Ask John: Why Do Guys Love Tsunderes?

Question:
Why do guys love tsunderes? For example, you have Shana. She’s always like, “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” and people love it. I’m not getting it. Loise from Zero no Tsukaima is another example, or maybe Asuka from Neon Genesis Evangelion, possibly even Rin from Fate/Stay Night. Guys are going gaga over girls and women who’d give them a shoryuken if they were asked out. So why do guys like b*tchy females?

Answer:
My personal theory is that the popularity of tsundere characters has less to do with the characters themselves than with the emotional needs of viewers. The argument may be made that girls with a superficially snappish personality are more interesting than maleable or quiescent girls, for example, Evangelion’s Asuka Langely is a more interesting character than Rei Ayanami. From a literary perspective, a complex, robust personality should be more engrossing and fascinating than a one-note personality, but I don’t think that theory adequately explains the fetishistic obsession with anime girls with an overtly castigating personality that hides a vulnerable and tender side. If the explanation doesn’t lie in the character, it must lie in the viewer.

The appeal of the tsundere character may lie in masochistic feelings or low self-esteem within male viewers. If Evangelion’s Shinji Ikari is supposed to represent the confusion, indecision, and anxiety of average Japanese teen boys, Asuka is the domineering, motivating force that encourages him to mature. The recent Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei episode 8 brings the illustration into sharper focus by depicting marginalized and overlooked student Usui in ecstasy after being verbally insulted by attractive teacher Chie. Usui explains that his happiness from being insulted comes from merely being acknowledged by a beautiful woman, even if the acknowledgment is negative. Usui is soon joined by countless men that want to be verbally abused by Chie-sensei.

I think that there’s a deeper motivation for a desire to be chastized beyond just the marginalized wishing for recognition of any sort. Criticism from an attractive woman may satisfy a latent desire to be put in one’s place. The insults and brush-offs serve as a sort of perverted intimacy. The insults strike at the heart of the man’s self-image, thus feeling like a weird type of honest intimacy. Furthermore, the empowerment of the woman to dominate the man places both strength and responsibility on the woman. The man doesn’t need to woo the woman; he can merely absorb her emotional outbursts directed at him.

The pairing of the tsundere’s soft, feminine side is of vital importance to the effect. The eventual revelation of the tender, romantic personality confirms that the woman’s criticism wasn’t heartfelt or true. In the end, the man wins because merely by persistently being around the attractive woman, she comes to accept him and reveal affection toward him. For many male otaku that feel excluded and insecure, the tsundere’s harsh attacks affirm their self-image while simultaneously bringing him closer to the girl. The Tsundere is an ideal girlfriend for many male otaku because she is independent and willful enough to lead the relationship and adopt a decisive position that absolves the man of responsibility. But ultimately the woman softens and gives in, letting the man exert his masculinity.

The tsundere is literally the best of both worlds. Not only is she aggressive and outgoing, and also sentimental and intimate; she also willingly takes responsibility and commits to action in public, allowing the man to idly admire, yet allows the man to be masculine and dominant in private. Tsundere characters like Shana from Shakugan no Shana and Saber from Fate/stay night provide textbook examples of this dichotomy.