Double-A Spectrum

Following their formation of the “I love Haruhi and am also stupid” subsection of the Host Club, the twins and Tamaki create easily resolvable and preventable shenanigans with their bad decisions. Specifically, they stain Honey’s plush toy Usa with tea and spend most of their time cowering in fear of an angry top-level marital artist. Fortunately, Mori is there to keep them from feeling the consequences of their actions.

Some time later, Honey develops a cavity due to his unhealthy eating habits and the Host Club enforces a ban on sweets until Honey recovers. Don’t ask me why they didn’t send Honey to a dentist, because I don’t know. In an attempt to subvert the ban, Honey begins to lie, manipulate, and guilt-trip his peers and clientele, but his tactics fail every time.

On two sidenotes, Renge has taken over the peanut gallery and Mori is dealing with a romantic subplot.

Everything comes to a head when Honey starts lashing out and attacks Mori. After Honey leaves, Haruhi deduces that Mori was riling Honey up as a form of self-punishment; Mori confirms this and admits that he feels responsible for Honey’s cavity because he forgot to remind Honey to brush his teeth. Fortunately for Mori, Honey overhears everything, apologizes for the attack, and promising to be more careful with his oral hygiene.

The episode ends with the romantic subplot being resolved when the girl crushing on Mori joins Renge’s peanut gallery.

Which Character is the Strongest in Terms of Writing?

Honey.

It shown right at the start with the idiot trio’s fears about Honey that this episode is meant to be about exploring more about Honey as a person. One of the best ways they did this is by making Honey the antagonist of this episode.

Bear in mind, I’m not saying that Honey is evil. In terms of writing, the Host Club carries the protagonist role because they have a well-intentioned goal that they strive towards, while Honey carries the antagonist role because he attempts to subvert the goal for selfish reasons. I can see an argument being made that Honey is the villain of this episode, as long as it’s being acknowledged that Honey is not evil.

Making Honey the antagonist was a good decision because we got to see what kind of person he is when he opposes the Host Club; and he is someone who proved every concern that Tamaki and the twins had about him to be correct.

Case in point, the three idiots were afraid that upsetting Honey could cause him to throw a tantrum and resort to violence against his peers. Honey proves this concern to be correct when he attacked Tamaki’s teddy bear to express his frustration, attacked Tamaki without provocation, and attacked Mori out of frustration.

As another point, the trio of lovesick morons also put Honey and Kyoya on a comparative level, and Honey proves those concerns correct too. Over the course of the episode, Honey lies to Mori, manipulates the club’s clientele, and guilt-trips Haruhi in an attempt to get the sweets that the club is denying him.

Another way to summarize what happened with Honey is that he validated the bully image that Renge gave him in Episode 4. He showed that he’s not above violence or emotional blackmail when he doesn’t get what he wants.

As a matter of fact, seeing Honey’s capacity for manipulation, dishonesty, and violence made me think that his character comes with an inherent dilemma; because the idiots were right, Honey is dangerous. Moreover, he’s not above using his martial arts expertise when angered, so the Host Club is less trusting of him and more afraid of him. The question this leaves is, “Can Honey be trusted?” Is he the Host Club’s most precious ally? Or is he a time bomb waiting to go off? The idiot trio certainly think that latter, while the episode’s ending suggests the former.

Any concerns I have with Honey are settled since he apologized to Mori. Maybe Honey should give Tamaki lessons, he certainly showed how easy it was to recognize being in the wrong and say, “I’m sorry.”

Which Relationship is Strongest in Terms of Writing?

I’m torn between Honey’s relationship with Mori, and Honey’s relationship with the greater Host Club.

Honey and Mori:

There are three areas of focus with this episode which are shown as the episode starts, continues, and ends.

First, the beginning of the episode demonstrated that Mori is a key part of keeping Honey from destroying the Host Club. He was aware of how to defuse the situation with Honey when Haruhi’s love interests started causing trouble. Most importantly, Honey listened to Mori and calmed down right away. This suggests a relationship akin to a grenade and the pin. If Honey is a bomb, Mori is the reason the bomb doesn’t explode.

Second, as the episode carried on and Mori enforced the sweets ban, the relationship started to take on the image of a misbehaving child and an ever-patient parent. The best examples of this involved Honey’s attempts to smuggle sweets into the club, and his attempt to lie about being cured. On both accounts, Mori knew Honey was lying but never made the direct accusation. Instead, Mori played into the lie and physically acted to prevent Honey’s schemes from working.

The last area of focus was after Mori admitted to his self-punishment by earning Honey’s ire. Mori admits that he worries about Honey constantly and sees himself as the problem if Honey goes through anything difficult. It’s an unreasonable amount of pressure, but it’s clear that Mori takes on that self-made pressure out of love for Honey. Honey himself was clearly touched to know that Mori loves him that much.

Honey and the Rest of the Club:

With the exception of Mori and Haruhi, this episode suggested that the rest of the club operates under the assumption that Honey could betray and brutalize them at any given moment. In other words, most of the Club doesn’t trust Honey, they’re scared of him.

With Tamaki and the twins, they made it clear that they expected Honey to rearrange their skeletal structure after the ordeal with Usa. Given the contents of this episode, it’s suggested that our three airheads were right to be afraid, since Honey isn’t above attacking his friends when angered.

The case is more subtle with Kyoya but I believe he’s scared of Honey too. This interpretation would explain why Kyoya doesn’t remove the money sink that is Honey’s snacks. This interpretation also adds another dimension to Kyoya’s episode-wide happiness; not only did he not have to buy Honey any snacks, he was clear from any retaliation since Mori enforced the ban.

As of the end of this episode, it seems that Haruhi and Mori are still the only ones not actively afraid of Honey. This could make for a good spot of drama in a follow-up episode.

Which Character is Weakest in Terms of Writing?

Renge.

Renge wasn’t just being annoying, she was unnecessary!

As I said in the recap, Renge’s role was a narrator in the peanut gallery. This only functioned to add humour, but it wasn’t funny at all. Every time she showed up, I just wanted her to leave.

To make things worse, Renge’s peanut gallery routine is the only reason the romantic subplot exists, and I hated the romantic subplot (I’ll explain later), so this whole routine isn’t doing me any favours.

Which Relationship is Weakest in Terms of Writing?

Nothing comes to mind here.

How is the Conflict?

If I look at the Conflict’s content, it all seems petty. It really was just a misbehaving child not listening to the authority figures looking out for them.

However, the drama of the Conflict was everything.

This episode carried the question of what Honey could do to the club if he used his powers for evil, and it left some chilling answers. Honey is capable of lashing out, hurting others, disregarding his capacity for harm, and even stooping to emotional manipulation. Honey could be a terrifying opponent if he had a reason to oppose his peers.

Moreover, Mori was important to the Conflict because we got a view of the emotional effect Honey has on him. This conflict was important to him because Honey’s friendship is important to him. This conflict wasn’t just about if the Host Club could fall, it was about if Mori could lose his will to live.

Honey has too much power, and it’s scary how it could be misused.

Is there Anything Else I Can Praise or Criticize?

The Romantic Subplot:

I hated it.

When the subplot first showed up, I was wary of the girl talking to Mori. The language she used made me very uncomfortable. For instance, “I need you to accept my feelings.” I didn’t like seeing that because it suggests less that she cares about if Mori reciprocates and more about if he’ll indulge her. That’s a pretty selfish way to go about starting a relationship.

Moreover, I inferred from that sentence that the girl had already confessed and was turned down. If she’s being persistent when already turned down, then I’m worried for Mori’s safety. No means no, end of story.

 There was also the part of her asking if Mori’s refusal to accept was if he had someone else. That’s a really narrow-minded and narcissistic view of the whole thing! It suggests that she can’t comprehend that Mori would say no out of a lack of attraction to her, and it enforces an amatonormative image onto the whole ordeal! Speaking as a biased asexual, I’m not happy with that.

There’s one last reason I hate this subplot. That reason being IT WAS COMPLETELY MEANINGLESS! The whole thing amounted to a joke where the girl joined Renge’s peanut gallery and cooed over the homosexual subtext between Honey and Mori! That’s all it was! A joke! Nothing meant anything here!

What Writing Lesson Can I Take from This Episode?

This episode was a good demonstration of using how the character is perceived to expand their characterization and create drama. This episode did this using Honey. Instead of viewing him as the cutesy child as per usual, it changed the view of Honey by making him technically the villain. And by using the villain role, I got a more three-dimensional view of Honey as a person and even got to ask some interesting questions about the structure of the Host Club.

So, the lesson here is to consider how the characters view each other, and lean into a viewpoint that is valid and suggests a different side to the character.

Kirimi Nekozawa comes to the Host Club looking for her older brother and finds the Host Club instead. Kirimi lets her inner nerd shine and proceeds to mistake Tamaki for her older brother Umehito Nekozawa since they are superficially identical when Umehito isn’t gothing it up.

It is then revealed that Umehito was born with an inner goth so stubborn that he’s can’t stand in direct sunlight, and that Kirimi is afraid of the dark. Since these issues keep the siblings from forming a meaningful connection, Tamaki decides to call in Renge to change Umehito’s character, even though Renge’s methods never work.

True to form, Renge’s methods fail and the Host Club prove unable to change Umehito’s inner goth. However, Umehito manages to secure a win for himself when he jumps out of a window to protect his sister from a cat before collapsing in the sunlight.

The episode ends with the Host Club accepting that they lost this one, but with a reveal that Kirimi accepted Umehito, darkness and all, because she can trust him to go to bat for her.

Which Character is the Strongest in Terms of Writing?

For once, it’s not the Host Club members. It’s Umehito Nekozawa.

I’ll admit to having forgotten that he existed before, but with the reveal of his backstory and his issues being central to the episode I can say that’s he’s well-established as a member of Ouran lore.

General points aside, it was nice to see some depth be added to his character. Giving him a beloved little sister, a reason for his nature, and still letting him keep his occult interests makes him feel less like a joke and more like a human being.

I’ll admit that if he doesn’t pop in every now and again, I’ll likely forget he exists. However, with the focus he got here, I feel that this episode managed to do him some justice.

Which Relationship is Strongest in Terms of Writing?

There’s only one relationship in focus here. It’s between the Nekozawa siblings.

I’ll admit that the relationship feels really goofy because it felt like this episode was running with an extra nerd factor. On one side, a mega goth and on the other a tiny nerd who’s afraid of the dark. I can’t look at the basics too seriously and not say that it feels too nerdy.

Goofiness aside, it does capture the drama and glory of siblinghood very well, especially on Umehito’s end. As the older sibling, Umehito is called to be something of a hero to Kirimi and he fails at it until the end.  When the twins said that Umehito should have been making the effort for Kirimi instead of expecting the effort from her, they were right. Fortunately, Umehito spends the episode making up for his failures.

Umehito proved himself to be a good older sibling when he showed how well he knows Kirmi and how seriously he’ll take her opinions. Others would have called Kirimi melodramatic for having a fear of animals since that the cat she encountered didn’t seem violent, but Umehito took his little sister’s fears seriously and didn’t hesitate to take action. That is very much the ideal image of an older brother, and I’m rather proud of him for taking up that image.

I feel that the happy ending between them was both heartwarming and well-earned. Umehito put in the effort to be the good brother he wanted to be while Kirimi was honorable enough to recognize this effort and respect her brother for making it.

Which Character is Weakest in Terms of Writing?

The Host Club.

Interestingly enough, I don’t consider their failure to be a bad thing. It’s humanizing to see that the Host Club can’t get all of the answers and solve every problem they come across. However, this comes at a cost. Since their contributions to the solution was negligible, I’m left wondering if they even needed to be in this episode.

The only thing they offer in terms of the plot is Tamaki’s superficial resemblance to Umehito and the whole character change shenanigans, but that’s it. And it’s worth clarifying that the character change shenanigans did nothing in the end.

When I look at the general story, the Host Club feels more like a collection of background characters that are trying (and failing) to be main characters. This isn’t a bad thing, but it makes them feel unimportant to the episode’s narrative. It’s something of a double-edged sword and I’m not sure what to feel about it.

Which Relationship is Weakest in Terms of Writing?

Again, there was only one relationship to focus on, and it was written well. I have no complaint with anyone else.

How is the Conflict?

Silly, but nice.

As I stated before, this episode seems to take an extra nerd factor with Kirimi and Umehito’s problems and their characters, this can make their problem hard to take seriously. However, there’s still some good elements that the conflict managed to pull off.

First of all, bringing Renge into the Conflict was a good idea. The nerd factor works as a theme and bringing a nerd in to help and treating it like an extreme measure fits with that theme. The “extreme measure” aspect is helped with Renge’s character being an extreme type of person.

Another good thing about bringing Renge into the Conflict is that her methods fail like they usually do. In her debut, it was established that her methods are extreme, unreliable, dehumanizing, and nobody likes going through them. Keeping that consistency also reinforces the idea that it’s bad to treat people like manga characters.

The second element that was good is the Host Club failing to help in any way. When Tamaki took on the mission of helping the siblings, I was getting the sense that such a problem is beyond the Club’s capacities.

Whether Umehito’s problems with sunlight are a physical or mental condition, I couldn’t see any way the Host Club could cure it; especially since Umehito’s family is rich and had already tried to help him themselves. It’s humanizing to acknowledge that just because the Host Club is good at problem-solving doesn’t mean they can solve every problem.

The last element is how the Conflict was resolved. I already praised it earlier by taking siblinghood seriously and having those elements contribute to Umehito’s victory. Since I am an older sibling, I can see the value of how this was written and I can appreciate the message it gives the audience.

Is there Anything Else I Can Praise or Criticize?

I’ve already acknowledged all of the other elements I liked or questioned.

What Writing Lesson Can I Take from This Episode?

Despite my feelings of the Host Club’s presence being weak in this episode, I will stand by the idea that it was good for them to lose their battle.

Tamaki has a nightmare that Haruhi lives just above the poverty line, and his solution is to invade her privacy with the rest of the Host Club. This is quickly resolved when it is revealed that Haruhi’s lives a more middle-class life. Her three love interests proceed to spend the rest of the visit trying not to make fools of themselves and failing miserably.

The comedy and drama start to pick up when Haruhi’s father shows up and steals the show.

Ranka establishes three pieces of information. First, he hates Tamaki. Second, he’s been in contact with Kyoya to keep tabs on Haruhi. And third, Haruhi has been independent and altruistic from a young age following the death of her mother.

The episode ends with the Host Club tailing Haruhi to the supermarket and establishing the idea that Ranka and Tamaki have a lot in common.

Which Character is the Strongest in Terms of Writing?

There’s a three-way argument between why it’s Haruhi, Tamaki, or Ranka.

Why it’s Haruhi:

This episode is making a point to establish the foundation of Haruhi’s character. We now know that she’s middle-class, has been independent from a young age, has dealt with Tamaki-esque nonsense thanks to her father, and is still dealing with the loss of her mother even if she’s not grieving.

While Haruhi has always been an altruist, it was the flashback with her father that has emphasized most of all that it comes from a place of love rather than a second-nature reflex.

And what catches my attention most of all is the emphasis on the mystery of why she entered Ouran High. The most that’s been revealed is that she signed up for it herself, but there’s still no answer on why she did it. Much like the last episode, this is fostering my curiosity.

Why it’s Tamaki:

Despite this episode being about revealing more about Haruhi, Tamaki steals the show by being the focal character and having his good moments.

One early part that I loved seeing is his inner monologue stating that he never questions his clubmates on their personal lives. I can see both the greatness and the problem of that mindset. On the one hand, Tamaki is trying to be honorable with his clubmates and professional with his club. On the other, this signals that he isn’t friends with his clubmates.

To explain the latter, I realized that his fear of pushing the envelope is holding him back. He isn’t being social with his clubmates, so he doesn’t actually know them that well. Moreover, this would hold back his relationship with Haruhi and it explains why he can barely understand her as a person despite both his interest and the time he’s spent with her so far.

This is a good establishment of an unexpected flaw. Despite all of Tamaki’s charisma and his insistence on teamwork, his fear of taking the extra step to be friends means that he actually has no friends.

Why it’s Ranka:

Ranka hits the ground running with establishing his character. We quickly learn his backstory, his ideals, his practices, his passions, his job, and even his sexual orientation.

It was really good to know that Haruhi mentions the club members to him and that he’s been in contact with Kyoya, because it keeps him outside of a narrative vacuum. To establish that characters are doing their own activities and have their own involvements offscreen helps to make them feel more three-dimensional.

Something else that I like is that Ranka has it out for Tamaki and isn’t in the wrong for his judgements. Tamaki really is an idiot who has little understanding of Haruhi as a person, so when Ranka calls Tamaki out on these he’s not being a jerk, he’s making a point. I also see it as karma for the victim-blaming incident. Tamaki may have gotten away with picking on Haruhi, but her dad will give no quarter.

Which Relationship is Strongest in Terms of Writing?

One of my favorite writing devices is the Foil. Having characters who are comparable yet contrastable makes for interesting revelations and interaction if they come together. Tamaki and Ranka are no exception to this.

It’s clear that Tamaki and Ranka have similar personalities and views on Haruhi as a person, and that Ranka himself recognizes this at the end of the episode when Tamaki parrots the shopping basket excuse that Ranka used in a flashback. What makes this interesting is that Ranka refuses to get along with Tamaki anyways. This comes with an aspect of protective parenting, but there is also their contrasting aspect that justifies this animosity.

The one thing that sets Tamaki and Ranka apart is that Ranka has a full comprehension of Haruhi as a person, while Tamaki does not. Tamaki’s constant fantasizing of Haruhi acting girly and his insistence that she conform to those fantasies presents how little he’s come to understand her.

Case in point, in this episode Tamaki and the twins kept acting like they were in a social minefield while the other club members could be casual with Haruhi. While Tamaki’s common sense is a problem, he hasn’t come to understand that he doesn’t need to overdo anything or worry about offending her because she’s not the woman he thinks she is.

On the opposite side, Ranka has a full comprehension on who Haruhi is and has chosen a compromise; he chose to allow Haruhi’s independence, but act as a backup to keep her out of mortal danger. When I look at that previous sentence, I can see that he’s trying to be a good parent.

The difference between our flamboyant goofs is their understanding and general intelligence, and I can see that Ranka understands that Tamaki is lacking in both areas in regards to Haruhi. So, Ranka’s active hatred for Tamaki is an interesting twist on a relationship between Foils, but it is a relationship that makes sense.

Which Character is Weakest in Terms of Writing?

Nobody.

None of the cast members bought the episode down at all.

Which Relationship is Weakest in Terms of Writing?

None of them.

How is the Conflict?

The Conflict was nice. Tamaki being overly worried was accurate to his character, helped to bring the plot forward, and got Haruhi’s backstory established so I can’t complain about anything.

As for Ranka showing up, I’ve made it pretty clear that I respect him and all the shade he throws at Tamaki. Not to mention throwing Tamaki at the nearby wall, call me salty but he had it coming.

So yeah, good Conflict all around.

Is there Anything Else I Can Praise or Criticize?

Outdated Views:

Man, this show really likes taking the early 2000s and having it rear its ugly head. I know that everything here is a product of its time, but that doesn’t make the twins feel any less punch-able when they use derogatory terms to Ranka’s face.

What Writing Lesson Can I Take from This Episode?

Ranka stands as a good example of keeping characters out of a narrative vacuum. When he’s introduced, we quickly learn that he’s busy with other things, but not uninvolved in Haruhi’s life.

This is a good way to introduce a new character. You have to justify why they weren’t present before and establish why they’re important to the overall narrative in a way that doesn’t make their existence seem sudden.

A big cultural event at Ouran High brings the Zuka Club to the school. The Zuka Club is a theatre club from Lobelia Academy, but they are otherwise considered an all-female version of the Host Club. The Zuka Club establishes themselves as hyper-feminist lesbians who: hate the Host Club, can deduce Haruhi’s identity within nanoseconds, and want to battle for custody over Haruhi.

The Host Club refuses to take the Zuka Club as a serious threat and undermine any attempt Haruhi makes to stop the fight and defend her clubmates. Afterwards, Tamaki points out that Haruhi might thrive in the Zuka Club and everyone begins to overcompensate for their earlier apathy by dressing in drag.

This plan fails to convince Haruhi to stay with the Host Club… mainly because she was never planning on leaving them in the first place. The only thing Haruhi explains about her choice is that she has a personal reason to stay at Ouran High and nobody asks what that reason is.

The Zuka Club leaves with a “you haven’t heard the last of us” villain speech, and the episode ends with an implication that Renge masterminded the conflict.

Which Character is the Strongest in Terms of Writing?

As per usual, I have nothing but respect for Haruhi.

However, there is something very important that Haruhi does for the writing. She introduced her personal motivation, but didn’t say what it was. This is a good hook; it adds a mystery aspect, and the promise of providing the answer will get me to keep watching the series. It’s a very good idea for writers to foster the audience’s curiosity. And since Haruhi’s character is already very likable, I have a reason to care about seeing the answer.

Whether looking at Haruhi as a person or as writing, I can proudly say that she’s never let me down.

Which Relationship is Strongest in Terms of Writing?

At first, I was baffled during the moment when the Host Club shot down any attempt Haruhi made to defend them from the Zuka Club’s criticism. While I came to see this as a sign of how little the Host Club took the Zuka Club as a threat, I was also able to realize that the scene was a demonstration of the flaws in Haruhi’s relationship with the Host Club.

For the specifics, the Host Club members stopped Haruhi from arguing about: Tamaki’s half-Japanese ancestry, the time the Host Club has been around, and the profits the club makes. When these got bought up, I realized that it was emphasizing how little Haruhi knows about the Club and the members. She’s not on a social basis with Tamaki, so it’s not surprising that she knows very little about his family. She’s also the newest member of the Host Club, so she has no idea about its inner working, like how their profit is generated. The problem is that Haruhi’s involvement with the club is still minimal, she’s not getting involved in their inner workings and her clubmates aren’t keeping her informed.

On the opposite side, I came to the realization that the Host Club not bothering to fight the custody battle until later was a sign of their own apathy in their relationship with Haruhi. Until Tamaki bought it up, the Host Club wasn’t concerned with the possibility that Haruhi could leave them. They were taking Haruhi’s independence for granted until they realized the threat of losing her was real.

Emphasizing that the relationship is flawed due to the inaction on both sides helps strengthen the writing quality of the relationship. It generates drama by showing us a problem, and it promises more as it works to a solution. It also justifies the length of the story and any future events, because now we know that these characters need to go through more in order to resolve the relationship problems. This is also satisfying for me on a personal level because I’m still mad at the Host Club for their victim-blaming antics, but now they’re being held responsible for how they’ve taken Haruhi’s agency for granted.

Which Character is Weakest in Terms of Writing?

The Zuka Club as a collective. I couldn’t tell you anything about them as individuals because they’re barely portrayed as individuals. Only the leader stands out for having one scene where she’s without her clubmates… and also because she’s tall. In addition, I can’t remember their names. The most I can recall is that the leader’s name starts with the letter “B” and might be a nickname, but that’s it. It’s not a good sign if the character’s name doesn’t stick because it means they can’t be considered important enough to remember. I can only remember the club’s name because it’s easy to remember and it’s important to the story. In short, the characters are important as a club, but not as people.

Which Relationship is Weakest in Terms of Writing?

None. I can’t think of any relationships that were badly written in this episode.

How is the Conflict?

This conflict comes with one notable problem; they tried too hard to make the Zuka Club seem evil when they actually aren’t. This isn’t just about how Tamaki’s homophobia has aged poorly; the show portrayed them as literal Nazis for wanting to take the Host Club down. Honestly, as soon as I saw that I realized that the show is trying to make them look evil, when they have no reason to be evil. To put it differently, the show’s reason for the Zuka Club being the villains is, “Because I said so.” That’s not a strong way to establish a villainous identity, that’s lazy writing.

Honestly, the Zuka Club has no evil traits, just very human flaws. They’re overzealous enough to pick needless fights, and they’re hypocrites who claim to be above lust only to openly declare their sexual involvements.

The fact that I’m speaking as a biased asexual and this show espouses outdated views does not help; it’s just a sad fact that this aspect of the writing has aged poorly.

Is there Anything Else I Can Praise or Criticize?

Reactions to the Zuka Club Performance:

Something I liked seeing was the aftermath of the Zuka Club performing for both schools. Particularly, while their students were cheering from the front, the Ouran students can be seen looking baffled from the back of the hall. That was very humanizing to see because it’s a demonstration of both schools having different values and overall cultures that they follow and are defined by.

The scene also comes across as realistic because it’s hard to find anything that can be considered universally beloved. Chances are there’s always one detractor, or someone that can’t get passionate about a particular work. It’s a nice slice of reality when you see that not everyone in the crowd is cheering.

What Writing Lesson Can I Take from This Episode?

The Zuka Club stands as a good anti-example of writing characters who are supposed to be villains. Portraying them as Nazis was a lazy way to establish a villainous identity, especially when nothing they’ve done throughout the episode was actually evil. Making a villain takes more than just saying someone is evil and being done with it, the writer and the character both have to put in the work to be the bad guy.

An alternative solution would be to abandon the villainous angle altogether. The Zuka Club had everything to be the antagonists since they were motivated to separate Haruhi from the Host Club. All that had to change was portraying the Zuka Club as evil for doing what they wanted to do.

The Host Club makes good on the ending of the previous episode and they choose to go to the beach along with their clientele. We get our mandated fluff with a seafood hunt, a get-rich-quick scheme, and some contest to determine what Haruhi is afraid of.

Afterwards, thugs begin to sexually harass the club’s clientele. Since Haruhi is the only one present during this attack, she stands up to the thugs and is forced to fend for herself. After narrowly being murdered, the club members unanimously blame Haruhi for the sin of… standing up to some bullies, protecting innocent people, almost getting killed in the process, and being a girl… What?!

Haruhi stands by her actions until her clubmates peer-pressure her into apologizing. Also, Kyoya threatens to sexually assault her and is not vilified for it because he invokes the power of “It was just a prank, bro!”

In a relationship focused moment, Haruhi is revealed to be afraid of lightning and Tamaki realizes that Haruhi has a habit of facing terrible ordeals on her own, which is why she never asks for help. Tamaki gives a non-apology for his part in the victim-blaming, and promises to be active in helping Haruhi. This event flag is then torn up when Tamaki is accused of being into BDSM.

Which Character is the Strongest in Terms of Writing?

I’m not in the mood to think highly of any character that isn’t Haruhi, and it’s the writer’s fault. The writer has stopped focusing on plot importance and character development to make some kind of point about an inherent wrongness in Haruhi; however, that didn’t work because I only think better of Haruhi now.

This episode tries to show Haruhi’s lack of respect for the gender binary and her altruistic love for humanity as a character flaw, when such traits have only been portrayed as strengths in the past episodes. We even know what her actual flaws are! Right from the start of the series we see that Haruhi’s flaws are that she’s an apathetic grouch who distances herself from others. In Episode 1 we even see that she thinks of bullying in particular as nothing more than an inconvenience that’s not worth speaking up against.

When Haruhi stands up to the thugs in this episode, she’s showing signs of Character Development. We’ve gotten to a point where this apathetic grouch is a protective altruist who won’t back down when someone tries to make her feel small, AND THE NARRATIVE IS PUNISHING HER FOR IT! Let me say that again, the narrative is punishing Haruhi for the character development that it has been encouraging for the past couple of episodes!

Honestly, this episode feels like it was written by someone who hates Haruhi and wants to make her look like the bad guy for being herself. Given that she’s portrayed as being in the wrong for being a better person than she once was, it harms the writing because it makes the story seem indecisive about: it’s goal for Haruhi, the point it’s hoping to make, and if character development is even a good thing anymore.

Which Relationship is Strongest in Terms of Writing?

If the scene with Tamaki comforting Haruhi while she’s scared of the storm happened on its own it would’ve been a great scene. It has some good elements that show the progression of a romantic relationship: Tamaki develops a new understanding of Haruhi; he realizes that he has failed her in some capacity; and he promises to make things right by putting in the effort to improve her circumstances. The only thing wrong with it is that he doesn’t apologize for mistreating her as soon as he understands her reasons. The closest we get to that is “I lose” which is not the same as “I’m sorry.” To put it simply… yes, I can recognize good writing when I see it, but I’m also still mad.

The only thing that’s wrong with this scene is the context that led up to it; aside from that, it’s perfect.

Which Character is Weakest in Terms of Writing?

The entire Host Club sans Haruhi. My opinion of all of them was tanked thanks to them victim-blaming Haruhi and being shown narrative favoritism for it.

Something I was told about in a writing class is that you must never play favorites with your character because you’ll spare them any torment that could lead to good drama. But this episode shows the flipside of that lesson. The Host Club is shown favoritism because the narrative is making no secret that it agrees with their view. This comes at Haruhi’s cost since the narrative is tormenting her when she’s done nothing wrong.

It also comes at the cost of the audience’s respect because humanity is inherently intelligent and inherently argumentative. Whenever a writer espouses any views, they’re throwing it out into a world that can not only argue back against them, but can make the argument convincing.

Case in point, it’s easy to say that Haruhi isn’t to blame.

Tamaki has espoused since Episode 2 that the Host Club’s goal is to bring happiness to girls. Thus, it can be argued that Haruhi standing up to the thugs reflects that principle because she was protecting the Club’s clientele. To have run away from the danger would have betrayed that principle and even damaged the Host Club’s reputation if Haruhi was labelled cowardly for running away to get help. Thus, Haruhi is innocent and Tamaki is a hypocrite for judging Haruhi when she kept true to the Club’s standards as a host.

Kyoya’s family owns the private beach, and his security force was present when the thugs intruded and began harassing the club’s clientele. Thus, Kyoya’s lax security measures resulted in the near-death of one of his clubmates (again) and he is to blame for the entire incident.

As for the others, Tamaki claims that everyone was close by and all Haruhi would need to do is come to them for help, but they weren’t. If everyone was really close enough to the point where Haruhi wouldn’t need to step in, they’d have already been fighting the thugs. If Haruhi ran off to get the others, it could have wasted precious time and the clientele would be suffering under a more serious crime that Haruhi didn’t prevent by virtue of not being there. As it stands, Haruhi facing the thugs bought the others time to get involved themselves and resulted in the clientele escaping unharmed. Moreover, it bought Tamaki time to comes to her rescue and prevent the thug’s murder attempt. Thus, Haruhi’s actions led to a utilitarian outcome and she is not to blame for the incident.

Which Relationship is Weakest in Terms of Writing?

I’m making no secret that I don’t think highly of how the Club views Haruhi, and I feel I’ve already made my point as to why that is.

How is the Conflict?

I’ve only just reached this section and I feel I’ve said my piece.

Is there Anything Else I Can Praise or Criticize?

No. The two big things I took away from this episode are that Haruhi’s clubmates are victim-blamers and that the relationship scene at the end would work perfectly without the context of the rest of the episode bringing it down. And I’ve already talked plenty about those.

What Writing Lesson Can I Take from This Episode?