Perhaps the elixir is merely the ability to realize that she’s not alone, and that she doesn’t have to do everything alone. It’s also the realization of the knowledge that she has friends and even a potential love interest.

(I refer to the anime. I have no idea how the manga ends… )

Great post btw, something different very very thoughtful and interesting reading. While I’ve never read Campbell’s book, there has been some literature about that focus on the subject of archetype (I think the person who raised this idea is Jung). The Hero is an archetype, and the whole Hero’s Journey is some kind of story prototype: ie, something that recurs across genres, cultures, worlds, countries and languages. Certainly the anime genre has lots of Hero’s Journey stories. Probably the only prototype more popular is the bash-bash got-whacked grow-stronger bash-bash got-whacked grow stronger prototype.

I’m not really knowledgeable about these things, but the post and comments certainly make interesting reading!

As for the ‘elixir’ or knowledge that Haruhi will bring back with her to the Ordinary World… I get the feeling, which is supported by a couple of scenes in the manga, that during her stay in the Special World Haruhi is gaining insight into not just the privileges but also the burdens of having money. Her goal is to become a successful lawyer like her mother, and enrolling in a school like Ouran means she’s aiming to enter the elite ranks. Haruhi has made a few comments about the difficulty of preserving your own self-worth and self-sufficiency when others have such a great ability to put you in their debt.

You’re right that parts of the Journey don’t really apply to Ouran. That’s why I stopped midway through the hero’s journey in this post. The Ouran anime does have a concluding arc I could have used, but I didn’t think it made the best illustration for the remaining steps.

The role of Hikaru/Kaoru is a little more complicated. I wouldn’t call them allies. They’re “jester” characters who delight in stirring up trouble for their own amusement, but they’re not especially antagonistic. I’d count them more as rivals, using the word “rival” in a looser, storytelling sense. A rival is a character who doesn’t outright oppose the hero’s goal but introduces all sorts of irritances, challenges, and delays. Hikaru/Kaoru are troublemakers, but they’re not as antagonistic as an actual enemy would be. In the beach episode, I’d argue the true antagonist is Tamaki, who opposes Haruhi’s desire to be recognized without regard for her gender — the plot seems to boil down to this conflict. Kaoru and Hikaru’s competition to find out Haruhi’s secret fear is more of a humourous sideshow irritant.

However, parts of the Journey don’t apply to Ouran, just because it never really ends in the course of the anime series… and Bisco Hatori herself has stated they’re ignoring things like grade advances, so as to simplify the plotwhich in turn suggests there’ll be no easy resolution to the tale.

At the same time, her allies here can at times be her enemies or tests as well - witness Ep 16 with the Hikaru/Haruhi date, or Ep 8 with the beach incident…

@DKellis: You make a good point about mentors. I may have to cover them in more detail in a future post. The unfortunate fate of mentors tends to be that they drop dead at some point in the story. It’s good drama and lets the hero demonstrate some growth. However, characters can take on various guises and roles throughout a story, which is good news for Tamaki in Ouran. He’s only a mentor for a short time I’d definitely feel nervous if I was a grey-haired octogenarian guiding a young lad on an epic quest to defeat evil, though.

I’m not sure how far Campbell’s book dealt with the various methods for the removal of the Mentor from the spotlight, ranging from being killed off (as in Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, even though it was technically only temporary) to simply ignoring them for the rest of the story. It’ll be interesting to see the monomyth theory applied to various anime, and the variations they bring to the table.

I have to disagree. A hero is by definition, male. The female equivalent is a heroine.

That is all.

(waits to be corrected and publicly humiliated)