History YMMV / OuranHighSchoolHostClub

* Haruhi's complete lack of interest in guys or even romance in general, and only falling in love with Tamaki after having known him for almost a year and developed a close relationship with him could easily suggest that she is demiromantic. i.e. a person who only falls in love after developing a strong, emotional connection with someone.

** Considering Haruhi's complete lack of interest in guys (and girls for that matter) and resistance to their charms for the majority of the series, one could easily interpet her as being asexual as well (as asexual people can still fall in love, [[spoiler:which she eventually ends up doing)]]. That, or she's demi-asexual, i.e. only sexually attracted to someone she's emotionally close to/in love with, meaning she'd only feel sexual attraction [[spoiler:to her eventual boyfriend]].[[note]]Indeed, the only time she is shown somewhat stunned/affected by male nudity is when Tamaki partly hugs her from behind while he's shirtless in Chapter 55.[[/note]] It's regardless not hard to view her under the umbrella term considering her otherwise indifferent behaviour to the opposite sex throughout the series.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The twins' signature favourite game of having people guess which one of them is which becomes this when a flashback of their childhood reveals that they're actually ''hurt'' by people not being able to distinguish them, meaning the cheery "Which one is Hikaru-game" is really their way of covering their grief by turning it into something fun instead.

* HarsherInHindsight: An in-universe example: in Episode 14 of the anime, Akira Komatsuzawa, the newspaper president, becomes obsessed with the thought that Tamaki can't be such a perfect NiceGuy as he appears to be, and there must be something evil or scandal-like to him, or even if there isn't, he'll ''make'' something up. In the end he's thwarted by the rest of the Host Club, and Haruhi's left with her doubts that there would be anything bad to find about Tamaki. Come the last two episodes of the anime (or Chapters 25-26 of the manga) she (and the audience) learns how Tamaki ''does'' have a sad and scandal-worthy past. The short version is that he's a mistress' child, and he's forbidden from seeing his mother ever again by his EvilMatriarch grandmother. [[spoiler:Towards the end of the manga however, it turns out that their customers knew about this, due to always wanting to check out the background of their favorite hosts, and because of Tamaki's kind and cheerful self they were fine with it.]]

* IncestYayShipping: Hikaru/Kaoru of course, being a heavily invoked in-universe example and probably among the most famous anime examples out there. Most fans accept their particular case as it's mainly PlayedForLaughs.

* IncestYayShipping: Hikaru/Kaoru of course, being a heavily invoked in-universe example and probably among the most famous anime examples out there. Pretty much every fan accepts their particular case as it's mainly PlayedForLaughs.

** Haruhi's lackadaisical attitude towards gender and sexuality creates a very different picture of her character to western audiences. She's intended to come across as a self-assured woman who subverts the strict gender roles that are enforced by Japanese society, but to modern audiences in North America where gender roles are different and where LGBT issues are more prominent in people's minds, her requests to be seen as her own person first and a girl second have lead to people frequently mistaking her as genderfluid or non-binary. Over the years, the author has frequently reiterated that Haruhi identifies as a girl. Likewise, the interpretation of her being asexual can come from the different tropes present in Japanese media compared to those in the west; a ChasteHeroine with comedically exaggerated ObliviousToLove tendencies are extremely common in comedic-bent shoujo manga, but you're unlikely to see such a heroine in a western work, where it's more common to have a heroine who is actively seeking romance and open about her sexuality.

** Haruhi's lackadaisical attitude towards gender and sexuality creates a very different picture of her character to Western Audiences. She's intended to come across as a self-assured woman who subverts the strict gender roles of Japanese society, but to modern audiences in the west where the gender roles are different and where LGBT issues are more prominent in peoples minds, her requests to be seen as her own person first and a girl second have lead to people frequently mistaking her as genderfluid or trans. Over the years, the author has frequently reiterated that Haruhi identifies as a girl. Likewise, the interpretation of her being asexual can come from the different tropes present in Japanese media compared to those in the west; A ChasteHeroine with comedically exaggerated ObliviousToLove tendencies are extremely common in comedic-bent shoujo manga, but you're unlikely to see such a heroine in a Western work, where it's more common to have a heroine who is actively seeking romance and open about her sexuality.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: The twins' antics are sometimes seen as this.

* ValuesDissonance: Haruhi's lackadaisical attitude towards gender and sexuality creates a very different picture of her character to Western Audiences. She's intended to come across as a self-assured woman who subverts the strict gender roles of Japanese society, but to modern audiences in the west where the gender roles are different and where LGBT issues are more prominent in peoples minds, her requests to be seen as her own person first and a girl second have lead to people frequently mistaking her as genderfluid or trans. Over the years, the author has frequently reiterated that Haruhi identifies as a girl. Likewise, the interpretation of her being asexual can come from the different tropes present in Japanese media compared to those in the west; A ChasteHeroine with comedically exaggerated ObliviousToLove tendencies are extremely common in comedic-bent shoujo manga, but you're unlikely to see such a heroine in a Western work, where it's more common to have a heroine who is actively seeking romance and open about her sexuality.

** Haruhi show hints of possibly being gender-fluid (comfortable with being both genders), as seen when she says "I don't care if you see me as a boy. It's more important for a person to be seen as who they are rather than what gender they are." She also adapts easily to the life of being a host, doesn't have problem with her dad crossdressing or being referred to with he/him pronouns. So the possibility of Haruhi being gender-fluid is pretty high.

* LGBTFanbase: Non-binary people are fond of Haruhi, and with how she/they often say gender doesn't matter, and even early on expresses "Biologically speaking, yeah." about being female, Haruhi is considered so as well. Many gay men are also drawn into the Bishounen filled cast.

* ValuesResonance: Though imperfect (see FanonDiscontinuity above), the manga's depiction of gender and sexuality was ahead of its time when it was first published and a lot of it still holds up today. Haruhi's gender fluidity and lax attitude regarding how others choose to define her is astonishingly modern. And while others seem to be skeptical, Haruhi is rarely depicted as struggling with her gender identity or presentation, save for the infamous merit scene with Kyouya. And then there's everything having to do with Ranka, Haruhi's DragQueen bisexual father. His love for Haruhi's mother is never undermined since he is so vocal about it and the manga doesn't shy away from the fact that he is attracted to men. He even calls out Haruhi's mother for not assuming he had any romantic interest in her just because he also was attracted to men. The manga does at times poke fun at some tropes, but more often it does so without mocking.

** Likewise, Mori is shipped with Sasaki from the same show.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The series is quite popular in America, something that Kyouya's actor Creator/MasayaMatsukaze has said was a complete surprise to the Japanese vocal cast and creator Bisco Hattori herself.

* ValuesResonance: Though imperfect (see FanonDiscontinuity above), the manga's depiction of gender and sexuality was ahead of its time when it was first published and a lot of it still holds up today. Haruhi's gender fluidity and lax attitude regarding how others choose to define her is astonishingly modern. And while others seem to be skeptical, Haruhi is rarely depicted as struggling with her gender identity or presentation, save for the infamous merit scene with Kyouya. And then there's everything having to do with Ranka, Haruhi's DragQueen bisexual father. His love for Haruhi's mother is never undermined since he is so vocal about it and the manga doesn't shy away from the fact that he is attracted to men. He even calls out Haruhi's mother for not assuming he had any romantic interest in her just because he also was attracted to men. The manga does at times poke fun at some tropes, like SchoolGirlLesbians with the girls from St. Lobelia, but more often it does so without mocking.

* CrossoverShipping: Mitsukuni is sometimes shipped with [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Manga/AzumangaDaiohChiyo Mihama from Azumanga Daioh]].

* CrossoverShipping: Mitsukuni is sometimes shipped with Chiyo Mihama from AzumangaDaioh.

* {{Moe}}:
** Honey. He's short, sweet, gives others cute nicknames and carries around a rabbit plushie.
** Usually whenever someone says "moe" in-universe ("someone" meaning Renge), they actually mean "HoYay".

* ValuesResonance: Though imperfect (see FanonDiscontinuity above), the manga's depiction of gender and sexuality was ahead of its time when it was first published and a lot of it still holds up today. Haruhi's gender fluidity and lax attitude regarding how others choose to define her is astonishingly modern. And while others seem to be skeptical, Haruhi is rarely depicted as struggling with her gender identity or presentation, save for the infamous merit scene with Kyouya. And then thee's everything having to do with Ranka, Haruhi's DragQueen bisexual father. His love for Haruhi's mother is never undermined since he is so vocal about it and the manga doesn't shy away from the fact that he is attracted to men. He even calls out Haruhi's mother for not assuming he had any romantic interest in her just because he also was attracted to men. The manga does at times poke fun at some tropes, like SchoolGirlLesbians with the girls from St. Lobelia, but more often it does so without mocking.

* ValuesResonance: Though imperfect, the manga's depiction of gender and sexuality was ahead of its time when it was first published and a lot of it still holds up today. Haruhi's gender fluidity and lax attitude regarding how others choose to define her is astonishingly modern. And while others seem to be skeptical, Haruhi is rarely depicted as struggling with her gender identity or presentation, save for the infamous merit scene with Kyouya. And then thee's everything having to do with Ranka, Haruhi's DragQueen bisexual father. His love for Haruhi's mother is never undermined since he is so vocal about it and the manga doesn't shy away from the fact that he is attracted to men. He even calls out Haruhi's mother for not assuming he had any romantic interest in her just because he also was attracted to men. The manga does at times poke fun at some tropes, like SchoolGirlLesbians with the girls from St. Lobelia, but more often it does so without mocking.

** The English dub and official sub's translation of the word "okama" as "tranny" (commonly used as a slur for {{transgender}} people, and considerably more offensive than the Japanese term) to refer to Haruhi's dad is less acceptable than it was in the late 2000s due to transgender rights getting more attention, even though the character in question seems to be a crossdresser or DragQueen rather than transgender, with "tranny" coming from "transvestite" in this context.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The very first episode demonstrates that the Host Club doesn't mind flirting with boys as well as girls (when they first believe Haruhi is one), though this is never brought up again as the Host Club is never visited by homosexual boys, which could have made for some fun moments.

** Considering Haruhi's complete lack of interest in guys (and girls for that matter) and resistance to their charms for the majority of the series, one could easily interpet her as being asexual as well (as asexual people can still fall in love, [[spoiler:which she eventually ends up doing)]]. That, or she's demi-asexual, i.e. only sexually attracted to someone she's emotionally close to/in love with, meaning she'd only feel sexual attraction [[spoiler:to her eventual boyfriend]].[[note]]Indeed, the only time she is shown somewhat stunned/affected by male nudity is when Tamaki semi-hugs her from behind while he's shirtless in Chapter 55.[[/note]] It's regardless not hard to view her under the umbrella term considering her otherwise indifferent behaviour to the opposite sex throughout the series.

** Considering Haruhi's complete lack of interest in guys (and girls for that matter) and resistance to their charms for the majority of the series, one could easily interpet her as being asexual as well (as asexual people can still fall in love, [[spoiler:which she eventually ends up doing)]]. That, or she's demi-asexual, i.e. only sexually attracted to someone she's emotionally close to/in love with, meaning she'd only feel sexual attraction [[spoiler:to her eventual boyfriend]].[[note]]Indeed, the only time she is shown somewhat stunned/affected by male nudity is when Tamaki semi-hugs her from behind while he's shirtless.[[/note]] It's regardless not hard to view her under the umbrella term considering her otherwise indifferent behaviour to the opposite sex throughout the series.