Line #27 Main/HostClub


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3	%% This example list has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in correct alphabetical order by title.
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6	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/host26.jpg]]
7
8	Want a relaxing night away from the office, your college, or your stupid boyfriend? If you're female, 18+, and you live in Japan, maybe you could go to a Host Club.
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10	A host club is an establishment with a roster of all types of attractive men who will offer flirting, flattery, pampering, and companionship in a congenial environment and at an exorbitant rate. A typical host will wear a suit and pointed toe boots, along with heavy eye make-up, circle lenses, and [[AnimeHair wild, improbable]] ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' [[AnimeHair hairstyles]] that are usually dyed. Besides service, most of the commission a host gets comes from expensive alcohol ordered by their customers, so expect hosts to try to get you to throw down thousands of yen for a bottle of champagne. [[PlatonicProstitution Hosts do not offer actual sex]], though it's pretty common for them to sleep with their clients after hours. Customers at host clubs are eventually expected to pick a favorite, known as a "tantou", who will eventually become their main entertainer. The amount of clients a host has improves the host's popularity, whose ranking will usually be posted in the store.
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12	The DistaffCounterpart of a host club is a hostess club. While the main market for hostess clubs are {{White Collar Worker}}s, frequent patrons of host clubs mostly consist of women who work in hostess clubs and other parts of the entertainment industry, looking to relax after a long hard night of being nice to inebriated, sexually-harassing [[{{Salaryman}} Salarymen]]. Since host clubs are mostly owned by the same people who own hostess clubs, this has the net effect of recouping some of the hostess' income, and thus hostesses are encouraged to partake of this form of entertainment.
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14	Standard host clubs discourage male customers, and there are separate "host bars" aimed at gay men. Many host clubs also bar foreigners from entering due to language, cultural, and economic issues. They also discourage people who don't actually intend on becoming regular paying clients and just want to take part "for the experience."
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16	The majority of host clubs are located in the RedLightDistrict and are closely affiliated with the {{Yakuza}}. If you ordered that bottle of expensive wine but didn't want to pay? Expect them to beat you up, force you into prostitution to pay it off, or straight up murder you. Host clubs also generally have a very sleazy reputation and it is heavily frowned upon to even go to one.
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18	For the younger set, {{Butler Cafe}}s have a similar premise, only with afternoon tea rather than late-night booze.
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20	----
21	!!Examples:
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23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
26	* Masamune Matsuoka of ''Manga/AoharuXMachinegun'' works at one.
27	* In the manga series ''B.O.D.Y'', the boy the protagonist has a crush on works at one because he enjoys being paid to flirt.
28	* In ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'', Miko Nakarai is an ex-prostitute who works now in a hostess club. [[SonOfAWhore Her daughter]] Mako alias Nakama is bullied because of this.
29	* Several of the supporting characters from ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' work at host/hostess/[[DragQueen okama]] clubs. A few of the mini-arcs take place in the host clubs as well.
30	* "Manga/MuraiKunWantsToFuckMizunoKun": Murai works as a host, mainly entertaining off-duty female sex workers. In part two, he goes out drinking with a call girl named Urara after hours and ends up sleeping with her.
31	* ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' features a PG version run as a student club at a school for the super-wealthy, where the club's members provide refreshments, light flirting and entertainment to the school's female students. Thanks to [[WorkOffTheDebt an eight-million yen debt]] and [[{{Bifauxnen}} a case of mistaken (gender) identity]], the protagonist Haruhi Fujioka (a poor scholarship student) ends up working at the club as a host.
32	* Kagari from ''Manga/{{Sekirei}}'' works as a Host, and is mentioned to hold the #1 ranking. [[GenderBender Certain issues]] result in him taking long periods of time off from his job, with the excuse of a "serious illness". He's shown going on a [[CompensatedDating compensated date]] and taking calls from his many female clients.
33	* In ''Manga/SuperLovers'', Haru used to work as a host, and Natsuo still does.
34	* ''Manga/SweetGuiltyLoveBites'' has at least one partner of three pairs working in same one.
35	* Keith Goodman from ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' regularly visits one, because he [[VirginityMakesYouStupid thinks it's a normal cafe]].
36	* ''Anime/WelcomeToTheNHK'' - In the manga [[spoiler: Yamazaki]] ends up working at one.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Film]]
40	* ''Film/TheGreatHappinessSpace'' - A documentary about host clubs.
41	* ''Seoul After Dark'' (aka ''Beastie Boys'') - A movie about the host/hostess club lifestyle in Korea.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Literature]]
45	* Ryuuji's mother in ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'' works at a hostess club.
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
49	* One episode of ''Series/{{CSI}}'' centered around a host club, located above a strip club.
50	* ''Series/CabasukaGakuen'' is about a group of female [[JapaneseDelinquents yankees]] who open a hostess club to [[SavingTheOrphanage save their school]] from bankruptcy.
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Music]]
54	* With no relation to ''Manga/SuperLovers'', the lyrics and music video for Music/{{Winds}}'s "Super Lover ~I need you tonight~" hints that it takes place at a host club.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Video Games]]
58	* This is the main premise of ''VideoGame/DreamCClub'', also doubles as a DatingSim.
59	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyThe4HeroesOfLight'' have these as a character class. They give party members the "Psych Up" that increases their strength and allows for combo attacks.
60	* One of the main locations in the ''VideoGame/LikeADragon'' series is the host club Stardust, the owner and manager being good friends of Kiryu.
61	** Most of the games in the series have some form of minigame which involves one or more of the protagonists managing a hostess club, as well as dating sidequests for various hostesses, including ''VideoGame/Yakuza3'', ''VideoGame/Yakuza4'', ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'', and ''VideoGame/YakuzaKiwami2'' (with ''Kiwami 2''[='=]s mode replacing the Kiryu host substory from the original game).
62	** In ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'', the Host job is available for male party members and functions as a thief class, using skills to steal from enemies or inflict debuffs on them. The Hostess job is available to female party members but functions more as a spellcaster class that focuses on damaging and debuffing enemies with magic and elemental abilities.
63	** Kiryu himself even becomes a host in ''VideoGame/Yakuza2''.
64	* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': During Makoto's Confidant route, you find out that one of her friends has a new boyfriend who's a particularly sleazy Host. He's got a bad reputation for luring impressionable teenagers into debt and selling them into prostitution, leading to Makoto intervening before her friend gets caught by his scams.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
68	* In ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG'', if Seiji is saved during the Kubitarou case, then he'll invite Akira to a hostess club later to let off some steam. Not by interacting with the hostesses, of course, but by engaging in [[BitchInSheepsClothing Seiji's]] favourite hobby of blackmailing a man out of his company secrets.
69	* Ryusei Mitarashi in ''VisualNovel/SweetFuseAtYourSide'' introduces himself as the number one host at the Ulysses host club in the Ginza district. It's a source of constant humor on his route, particularly since he initially just comes across as a dumb meathead.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Web Animation]]
73	* ''WebAnimation/AttackOnMika'':
74	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86HOLD1d5w0 Megumi]] had to work as a hostess to provide for her twin daughters Chiyo and Herika. The former understands why she works there and loves her anyway, while the latter hates her for not giving her the life she wanted.
75	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6b9qS76ORg Shinko]] worked at a high-end hostess bar in Ginza. However, her toxic quips about Kota's girlfriend getting plastic surgery drove him away until [[spoiler:the owner of the bar, Naomi, shows up and fires Shinko for her behavior.]]
76	* ''WebAnimation/EtraChanSawIt'': Quite a few episodes feature protagonists either working in or going to Hostess Clubs, but there's at least one episode featuring a Host Club. Tsutsuji, who had been abused and called ugly by her family her whole life, ends up wandering into one because she heard the hosts are paid to call women cute and she wanted at least one person to call her cute for once even if they were only being paid to do so. Tokusa, who is a host there, not only complies, but when he walks her out to call a taxi for her afterwards, he tells her again off the clock to convince her he really means it and isn't just telling her that because he's paid to, in order to boost her confidence more. It works.
77	* ''WebAnimation/MoniRobo'': Atsumu's mother worked at a hostess bar to provide for her son.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Webcomics]]
81	* Mary recounts in ''Webcomic/LetsSpeakEnglish'' her times going to "[[https://www.marycagle.com/letsspeakenglish/127-still-drinkin39 snack bars]]".
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Web Video]]
85	* In the third ''WebVideo/WhereTheHellIsMatt'' video, Matt dances with the waitresses at a {{Meido}}-themed hostess club when he goes to Tokyo.
86	[[/folder]]

Context Main / HostClub