Tsundere, Yandere, Kuudere - Meaning in Japanese
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Three words you may often hear when talking about girls in anime are tsundere ツンデレ, kuudere クーデレ and yandere ヤンデレ. Besides being used only when talking about girls and being mostly words made-up by fans, they also got this dere デレ there at the end, so, clearly, they're related somehow. But what do they mean exactly?
(part of common anime words)
First of all, these words are associated with three different types of girl characters personalities and their specific romantic behavior. Their very cliched behavior. Behavior anime fans are so sick and tired of seeing they actually made these words just to label it, and then the industry went and started using these words in the animes themselves to appeal the most hardcore fans.
The dere デレ parts says it all. It comes from deredere デレデレ, which means "to be having a crush on someone." You can even use that as a verb, of course, dereteru デレてる, for example, means "to have a crush on someone."
You can conjugate dere to start talking about your past crushes, or you can add it to the end of another word to make the three words this post is about.
A tsundere will often say things like:
(part of common anime words)
First of all, these words are associated with three different types of girl characters personalities and their specific romantic behavior. Their very cliched behavior. Behavior anime fans are so sick and tired of seeing they actually made these words just to label it, and then the industry went and started using these words in the animes themselves to appeal the most hardcore fans.
The dere デレ parts says it all. It comes from deredere デレデレ, which means "to be having a crush on someone." You can even use that as a verb, of course, dereteru デレてる, for example, means "to have a crush on someone."
You can conjugate dere to start talking about your past crushes, or you can add it to the end of another word to make the three words this post is about.
Tsundere ツンデレ
A tsundere is a girl that pretends not to be interested in a guy, but keeps doing things for that guy, and keeps saying she is not actually interested in that guy. So, basically, she just isn't honest with herself or is too embarrassed to admit her love.A tsundere will often say things like:
- betsu ni anata no tame X janai desu kara 別にあなたのためにXじゃないですから
It's not like X because I like you or anything - betsu ni anata no koto wo suki janai 別に貴方のことを好きじゃない
It's not like I like you or anything
Plus plenty of calling the guy baka 馬鹿.
Tsundere characters are often tsundere for the sake of the show, so they will continue acting tsundere even after they have confessed their love, started going out or even gotten married despite that making no sense whatsoever.
Tsundere Example
Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, also known as Zero.
From the anime and manga Zero no Tsukkaima ゼロの使い魔 (The Familiar of Zero)
From the anime and manga Zero no Tsukkaima ゼロの使い魔 (The Familiar of Zero)
Tsundere Word Meaning
The tsun ツン in the Japanese word tsundere ツンデレ comes the word tsuntsun つんつん, which is an onomatopoeic for "irritable" or "grumpy," meaning someone is tsuntsun when they become hard to approach and to talk with. People can be tsuntsun just for a while, they aren't necessarily always tsuntsun.
That means tsundere ツンデレ is actually short for tsuntsun deredere. Yep, that's two abbreviations in one.
Yandere ヤンデレ
Yandere girls are what one would call crazy girls. No, I don't mean like dorky or stunt-loving girls, I mean the batshit psychotic jealous bitch that you'll murder your entire family and your dog just to stay with you.
Literally.
A yandere sees everyone surrounding the guy as if they're going after the guy, be it male or female, and she will actually attack people to get what she wants, in some cases gorely so, in other cases just name-calling or hiding their possessions somewhere or whatever.
Yandere Example
Gasai Yuno 我妻 由乃, also known as "holy shit she's got an axe!"
From the manga and anime Mirai Nikki 未来日記 (Future Diary)
Yandere Word Meaning
The yan in the word yandere ヤンデレ comes from the word yami 病み, which means "sick." As in "sick love" or "you're sick, yo."
Yandere Simulator
By the way, if you ever wanted to become a psychopathic, cold-blooded, murderous highschool girl in a Japanese style school then rejoice! There is now a game for that.
Check it out: yanderesimulator.com
Kuudere クーデレ
The last one, the kuudere girls, are those girls that look expressionless, wont react to whatever the guy says, doesn't get jokes, is usually of white or blue hair and most likely regarded as some sort of genius of high IQ or whatever.
The point of kuudere is that, though they're introduced as something like moving ice statues, as they develop their relationship for the guy they start opening up and even actually showing expressions like smiling lightly and stuff.
Kuudere Example
Ayanami Rei 綾波レイ, also known as another reason for EVA not to make sense.
From the anime Shinseiki Evangelion 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン (Neon Genesis Evangelion).
From the anime Shinseiki Evangelion 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン (Neon Genesis Evangelion).
Kuudere Word Meaning
The kuu in kuudere クール comes from the word kuuru クール, which comes from the English word "cool, " but in Japanese it actually means people who look chill or exterminator-like badass whenever something happens. Just like how kuuderes look like.
If you want to know what kuuru クール means exactly just go watch Sakamoto desu ga? 坂本ですが？(Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto), an anime about the cool, cooler, coolest character of them all.