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Content Warning! Content Warnings: Slightly suggestive themes. |
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"Kundere" (JP) is a term for a deredere character who really loves smelling their love interest and their belongings. While most of the time they act like a normal cute and overly affectionate person towards their love interest, they are actually a little bit perverted and are so lovestruck that they are addicted to the smell of their love interest. When their love interest is away they may do things such as jumping into their love interest's bed to sniff their pillows to feel close to them when they're away, or even asking their love interest to borrow a used shirt so they can save it to sniff later. They will also sniff their love interest directly if they've been apart for a while and will sniff their love interest while being hugged by them. Aside from their slightly unusual habit of sniffing their love interest they otherwise behave like a standard lovestruck deredere character.
Etymology
Meaning of the Term
Kundere (クンデレ) is a combination of "kunkun" (クンクン), a mimetic word for "sniffing (typically of an animal)", and "deredere" (デレデレ), a mimetic word for "being lovestruck (overly affectionate, lovey-dovey, not hiding one's romantic feelings)".
Origin
Kun♡Dere by Marimo Mori
The term originates from the 2013 erotic romance manga series Kun♡Dere (JP) by Marimo Mori, originally published in the January 2013 edition of COMIC Penguin Club.[1]
The story follows the character Mirei who began dating her junior Kenta and the two of them are alone for the first time in Kenta's apartment. Kenta decides to go out to grab a drink for Mirei and leaves her alone in his apartment. After looking around she notices Kenta's bed and wanting to feel closer to him she jumps into it and begans sniffing his pillow. When Kenta returns and catches her in the act they both become embarrassed, but seeing his normally cool and admirable senior in such a hurry to be intimate with him causes him to immediately hug her. This startles Mirei, but then she begins to sniff him directly which causes Kenta to realize she has a smell fetish. Kenta says it's fine as long as they can get intimate and the two have their first time together. At first Mirei is a little scared, but when she gets close to Kenta and smells him she she is. After this first moment Mirei starts to become addicted to Kenta's scent. Kenta offers Mirei his used shirt which she stuffs into an airtight bag, saying it will apparently make the scent last longer.[1]
While at school she maintains her cool and respectable personality, when she's alone with Kenta she is quite perverted. One day at school he hugs him when they're alone and starts sniffing him which causes them to become intimate once again. Afterwards she begins to wonder if the other students will start to notice if she begins smelling like Kenta, but after telling Kenta that she loves him she tells him that she'll find out.[1]
Personality
Kundere characters are cute and lovey-dovey (deredere) and really loves smelling their love interest and their belongings (kunkun). [1]
Deredere Traits
Aside from their slightly perverted habit of sniffing their love interest, kundere characters otherwise behave the same as regular deredere characters. They don't hide their romantic feelings and are cute, lovey-dovey, overly affectionate, and clingy towards their love interest. They are madly in love and always want to be with their love interest and always want to be affectionate with them.[1]
Kunkun Traits
Mirei sniffing Kenta from Kun♡Dere
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Kundere characters are addicted to the scent of their love interest and can always be found sniffing their love interest and their belongings.[1]
They will sniff their love interest directly when being hugged by them, and sniff them indirectly by using their belongings when they're not together. They will do things such as jumping into their love interest's bed to smell their pillows, sniffing their freshly worn shirts, and in some cases they may even seal their love interest's clothes in a bag to save the smell for later. Even when their love interest is all sweaty from working out they still enjoy the scent of them.[1]
Whenever they smell the scent of their love interest they will immediately become lovestruck by it. This can cause them to become a lot more lovey-dovey and affection than they already were. Even if they are ever scared then smelling the scent of their love interest can make them feel safe. They may even try to smell like their love interest by wearing their clothes.[1]
Differences From Other Archetypes
It is somewhat common for yandere characters to also enjoy sniffing their love interest's belongings, but the main difference is simply that kundere characters do not have any of the negative aspects associated with yandere and otherwise behave like a normal deredere character.
Similarly many mega deredere characters likely fall under this type as well, since they do over exaggerated acts to show their love.
Similar Archetypes
- Deredere: A term for an overly affectionate character who is lovestruck and does not hide their romantic feelings towards their love interest.
- Megadere (Mega): A term for a deredere character who has a strong adoration for their love interest and will not be afraid to give them large displays of affection and tell them how much they love them.
- Yandere: A term for a character who at first is very sweet, loving, innocent, and overly affectionate like a normal deredere character, but over time begins exhibiting signs of being mentally sick as a result of having a too strong love.
List of Characters
Gallery
 Mirei from Kun♡Dere  Mirei from Kun♡Dere  Mirei with Kenta from Kun♡Dere  Mirei with Kenta from Kun♡Dere  Tohru with Koboyashi from Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon  Tohru with Koboyashi from Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon |