Tsunderes and their evolution over the years.

[Kimanor]

Now now, we all love a good tsundere here and there. Despite being over used, I find them hilarious for some reason, and even the slightest difference, such as a certain bottle blonde, can cause me to become overjoyed for some reason.

 

 

Apart from my rant, that is not what I am here to talk to you all about these days. Rather, I wish to discuss how Tsunderes have seemingly changed, in my opinion, throughout the years.

 

First, we must recognize the official definition of a Tsundere!

 

Tsunderes are initally cold or hostile to a certain someone before gradually showing a sweeter or perhaps kinder side to themselves. Tsun meaning to turn away in disgust, and dere being all "lovey dovey".

 

Knowing that definition, it is critical to understand that this definition is not set in stone yet... The idea of a tsundere has radically changed. You might as well call a tsundere a deretsundere. Something like that. 

 

Why do I say that? Well tell me... since when have you seen a "tsundere" truly disgust an individual? Perhaps they pretend to dislike a certain character or act rude, but within only a few actions of the character involved, the dere side is immediately revealed. Can it even be said that there was any tsun to begin with?

 

And thus fuwanovel! I wish for your opinions on this matter! What makes a tsundere a tsundere?! Have tsunderes truly changed?! Why is this happening?!

 

P.S. I have no clue where to post this, but feel free to move as you wish lil'moddies.

[Okami]

First, we must recognize the official definition of a Tsundere!

 

Tsunderes are initally cold or hostile to a certain someone before gradually showing a sweeter or perhaps kinder side to themselves. Tsun meaning to turn away in disgust, and dere being all "lovey dovey".

 

 

While this is not a wrong definition it's also not a complete one. Tsunderes are also those who can't be honest about their feelings from where Tsun side comes in a first place. So their not being truly and completely disgusted by an individual is a part of being a tsundare not something that stands in a way of it. As for calling them deretsundere it would be incorrect as just calling someone tsundere says that they have both sides it was newer determent how strong one side needs to be, or if they need to be equal.

 

As for Tsundare evolution some say that they used to have less changes from tsun to dere and opposite then now and that they just used to first show their tsun side and once they show their dere side they stay that way. I haven't watched so much older anime to tell with ceternty if this is true or not, but if it is I guess that modern tsundare are more of a tsundare then ones in a past.

[Katatsumuri]

I am lazy, so I'm just going to use these definitions:

 

"Classic" Tsundere

 

"Modern" Tsundere (but with some extra info)

[Freestyle80]

^ haha i was about to post that

[Christfall]

Just to clear out common misconceptions regarding tsunderes:

 

The KEYWORDS, which both point to "Behaviour":

Tsun - Cold and hostile behaviour, denial, ignorance, rude, you name it, pretty much any behaviour that no one will ever like unless you are a masochist.

Dere - Lovestruck, opening up.

 

Technically, anyone who has both of these traits can be considered a tsundere regardless of gender. The degree of them can vary greatly, but they all share one common trait: a tendency to not admit, hiding or outright deny their feelings towards a love interest. They do not need to be bad-mouthed or even rude most of the time to qualify as one. 

 

Tsunderes technically exist as long as anime/manga itself but their popularity only skyrocket following the "Kugimiya Era", birthing an age of tsundere which sports more "traditional traits" such as Twintails, Blonde-Hair and Lolis. 

 

IMO, they have not really changed over the years, because the category of a tsundere is a very wide to begin with and people often think there is only 1 type of tsundere.

[Mr Poltroon]

When I think of a Tsundere, the first that comes to mind is Tsugumi, from Ever 17.

 

That person hated and disgusted by people, and that included you. At hardly any point during the game did we get the impression that she had any interest in us, except as we closer and closer to the end. After sometime she stopped being outright rude, but she wasn't nice to us either. By the end, we learn that she would've liked attention from other people as much as anyone, but she learned to be distrustful through experience. 

 

Nowadays, most tsunderes make it quite obvious that they harbour feelings toward us,  and simply refuse to be honest. That's still as much a Tsundere as Tsugumi was, but certainly a different kind.

 

What I feel makes a tsundere an enjoyable character, is how much more effort they require to have them trust us, and fall in love. As Katatsumuri put it, defrosting the "Ice Queen" is enjoyable.

With the new kind, called 'modern' tsundere, this simply doesn't happen, it's not that they don't like us, it's not that they have no emotions, they just refuse to admit it. Since I don't find these particularly enjoyable, I can't really tell what their appeal is.

 

 

Each of them is a completely valid Tsundere, and fit the definition of 'dere' and 'tsun', but in different way.

I'm not so well versed in anime and visual novel history to be able to comment on this, but I believe that in the past, classic tsunderes were more popular, whereas now, the modern tsunderes are more popular.

[Okami]

 

Just to clear out common misconceptions regarding tsunderes:

 

The KEYWORDS, which both point to "Behaviour":

Tsun - Cold and hostile behaviour, denial, ignorance, rude, you name it, pretty much any behaviour that no one will ever like unless you are a masochist.

Dere - Lovestruck, opening up.

 

Technically, anyone who has both of these traits can be considered a tsundere regardless of gender. The degree of them can vary greatly, but they all share one common trait: a tendency to not admit, hiding or outright deny their feelings towards a love interest. They do not need to be bad-mouthed or even rude most of the time to qualify as one. 

 

Tsunderes technically exist as long as anime/manga itself but their popularity only skyrocket following the "Kugimiya Era", birthing an age of tsundere which sports more "traditional traits" such as Twintails, Blonde-Hair and Lolis. 

 

IMO, they have not really changed over the years, because the category of a tsundere is a very wide to begin with and people often think there is only 1 type of tsundere.

 

 

Actually it doesn't have to be only with love interest it can also be towards friends, true those ones are more rare they are still tsundare.

[Chewy]

I guess they were moulded into what the masses like.

[Kimanor]

When I think of a Tsundere, the first that comes to mind is Tsugumi, from Ever 17.

 

That person hated and disgusted by people, and that included you. At hardly any point during the game did we get the impression that she had any interest in us, except as we closer and closer to the end. After sometime she stopped being outright rude, but she wasn't nice to us either. By the end, we learn that she would've liked attention from other people as much as anyone, but she learned to be distrustful through experience. 

 

Nowadays, most tsunderes make it quite obvious that they harbour feelings toward us,  and simply refuse to be honest. That's still as much a Tsundere as Tsugumi was, but certainly a different kind.

 

What I feel makes a tsundere an enjoyable character, is how much more effort they require to have them trust us, and fall in love. As Katatsumuri put it, defrosting the "Ice Queen" is enjoyable.

With the new kind, called 'modern' tsundere, this simply doesn't happen, it's not that they don't like us, it's not that they have no emotions, they just refuse to admit it. Since I don't find these particularly enjoyable, I can't really tell what their appeal is.

 

 

Each of them is a completely valid Tsundere, and fit the definition of 'dere' and 'tsun', but in different way.

I'm not so well versed in anime and visual novel history to be able to comment on this, but I believe that in the past, classic tsunderes were more popular, whereas now, the modern tsunderes are more popular.

And those are the tsunderes I miss and rarely see! Tsugumi is an excellent example of how tsunderes have changed, and it is hurting my enjoyment of them.

[crunchytaco]

You probably haven't heard of Golden Boy. But this was one of the funniest animes I was introduced to in the early 90's. It was my first introduction in ecchi genre. Anyhow this 90's looking lady is as true to the classical tsundere as they come. She was completely disgusted with the MC in the beginning (no veils at all) and falls in love with him by the end.