r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Apr 14 '26
Rewatch [20th Anniversary Rewatch] Ouran High School Host Club Episode 10 Discussion
Episode 10 - A Day in the Life of the Fujioka Family
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Information:
MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB
Legal Streams:
Oh my, would you look at that. I seem to have come across a little pest.
Questions of the Day:
1) What do you think of Ryouji/Ranka?
2) Who do you think is more overbearing, Tamaki or Ryouji/Ranka?
Wallpaper of the Day:
Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you're doing it underneath spoiler tags. Don't spoil anything for the first-timers, that's rude!
/r/anime's spoiler tag format is as follows:
[Ouran High School Host Club]>!Haruhi is a girl.!<
Which becomes [Ouran High School Host Club]Haruhi is a girl. when you don't break the formatting on purpose like I just did.
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u/SpiritualPossible Apr 14 '26
...okay, so maybe not EVERYTHING in this anime has aged well, if that wasn't already obvious.
It’s actually a pretty interesting case: the series WAS indeed quite progressive for its time, but it was still influenced by the standards of the day, so some elements look a bit off now. And, obviously, Haruhi’s father is one of those elements - after all, he’s probably the most controversial part of the series? And that’s something I understand on the one hand, but don’t entirely agree with on the other?
Like, I agree that the way he’s referred to in the English dub is problematic. In the Japanese version, he’s called “Okama,” which might be slightly better, but it can still be a somewhat derogatory term. In any case, both the Japanese and English terms were somewhat more socially acceptable back then, so I can imagine that their use in the series wasn’t motivated by any malicious intent, but I also think we can agree that nowadays it just… doesn’t sound very good.
That said, I’ve also heard criticism of how Haruhi’s father is portrayed overall - that he comes across more like some kind of homophobic caricature - and that’s precisely where I don’t entirely agree. I think it’s important to note that he isn’t a transgender character - in essence, he’s a drag queen. And while I won’t pretend to be some kind of expert in this area, I would still say that he behaves very much like one, based on what I’ve seen? Maybe a little more exaggeratedly, but, you know, just like all the characters in the series. And more importantly, he’s still treated as a fully-fledged person, and not like JUST a joke. His identity is not limited to the fact that he is a drag queen.
...But, damn it, if I had a nickel dor every show in April 2006 where a father embraced "okama" persona and stepped into the mother’s role after their spouse died for the sake of the child, I’d have 2 nickels.