Haruhi's gender orientation has long been a moot point. In 2014, Aja Romano of "The Daily Dot" called Haruhi one of the "rare cases" where a character refuses to return to "safely heteronormative territory. Writing for "The Mary Sue" in 2015, Alenka Figa considered the Ouran series as one of the "Top 5 Queer Voices in Anime," citing Haruhi's attitude regarding gender roles as evidence. In contrast, Reuben Baron (2018) and Jessica Thomas (2020) of CBR.com fail to include Haruhi in their expanded lists of genderqueer characters.