Ryoji "Ranka" Fujioka is Haruhi's father. Ryoji is a professional cross-dresser and entertainer at an okama bar who goes by the stage name "Ranka," which is what he insists the hosts use when addressing him.
Personality
Ryoji is seen as kind, cheerful and loving. Ryoji shares these personality traits with Tamaki, as noted by the hosts, who believe this is the reason Haruhi can tolerate Tamaki's antics so well. Despite his alternative life-style, Ryoji is depicted as having been a loving and caring husband to his deceased wife, Kotoko; and a solicitous and doting father to his beloved daughter. Ryoji is also very caring of her, as seen in Ep 10 - A Day in the Life of the Fujioka Family! when Tamaki trips and falls on top of her and Ryoji easily picks him up off of Haruhi and slams him into the wall.
Appearance
Ryoji is similar in height to Kyoya. As Ranka, Ryoji styles his long maroon hair and wears the outfit of a typical female office worker; as himself, he wears bandanas, tee-shirts and skinny jeans. In his flashbacks of ten years prior, he's shown with shorter hair.
Plot Involvement
Ryoji's occupation is that of an enrtertainer at an okama bar. He claims that the reason for his cross-dressing stems from Kotoko's death and his subsequent declaration that he will never love another woman, thus casting aside his bisexual nature for a homosexual one. In one of the manga's omake, his meeting Kotoko is shown with Ryoji helping her out in a tough situation. He thinks of her as cool and is highly defensive of her, just as he is of their daughter, Haruhi.
In contrast to Haruhi, he lacks practicality and is rather bad with money, often splurging on clothing for Haruhi. In the anime, Haruhi states that he wants her to be more feminine, yet in the manga he is oblivious to gender nearly as much as she is, hence her androgynous wardrobe. The stubborn self-reliance of his daughter causes Ryoji to worry greatly a great deal about her and despite his efforts to be more involved in her life and help out as much as he can, she frequently rebuffs his efforts. However, the father and daughter clearly have a loving relationship where they care about and for one another. It should be noted that as Ranka, he is said to be prettier than Haruhi, even when she's dressed in feminine attire and has long hair.
There is a marked similarity in Ryoji's and Tamaki's comically naive natures, upon which several of the hosts comment after meeting Haruhi's father. Because of this, and because of Tamaki's obvious (but unacknowledged) love for his daughter, Ryoji considers the Host Club's president to be his rival and takes great delight in testing him to see if he is good for her.
Relationships
Kotoko Fujioka
Kotoko Fujioka is Ryoji's deceased wife and Haruhi's mother. Despite her illness-related death when Haruhi was five years old and the passing of time afterwards, it is shown that her widowed husband still loves her deeply. When the two first met, she found him to be a strange and annoying person, but she develops a better opinion of him when he saves her from an enraged person at a park, and eventually falls in love with him. Ryoji is shown to maintain a family shrine in their home to honor Kotoko's memory. Even now, Ryoji still deeply loves Kotoko and declares that he works as a cross-dresser because he will never truly love another .
Haruhi Fujioka
Ryoji and his daughter, Haruhi Fujioka, have a loving father-daughter relationship. Haruhi's reticence is mitigated by her
practical caring of her father and their home together. An example of this is seen in the anime episode, A Day in the Life of the Fujioka Family!, when a flashback shows Haruhi saying that she doesn't want her father to attend Parent Visitation Day because she'd rather he rest (and not, as he assumes, because of her supposed embarassment of him). Haruhi has handled the household responsibilities since her mother's death, making her quite practical and very independent. It should be noted that despite his many attempts to make his daughter wear feminine clothing, she only accepts Ryoji's attempts from time to time.
Tamaki Suoh
Tamaki and Ryoji first meet in A Day in the Life of the Fujioka Family! Ryoji's first
impressions of Tamaki turn out to be unfavourable to the point of him being referred to as his rival," as he first sees Tamaki on top of his daughter in a compromising position. Ironically, Ryoji and Tamaki share similar characteristics such as being very caring of Haruhi and a somewhat naive understanding of life, and these similarities are decided by the other hosts as the reason Haruhi is able to handle Tamaki so well.
In the manga, when Ryoji first meets Tamaki, he immediately notices Tamaki's attraction to Haruhi and, therefore, considers Tamaki a rival for Haruhi's affection and a too-early suitor for her hand. He calls Tamaki his "rival" in both the anime and the manga, and thinks to himself that if Haruhi was to choose one person to be with for the rest of her life, it should be Tamaki. When Tamaki and Haruhi are finally in a relationship, Ryoji is overjoyed about this and he thanks Tamaki.
As shown in one of the manga omake, Ryoji is shown to have developed a friendly relationship with both Yuzuru and Anne-Sophie, Tamaki's parents and even plan on a wedding arrangement for Haruhi and Tamaki's wedding
Kyoya Ootori
Ryoji and Kyoya seem to get along well, to the point that they could be considered casual friends. Their relationship is conducted via telephone and consists of Kyoya checking in with Ryoji to share details about Haruhi's progress in school, as well as other matters related to her. Although Haruhi is annoyed upon discovering their communications, Ryoji tells her that he only does this because Haruhi never tells him anything.
Yuzuru Suoh
Ryoji and Yuzuru seem to be in good terms. In an omake of the manga, it's shown that Ryoji enjoys pranking Tamaki as much as Yuzuru. It is also seen that Ryoji, Yuzuru and Anne-Sophie enjoy spending time together and being related through their children's marriage.
Gallery
Trivia
- Ryoji initially thought that Haruhi's crossdressing meant that she was rebelling.
- He is six years younger than his late wife.
- Ryoji was 19 years old when he first met Kotoko.
- Haruhi was born to Ryoji when he was 20 years old, as shown in a flashback at the end of Volume 03, when he was 27 and Haruhi was seven years old.
Anime Appearances
|
Chapter Appearances
|