Haruhi Fujioka

Haruhi Fujioka (藤岡 ハルヒ, Fujioka Haruhi) is a fictional character and the main protagonist from the manga series Ouran High School Host Club, which was created by Bisco Hatori. In the manga and its adaptations, Haruhi takes on the role of a male host with a comical tsukkomi-archetype, despite being of female sex; keeping her sex secret from the host club's female clients. While her fellow, all-male Host Club members know the truth, the host club's female clients either do not, or are mistaken in believing Haruhi to be a boy, thus providing the basis for much of the satire embedded in the comedy.[5][6] Haruhi's character was positively received, both because of her down-to-earth personality and her "gender-blind attitude" towards life.

Haruhi Fujioka
Ouran High School Host Club character
Haruhi in her male school uniform
First appearanceVolume 1, chapter 1
Created byBisco Hatori
Portrayed byHaruna Kawaguchi[1][2]
Voiced byJapanese:
Maaya Sakamoto (anime; later drama CDs)[3]
Aya Hisakawa (early drama CDs)
English:
Caitlin Glass[4]
In-universe information
GenderFemale
RelativesRanka Fujioka (father)
Kotoko Fujioka (mother)
NationalityJapanese

Character
Haruna Kawaguchi was sixteen years old when she portrayed Haruhi in her first feature-length film.[7]
Caitlin Glass, who voices the character in English, referred to her work in Ouran as a passion project.

At the start of the Ouran High School Host Club manga and anime, Haruhi enters the prestigious Ouran Academy on a scholarship. Looking for a quiet place to study, she stumbles upon the school's male-only host club, where she is initially mistaken for a boy due to her short hair and gender-neutral clothing. After knocking over an expensive vase, the club forces her to work off her debt by becoming a host. Having a "low perception of gender", Haruhi is able to join the club, keeping her sex secret from the club's clientele.[8]

At the beginning of the story, Haruhi dislikes being forced to work for the host club. However, as the plot advances, Haruhi slowly grows less introverted and starts to realize that the boys of the host club have become her best friends who are helping her learn and grow to be a better person.[9] The episodes consist of comedic explorations of shoujo clichés and gender performance. Unlike other shoujo heroines that Ouran High School Host Club parodies, Haruhi is an independent, hard-working asocial tsukkomi-type character who "embraces, if not a genderqueer identity, then at least a gender-ambivalent one."[10]

Development

Caitlin Glass, the English voice actress of Haruhi, has noted that the character is both among her most challenging and her favorite roles. In an interview with Swerve, she described how difficult it was to "believably [be] a boy [while] still appealing even to a male audience." Taking the dual role of director and lead character, Glass said she felt like she had "something to prove" and, initially, she was under great pressure.[11]

Reception

Afro Samurai of IGN listed Haruhi among his 25 "greatest anime characters". Stating that while the reverse harem genre of anime had been "done to death" by the time the Ouran High School Host Club anime was released, Haruhi's character went against the established tropes of the genre. Described as "super tomboyish, demure, and not at all moe," Haruhi is considered a good contrast to the eccentric cast of rich boys.[12] In an anime review, IGN's D.F. Smith praised both Caitlin Glass and Maaya Sakamoto for their performance as Haruhi in their respective languages, reporting that it is a "tricky role".[13] Sakamoto was nominated for a Seiyu Award in 2007 for her portrayal of Haruhi.[14]

Rose Bridges of Anime News Network lauded Haruhi as one of the "freshest elements" of the anime. Comparing Haruhi to Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket and Tsukushi Makino from Boys Over Flowers because of her strong sense of empathy and her "take-no-crap" attitude respectively, Bridges praised the character for her intelligence, ability to speak her mind and her "blasé approach to gender roles."[15]

Writing for The Mary Sue, Alenka Figa listed Haruhi at the top of her top five queer characters in anime. Noting that plots based on gender confusion are common in anime, Figa states that the trope was subverted quickly when Haruhi admits to her gender-blindness in the first episode.[8] Aja Romano of The Daily Dot also pointed Haruhi out as one of the "rare cases" where a character in an anime embraces a genderqueer or "gender-ambivalent" identity, refusing to return to what she described as "safely heteronormative territory."[10]

Mangaka Bisco Hatori appeared at Anime Expo 2019 held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California, USA. When questioned about Haruhi Fujioka, she revealed that Haruhi was originally meant to be a boy, but one of her editors suggested a gender swap. Thus, Hatori invented a female character that "doesn't need to dress up like a boy other than the fact that those are the clothing she wears and likes" without subtext. She expressed that she isn't hung up on genre parameters or gender orientation because every person should be proud of being unique while remaining true to themselves. In summation, Hatori stressed Ouran being a story about family and friendship, without any intention of being a pioneer of "fujoshi comedy," though admits that it happened just the same.[16]

References
  1. Komatsu, Mikikazu (2015-10-10). "Yumio Kobayashi's "Nigakute Amai" Comedy Manga Gets Live-Action Film Adaptation". Crunchyroll.
  2. "One Direction: Song Used For Japanese Movie 'Say I Love You!". KDrama Stars. 2014-06-24.
  3. "Ouran High School Host Club". Ryu. Retrieved 2008-05-01.
  4. "Funimation Announces Ouran High School Host Club Cast". Anime News Network. 2008-07-04. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  5. https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/josou.html
  6. https://www.tanoshiijapanese.com/dictionary/entry_details.cfm?entry_id=40425#:~:text=English%20Meaning(s)%20for%20%E7%94%B7%E8%A3%85,disguising%20oneself%20as%20a%20man
  7. Sherman, Jennifer (2011-12-08). "Miwa to Sing Ouran High School Host Club Film's Theme". Anime News Network.
  8. Figa, Alenka (2015-02-01). "The Top 5 Queer Voices in Anime and Manga". The Mary Sue.
  9. Elawar, Zac (2012-10-19). "Ouran High School Host Club Series Collection Review". Capsule Computers.
  10. Romano, Aja (2014-04-08). "When it comes to transgender representation, anime has room to grow". The Daily Dot.
  11. Regina, Steven. "No Glass Ceiling". The Swerve Magazine. Archived from the original on 2014-10-25.
  12. Afro Samurai (2014-02-04). "Top 25 greatest anime characters". IGN.
  13. D.F. Smith (2007-10-23). "IGN: Ouran High School Host Club Season 1 - Part 1 Review". IGN.
  14. 各部門ランキング　中間発表 (in Japanese). Seiyu Awards. Archived from the original on 2007-01-16.
  15. Bridges, Rose (2015-09-02). "The Secret Revolution of Ouran High School Host Club". Anime News Network.
  16. Ortiz, Alfonso "Fonzy" (2020-17-19). "Bisco Hatori at Anime Expo 2019". Honey's Anime.
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