Thursday, August 05, 2010

Anime Word of the Week - Tsundere (ツンデレ)

Tsundere (ツンデレ)

..is a Japanese character development process which describes a person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing their warm side over time. The word is derived from the terms Tsun Tsun (ツンツン) , meaning to turn away in disgust, and Dere Dere (デレデレ) meaning to become 'lovey dovey'. It is considered a moe-inspiring character trait.



Ichikawa Koichi has described Lum Invader of Urusei Yatsura as being both the source of moe and the first tsundere. Other anime & manga featuring tsundere include The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Love Hina, Naruto, Genshiken, Toradora!, Kagami Hiiragi of Lucky Star, Hitagi Senjōgahara of Bakemonogatari, Saber of Fate/Stay night and of course Kyou Fujibayashi from Clannad...

5 comments:

Lesterf1020 said...

Actually you have given the classical definition of tsundere. Those aren't popular anymore. The modern definition is someone who is essentially bi-polar towards their love interest. They alternate between being hostile and cold and being "lovey dovey" and vulnerable, sometimes several times per hour. Examples would be Louise from Zero no Tsukaima and Kaname Chidori from Full Metal Panic!

I personally think we should have a tsundere rating scale measured in mood intensity by mood swings per hour.

Robert said...

I'm just trying to stick to the traditional, widely held definitions because hard cores will already know what it means . But a 'bipolar' character would certainly have the potential to be Tsundere as well and usually is.

Louise is a good example along those lines. I don't think Chidori is a good example of a classical Tsundere though - which implies a sort of personality disorder. In my view she was mostly just selfish and mean most of the time. She only warmed up to men when it suited her rather narrow view of how she thought things should go for her. She needed to be the center of attention, needed to be special, needed to be wanted, and that drove her actions. Oh sure, her more vulnerable side ultimately comes out, but she's more manipulative than bipolar. I always thought she was just a bit of a bitch. I don't think Sousuke should have given her the time of day. Teletha on the other hand...

In the case of some characters the scale would have to be in mood swings per minute I think. :-)

Starcade said...

Layla Hamilton from Kaleido Star?

That seems to be one...

Guardikai said...

I like your idea Lester but agree Robert has given the classic definition that is a little easier for new fans to get their head around. You can worry about the sub types of tsundere or tsundere moe evolution after you have grasped the basics ^^

Also, I completely echo Robert's <3 for Tessa and slight... misgivings about Kaname. Kaname is a cool character but Tessa is much more stable. No mood swings per second... though she can get embarassed in a second. Anyhow, enough fanboying. I actually posted here to say:

All praise tsunderes! But not infront of them for they shall inflict violence upon you or shun you for a time...

Hinata said...

Hmm. Ryouki from Hot Gimmick. Inuyasha. Natsume from Gakuen Alice. Kyou from Fruits Basket. To tired to think of more.