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"there's no Tsundere" hikaru is literally right there.

To this day, I still look at Haruhi's mindset regarding gender and think "I wanna be like you when I grow up". I'm 21 😭

I loved tamaki as the love interest for haruhi. A lot of people complained that it wasn’t “subversive” enough for them to get together in the end but in an age where most shoujo male leads were perfect, mean bullies to the female leads, haruhi ending up with a goofy himbo who worships the ground she walks on was perfect

Honestly I think Ouran should get a reboot. It’s one of those shows that stays timeless and can appeal to each generation. I feel that if we get a reboot it would be a good way to stick more to the manga and then hopefully be able to get see the entire story animated.

Something I distinctly remember from the manga is that everyone in the school (or at least the females) knew that Haruhi was a female, but they just didn't care. It was a throwaway line in the last book, but it's so sweet to think about.

"Was Haruhi your nonbinary awakening or tomboy awakening?" Hahaha jokes on you, Haruhi was both.

Haruhi is exactly how you write a female lead/protagonist in anime. Anime writers NEED to take notes

I feel so bad for Tamaki. People hate him and it is not his fault.... he says awful things yes, but never out of malice, but ignorance He is a good boy. A good himbo, and he deserves Haruhi It hurts how people treat him because of a few bad comments. He is not a bad love interest, he is not... AND THE MANGA IS SO MUCH BETTERa

Let's be real, the main reason we all liked this was Haruhi. They're so refreshing with how blunt they are.

Conservatives will say that introducing lgbt concepts to kids will confuse them, but 14 year old me heard Haruhi say she didn’t care which pronouns she was referred to with and I just immediately accepted it without hesitation. Nothing confusing about it at all

Quick note: in my country they translated 6:35 scene as "I don't mind dressing up as a man even thought I have the body of a woman, since I haven't decided yet what I want to be" LIKE!!! WOW!! COULD HARUHI BE MORE NB!?

My favorite part of the bloopers is when the voice actor is like ‘ugh’ after he says that “what is it now daddy” line

I found it actually brilliant that Tamaki's backstory wasn't revealed until the end of the show. A lot of times, as viewers and readers, we are privy to information that we aren't supposed to know, and our perception of the character is shaped it. How often do we see a character hated by others only to feel "no, don't hate them, they have a reason to act this way, you just don't know it!" So, in a way, we are used to feeling entitled to a character's past, or their secrets. The way Tamaki's past is revealed to us as viewers is, in my opinion, is very similar to how you would learn something about a friend in real-life. When you make a new friend, you don't know their past right away. You're not supposed to. You're not entitled to that information. You have to go off of the impressions and interactions you have in the moment, and it may take years for you to learn about a tragic event, or a life-changing experience your friends has gone through. And what you lean may change your perception, kind of the way it changes our perception of Tamaki when we learn more about him.

I want to add a fun fact onto this: In the manga, Haruhi does fall in love with Tamaki but is despite all Tamaki's clinginess afraid of confessing to him. They have an actual nightmare once in which they confesses to him and he responds something along the lines of "I love myself too" 😂

"We don't care about real boys, we care about pretty anime boys." -Best line

Haruhi was more my aromantic awakening. She has so much fun flirting and hanging out with these guys without (in the show proper) ever getting into a romantic relationship. So often we only see close affectionate relationships as romantic. Haruhi was allowed to just enjoy their company and attention.

another brilliant aspect of the show is that it isn't just a great shojo anime, its a CRITIQUE of shojo animes. It uses the customers and renge as a way to analyze shojo culture and then uses haruhi's realism to point out every single one of it's flaws AND THEN uses the boys in the host club to add counter points to show those elements often seen as flaws in a better light. It's truly genius

I actually DO think this series could benefit from a re-boot. I think it has a similar case to Fruits Basket, another really popular early 2000s shoujo anime that was recently revitalized to complete the story after the original anime stopped before it was over. And *that* re-boot was popular enough to get a prelude movie.

For the episode where Tamaki gets mad on Haruhi and says she's a girl, in the manga Haruhi was 1 against 3 guys, and it was made very obvious that the guys were close enough where if Haruhi called for help, the host club would've heard her easily and could've gone over to help her. In the manga the point of girl was just brought up as a additional point and Tamaki heavily focused on the face that she was outnumbered by 2 additional people and should've asked for help. I wished the anime actually made this episode more closely to the manga instead of what was made.

The beach episode in three manga is different from the anime, Tamaki was upset she went alone and didn’t get anyone to help her, not because she’s a girl. :( I wish they kept that in and not changed it

I first watched this in middle school, it was an instant favorite for me. Anyone who claims this show is shallow hasn’t watched it. This show has a lot of depth. Also how casually they play with themes of sexuality and gender, this show was ahead of it’s time.

Y'all are missing out on so much if you haven't read the manga. The final part of Tamaki trying to reunite with his mom was so heart breaking.

Tamaki VS Hikaru was a HOT debate in 2006, as someone who lived through it. Though my personal favorite was always Kyouya ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I also loved at the end how it was Haruhi who did the "Stop them from getting on the airplane(or x thing whatever it is) and confess my feelings" trope instead of the man.

She actually does end up with one of them. It's just in the manga. it's really late in there like to the end of the manga. The twins also become more of themselves instead of looking exactly alike. It's kind of like they split up but it's not a sad ending. I'm trying not to spoil it but give you a little bit of information.

Ouran Highschool Host Club is one of those anime's that looks like it's going to be horrible at first glance, but once you watch it you realize just how amazing it really is. Something about the color palette, the characters, the humor, it all spoke to me and made me feel so seen. Every episode I loved, many made me tear up in the cute and meaningful moments sprinkled amongst the wacky humor. This show is one that will always have a place in my heart, and to this day when someone asks me "What's your all time favorite anime?" I proudly respond "Ouran Highschool Host Club" with zero shame.

"Nostalgia marketing doesn't work with anime and manga" Excuse me??? Did we forget about the return of Fruits Basket, and how wildly popular that was?? Fruits Basket only had one season originally in like 2001, but was remade and put out in 2019 with great success! It was one of the most hyped animes of the season, and it finished the plot of the manga. If Host Club got the Fruits Basket treatment, I think it would be very popular.

This show is a timeless representation of the female gaze. Loved it when it came out and rewarch it all the time. Its genuinely funny and smart. I think you guessed our experiences well lmao

One of the reason Haruhi stood out so much was the fact she wasn’t a self insert which harem anime in general have especially if they are a visual novel adaptation.

[Don't trust my judgement, it's false and rumors from what I heard when I was a child.] I've heard people that Mori was supposed to be the main love interest of the show because the creator wanted the two together, but after getting a lot of feedback and fans of the manga (while it's still ongoing) saying that they love Tamaki, the creator had to change Mori to Tamaki as the main love interest. It's also the reason why you see some Mori and Haruhi moments (like helping Haruhi out without question, addressing her by her first name, yea) during the first few volumes/episodes edit: Bisco Hatori (the creator of OHSHC) admitted that Mori was a potential love interest. How the change happened is what I remember of what the other fans said back then (back in 2012) but idk if that was confirmed or they were wrong (probably wrong). But it doesn't matter considering that Tamaki is endgame (It's clearly obvious and I was all for it. If you read the manga, yk what happened next with the two). It's cool to know tho.

As someone that followed Ouran as it was publishing, the reason that the second season was so delayed/not made is because the manga was put on hiatus multiple times due to Bisco Hatori's health. They had another manga too called Millennium Snow that had a nearly 10 year hiatus before it was ended. I remember after a particularly long hiatus after the anime for Ouran had ended, most of the fandom had petered off in interest, so the actual finale for the manga was a quiet affair. I kinda hoped when Fruits Basket was rebooted that a bunch of the old Shoujo anime/manga I read in high school would get new adaptations. I want completed works!

honestly i feel like the success of the fruits basket reboot gives me hope that an ouran reboot would be good 😭 haruhi is so important to me the manga was so so good i just want ouran to get the same treatment that fruits basket got 😭

I honestly love Tamaki. I loved him because he says such stupid weird things and he is so over the top. But honestly, the Japanese voice overs are great. I can't take the English voice overs at all

Being an impressionable teen when this came out, it opened my eyes to CLOTHES ARE JUST CLOTHES and no need to label them. Also that Haruhi us just an icon in general.

"We don't care about REAL boys! We care about ANIME boys!" Me: *Plankton Voice* "CORRECT!"

Haruhi is so outspoken and blatantly honest, she was such a breath of fresh air as a shojo heroin back in the day ❤❤❤

Something I really love about this show was how it did a really good job (at least to me) of showcasing that Tamaki is not a bad or mean guy, but that he says insensitive things, he’s just ignorant. He’s a genuinely sweet guy with a good heart and good intentions, my favorite moments was how he was the only host to notice and pay his respect to Haruhi’s mother. Now THAT is what solidified to me that him and Haruhi would end up together.

This show was my shit back in highschool we almost got an approval to do something similar to this but the anime club was shut down due to budget cuts.

We definitely needed more backstory for Mori. I’m aware his role of the show is “the guy with one line an episode,” but they gave us almost nothing about him. His entire backstory is “He and Hunny have linked families.” Theres absolutely nothing about his home life or anything that maybe encourage him to be as quiet as he is.

Haruhi and Kyoko (Skip Beat) both have a special place in my heart for being unusual shojo protagonists, and both Ouran and Skip Beat are very good at subverting shojo tropes. (i read the manga for both) i too, loved Vampire Knight until the sibling reveal 😞 but the impact that the openings and endings had on me is unmatched. Edgy visual masterpieces (and the songs are great, too)

I really wish that they had a season 2. It gets more into romance later and more dramatic in the manga.

Kyouya's arc is one of my favorites in any series. I don't know if you caught it, but in the end he didn't need his father to give him the company, he actually BOUGHT all the debt the company was in with money he earned HIMSELF through the host club and other ventures. He then took the company he now OWNED and gave it back to his father. Not because he couldn't handle the company, but because he didn't NEED his father's recognition or approval anymore. It didn't mean anything. And I don't know, maybe I related more to Kyouya's family issues, but I loved where he ended up, and was so proud of him for breaking through that frame and painting something incredible.

My favorite host member is Kyoya. He’s awesome and also I love Kaoru since he’s actually a really nice and considerate dude when he’s not with Hikaru

It's so weird to hear NL talk about this as if it's just now getting attention. The anime was HUGE when it came out. It was one of the anime you could most rely on other anime geeks having seen!

I feel to this day OHHC's fandom is still very strong and present. By just announcing a new season the fandom would already go crazy. We would watch it for the story and the nostalgia of the characters, that I think of how different it would be from the original doesn't matter. I know a lot of fans were like teenagers when this got out and all of kind of grew up with it, it just that series that's so close to your heart and it just sad that they left it with one season. Until this day I still hope for a season 2 to come out.

I'm such a sucker for Tamaki, he is such a male bimbo. I wish you would have mentioned Renge more. She is such a great character

The thing that hooked me right away with Ouran that I've never had with any other anime is that Haruhi was instantly so relatable- mostly because she's basically written as the voice of the reader/viewer. All the things that you think to yourself while reading manga or watching anime are said in a delicious deadpan by Haruhi, and you get that instant satisfaction of seeing the characters looking shocked that anyone would be so brazen. To anyone who loves Ouran but hasn't read the manga, I HIGHLY recommend it. The first several chapters are word for word the same as the show, but then it shoots off into a much more satisfying, complex, and romantic series. And the weird rushed ending with Eclair or whatever her name was doesn't happen at all, which I appreciate because GOD she was annoying.

i watched ouran for the first time when i was 13 and it completely changed my life, im almost 19 and im still in love (and maybe a little obsessed) with ouran - its such a nostalgic and comforting show and the show was my introduction to many more difficult topics, tied in with romance and comedy. tamaki is my favourite himbo and i will protect him with my life

and fans are STILL waiting for a season 2 so we can see the rest of the slow burn romance

For the longest time I couldn't figure out why this show struck such a chord with me. Now, knowing I am aro ace, I am fully aware that it was refreshing to see a main charecter with no immediate desire for romance. Haruhi does things because she cares about people first and foremost, romance isn't off of the table, but she is a person with a life outside of love and that life takes precedence. Haruhi stays in the host club because she enjoys it, not because of any romantic attractions to her club mates. I also find a lot of comfort in the abundance of comedy, that's mostly just a me thing though

Personally, I think an Ouran reboot would do really well considering how well the Fruits Basket reboot did in 2019. Fruits Basket wasn't NEARLY as well known as Ouran always has been, so I think a reboot would be exactly what it needs to expand what we didn't get to see. Like Fruits Basket, the original 2000s adaptation only had one season and changed the ending of the story (albeit, Ouran changed way more from the finale than Fruits Basket did), and I think most fans and people who's introduction to Ouran would be the reboot would all enjoy seeing the show with a fresh layer of paint and there would be a significant opportunity to change and fix the show's very apparent problems with LGBTQ issues. Also on this note, I highly recommend Fruits Basket for a video!!

Ouran will forever be one of my all time favorites. There just hasn’t been anything else like it released into anime or any kind of mainstream media. The art style, the voice actors, the humor, the satire, the insight, the treating things with so much normalcy that weren’t really considered normal at the time. It’s a great gateway anime & if you haven’t read the manga for it, highly recommend. You will not be disappointed.

I'm an afab enby, so Haruhi and a couple other gender bent characters like them really inspired me when I was small. At the time I could only really express it as "I want to be able to pass for a pretty boy," and, honestly, that's way closer to my actual gender identity than I ever would have been exposed to if I'd been limited to western media growing up. Naturally my mother was horrified when I tried to share clips from this show with her.🤣

Weirdly enough, I was one of those peeps who passed on Death Note as Edgy McEdgerton Edgelord nonsense, while absolutely embracing Ouran Host Club as one of the best things ever made for all time (owning both the blu-ray and the entire manga series!). However, I am still a cisgender straight dude (somehow), so I feel robbed of the cultural zeitgeist surrounding this shoujo anime a little.

I’ve always felt that Tamaki being old fashioned at times was because of his upbringing. I’m not trying to justify him being old fashioned but explain it. I haven’t watched the show in a while or read the entire manga, so I could be wrong.

I'm a youngster, born a year before OHSHC came out. My parents really liked Ouran, and I was raised as a kid watching it for fun. And now that I'm older, I can see the impact of it. Haruhi was my role model, considering I really resonated with her (and now I know I'm non-binary, so there's that). I don't know if my parents even realized what impact watching Ouran throughout my childhood might have. I grew up having positive traits correlated with characters that also had queer traits, such as Haruhi's dad, who was a good, hardworking, and caring parent, as well as someone born biologically male (and still referred to as "dad" by his kid) and also was feminine. I grew up thinking it was completely fine for people of the same gender to be in relationships together, and that gender was fairly fluid and could travel outside the strict binary options. I grew up understanding the nuance of some messages that I don't think my parents expected me to understand (like how the all-girl's school was the same problem of sexism, just reversed). I also got perspective on how all kinds of personalities and all kinds of genders and gender presentations could be attractive (might just be me, now I know that I am very bisexual lmaooo). Its really weird but very nice to watch this video, because the perspective in the video and in the comments is from people that found Ouran later in life than me, and thus felt they were introduced to something new. I get to understand my parents' perspectives a little better. Meanwhile, my perspective is having grown up with this, and having a positive and understanding view on queerness since a very young age. This was a normal thing for me, and was established as such, whether my parents intended that or not. It feels good to see Ouran from a fresh perspective, and revisit such a cornerstone of my childhood so that I can reflect on it and learn.

I forgot how much Haruhi is my role model. Edit: omg that stage play casting and costuming is spot on! 🤩

I'm almost 60 and I love this show. I discovered it on Netflix a few years ago and enjoyed its humor but also how none of the characters are cardboard cut outs. Yes, they are stereotypes, but they do get fleshed out more than most shows. You are absolutely correct in that Tamaki has a huge heart. He's experienced pain but all that means is he doesn't want others to feel the way he did. It's a cute, fluffy, enjoyable show, that I'll rewatch when I'm feeling down because at its core its about love and hope.

As a trans masc person who grew up watching ouran high school host club,seeing a character like haruhi made me so happy

This series is so special to me. I was 14, hunting down every issue I could get my broke hands on. Through a network of girls who’s parents were afraid of anime making them gay. And the danger and homophobia only made manga like this more heart pounding! Secret contraband stashes, finding locations to read secretly, getting raided and having your friends hold your stash. It’s horrific remembering how the parents were treating their children, but I do remember our time reading in secret fondly.

Random stand-alone episodes that go no where until all the throwaway details fire-off at once It's just Chevlov's firing squad

For me, ouran is a comfort series. I absolutely cherish it and love all the characters in their own unique ways. I've read the entirety of the manga series as well a few years after first watching the series because I moved to a new school that had the entire collection, and I still would love to see a second season for ouran. The rest of the manga, I'd argue, is basically essential for one to truly understand the series, characters, and the depth it truly has. It also has insightful conversations about mental health, healthy relationships and boundaries, and is overall a really good read for anyone who liked the original anime. It also reexplains concepts that were missed in the anime, like honey and mori's siblings and the whole situation with Haruhi's father

"There's no tsundere" Bestie kyoya is right there

She was my tomboy awakening and still inspires me to this day

this is one of my first animes in middle school. i think your take is correct! i felt seen by haruhi and loved how the host club adored her. this anime is still my comfort show

I would honestly like a sequel that gives a chance for the other Hosts to find their own "Haruhi" Especially the twin's (T-T)

I actually like that it's a romantic comedy. Sometimes romance is kind of boring to me, so the comedy keeps me engaged. As much as I adore and love Fruits Basket, I'm more likely to rewatch something lighter, like Ouran.

tamaki is literally the most perfect character i won’t accept this hate against him, people hate him for no reason

I loved this show back then, and I still think fondly of it. In a lot of ways it didn't really age well, but it still largely has its heart in the right place. I think that's part of why it's gaining popularity again despite those age marks

Can I just say that till this day Haruhi is one of the best shojo protagonist, she's not trying to be cute, she's not an eccetric try-hard, She's just being her true blunt self, not caring about image how people percieve her but is there for the host club as they become her friends. Most importantly it's one of those anime where a girl can actually become a friend with bunch of guys without her instantly falling in love with them just because they're handsome. Like not even nowadays shojo can do what Haruhi could, also the beach episode still hit's so hard, because it must have been so heartbroken for Haruhi that in the end they saw just a girl in her atomatically with assumptions, without considering that she can defend anyone else as them... Simply stan Haruhi, because we won't get anyone closer to her maybe Nobara though that's a shonen character

Haruhi was a big influence on how I viewed gender and my own identity. I loved this manga, and it makes me happy that others are discovering it now

I freaking loved this anime. The characters had a great deal of depth and loved how they all interacted with each other both positively and negatively. How their backstories explain who they are people.

6.46 that girls name is Kanako Kasugazaki. 5.52 the girl from episode one is named Seika Ayanokoji. They are two different people. Ayanokoji gets permanently banned from the Host Club from Tamaki.

The most interesting thing about your review is that you are looking at it through modern lenses. It really highlights the HUGE societal differences we have now a days. But you need to keep in mind that a lot of the themes explored in the show are still presented by people who lived in a world very different from the one we are currently on. A lot of the things you call misogynistic (because they are) are not even considered bad back then. Remember this was made by people trying to be progressive. It reminds me of my own experience because back in highschool on the early 2010s I was considered to be extremely progressive. I had (and still do) a lot of opinions that people wouldn't even consider, especially when it came to sexuality. But at some point the lines moved and now those exact same views are considered conservative...even thou they never changed...in a way, it's a good thing but it also scares me a bit because if we can look at OHHC and say that its misogynistic...I feel like we have gone too far lmao

The manga was still ongoing when the anime came out, I believe, so Ouran's actually dealing with an FMA situation - the true ending of the manga hadn't happened yet, and the beginning of the series is heavily episodic compared to later sections, so they made up a non-canon ending that doesn't actually match up with what canon turned out to be. So they would need to either entirely reboot the series or keeping making up their own timeline if they wanted to do a second season.

I LOVED OURAN HIGHSCHOOL HOSTCLUB!! You did a great job covering this show, and I high key look forward to a possible follow-up video!

my god yes the ouran manga is so amazing!! It makes the reveal of Tamaki's backstory SO MUCH BETTER not to mention all of the other characters get a lot more development and there are a lot more secondary characters introduced (Mei being the best and most important). I'm really hoping they get a Fruits Basket style remake eventually because the manga is so beautiful and it's what she deserves....

I like how OHSHC kind of serves as a deconstruction of reverse haram tropes and other typical shojo tropes. The characters and their interactions we're all interesting and funny. My favorite characters are Haruhi, Hikaru and Kaoru, Honey, Kyouya, and Renge.

I always shipped Haruhi with Koya simply because while he always teased her, he treated Haruhi like a competent person & with respect. But the reason it was only one season, was because the manga was still on going & the anime had already overtaken where the manga was at the time of development. (the contents of the last few episodes are not even in the manga) This is one of the anime's I'd love to see get a reboot/remake.

You're so down to earth which makes your videos so interesting to me! You literally highlighted all the same opinions i have on this show :)

I really love your energy and I’m glad you reviewed this show! Damn good video!

My favourite anime, I’m so glad you are talking about it. There is not many content about Ouran

My gosh. Haven't finished the video, but I wanted to make this clear. Miss Ayanokoji, the girl who threw Haruhi's bag in the fountain, is not the same girl as Kasugazaki, the girl that jumps around Host members, but with short hair. She's a completely different character. I don't think miss Ayanokoji makes a reappearance for the rest of the story after chapter/episode 1. I'm sure this is trivial, but it just irked me.

I was an adult when this came out. I was already bi but I spent most of the 90's and 00's into Shonen based anime. Ouran and Fruits Basket actually helped me more when I was trying to find a baseline for my anime art instead of going bara bara bara save for the occasional commissions.

the manga established EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER soooo much better. i mean i do get that the anime is shorter but still i absolutely love and adore the manga and every ohhc anime fan should read it!!! my favourite part in the manga is where the discuss and explore tamaki and kyoya's relationship

First things first: I love Negative's hair in this video. It suits them so well omg, just gorgeous. And second: Haruhi is an icon for those of us who grew up struggling (or in her case, flat-out refusing) to conform to the assigned gender roles society has put on us. This anime came out when I was 16 (yes I am old) and I had never related so much to a character in any form of media as I did to Haruhi. The fact that she was the only 'normal' character in a world full of caricatures and weirdos gave me hope that I may not be as weird as people made me out to be, just because I never liked stereotypically girly things.

I’m a girl, and I’ve always kinda been a tomboy who sometimes wore clothes that were a little more girly. My mom didn’t like me being very tomboyish as she always dressed me as girly girl when I was a toddler, and wished I would dress more girly when I was older. When I watched OHSHC when I was in Middle school, Haruhi actually made me feel more comfortable with both aspects of myself because of how she really didn’t care if she was wearing more boyish clothes or if she dressed more girly. She was always Haruhi regardless, and I really admired that. Now, I still wear a mix of girly clothes and Tom boyish clothes because I can wear what I want and be who I am.

I have seen the Ouran High School Host Club Musical earlier this year, and it was such a success that they've already made a second one (I've also seen it in Tokyo a few days ago). The cast is perfect (waaay better than the live action movie), the performance absolutely did not disappoint my fangirl memories from when I watched the anime years ago. The twins are actual twins, and even the background characters like Renge and Nekozawa have a lot of flavor.

Omg I love you, you're talking about the animes I saw when I was a teenager and I love it

Tamaki is confusing on his views on women, but I really like it, he feels more real. It's incredibly rare to find someone in real life that doesn't contradict themselves once in a while. It also shows that instinctively he isn't misogynistic, but when it comes to Haruhi he suddenly is. He protects her with old ideas, much like a father would. He's emulating a boomer father, and a boomer father would have old, controversial ideas on women.

I think I liked Tamaki for Haruhi more because of how good he is. How much he cares about EVERYONE, even if he oftens says something idiotic in the heat of the moment. The whole club loves her, friendly or romantically, and Haruhi makes friends with people who would move mountains for her.

“That was all in 2 episodes” That’s a very busy first two episodes… oh wait

Just recently found your channel been watching a lot of your videos. Ur awesome.

I DESPERATELY DESPERATELY want a season two 😭 i actually haven't had the chance to read the manga, but this video has made me determined to make that happen.

honestly that last episode was SO frustrating even if you weren't invested in the story because suddenly we jump from having micro issues to solve (like what to do with haruhi and the physical examination) to the main cast's lives being turned upside down???, and then it ends??? i wanted to cry when that happened ngl 😭😭

I think something that's really fun about this series and is often forgotten about is the fact that this series was created as a parody of harem mangas. When you know this while reading or watching the early parts, the series becomes much more understandable. The reason it's so comedy focused rather than romance focused as well as the fact that many of the first couple volumes of the series are all super over the top and out there is because it was written with a lens towards parody rather than anything else. The reason why characters are such big tropes and why for a decent while we don't really go in depth with them is because of the fact that they were supposed to be these one directional caricatures of common harem characters and situations. It's only after the series became super popular and people were invested in the characters that the mangaka started actually fleshing out all the characters. It's the reason why we don't really get re-occurring side characters for awhile before the introduction of Renge. Even Haruhi's dad couldn't really be called a re-occurring character until much later in the series. We basically only saw them once in the beginning of the manga and then we didn't really hear or see from them until several archs later. The only real side character we had in the beginning had been Nekozawa who originally is also created as a parody on Tamaki's character himself. Tamaki often plays the dark tragic backstory love interest for jokes in the beginning of the series but then we got the very literal definition of this character in Nekozawa, a literal DARK tragic character. Other than him all the other side characters could have been drawn as faceless backgrounders and it would have made no difference to the story. Which was part of the point in the parody of harems and how all attention needs to be drawn to the pretty people.

one of the things to keep in mind when watching OHSHC is that it's a parody of harem anime/manga. It's likely the reason it got popular enough for foreign audiences.

My favourite host is Mori. He is the most Caring, and genuine match with haruhi which would work very well in real life. He's just a chill dude

Just watching these clips made me realize Haruhi was quite literally the only "female" protag I genuinely liked as a kid.... seeing who I grew up to be and it makes so much sense I feel so attacked rn. Also I think nostalgia marketing works sometimes, for example Fruits Basket was so loved that they recently remade it to do right by the fans that begged. Black Butler gets an anime adaptation every few years. I won't be surprised if in a few years they announce a remake for this especially with queer culture being more accepted mainstream. My only concern is either they'll just completely remove the queer aspects of everyone or it'll be played into too much to the point it feels like pandering or just offensive.

I watched this in secondary school as it was being aired via fansubs, it was amazing. Even better how it holds up years later when I rewatched it. I loved the mix of comedy and wholesome sincerity. It would make fun of the tropes of the genre but with an intimate familiarity of it. The cringe lines I thought was part of the humour and intentionally ridiculous, even if they were semi-sincere. I liked something about every host member, the exception being Tamaki because he felt like a cookie-cutter shojo male lead, though I didn't dislike him. I would so love a second season, even now. Also nostalgia marketing in anime totally works, it just has to be something really massive like Sailor Moon or DBZ and have lots of merchandise value. Just discovered your channel today and am glad to have found it. Subbed~