While I was working on the LeAnn and Rhea twin monkeys, I couldn’t help think of another pair of twins from a story I was reading by manga-ka Bisco Hatori.
The identical twins, Kaoru and Hikaru from Ouran High School Host Club, are portrayed as loving homosexual brothers who lavish each other with attention while they cope in the egotistic world they’ve created (mainly due to the fact that no one can tell them apart). Their strong bond and affection in the story goes as far as it suggesting incest, which isn’t necessarily true, but the twins do use this aspect of their “love” as a selling point as members of the Host Club, an after school club in which its attractive and super rich 6 members accompany and host other super rich girls to kill time and boredom, while profiting off of them.
Later in the manga (more so than in the anime) both twins realize that they have each fallen in love with Haruhi, the heroine and also the only person that can tell them apart. Also known as the “commoner” (ha ha ha!), Haruhi is extorted into joining the Host Club as the club’s dog for breaking an 8 million yen vase which was to be auctioned at their school, Ouran Private Academy. Haruhi is able to attend the wealthy school based on a scholarship granted to her for her excellent grades. She officially becomes a “host” when the club members realize she (or he at the time) is actually good looking. If she’s able to be designated as a host 100 times (later 1,000) she will have paid off her 8 million debt to the club.
Just as the twins must resolve their love-triangle dilemma, they also have to deal with the fact that their friend, Tamaki Suoh or “King” and founder of the Host Club, confuses romantic feelings for Haruhi for fatherly affection. Tamaki (also theidiot prince character) and each of the other members of the club like Kyouya (the meganekko), Mitsukuni “Honey” (the lolit-shota) and Takashi “Mori” (the stoic character) are a story within themselves so I won’t even go there.
Interestingly enough, even though both anime and manga are quite lighthearted and fun, they do raise social class, money, family, gender and sexual issues. Its apparent that most all characters display a much more highly complex behavior than that of your typical high school teenager, making it a very interesting read. ;)
