In anime, tsundere is short for two abbreviations, tsuntsun and deredere. These abbreviations can be described as the moods of a tsundere character: the ‘irritable’ mood (also known as Tsuntsun) and the ‘lovestruck’ one (Deredere). Basically, these people would appear rude or mean but are actually huge softies inside.
However, they only show this soft side to their love interests (and those they care about). Tsundere’s personality in anime can range from mean, dramatic, lovestruck, and many, many more. It depends on the way they were raised and how much it affected their childhood. For fans who love tsundere anime characters, then they shouldn't miss out on these people.
Updated on November 1, 2022, by Nahda Nabiilah: Tsundere is a common type of character found heavily in many old and upcoming anime. Whether it’s a female or male tsundere, they will always be a fan favorite, due to their hot and cold attitude. This is why almost every successful anime has at least one tsundere character. Although they appear indifferent on the outside, they will immediately transform into ‘lovey-dovey’ once their crush or lover appears. They often call their crush ‘baka’, which means idiot, and would deny their feelings by saying stuff like ‘It's not like I like you or anything!’.
13 Takumi Aldini (Food Wars)
Takumi Aldini is a supporting character in the Shokugeki No Soma (Food Wars) series. Takumi and his brother, Isami Aldini, came from Italy to study at Tōtsuki Culinary Academy. In the end, his hard work and effort paid off as he joined the Elite Ten Council and became the seventh seat.
At first, Takumi gives the impression of a serious person who only thinks about winning a Shokugeki. But after spending time with Takumi, his friends realize this is just a facade to hide his Tsuntsun side. Because once everyone gets to know him, they witness how Takumi Aldini cares about them and encourages them to do their best. Sometimes he even helps his self-proclaimed rival, Yukihira Soma.
12 Katsuki Bakugo (My Hero Academia)
Katsuki Bakugo has to be one of the most violent, blunt, loud, and rude characters to ever exist in My Hero Academia. He likes to make fun of his peers, especially Midoriya by calling him ‘Deku’, and prefers to work alone since he believes he’s the strongest. This caused many problems either with his classmates or teachers.
Although he has many bad traits, there are equally good traits. He starts to slowly open up to those around him in U.A and eventually earns their respect. Bakugo will sometimes even help his friends with unimportant things like cooking while yelling at them, revealing his dere side while keeping the composure of a tsun.
11 Yuki Rurikawa (A3!)
Yuki Rurikawa is part of the Summer Troupe and one of the first characters to join this troupe in the Mankai Theater. He usually comes off as blunt and rude due to how people mistreat him because of his unique style. As a defense mechanism, Yuki often fights with others and doesn’t mind getting his word across, even if it hurt.
Later on, the designer starts to show more of his kind and caring side to the other members, especially if they are getting bullied. Yuki can also be very headstrong and stubborn in defending his friends as he starts to care about them in a very tsundere style, by ending it with a ‘Don't get the wrong idea!’, which is a very tsundere move.
10 Kyouya Sata (Wolf Girl & Black Prince)
The main male protagonist in the anime Wolf Girl & Black Prince, Kyouya Sata is considered a ‘prince’ in his school because he treats everyone with sweet and polite manners. What everyone may not know is that it’s a mask to hide his sadistic nature. This side of him only comes out in the presence of Erika Shinohara. It all started when Erika asked him to pretend to be her boyfriend, and he agreed on one condition, she had to become his ‘wolf girl’.
At first, Kyouya Sata only used her to pass time and didn’t reciprocate her feelings. However, after spending a lot of time together, he developed a protective attitude towards Erika whenever she associated with other guys. He would often get jealous and only show his soft side to her. Eventually, Kyouya ‘promoted’ her from his ‘pet’ to his actual girlfriend and confessed his feelings.
9 Zero Kiryu (Vampire Knight)
Zero Kiryu is both a Vampire Hunter and an Ex-Human Vampire, as well as one of the main leads in the anime Vampire Knight. He harbors great resentment towards vampires, Pureblood in particular, because of his past. Therefore, he is always seen protecting Yuki Kuran, his love interest, when the Night Class emerges, as most of them are vampires. Additionally, she is the only one who is treated as a friend by Zero, since most of the time he reveals his genuine emotions to her.
Usually, Zero emits a scary aura that makes the Day Class wary of him. However, Zero Kiryu fights relentlessly to protect humans as a Vampire Hunter and his cold personality is probably to push everyone away for their protection.
8 Inuyasha (Inuyasha)
The main protagonist of Inuyasha is the son of a human mother and a great demon father, making him a half-demon. Because of his mixed breed, Inuyasha suffered a lot during his childhood and grew up to be cynical and trusted no one. Nonetheless, after meeting Kagome Higurashi and gaining friends, he opened up his heart and entrusted his life to them.
Because he lost many people (due to him being shunned) as a kid, Inuyasha rarely expresses his actual feelings. Despite his toughness, he forged strong bonds with his comrades and couldn't hide how deeply he cares about everyone and considered them a family. Each of them, in their own way, saved Inuyasha from his loneliness, and vice versa.
7 Naoki Irie (Playful Kiss)
Naoki Irie and Kotoko Aihara are the main protagonists in the Itazura Na Kiss (Playful Kiss) series. It is rumored that Naoki has an IQ of 200, which is why he is placed number one in Japan. Because of his intelligence and constant success, he considers life boring and has no hopes or dreams, until he met Kotoko.
At first, Naoki considered her dumb and treated her coldly. Later on, after Kotoko moved in with her father to the Irie household, Naoki gradually started warming up to her until he fell in love. His tsundere personality shines through when he’s with Kotoko as he seems indifferent in front of her. But in reality, he cares deeply about her and expresses his feelings privately.
6 Miyuki Shirogane (Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War)
Miyuki Shirogane is the Student Council President at Shuchi'in Academy in the anime Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War. The funny thing about Miyuki is that he doesn’t try to hide his tsundere side and doesn’t mind showing it. The idea about this anime is that the main characters are both tsundere and refuse to confess their feelings to each other.
Although the Student Council President appears indifferent, prideful, and very self-confident on the outside, Miyuki is actually quite selfless and doesn’t mind helping other students solve their problems.
5 Takishima Kei (Special A)
Takishima Kei is the lead in the anime Special A. He is ranked number one in the entire school and is the top student in S.A. Takishima is considered a prodigy and won many intellectual prizes which allowed him to help his father in running a company. Because he is a prodigy, many people don't want to be his friends as he is seen as different. This causes him to do everything by himself, at least until Hikari Hanazono shows up. She is his childhood friend, and he fell in love with her when they were six. Currently, she is ranked number two.
Takishima often teases her by addressing Hikari as ‘Miss Second Place’ or ‘Number Two’ to get a reaction out of her. He usually has a cold and stoic personality unless he’s talking to her. Takishima later becomes more friendly and happy, and it is confirmed by his friends that it is due to Hikari’s influence.
4 Atsuhiro Kagari (My Sweet Tyrant)
My Sweet Tyrant tells the story of tsundere Atsuhiro Kagari and his deredere girlfriend Non Katagiri. Most of the time, Atsuhiro treats Non with a cold and harsh attitude, which is the Tsuntsun side that everyone sees. However, when they're alone, Atsuhiro unleashes his Deredere side and shows her nothing but a caring and sweet personality. He even calls her by the nickname 'Nontan'.
At school, everyone is confused about why she remains in a relationship with Atsuhiro as it seems like he doesn't care about her. She later confessed that she doesn't mind his tsundere personality, which makes him secretly thrilled.
3 Tomoe (Kamisama Kiss)
Tomoe is a powerful fox demon in Kamisama Kiss. Before becoming a familiar, he used to be an evil being who destroyed everything in his path. Tomoe is short-tempered, brash, and cold to everyone at first sight. However, he has a strong sense of loyalty and will protect everyone he cares about, especially Momozono Nanami.
In the beginning, Tomoe was unwelcoming and snobbish towards her. Tomoe will constantly doubt her abilities as a god and say she's never good enough. However, as time passed by, Nanami broke his Tsuntsun shell and made him fall in love with her.
2 Chika Kudo (Stop At That Sound)
This second-year student at Tokise High School is the male protagonist in Kono Oto Tomare (Stop At That Sound). Chika Kudo has a childish personality, and he’s straightforward with his words. Unfortunately, since he didn’t have many friends growing up, Chika is not very good at expressing his feelings, which makes him a tsundere character.
After the death of his grandfather, Chika stopped acting like a delinquent and focused his energy on Koto. This musical instrument helped him forge friendships with the club’s members, especially Satowa Hozuki. His Deredere side appears when someone compliments him or thanks him.
1 Kyo Sohma (Fruits Basket)
Kyo Sohma is easily one of the best tsundere characters in anime. He is the male lead in Fruits Basket and is cursed by the spirit of the cat. In this show, most characters' personalities resemble their animal spirit, and Kyo is no different. Like a typical cat, he would snare and fight with anyone who gets close to him. However, once that person gains his trust, he shows them his soft side.
Kyo had a very rough past because of his connection to the cat spirit. So most of the time, he keeps everyone who tries to get close to him at arm's length. Fortunately, Honda Tohru, his love interest, brings back his faith in people.