Aaron's Analysis: Tsundere
“The Japanese term tsundere refers to a character who “runs hot and cold”, alternating between two distinct moods: tsuntsun (aloof or irritable) and deredere (lovestruck).
The term was originally used to describe characters who began with a harsh outgoing personality, but slowly revealed a soft and vulnerable interior over time. Over the years the character archetype has become flanderized, and is now generically associated with a character who flips between the two emotional states at the slightest provocation, and usually at a specific person rather than a general sociability problem.” –
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Extremely popular in anime, this character trope actually annoys me. By ‘annoy’, I mean I loath the concept do to it becoming a disease to the medium and I’d rather the trope die so it can’t poison any more shows by dragging them down. This isn’t to say there aren’t any anime with the character trope that are good.
‘Yuri on Ice’ features a guy named ‘Yurio/Yuri Plisetsky’ who wants the adoration of the protagonist’s coach,Victor. Thus, he’s rude to the protagonist. However, as the show goes on, Yuri Katsuki , the main character, doesn’t really seem bothered by Yurio’s outburst and scowling. Thus, the dynamic becomes funny.
The poison sets in when the character’s actions are presented as humorous when in reality, it’s downright cruel.
In the anime ‘Love Hina’, the main love interest for Keitarô is a girl named Naru. Anything he does results in her beating him up. Now, in certain cases where the protagonist does something wrong to enrage the romantic interest, it would at least make some sort of sense for the humor to work. But, Keitarô gets beaten up for talking to other girls and getting kidnapped. Let me repeat that: he gets attacked, for getting attacked.
There’s no logic here. It’s incredibly forced beyond reason and is just domestic abuse. Unfortunately, this is the field most Tsundere characters fall into.
Ayano-Kaze No Stigma;
Asuna-Negima!?;
Asuka-Neon Genesis Evangelion;
ect.
The ones I just listed are the worst cases I’ve seen so far.
Like any form of comedy, there’s a line you really don’t want to cross before the joke becomes annoying or aggravating. With slapstick, the point is that the person gets hurt when they’ve done something wrong or the execution was done in a way that’s hilarious.
It wouldn’t make sense if in Fullmetal Alchemist, Winry hits Ed with a wrench for breaking his mechanical arm because he was reckless and Ed got injured in the same way if it were an action scene. There’s a switch in tone as well as a logical cause and effect. Also, there’s more to their relationship than slapstick comedy as well as their individual characters. But, that’s an analysis for another day.
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An example of a good Tsundere that doesn’t use slapstick comedy is Chi-Chi from Dragon Ball Z. This one actually makes a little more sense seeing as in the story, Goku (Chi-Chi’s husband) is always training for a fight or is just away from home. The two have a son, Gohan. Chi-Chi wants Gohan to be a scholar while Goku wants him to be a fighter. This isn’t a case of ‘two immature teenagers’. This is an actual parental debate.
Chi-Chi actually has a reason to yell at Goku. He’s not taking their child’s education as seriously as she is. Yes, she’s a ‘tiger mom’ and the person Goku is fighting is trying to destroy the planet, but when there’s space between, Goku doesn’t really seem to care about the books.
This also works because, there isn’t domestic abuse! Okay, there’re a few scenes where Goku forgets his wife can’t bench press a planet and does something like toss her into the air, but like I said, humor is a matter of execution. Anyway, he doesn’t freaking hit her and she may scream her head off, but she doesn’t attack him. It’s an actual relationship.
An example of good slapstick done by a tsundere is Kaname from the Full Metal Panic series. Her interest, Sagara, is an undercover mercenary whose paranoia prompts him to pull guns on innocent people and blow up lockers. Do I really need to explain why she smacks him with a paper fan?
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I’m not sure why the character trope is done so poorly. Of course the go to answer is ‘lazy writing’. But honestly if that were the case, I would hate the shows I listed and not just the characters. Except for ‘Love Hina’. That obnoxious piece of shit can rot and die in a ditch for all I care.
There are a few shows I’ve watched where it’s done in a way that’s actually humorous or makes sense. So I have hope that future anime will use the trope in a creative and non-toxic way.
Just make sure there’s a line between slapstick (School Rumble) and abuse (Girl’s Bravo).
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