face .. more like a guy ...

[misakichii]

oh my gosh!!! this anime is super duper awsome. DAISUKI!!!!!!!!! i still haven't read the manga but if the anime is good than the manga is probably even better. man i love it. i'm downloading ep. 9 right now. man! i can't wait to watch it.

[misakichii]

Originally Posted by Kikaifan

I admire Ouran-Haruhi for her stoicism, self-reliance, and perceptiveness, and I admire Melancholy-Haruhi for her fierce desire to enjoy life... they're pretty much the epitome of the observer and the doer respectively. Ouran-Haruhi actually kind of reminds me of Kino in that respect. But since I'm already pretty stoic, I have to say that Melancholy-Haruhi seems more outstanding to me.

Ouran-Haruhi gets points for making me laugh more though. Melancholy-Haruhi is just plain outrageous, she depends on Kyon as the straight man to actually be funny.

wait...hold up...wait are you talking about? i'm totally confused. ouran-haruhi and melancholy-haruhi? what? i think i'm missing something? what is it?

[Forbin]

Originally Posted by misakichii

wait...hold up...wait are you talking about? i'm totally confused. ouran-haruhi and melancholy-haruhi? what? i think i'm missing something? what is it?

I take it you haven't seen the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya?

[Thewanderer]

I just started this series(2 episodes in), and I'm curious about something. Is Haruhi and actual tomboy, or is it merely a disguise?

[npal]

^ Well, she is hyper, if that's what you're saying She has a strange conception of what is a "girl", but I wouldn't call her a tomboy... I think.

Edit: Aaaaah... you were talking about THIS Haruhi... Yup, she's a tomboy alright

[Thewanderer]

Originally Posted by npal

^ Well, she is hyper, if that's what you're saying She has a strange conception of what is a "girl", but I wouldn't call her a tomboy... I think.

Edit: Aaaaah... you were talking about THIS Haruhi... Yup, she's a tomboy alright

I'm sorry, but it's kinda funny that you thought I was referring to Suzumiya No offense

Well okay, she's not in a boy's uniform as a disguise then... any particular reason why they mention trying to hide it in the prieview to ep3? Just because of club duties?

[Noodlehead]

Originally Posted by Thewanderer

I'm sorry, but it's kinda funny that you thought I was referring to Suzumiya No offense

Well okay, she's not in a boy's uniform as a disguise then... any particular reason why they mention trying to hide it in the prieview to ep3? Just because of club duties?

I'm not actually sure what you're asking, but what I get from it, you're confused to whether Haruhi (Ouran Haruhi) is disguised as as a boy and why she is "trying to hide her gender."

Since she's not into fashion and isn't that feminine, most people mistook her for a guy. (Including the Host Club.) She didn't mind being mistaken as a guy, so she went along with it. When she became one of the hosts in the Host Club, she had to "assume her position" as a male in order to maintain that job. So yeah, pretty much all the people besides the Host Club (Tamaki, Kyouya, the Hitachiin twins, Mori and Honey) thinks that Haruhi is a guy. In order to continue being a host and pay off her debt (by serving to Ouran girls), that's why she needs to hide the fact that she actually is a girl.

~ Noodlehead