|
|
Heh!? What the hell did you say!? Do you think I'm going to accept that as an excuse!? We were supposed to celebrate the anniversary of our first trip together! Is your job more important to you than me?
"Himedere" (JP) is a term for a female character of nobility who starts out wanting their love interest to constantly give them lots of attention and affection, but adopts a deredere attitude and starts fawning over their love interest and doing loving things to make them also feel taken care of. They are very prim, proper, and ladylike due to their status as a noblelady which makes them feel like they deserve to always be the center of their love interest's attention. At first, they will be very demanding and selfish, wanting their love interest to constantly pamper them and do things that make them feel loved, not considering how their love interest might feel. However, they will start to realize that are being too hard on their love interest and will feel a powerful desire to do affectionate in return to show them that they are loved back also. They will start behaving in cute ways and showing a more considerate and intimate side to their love interest, realizing that it doesn't matter where they go or what they do as long as the two of them are together.
Etymology
Meaning of the Term
Himedere (姫デレ) is a combination of "hime-sama" (姫様), meaning "young lady of noble birth", and "deredere" (デレデレ), a mimetic word for "being lovestruck".
The term "hime-sama" is often translated into English as "princess", however, it is actually an honorific used as a sign of respect to address all women of nobility (including the princess). The Japanese word for a princess specifically is "oujo" (王女).
Origin
Himedere♡ by Emi Hinahara
The term originates from the romance erotic manga series My Sweet♡Devil (JP) which contained a collection of short stories by Emi Hinahara, with the third story titled Himedere♡ (JP) being released in June 2016.[2][1][3] The term was used to describe the character Shoko Saionji, a noble lady who was dating a man named Satoshi. The story starts with her getting upset and yelling at Satoshi over the phone for missing their first anniversary and thinking his job was more important than her. Her friends then tell her that she will lose him if she doesn't show him her cute side. They then mocked her for making Satoshi be the one to ask her out even though she liked him because she was too prideful to ask him first.
When Satoshi apologizes and tries to make up for it by taking her out to eat at her favorite place or offering to buy her new shoes, Shoko asks for nothing more than a makeup kiss. She realizes at that moment that he has always devoted himself to her, that she was always the one who got angry or recommended places to go, and the thought started to make her cry. She then told him "Because you usually devote yourself to me... sometimes I'll give you a reward." and then she started to get intimate with him. Afterward, when he tries to apologize again and asks her where she wants to go, she tells him "Anywhere is fine... If you stay with me." showing that she has changed.
Characteristics
Shoko Saionji drinking tea at a high-class establishment from My Sweet♡Devil: Himedere♡
Nobility
|
|
Himedere characters are of noble status and are very important members of society. They are the daughters of a noble family such as dukes, or possibly even the daughter of a king.[1]
Design
Most typically himedere characters are presented as having blonde hair with curls at the bottom. The curls in their hair are inspired by the hairstyle of British princesses and are a sign of nobility. This may be the reason why they are typically designed with blonde hair as well, as opposed to the more traditionally black hair of Japanese people.[1]
Personality
Himedere characters start out wanting their love interest to constantly give them attention and spoil them (hime), but eventually start fawning over them as well and doing nice things to make them also feel taken care of (deredere). They will go from demanding attention from their love interest and wanting to feel loved, to giving their love interest all 'their' attention and making 'them' feel loved. This creates a gap in their personality leading to strong amounts of affection for the character.[1]
Hime Period
Saki Tenjouin demanding attention from To LOVE-Ru
|
|
Himedere characters are very needy when it comes to being loved by their love interest. They will be very demanding at first and want their love interest to pamper and take care of their every need, not considering how their love interest might feel. They want their love interest to always give them lots of attention and constantly tell them that they're the cutest or do things that make them feel loved, but they are also quite selfish about it and want their love interest to only spoil them. This could include things such as buying new things for them, only going to places they choose, or only doing things they want.[1]
They are also very prideful and will not be the first person to ask their love interest out or admit their feelings, even if they have a huge crush on them. Instead, they will make their love interest ask 'them' out saying things like "Ahem, isn't there something you have to ask me." and trying to get their love interest to notice them.[1]
Due to their noble status, himedere characters present themselves as very prim, proper, dignified, and ladylike. They enjoy going to high-class establishments, such as drinking tea at fancy restaurants with their other noble friends. However, this noble status also goes to their head causing them to feel like they deserve to always be the center of their love interest's attention and to get their way. They will demand their love interest pay attention to them and will get angry if they don't, even if they have legitimate reasons such as having to work at their job. They are far too prideful to entertain any excuses for anything that doesn't make them feel loved.[1]
Dere-kake Period
Shoko Saionji starting to cry over the thought of Satoshi leaving her from My Sweet♡Devil: Himedere♡
|
|
After getting into a relationship with their love interest they will get intimate with their love interest during this period, but only for the sake of satisfying their own needs and only doing the things they want, not considering the satisfaction of their partner and expecting them to hold back. After all, they are a noble and are too prideful to do undignified things. They want to do more things to show they love their love interest, but they're too prideful and stubborn to admit it.[1]
However, at the same time, they also have a much softer and cuter side. Eventually, they will realize that they have been being too hard on their love interest and that their love interest has always devoted themselves to them and done everything they could to make them happy. They will realize just how loved they have been and start to feel guilty about their behavior. They will start to get frustrated at their behavior for always causing fights over trivial things even though they don't want to fight and just want to be with the person they love. They may even start to cry over the thought of their stubborn behavior causing the person they love to leave them and become desperate to keep them so they start trying to do affectionate things back to their love interest.[1]
Dere Period
Saki Tenjouin fawning over Zastin from To LOVE-Ru
|
|
After realizing just how important their love interest is to them and start showing their amae side to them. They will start to be more honest in telling and showing their love interest how much they genuinely love and appreciate them. They will feel a powerful desire to do affectionate things for their love interest to show them that they are loved also. They will want to do romantic or intimate things that their love interest wants to do or things that they turned down in the past out of selfishness, like going to their love interest's favorite restaurant instead of theirs. They will also force themselves to do undignified things that hurt their pride as a noble if doing so will please their love interest. They will now care more about the happiness of their love interest than their pride.[1]
They will start behaving in a surprisingly cute way and fawning over their love interest, being more considerate of what they want from this relationship as well. They may start to wonder why their relationship feels different now and realize that it's because they changed. This feeling with cause them to become completely lovestruck by their love interest and start to like them even more than usual causing them to adopt a deredere attitude towards them. They will realize that it doesn't matter where they go or what they do as long as the two of them are together. They will become much more considerate of their love interest's needs and will feel more comfortable letting themselves be vulnerable and openly intimate around their love interest.[1]
Differences From Other Archetypes
Himedere is similar to tsundere since both types can be harsh on their love interest, but the main difference is that a tsundere character is someone who can't be honest with the person they like and will try to push them away, while a himedere character will do the inverse and demand their love interest give them lots of attention. A tsundere character will insult their love interest to make it seem like they don't like them, while a himedere character will only do it if their love interest doesn't pay attention to them. Additionally, the superiority complex of a tsundere character is often just a disguise to hide their true feelings, whereas a himedere character genuinely believes they should be the center of attention due to their noble status.
Kamidere can seen as a more extreme version of himedere. The difference is that instead of wanting their love interest to give them lots of attention like a himedere character, a kamidere character will actively look down on their love interest because they feel they are beneath them as a god. Kamidere characters will be even more bossy than himedere characters and also do not necessarily carry themselves in a prim and proper or ladylike manner.
Similar Japanese Archetypes
- Ojou-sama: A term for a young female character who is the daughter of a wealthy high-class family.
- Western:Bocchandere: A term for a young male character who is the son of a wealthy high-class family and is spoiled and thinks they are better than everyone else at first, before eventually becoming deredere.
- Western:Oujidere: A term for a male character who wishes to be treated like a prince by their love interest. This is an unofficial Western variation of himedere for male characters.
- Western:Oujodere: A term for a female character who has a strict dignified exterior and behaves with perfect ladylike manners like a true princess in public but turns cute and affectionate when alone with their love interest. Similarly to himedere, they are very prim and proper with a dignified ladylike presentation, but instead of being demanding and attention-seeking they are gentle and have a sweet kind nature all the time. A himedere could be thought of as an "entitled oujodere".
List of Characters
See Himedere/Japanese Characters to see characters from Japanese media.
See Himedere/Non-Japanese Characters to see characters from non-Japanese media.
Gallery
.gif "Arisu Kamiigusa from Anime-Gataris (1).gif (677 KB)") Arisu Kamiigusa from Anime-Gataris .gif "Luviagelita Edelfelt from Lord El-Melloi II-sei no Jikenbo Rail Zeppelin Grace note (1).gif (2.59 MB)") Luviagelita Edelfelt from Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo  Saki Tenjouin from To LOVE-Ru Darkness  Erina Nakiri from Shokugeki no Souma  Ayame Reikadou from Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Love Comedy wo Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru  Michiru Kouda from PriPara |
References
| v • eDere Types | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | Standard |
Bakadere ♥ Biridere ♥ Bokodere ♥ Butsudere ♥ Dandere ♥ Darudere ♥ Deredere ♥ Dorodere ♥ Erodere ♥ Gandere ♥ Goudere ♥ Gundere ♥ Hajidere ♥ Himedere ♥ Hinedere ♥ Kamidere ♥ Kichidere ♥ Kiridere ♥ Kuudere ♥ M Dere ♥ Nyandere ♥ Onidere ♥ Rindere ♥ Roshidere ♥ S Dere ♥ Shindere ♥ Shundere ♥ Tsundere ♥ Tsuyodere ♥ Undere ♥ Usodere ♥ Utsudere ♥ Uzadere ♥ Wandere ♥ Yandere (Yanderu) ♥ Yandere (Yankii) ♥ Yoidere ♥ Zondere ♥ | |
| Variations |
Deretsun ♥ Tsun-Aho ♥ Tsun-Ama ♥ Tsunbaka ♥ Tsundora ♥ Tsunneko ♥ Tsun-Pure ♥ Tsunpuri ♥ Tsunshun ♥ Tsuntere ♥ | ||
| Western | Standard |
Bocchandere ♥ Byoukidere ♥ Kanedere ♥ Kekkondere ♥ Nemuidere ♥ Oujidere ♥ Oujodere ♥ Smugdere ♥ Teasedere ♥ Thugdere ♥ | |
| Variations |
Ahodere (Western) ♥ Kamidere (Western) ♥ Kidere ♥ Mayadere (Western) ♥ Megadere (Western) ♥ | ||
| Other | |||