- For the unrelated homonym meaning of "kamidere" for deity characters who at first are arrogant, self-centered, and look down on their love interest, but eventually develop a pure and sweet deredere love see: Kamidere (Deity).
- Kamidere (Bite)
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"Kamidere" is a term for a character who can't be honest with their romantic feelings so they bite their love interest to hide their embarrassment, but eventually learn to show a more honest and affectionate deredere side. They will attempt to confess their feelings to their love interest, but as soon as their love interest makes any physical contact with them they spiral into a blushing mess so they bite their love interest to hide their embarrassment. They become too embarrassed to admit they were getting close to their love interest to confess their feelings so they try to escape the awkwardness of the situation by biting their love interest even though they don't actually want to. Generally they get along well with their love interest up until the point they become embarrassed. Despite their tendency to resort to biting, eventually they will learn to properly confess their feelings and will adopt a cuter and more lovey-dovey affectionate side as they overcome their impulses and embarrassment.
Etymology
Meaning of the Term
Kamidere (カミデレ) is a combination of "kami" (噛み), meaning "to bite", and "deredere" (デレデレ), a mimetic word for "being lovestruck (overly affectionate, lovey-dovey, not hiding one's romantic feelings)".
Origin
Mimiko Coming! by Rinri Kazuki
The term originates from the 2013 romance manga series Mimiko Coming! (JP) by Rinri Kazuki. It was described as "The daily life of a kamidere girl who loves her brother and is constantly biting her brother", with the title of the first chapter also being titled "Onii×Imouto Kamidere Moesu" (JP).[1][2]
Mimiko Amatsuki is a girl who is in love with her brother Shizuru Amatsuki, but every time she tries to confess her love to him she becomes extremely embarrassed and bites him out of habit. Although she truly is in love with him, she is constantly biting him and leaving him injured. When she tries to wake her brother up for school in the morning and he accidentally touches her face, she starts blushing so hard that she instinctively bites him to hide her embarrassment. When confronted by him she tells him to "shut up" and runs off. Even though he thinks she hates him, the truth is that she's madly in love with him. However, her brother has a big heart and doesn't hate his sister even after she's covered him in bite marks.
When Mimiko tries to confess to Shizuru at school he notices that she is blushing heavily so he touches her face to check on her, which causes Mimiko to become embarrassed and bite his hands. Later on when Shizuru tells her he's worried about you she apologizes, but when he leans in to rest his head against hers to becomes embarrassed and bites his head. Another day when she's reading manga at home and Shizuru accidentally bumps into her she starts blushing and tries to bite his leg but he dodges out of the way. Since he is always showing up to school wearing bandages he starts to attempt dodging her bites. Eventually this starts to make her sad so she starts crying and runs into her room to bite her pillows. After avoiding Mimiko for a day he decides to help take of her after she scrapes her knee at school, however, this fact causes her to bite him again.
Mimiko gets along with her brother well the majority of the time, but any physical contact with the person she loves causes her to not be able to think straight so she resorts to biting out of instinct. Additionally, while she is unable to be directly honest with her brother she openly tells everybody else that she's in love with him, including her friend and even their mother. Eventually she is able to confess her feelings and finally start to be affectionate towards him without becoming embarrassed.
Other Meanings
- Main article: Kamidere (Deity)
Although the term "kamidere" in this series refers to a character who cannot be honest so they bite their love interest, there are actually two entirely different dere types that share the name "kamidere". The term "kamidere" is most widely recognized to have the meaning of "kami" (deity) + "deredere".
While the "deity" meaning of the term was created first, it was only created three months prior which is likely the reason for the double use of the name. However, their spellings in Japanese differ with the "deity" meaning using a mix of hiragana and katakana as "かみデレ" and the "bite" meaning using full katakana as "カミデレ".
Personality
Kamidere characters can't be honest with their romantic feelings so they bite their love interest (kami), but eventually learn to show a more honest and affectionate lovey-dovey side (deredere).
Kami Period
Mimiko Amatsuki getting embarrassed after Shizuru Amatsuki touches her face so she bites him from Mimiko Coming!
Kamidere characters have difficulty confessing their feelings and have a tendency to bite out of habit. Generally they will get along with their love interest just fine, but any physical contact will make them spiral into a blushing mess so they bite their love interest to hide their embarrassment.
If they are getting along with their love interest but their love interest suddenly touches their face they will start to panic and hit their fingers. If their love interest accidentally bumps into them with their leg they will try to bite their leg. If their love interest rests their head on them they may even bite their head.
They are not someone who bites on purpose or with malicious intent to harm their love interest, they simply start and panicking and don't know what to do with the situation so they punch. Usually in moments just before biting their love interest they are actually trying to confess their romantic feelings and tell their love interest that they're in love with them.
Dere Period
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Eventually they will work up the courage to finally confess to their love interest and overcome their embarrassment over physical contact with them. From this point onward they can finally show their true feelings and start to have a more honest deredere side towards their love. They will be cute, affectionate, and all lovey-dovey towards their love interest, finally being able to say the words "I love you!" to them.
Differences From Other Archetypes
This type is essentially the exact same as biridere, bokodere, and gandere, except with biting as opposed to shocking with electricity, punching, or shooting with a gun. In all four types the character is unable to confess their feelings, becomes embarrassed, and attacks their love interest out of impulse even though they don't mean to or want to.
Similar Archetypes
- Biridere: A term for a tsundere character who hides their deredere feelings towards their love interest by violently shocking them with electricity when they get embarrassed, but overtime grows to become cute, loving, and affectionate as they learn to be honest with their feelings.
- Bokodere: A term for a character who despite being in love and having deredere feelings for their love interest, reflexively punches them with their fists when they become embarrassed by their love interest's affection in order to hide their shyness.
- Gandere: A term for a tsundere character who hides their feelings of love towards their love interest by shooting guns at them when they get embarrassed, but overtime grows to become loving and deredere as they learn to be honest with their feelings.
- Tsungire: A term for a character who is quick to get angry and push others away when they try to be affectionate with them.
List of Characters
Gallery
 Mimiko Amatsuki with Shizuru Amatsuki from Mimiko Coming!  Mimiko Amatsuki with Shizuru Amatsuki from Mimiko Coming!  Mimiko Amatsuki with Shizuru Amatsuki from Mimiko Coming!  Mimiko Amatsuki with Shizuru Amatsuki from Mimiko Coming!  Mimiko Amatsuki with Shizuru Amatsuki from Mimiko Coming!  Mimiko Amatsuki with Shizuru Amatsuki from Mimiko Coming! |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mimiko Coming! (MF Comics Flapper Series). Bookwalker (2013/11/15). Archived on 2025/05/22. “The daily life of a kamidere girl who loves her brother and is constantly biting her brother!! I can't say "I love you" so I "bite"!! Mimiko decides that things can't go on like this and for some reason decides to confess her feelings to her brother. But whenever she's in front of him, she can't help but bite him. Mimiko, a second-year middle school student, has a dangerous sexual habit (?) that leaves her brother completely injured every day.”
- ↑ Mimiko Coming! Chapter 1: Onii×Imouto Kamidere Moesu. MF Comics Flapper (2013/11/15). Archived on 2025/07/02.