Haruhi Fujioka
Haruhi Fujioka | |
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Ouran High School Host Club character | |
File:Haruchankkm.jpg | |
First appearance | Ouran High School Host Club anime episode 1 Ouran High School Host Club manga chapter 1 |
Created by | Bisco Hatori |
In-universe information | |
Nickname | Haru-chan Daughter Haruhi-kun (during host time) |
Occupation | Student |
Relatives | Ryoji "Ranka" Fujioka (father) Kotoko Fujioka (mother) |
Nationality | Japanese |
Haruhi Fujioka (藤岡 ハルヒ, Fujioka Haruhi) is main protagonist of the manga and anime series, Ouran High School Host Club, created by Bisco Hatori.
In the series, she is a freshman who is able to attend Ouran High School through a scholarship provided by the school.
Her outward appearance is similar to a boy's due to her short hair and cute face; she had longer hair before but had to cut some of it due to a neighborhood child putting gum in it. Shortly after arriving at Ouran, Haruhi accidentally broke a vase worth ¥8,000,000 while in the third music room looking for a quiet place to study, and was forced to work for the Host Club to pay for it. Mistaking her for a male, the club initially had her working as their servant, but they made her a host once they discovered that, beneath her glasses and rumpled clothing, she had a cute face. Her natural charm and relaxed demeanor instantly made her a favorite with some of the club's customers.
Character outline
History with Host Club
By the end of chapter 1, the entire club realizes that Haruhi is female; however, due to her large debt, she must continue to work for the club. Extravagant adventures followed as she tried to pay them off. They consistently follow Haruhi around and generally annoy the poor girl while trying to keep her gender a secret (although Tamaki, the leader of the host club, protests occasionally, wishing to see Haruhi in girl's clothing, as do her classmates Hikaru and Kaoru). She introduced instant coffee to the club who in turn made a big fuss about peasant beverages and were left in awe. After they had tasted it, they often drink it during club hours.
In chapter 2, she accidentally lost her first kiss to a girl when Tamaki, who slipped on a banana peel the Hitachiin twins threw away while trying to prevent the kiss, knocked her into the girl. Her father, a great okama (transvestite) at an okama bar, was not too pleased with this. In the manga version, however, she kissed the girl when Tamaki grabbed the bottom of her shirt, causing her to fall forward. Her father later becomes distressed when he see's the image on a large screen the host club acquired in order to save Haruhi.
Haruhi allows the club members to involve her in their antics, but doesn't like it when people comment on how amazingly "feminine" she is. She involves herself and enjoys some of the games. She even became frightened of ghosts in episode 21 during their class's fright fest. Haruhi does not realize the boundaries of being "close"; she doesn't realize how people get shy and shocked from being close. Haruhi doesn't get shy or embarrassed from being in nerve-racking situations and, like Kyoya, has a calm presence.
It appears that Haruhi chose to attend Ouran Academy with the intention of following in her late mother's footsteps and becoming a lawyer. While in the anime seemingly all the Host club members know about her goal, in the manga she has confessed it only to Tamaki (chapter 39). However, she has stated on more than one occasion that she is at Ouran in order to pursue her dream, and wants to see how far it can take her. She chose to go to Ouran as she could then get a scholarship to go to the law department in university.
Personality
Unlike the typical shojo heroine, Haruhi is not at all love-struck or dramatic, but is marked with simplicity. She is quite industrious and practical, even when she was child, and takes a liking to both masculine and feminine things, fulfilling more of the role of the beautiful bishonen-like supporting character than the optimistic and often lively main character of shojo series.
She is a very sensitive, intelligent, and straight-forward individual. However, her lack of hesitation in expressing her opinions or observations can sometimes lead her to say, without any intended malice, comments which others find hurtful. Her stubborn independence has also gotten her into trouble, as it typically doesn't occur to her to ask others for help even when she is in over her head, and has trouble understanding why people like her father and Tamaki worry about her. She is often bemused and sometimes irritated by the antics of the Host Club, but in spite of that, she has developed increasingly strong friendships with her fellow club members. She's extremely dense where it comes to romantic interest, to the point that she simply doesn't see herself as a possible object of romantic affection and she's never been able to acknowledge a love confession. She's overall a pretty much empathetic person who is perceptive enough to tell the twins apart, when no one else is able.
Haruhi admits that she has a low threshold for gender awareness; she was not actually trying to pass as male, but didn't feel the need to correct the others' assumptions. She even goes as far to say that when Tamaki asks if she is indeed female, she responds "Biologically, yes." She doesn't see her gender as much of her identity. Her lack of awareness of the differences between male and female gender roles was most likely influenced by her father, who was originally bisexual and, saying that he could never love another woman, became a transvestite after the death of his wife. Whatever the reason, she is a fairly androgyne person who does not care much about clothing, physical appearance or gender stereotypes. She enjoys taking care of household chores, particularly cooking, and is not easily frightened by things such as bugs or ghost stories; her only weakness is a paralysing fear of thunderstorms also known as astraphobia.
Love life
At the beginning of the manga, Haruhi has distinctly no interest in boys and dating (though she was distracted a bit the first time she bumped into them by their gorgeous appearance).
When a host club member, Haruhi has a natural gift for charming her customers and apparently has no problem with having many girls like her while thinking of her as a guy. She harbors no romantic feelings towards her customers, although she once accidentally kissed a girl at a party, thanks to the interruption of Tamaki. Nonetheless, Haruhi enjoys being in the host club very much and seem to trust and care for its members, too. She has platonic relationships with all of them, rather as if they were surrogate brothers, since they both annoy her and yet sometimes surprise or charm her to a minimum effect.
Despite her intelligence and empathy, as the story proceeds it becomes clear that Haruhi has a distinct lack of self-awareness that makes her unable to acknowledge other's romantic feelings when directed at her. Because of this, she keeps rejecting her suitors without even realizing it(chapter 19 and chapter 36).
Out of the host club, Tamaki, Hikaru and Kaoru have developed pretty strong feelings for her. While her relationship with the twins is totally friendly and pretty much sisterly-like, in the manga she soon developes an uncanny physical awareness for Tamaki, to the point that she half-jokingly calls him "kissing demon" and "sexual harasser" (chapters 2-3), avoids physical contact (chapter 16) and wonders why his proximity trouble her so much while she lets the twins do worse things to her(chapter 42).
In chapter 20 of the manga (episode 16 of the anime) Kaoru arranges a date between Haruhi and Hikaru, mainly to teach his brother the values of friendship and compassion. In chapter 52 she goes on a date with Kaoru, who also confesses his love for her while kissing her cheek. However, he claims that he's still too dependent on his brother to pursue her fully. On the other hand, her complete lack of response to his declaration and kiss convinces Kaoru that even if he didn't give her up he wouldn't have a chance with her.
In the last two episodes of the anime, Haruhi seems to show some jealousy toward Eclair, a girl from France whom Tamaki is ordered by his grandmother to escort—a fact that nearly all of the other Host Club members point out—and is disturbed when Tamaki announces that he will be engaged to Eclair and that the Host Club will be dissolved. Initially, Haruhi states that she only remains in the club in order to pay off her debt, but she goes to extreme lengths to save the club's existence, even risking her own life to bring Tamaki back. At this time, she explicitly says she likes the club. Both Kyouya 's and Tamaki's fathers in the anime have an interest in her, considering Haruhi to be an excellent future wife for their sons. This, they claim, is the only impediment to their being friends like their sons are.
In the manga however, Haruhi becomes emotionally conflicted around Tamaki after he gave her a kiss on the forehead in chapter 40. During chapters 54 and 55, she learns more about Tamaki's past and his conflicting thoughts on being with the Suou family. Following this revelation, Tamaki kissed Haruhi on the head as a thank you for her offering of food to him before leaving her. The kiss left Haruhi in a blank state and later blushing showing Haruhi's conflicting emotions towards Tamaki. After this, she begins to blush and feel uneasy in Tamaki's presence.
In chapter 58 Haruhi has come to realize her romantic feelings for Tamaki but keeps it to herself, claiming that she needs to learn more first before being able to catch up with him.
In chapter 61 Hikaru confesses to Haruhi that he likes her and asks her on a date after being rescued during a snowstorm.
Footnotes
- ^ "Maaya Sakamoto". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
- ^ "Aya Hisakawa". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
- ^ Hatori, Bisco (2005). "Chapter 4". Ouran High School Host Club, Volume 2. Viz Media. p. 7. ISBN 1-59116-990-9.It is stated that the characters will not be promoted in grade. In other words, everyone is not likely to age in the series.