History Main / JapaneseSchoolClub

* The Auto Club (and dozens of others) in ''AhMyGoddess''.

* ''{{Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan}}'': Dokuro-chan forms a student club called the "wood glue club". In this club, you watch white wood glue dry and turn transparent. She wants to make it to the nationals. It's implied that she physically tortured a teacher to approve the club -- the approval form is signed in blood and wet with tears.

* ''{{Persona 3}}'' and ''{{Persona 4}}'' have Social Links with certain characters tied into the player joining specific clubs. I.e., in {{Persona 4}} the Strenght Social Link is held either by Kou (captain of the basketball club) or Daisuke (captain of the soccer club); meanwhile, CuteSportsClubManager [[LovableLibby Ai]] is the Moon Social Link, and the Sun social link can either be Yumi (drama club) or Ayane (Music club).

* The Yamayurikai in ''{{Marimite}}'' probably falls under the {{Absurdly Powerful Student Council}} it's notable that several characters do double duty with other clubs. Rei is the {{Kendo Team Captain}} and Yoshino joins the kendo club in her second year. Touko is also a member of the Drama Club and while not formally a member of the Yamayurikai at the time, her agreeing to help them with their play at the {{School Festival}} is a source of some conflict. The Photography Club also gets some coverage courtesy of Yumi's friend Tsutako.

** They're not really being oppressed, it's just that the drama club barely have members, they have no advisor and are nearly as bad with organization and paperwork as [[{{ptitlei5gydjrz}} Afterschool Tea Time]] and as such the student council has to consider it a non-entity. When the drama club works out the issues (mainly by haring an advisor with an instrument club), they encounter no more external problems.

** The S.O.S. Brigade

* The Digidestined of ''DigimonAdventure02'' have referred to their group as the "Computer Club". It's basically a cover for their afterschool trips to the Digital World, using one of the school computers to get there. An early episode that there is a teacher who acts as the club's advisor - but he doesn't know the first thing about using computers and is a nonentity for the rest of the series. (His story purpose was to send Taichi to NotImportantToThisEpisodeCamp by forcing him to run interference.)

* The Digidestined of ''DigimonAdventure02'' have referred to their group as the "Computer Club". It's basically a cover for their afterschool trips to the Digital World, using one of the school computers to get there.

* The Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade to Bring More Excitement to the World, or "S.O.S. Brigade", in ''SuzumiyaHaruhi''.

** The S.O.S. Brigade is not an official club -- no advisor, no funds, and they meet in the literature club's room. The sole member of the literature club [[TheStoic doesn't mind]].

* Sakura's cheerleading squad in ''CardCaptorSakura''.

* ''{{Persona 3}}'' and ''{{Persona 4}}'' have Social Links with certain characters tied into the player joining specific clubs. I.e., in {{Persona 4}} the Sun Social Link is held either by Kou (captain of the basketball club) or Daisuke (captain of the soccer club); meanwhile, CuteSportsClubManager [[LovableLibby Ai]] is the Moon Social Link.

** In ''Sailor Stars'' Seiya is in the American football team, Minako joins Juuban's volley team, Ami is in the computer club, and Makoto gets offers rom several sports clubs (though she wants to go to the cooking club). One-time character Sonoko is the captain of the girls's softball team, too.

** Not only Miki's. Ginta is a member of the boys's tennis club, and his cousin Tsutomu is also a member of his school's own. Naturally this seeps in their rivalry, and HilarityEnsues.

* ''{{Persona 3}}'' and ''{{Persona 4}}'' have Social Links with certain characters tied into the player joining specific clubs.

** The same happens in every sports anime/manga: basketball, baseball, volleyball, skating, etc. clubs at school have similar dynamics.

* The {{Mahjong}} club in ''{{Saki}}''

* The Kamen Rider Club is the unofficial version in KamenRiderFourze

This is the lowest-ranking authority trope. For the next step up, see AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil and {{Landlord}}.

* The Light Music Club from ''{{K-On}}''. Yui was noted by Nodoka as having engaged in no after school group at all until high school, and when she did join the titular group, Nodoka initially assumed it was as a manager.

[[Bong milk is good for the brain.:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/werewolf_9693_8856.jpg]]

But you can't tell your boyfriend about it! He'd freak out and leave you, or worse. But then, you can't keep it a secret forever, either. At some point, one of your supernatural incidents will inevitably happen exactly when you were having a romantic dinner. Or maybe your relationship has simply reached the next level, and you feel that you need to be completely honest with him.

So what now? How will he react? Well, it turns out he's perfectly okay (well, for the most part he's perfectly okay) and understanding with it! That's right, as a reward for your sacrifices, the PowersThatBe will make sure that you end up with a truly noble and loving soul who loves you for who you are and doesn't care what you are. So no worries!

This trope is a DoubleStandard, in that wives and girlfriends are pretty much automatically accepting of their ActionHero husband/boyfriend's actions, whereas the number of husbands/boyfriends who automatically accept that their significant other is an ActionGirl are pretty thin on the ground. For the guy who is a super and needs a girlfriend, his powers are often a plus for her (because AllGirlsWantBadBoys). For women, finding a guy who truly doesn't have a problem with dating someone with superpowers when he's a {{Muggle}} is the bigger issue, because, well, NoGuyWantsAnAmazon.

Compare ButYourWingsAreBeautiful, when a disguise forms part of the powers. Compare to ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend for the ActionGirl [[InvertedTrope variant.]] Compare and contrast BoyMeetsGhoul, for the guy/girl who is on the other end of this trope. See also TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife, which is an aversion of this trope.

!!Examples:

* The central premise of ''[[NogizakaHarukaNoHimitsu The Secrets of Haruka Nogizaka]]''. The titular girl is an otaku.
* Ditto with ''[[OreImo My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute]]''. Except that the guy is not a boyfriend, but the big brother... [[{{Squick}} yeah]].
* Austria from ''AxisPowersHetalia'', in regards to his VictoriousChildhoodFriend Hungary. While he's concerned for her well-being, in the end he knows that if she wants to fight, he better lets her... since she will go [[OneManArmy One Woman Army]] and destroy the enemy. Considering their childhood, [[LoveAtFirstPunch he knows it beforehand]]!
* [[ShamanKing Keiko Asakura]] had been dumped by ''every'' single boyfriend she had when they learnt she was able to see spirits. Until the last JerkAss left her and a penniless musician with similar abilities comforted her. That guy was Mikihisa, and she would marry him.
* Horribly deconstructed with [[spoiler: Shiso and Ceres]] in ''AyashiNoCeres''. [[spoiler: Shiso started like this, but being left helpless when he and Ceres got attacked [[IJustWantToBeSpecial made him very frustrated]], so he asked Ceres to give him a part of her powers [[IWillProtectHer so he wouldn't be a burden on her.]] But then, [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity said powers turned out to be too much to handle]], and ItGotWorse...]]


[[AC:{{Comic Books}}]]
* [[NiceGuy Kong]] is this to [[XMen Kitty Pryde]] in UltimateMarvel, even going so far as to yell "You're welcome!" at AllOfTheOtherReindeer for not thanking her when she saves their lives.
* Back in the GoldenAge, Steve Trevor was this for WonderWoman (a remarkably progressive move for the times), and not at all threatened by the idea of getting rescued by or mooning over a woman who was twenty times stronger than him. The Silver and Bronze Age characterizations of him were...[[TooDumbToLive unfortunately]] [[JerkAss less so]], which probably led to him being deleted from continuity PostCrisis.
* In an old What If comic, Jimmy Olsen married Supergirl because of amnesia. Once she recovers and lets him know, he's totally fine with being married to Superman's cousin.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* In ''InnocentBlood'', FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire Marie has her understanding CopBoyfriend Joe.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* Elend in Brandon Sanderson's ''{{Mistborn}}''. At least [[spoiler:until he gets superpowers himself.]]
* Seth in ''WickedLovely''. When Aislinn tells him that she can see faeries, he has exactly one moment of "Is this a joke?" before accepting it and trying to help her with her faery situation.

[[AC:{{Live Action TV}}]]
* The ''GhostWhisperer'' features Jim the Understanding Husband.
* Both [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] and played straight in ''{{Bewitched}}''. The original Darrin (Dick York) was less than understanding, to the point of being downright hostile to Samantha when she used her magic. TheOtherDarrin (Dick Sargeant), on the other hand, tried his hardest to be understanding, the point that it was more the fault of Endora and the rest of Samantha's family that TheOtherDarrin didn't get along with witches.
* Played with in the ''SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' TV series. Harvey ''does'' leave Sabrina when he finds out she's a witch, not out of intolerance but because she'd been using magic to mess with his life for years. He eventually does come back to her, though, and says he never had a problem with her being a witch per se.
* Zack was the "gay best friend" equivalent of this in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', at least until ExecutiveMeddling got in the way.
* Unless she's dating one of the undead, Buffy never got this on ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' (even Riley, who was himself a demon fighting super-soldier, had an inferiority complex due to dating a genuine superhero). It's Willow who hit the boyfriend jackpot with Oz; upon being told the truth about the supernatural world she runs in, he replies, "Actually, it explains a lot," and just goes with the flow from there.
* Tyler Ford in ''TheMiddleman'''s unaired season finale (released as a comic)...[[spoiler:at least, until MM pushes the ResetButton]].
* Allison's husband Joe on ''{{Medium}}'' believes in her powers and is understanding and accepting of them.
* In ''{{Series/Merlin}}'', 2x09. Merlin discovers [[spoiler: Freya turns into a bastet at night, but he isn´t afraid and stills takes care of her. He even pets her cat´s head...]]
[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/understanding/ this]] ''WapsiSquare'' comic. Also the page quote.
* {{Subverted}} (although this may be a retrospective way of seeing it) in ''SluggyFreelance''. Leo seems to be accepting of all the weird things Zoë tells about happening to her - but it turns out that was only because he thought she was lying. In the words of another jerk he hangs out with, "You've got to respect a girl who realizes romantic relationships are based on lies and goes to town with it!" As soon as Leo finds out it was all true, he feels betrayed, and they eventually break off.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* [[PhineasAndFerb Candace]] seems to have this with Jeremy. Despite all of Candace's attempts to put a stop to PhineasAndFerb's projects, the guy never, ever seems to lose his cool, and they're still an item.

Japanese schools' extra-curricular activities are centered around "club activities" organized by the students themselves. Each club will generally be assigned its own room or other facilities, will have an advisor (who doesn't always appear on screen), and will have a powerful president (''kaicho'') who'll be a significant character of some sort. For series that revolve around a specific club, the club's president frequently replaces the [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil Student Council president]] in importance.

The three most commonly portrayed clubs are the student council, the school newspaper, and the Kendo team. For the student council, see AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil and StudentCouncilPresident. For the newspaper, see SchoolNewspaperNewshound. For the Kendo team, see KendoTeamCaptain.

It's rare for a student to be a member of more than one club -- club activities are generally too time-consuming to allow for it, and characters who do are generally the driven overachiever. The OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent who isn't a member of ''any'' club is said to be a member of the "Go Home Club". (Usagi does this in ''SailorMoon'' when she gets to HighSchool, as does Watanuki from ''XXXHolic'' and Kagura from ''AzumangaDaioh'' accuses the rest of the girls of this.) If there's a female character member of an all-male sports club, such as the base-ball or soccer clubs, she's portrayed as the CuteSportsClubManager. Characters who are a member of more than one club or who are extremely rapid in recruitment and enthusiasm are usually an ExtracurricularEnthusiast.

!!Other less common clubs include:

* All of the teams in ''{{The Prince Of Tennis}}'' are actually clubs, and their captains are basically the club president.
** The same happens in every sports anime/manga: basketball, baseball, volleyball, skating, etc. clubs at school have similar dynamics.
* Minako's volleyball team in ''SailorMoon''.
* Miki's tennis team in ''MarmaladeBoy''.
* The ''amefuto'' (American-style football) team in ''{{Eyeshield 21}}''.
* The Magic Users' Club in ''MahouTsukaiTai''.
* The school chorus in ''PleaseSaveMyEarth''. (Also, the "moon club.")
* The Auto Club (and dozens of others) in ''AhMyGoddess''.
* The Masculine Competition Society (and the "Megu Group" and the "Society to Protect Megumi") in ''TenshiNaKonamaiki''.
* The Society for the Study of the Modern Visual Culture in ''{{Genshiken}}''. In a subversion, the original ClubPresident is a seemingly powerless nonentity who barely attends. Mysteriously, he seems nearly omniscient at times; it's implied that this is because he has hidden cameras throughout the school for his nebulous research project. He never confirms or denies this, but just hinting at it is enough to blackmail Saki into joining the club.
** At one point, the president of the student council decides to cancel all non-active clubs which, beside Genshiken, include some ridiculous clubs like "plant watering club", "bucket droppers club" or "kneaders club".
* The Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade to Bring More Excitement to the World, or "S.O.S. Brigade", in ''SuzumiyaHaruhi''.
** Not to mention the S.O.S. Brigade's wannabe rivals, the Computer Club, and their histrionic president.
** The S.O.S. Brigade is not an official club -- no advisor, no funds, and they meet in the literature club's room. The sole member of the literature club [[TheStoic doesn't mind]].
* The go club in ''HikaruNoGo''.
* And, of course, the ''OuranHighSchoolHostClub''.
** And don't forget the Black Magic Club.
** The School Newspaper Club also makes an appearance
* In ''KeroroGunsou'', Fuyuki was the president and only member of Kissho Academy's Occult Club until Momoka joined. This was lampshaded in an episode where the school was going to disband the club unless they could turn up something interesting to present to the school.
* All members of the "Go Home Club" in ''KareKano'' are forcibly conscripted to participate in a play for the school culture festival.
* Sakura's cheerleading squad in ''CardCaptorSakura''.
* Nayuki's track team in ''{{Kanon}}''.
* Tamami's Occult Club in ''{{Mahoraba}}''.
* ''{{Hitohira}}'' focuses on two rival clubs, the Drama Club and the Drama Research Society. As in ''Genshiken'', it seems schools are uncomfortable with overlap, and the two must compete to stay official.
* The calligraphy club in ''{{Kamichu}}''. The club holds its activities on the school roof, because it has only one member and thus doesn't rate a club room. Competition to get members (and thus stay viable) is a common theme of high-school-club-based anime.
** ''Zegapain'' also has an example of the one-member school club, in this case, the swimming club.
* ''PrettyCure'' never forgets about clubs.
** ''FutariWaPrettyCure'' had Nagisa and Honoka as the stars of the lacrosse team and science club respectively, and in ''Max Heart'' they were both promoted to leadership of the clubs. Members of both clubs were recurring characters, and Nagisa's teammates Rina and Shiho were regulars.
*** Additionally, Honoka was technically a member of several other clubs as well, although she was rarely able to attend meetings because of time constraints.
** In ''FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar'', Saki is the softball team's pitcher, and Mai eventually joins the art club after dithering about it for a while.
** ''YesPrettyCure5'' had episodes focusing on Rin and Karen which showed off an assortment of the school's clubs. Rin is as a founding member of the futsol team, and Komachi is a member of the library committee. Find ''that'' combination in another anime. Also deserving of special mention is Nozomi, who joined a number of different clubs and brought disaster upon all of them--Rin won't shut up about how she was kicked out of the drama club for a combination of massive incompetence and mass destruction.
** All the main heroines in ''HeartcatchPrettyCure'' are members of the fashion club (with Erika as the Club President), though they had some trouble getting it started due to a lack of members. In addition, Tsubomi is also a member of the gardening club, and then there's the StudentCouncilPresident...
* ''{{Clannad}}'' has Nagisa working to reform the school's drama club, despite having no members and being oppressed by the student council.
** They're not really being oppressed, it's just that the drama club barely have members, they have no advisor and are nearly as bad with organization and paperwork as [[{{ptitlei5gydjrz}} Afterschool Tea Time]] and as such the student council has to consider it a non-entity. When the drama club works out the issues (mainly by haring an advisor with an instrument club), they encounter no more external problems.
* In ''GakuenHeaven'' nearly every character is a member of a different club. The main character is forced to visit every club so he can choose one to join.
* In ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'', Mion Sonozaki is the Class/Club President. The school is so tiny that she can get away with being both.
* Mayura from ''{{Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok}}'' has a Mystery Club.
* Karin Sasamori from ''ToHeart2'', also has a Mystery Club except that what she means by Mystery Club is similar to the [[SuzumiyaHaruhi SOS Brigade]].
* The Light Music Club from ''{{K-On}}''. Yui was noted by Nodoka as having engaged in no after school group at all until high school, and when she did join the titular group, Nodoka initially assumed it was as a manager.
** In the beginning of the second season, the girls visit other clubs at the school in order to get ideas on how to attract new members. This includes the Judo Club, {{Go}} Club, Tea Ceremony Club, and Occult Club.
* The {{Mahjong}} club in ''{{Saki}}''
* The Astronomy Club in ''{{Sora no Manimani}}''.
* The Literature Club in ''{{Crescendo}}'', with Kaho as the club president.
* The Movie Study Club in ''HayateTheCombatButler'', aka "[[{{Lampshade}} YourTube]]". They don't actually study movies, instead filming funny short films featuring students and staff. This being a GagSeries, and its three main members [[ThoseTwoGuys Those Three Girls]], they get plenty of material.
* The Art Club in ''{{Sketchbook}}''.
* ''{{Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan}}'': Dokuro-chan forms a student club called the "wood glue club". In this club, you watch white wood glue dry and turn transparent. She wants to make it to the nationals. It's implied that she physically tortured a teacher to approve the club -- the approval form is signed in blood and wet with tears.
* ''{{Eiken}}'' is named after the club the protagonists are part of, which is essentially [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything The Club That Doesn't Do Anything]].
* The Yamayurikai in ''{{Marimite}}'' probably falls under the {{Absurdly Powerful Student Council}} it's notable that several characters do double duty with other clubs. Rei is the {{Kendo Team Captain}} and Yoshino joins the kendo club in her second year. Touko is also a member of the Drama Club and while not formally a member of the Yamayurikai at the time, her agreeing to help them with their play at the {{School Festival}} is a source of some conflict. The Photography Club also gets some coverage courtesy of Yumi's friend Tsutako.
* Takeuchi in {{Canvas 2}} finds it very difficult to get Hiroki to call her anything ''but'' club president.
* The Paranormal Investigation Club in ''TasogareOtomeXAmnesia''. It has no faculty advisor, it meets in an abandoned storeroom, and its founder and president is a ghost who's trying to find out how she died.
* The Curry Club in ''AmeNochiHare''.
* The Modern Society Studies Club in ''ElevenEyes'', founded by the already kind of crazy Yukiko. It makes a convenient cover for the club's activities in the Red Night.

[[AC: VideoGames]]
* In any DatingSim located in a school, more than one possible love interest will be a member of a club. To have a bigger chance to get the girl/boy you're intrested in, you can try joining the club they belong to or dropping by when they're reunited, to meet up with them more frequently.
** I.e.: TokimekiMemorial 1 has: Saki Nijino (baseball or soccer club's CuteSportsClubManager), Nozomi Kiyokawa (swimming team), Ayako Katagiri (art club), Mio Kisaragi (drama club), Shiori Fujisaki (school orchestra), Yumi Saotome (basketball club), Miharu Tatebayashi (reading club), Yuina Himoo (science club) and Yukari Koshiki (tennis club).
* ''{{Persona 3}}'' and ''{{Persona 4}}'' have Social Links with certain characters tied into the player joining specific clubs.

It's rare for a student to be a member of more than one club -- club activities are generally too time-consuming to allow for it, and characters who do are generally the driven overachiever. The OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent who isn't a member of ''any'' club is said to be a member of the "Go Home Club". (Usagi does this in ''SailorMoon'' when she gets to HighSchool, as does Watanuki from ''XXXHolic'' and Kagura from ''AzumangaDaioh'' accuses the rest of the girls of this.) If there's a female character member of an all-male sports club, such as the base-ball or soccer clubs, she's portrayed as the CuteSportsClubManager.

** I.e.: TokimekiMemorial 1 has: Saki Nijino (baseball or soccer club's CuteSportsClubManager), Nozomi Kiyokawa (swimming team), Ayako Katagiri (art club), Mio Kisaragi (drama club), Shiori Fujisaki (school orchestra), Yumi Saotome (basketball club), Miharu Tatebayashi (reading club), Yuina Himoo (science club) and Yukari Koshiki (tennis club).

* All of the teams in ''{{The Prince Of Tennis}}'' are actually clubs, and their captains are basically the club president.

* The Paranormal Investigation Club in ''TasogareOtomeXAmnesia''. It has no faculty advisor, it meets in an abandoned storeroom, and its founder and president is a ghost who's trying to find out how she died.