Ryouji Fujioka (藤岡 涼二, Fujioka Ryōji) is the husband of Kotoko Fujioka and the father of Haruhi Fujioka who is a professional cross-dresser and entertainer at an okama bar where he goes by the stage name "Ranka" (蘭花) which is what he insists the Hosts use when addressing him. He is openly bisexual and a male by canon definition.
Appearance
Ryouji has long maroon hair and brown eyes. In flashbacks of ten years prior, Ryouji is shown with shorter hair and only masculine attire. At some point, he enters the entertainment industry and begins to cross-dress for work, then as an individual on occasion. When dressing in masculine mode, he typically wears bandanas, t-shirts and skinny jeans. When dressing in feminine mode, he styles his hair loosely swept to the left side and wears a typical female office worker's outfit.
Personality
Ryouji is seen as a kind, cheerful and loving young man. He shares these personality traits with Tamaki Suoh, as noted by the hosts, who believe this is the reason Haruhi Fujioka can tolerate Tamaki's antics so well. Despite his alternative life-style, Ryouji is depicted as having been a loving and caring husband to his deceased wife, Kotoko Fujioka; and a solicitous and doting father to his beloved daughter. Ryouji 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 Ryouji easily pulls him off Haruhi, then slams him into the wall.
Story
Ryouji's occupation is that of an entertainer at an okama bar. He claims that the reason for his cross-dressing stems from Kotoko Fujioka'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 Ryouji 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 Fujioka, Ryouji 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 Ryouji 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, especially when dressed in feminine attire and long hair.
There is a marked similarity in Ryouji's and Tamaki Suoh'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, Ryouji considers the Ouran 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 is Ryouji's deceased wife. Despite her illness-related death when Haruhi Fujioka 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. Ryouji is shown to maintain a family shrine in their home to honor Kotoko's memory. Even now, Ryouji still deeply loves Kotoko and declares that he works as a cross-dresser because he will never truly love another woman.
Haruhi Fujioka
Haruhi is Ryouji's only child and they share a loving 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, Ep 10 - A Day in the Life of the Fujioka Family! where 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 embarrassment 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 Ryouji's attempts from time to time.
Tamaki Suoh
Tamaki and Ryouji first meet in Ep 10 - A Day in the Life of the Fujioka Family! Ryouji's first impressions of Tamaki turn out to be unfavorable 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, Ryouji and Tamaki share similar characteristics such as being very caring of Haruhi Fujioka 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 Ryouji 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, Ryouji is overjoyed about this and he thanks Tamaki.
As shown in one of the manga omake, Ryouji is shown to have developed a friendly relationship with both Yuzuru Suoh and Anne-Sophie de Grantaine, Tamaki's parents and even plan on a wedding arrangement for Haruhi and Tamaki's wedding.
Kyoya Ootori
Ryouji 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 Ryouji to share details about Haruhi Fujioka's progress in school, as well as other matters related to her. Although Haruhi is annoyed upon discovering their communications, Ryouji tells her that he only does this because Haruhi never tells him anything.
Yuzuru Suoh
Ryouji and Yuzuru seem to be on good terms. In an omake of the manga, it's shown that Ryouji enjoys pranking Tamaki as much as Yuzuru. It is also seen that Ryouji, Yuzuru and Anne-Sophie enjoy spending time together and being related through their children's marriage.
Gallery
Etymology
- The name Ryouji means "cool, refreshing" (涼) (ryo) and "two" (二) (ji).
- His stage name Ranka means "orchid" (蘭) (ran) and "flower, blossom" (花) (ka).
- Ryouji's surname Fujioka means "wisteria" (藤) (fuji) and "ridge, hill" (岡) (oka).
Trivia
- Ryouji initially thought that Haruhi Fujioka's crossdressing meant that she was rebelling.
- Ryouji is six years younger than his late wife. He was 19 years old when he first met Kotoko.
- Haruhi was born to Ryouji 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.
- Ryouji is the same height as Kyoya Ootori.
- Ryouji's Japanese voice actor, Takehito Koyasu, has also voiced:
- Aya in Weiß Kreuz
- Dio Brando in JoJo's Bizarre Adventures
- Shigeru Aoba in Neon Genesis Evangelion and the Rebuild of Evangelion movies.
- Claude Ringheart in Nisekoi
- Roswaal L Mathers in Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World
- Beast Titan in Attack on Titan
- Since the 2010s, Ryouji's stereotypical okama behavior has become a subject of controversy to the Western fanbase, particularly the modern LGBTQ+ crowd.
Anime Appearances
Chapter Appearances
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