What is Tsundere? Examples, Pros and Cons

Meaning of Tsundere

“Tsundere (ツンデレ)” is a Japanese term to explain someone who is acting cold in the beginning but gradually showing a warm, sweet, and lovely side over time.

Read the post below to learn more about “Tsundere”

What is Tsundere?

If you watch Anime you have probably heard the word “Tsundere” and wonder what that means? In this article, you will see the meaning of Tsundere, examples, and pros and cons. After reading this page, you will have a better understanding of what Tsundere is.

The word “Tsundere (ツンデレ)” is a combination of two Japanese words (onomatopoeias)

・Tsun tsun (ツンツン): acting cold, blunt, or curt.

・Dere dere (デレデレ): acting warm, sweet, and lovely.

The word “Tsun tsun (ツンツン)” is an onomatopoeia for pointing the nose away from people, which is an expression of cold behavior. On the other hand, “Dere dere (デレデレ)” is an onomatopoeia for being sweet and lovely.

Mostly, the word “Tsundere” is used to explain an Anime character with a shy personality or a huge ego, who struggles to show their honest feelings.

Examples of Tsundere

Now, you know what tsundere means. It’s time to see some examples of it.
There are some typical tsundere phrases such as,

<Tsundere Phrases>

• • ” Don’t get me wrong! ”
  • ” It’s not like I did it for you! ”
  • ” It’s not like I like you or anything! ”
  • ” I wasn’t worried about you at all! ”

When a Tsundere person is acting cold or shy but doing a nice thing, they use this phrase to make an excuse for why they are doing a nice thing. And that’s the typical Tsundere moment.

Here are the good examples.

Isn’t tsundere really sweet?

Being Tsundere is typical character development in Anime from a long time ago, and still works best nowadays.

Is Tsundere Just for Anime?

The word “Tsundere” is commonly used when people talk about anime or anime characters but does tsundere people exist in real life?

Tsundere does exist in real life but not like the anime level of tsundere. There are people with qualities of tsundere, or people who are affected by anime and play tsundere on purpose. The tsundere tactic or similar tactics are used to build and develop relationships with others.

For example, there is the word in Japan “Gap moe (ギャップ萌（も）え)” which means affection by the inconsistency between different aspects of the character. 

This “Gap moe” is a very common tactic to use among the Japanese young generation to impress others, and Tsundere is probably the most common example of “Gap moe”. 

So, Tsundere is not just for anime but it is also not like the one you see in anime.

Pros and Cons of Tsundere

Do you find Tsundere people attractive? Here are the pros and cons of Tsundere

<Pros>

• • The gap between “hot & cold” personality is attractive.
  • You will find he/she surprisingly cute when they show a warm side.
  • It’s not boring.

<Cons>

• • It might be difficult to find out whether she/he is doing “Tsuntsun” or if the person is just mad at you.
  • A Tsundere person is complicated and sensitive, it is easy to cause a misunderstanding.
  • The person will say some rude stuff they do not mean, but that might hurt your heart.

Other “Dere” Types

There are other types of Dere, they are not as well-known as Tsundere but they are also combinations of Japanese words with “Dere”.

・Yandere (ヤンデレ)

– Yan (病ん) = Sick
→ over protectiveness, violence, brutality, or all three combined.

・Kudere (クーデレ)

– Ku-ru (クール) = Cool
→ cool and unemotional but shows sweetness later on.

・Dandere (ダンデレ)

– Danmari (ダンマリ) = Quiet
→ anti-social and does not talk to anyone until the right person comes along.

Review: Tsundere Meaning

Meaning of Tsundere

“Tsundere (ツンデレ)” is a Japanese term to explain someone who is acting cold in the beginning but gradually showing a warm, sweet, and lovely side over time.

I hope this article helped your understanding of Tsundere. It is very typical in Anime where you will realize that many of the characters you have seen or will see are tsundere. Knowing the meaning of it helps your understanding of characters which helps your understanding of Anime!

Related Posts

Other Links (Japanese Learning Materials)

[Basic Japanese]

[Fun Japanese]