Ouran High School Host Club, a famous teen romance anime that ran for only one season in 2006, was all about falling in love.
The “reverse-harem,” as a smart four-year-old in the show calls it, is set up so that there is a love match for everyone at the school among the characters.
If a friend likes the Cool Type, she would choose Kyoya. If she prefers Prince Charming, she would choose Tamaki.
If neither of those things appeal to her and she wants someone more normal, she’ll probably go to Haruhi.
The problem is that these characters’ personalities outside of the club aren’t exactly the same as their Host identities.
They’re real people with real problems and complicated lives, so even though the girls may dream that dating them would be great, some of them are probably harder to be with in a relationship than others.
Here are some Ouran Highschool Host Club Characters, ranked by how good they would be as dates.
10. Mitskuni “Honey” Haninozuka
Honey-senpai really is as cute as they come. He’s sweet and loves cake, and when he needs to be, he’s loyal and straight to the point with his friends.
The problem is that, even though he is eighteen, he acts like a child.
Even if a potential date could get past the fact that, on the surface, that alone should make most people not want to date him, it makes things more difficult.
Honey isn’t very mature, so dating her would be like having a kid instead of a boyfriend.
Also, he cares a lot about his cousin Mori, so it would be hard for him to pay attention to someone else.
9. Umehito Nekozawa
Everyone likes a bad boy with a dark past, but Nekozowa-senpai would probably be hard to date, even for people who think of themselves as “fixers” in relationships.
Ouran students should probably find another emo boy who likes occult things and would rather go out at night than during the day.
Nekozowa’s tendency to creep around and his actual allergy to sunlight would probably make him very hard to date.
If a student wanted to date him, they might want to let him get to know his little sister first and see if that makes him more outgoing.
8. Renge Houshakuji
No one is going to tell someone not to date Renge, but a lot of people might wonder why they are.
Renge Houshakuji is very caring, and it’s clear that she wants everyone in her life to be the best they can be, even if it means helping them step by step.
But because she likes to spend a lot on cosplay and likes to play dating sims where the characters are perfect, she’d probably be the most high-maintenance lover any boy at Ouran could think of.
7. Hikaru Hitachiin
Hikaru is a nice guy, even though he sometimes gets into trouble. His tricksy behavior can also be fun, especially for people who like to pull pranks.
Hikaru is really mentally immature, and when he tries to go on a date with Haruhi, this becomes clear.
He isn’t very good at talking about how he feels, and he’s even worse at being apart from his twin brother.
Hikaru probably isn’t the best choice for anyone at Ouran to date until he grows up a bit mentally and learns not to be so attached to Kaoru.
6. Kyoya Ootori
Kyoya Ootori seems like the perfect boyfriend, but behind the scenes, he’s much cooler and smarter than he lets on. But we also know that some of that cold, calculated attitude is a mask.
Kyoya is a hard person to understand. He has a lot of problems with his family, and he puts himself under a lot of pressure to be the best, even when he doesn’t need to be.
Still, it’s clear that he cares deeply about the people around him and will go to great lengths, without ever taking credit, to make them happy.
If the student who chose to try doesn’t mind putting in some work to get to his emotional center, he’s not the worst person to date.
5. Haruhi Fujioka
What you see is what you get with Haruhi. She doesn’t like to play games or worry too much about labels. Even labels about her gender don’t bother her.
She is kind, loving, and honest, and she has a big heart and brain to match. This is why almost every host in the club likes her at some point.
Yes, Haruhi Fujioka could be dated, but only if the person who wants to date her can let her know they like her.
She has no idea what’s going on, and even obvious signs of love go right over her head.
Still, she’s a great partner for anyone who doesn’t mind that she’s mostly focused on one thing at a time, which isn’t usually dating.
4. Kaoru Hitachiin
Kaoru’s problems aren’t as bad as his brother’s, but he still has them. He cares about Hikaru just as much as she cares about him, and he doesn’t always want their time together to end.
Still, he is much more emotionally mature and self-aware than Hikaru. He even knows that he and his brother will move on and rely on other people in the future.
Even realizing that makes him a little more ready for a date than Hikaru. Kaoru would be a very sweet and helpful boyfriend if he was with the right person.
He would also be up for some fun jokes every now and then.
3. Tamaki Suoh
Is Tamaki dramatic?
Yes. A handful?
You bet. Excited to the point of madness and delusion?
Most of the time. There’s no question that dating Tamaki Suoh would be hard, especially for people who aren’t the romantic type.
But if the lucky student were the super-romantic type, dating Tamaki would be a dream, and even if they weren’t, he would still have his golden heart to offer.
Tamaki wants to make everyone around him happy, and it makes sense that the person who holds his heart would be at the top of that list.
That’s not a bad trade-off for some excitement every now and then.
2. Takashi “Mori” Morinozuka
Mori is pretty much the best boyfriend anyone could ask for. He’s strong, kind, loyal, and sweet, and he’s also a great listener. Mori is by far the most emotionally developed person in the real Host Club.
He’s just a quiet, sweet guy. Mori’s love and loyalty to Honey will always come first, so a possible partner might have to find a way around that.
But Mori would make a great boyfriend if the person who was interested in him could reassure him that he would still have plenty of time for his cousin and that they loved Honey as much as he did.
Also, she wouldn’t mind if she did most of the talking in the relationship.
1. Ritsu Kasanoda
Ritsu Kasanoda is by far the most dateable single person in Ouran. He isn’t in the Host Club, and he might look a little scary, but he is by far the most dateable.
He is a little shy, but he is very kind, even to strangers and birds that have been hurt. He acts mean because that’s what people expect of him, but all he wants to do is play games and have fun.
Kasanoda would be a great boyfriend for a student who could get over the fact that he has a strange face and runs a crime family.
Even as minor characters, he and whoever he was with would be the cutest couple on the show.
