"Ojou-sama" (JP), also known as "Reijou" (JP) is a term for a young female character who is the daughter of a wealthy and high-class family. They are very refined and ladylike due to the expectations of their parents. They also have the tendency to be naive about the outside world and the ways of commoners due to being their sheltered and never having to worry about anything. They will almost always have a maid who waits hand and foot on them, which in some cases causes them to become quite helpless without them.
Etymology
Meaning of the Term
Ojou-sama (お嬢様) is a combination of "o", a prefix that is a sign of respect, jou" (嬢), meaning "daughter" or "young lady", and "sama" (様), an honorific used to address high-class members of society.[3][4]
Alternate Name
It is also sometimes instead known as reijou (令嬢). This comes from the same base word "jou" (嬢), meaning "daughter" or "young lady", but instead of "sama" (様) it uses "rei" (令), another honorific used to address high-class members of society.[5]
Localization
The term is usually romanized directly as "ojou-sama".
It has also been occasionally romanized as "ojo-sama".[2]
History
Official Media
The archetype of ojou-sama is very popular in anime, manga, and light novels.[1]
Characteristics
Status
Ojou-sama characters are young ladies who come from very wealthy high-class families. They are the daughter of a person of high family, status, or position and as such will typically learn the etiquette of high-society from a very early age. They have a lot of expectations from their parents to behave like a perfect young lady.
They usually grow up having maids who take care of all of their basic needs, such as cleaning up after them, helping them get dressed, cooking meals for them, etc. Because of how they are pampered they are often very naive about the real world. Because they've never had to do anything for themselves they often won't know how. In more extreme cases, they may not even be able to get dressed by themselves.[1]
Appearance
Ojou-sama characters are often depicted as having blonde hair.
Personality
The personality of an ojou-sama character is dependent on the individual, but they will always behave refined, polite, and ladylike, at least most of the time. They also have a tendency to be rather naive about things as a result of their sheltered life and never having to worry about anything. In some cases, they can even come across as quite helpless without the assistance of others.
Sub-Types
Akuyaku Reijou
- Main article: Akuyaku Reijou
"Akuyaku Reijou" (JP), also known as "Villainess", is a term for a reijou character who was originally written to be the villain of the story, but instead becomes the protagonist. This is usually in the form of a character from another world reincarnating as the villainess and using their knowledge of the world to change the character's fate, which is usually leading to ruin. With this meaning, the character was a "villainess" in their first life but a "hero" in their second.
Ojoudere
- Main article: Ojoudere
"Ojoudere" (JP) is a term for an ojou-sama character who starts out spoiled and naive but eventually becomes cute, selfless, and deredere for their love interest. They are the young daughters of high-class wealthy families which makes them act both ladylike and high class, but also spoiled and naive. Since they grew up rich they are used to having maids do everything for them, so they will expect their love interest to also be their caretaker. They will order their love interest around since they are usually incapable of doing things by themself since they've never had to before. However, eventually they will start to act less spoiled and show a more cute and selfless lovey-dovey side to show their love interest they genuinely love them and appreciate them for always taking care of them. They will even try to learn how to do things on their own so they can take care of their love interest every once in a while.
Similar Archetypes
- 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. Bocchan is the male counterpart of ojou-sama.
- Himedere: A term for a female character of noble status who starts out wanting their love interest to constantly give them lots of attention and to spoil them, but eventually starts fawning over them as well and doing nice things to make them also feel taken care of. Hime-sama is one step up above ojou-sama in social hierarchy.
- Himekishi: A term for a female character who has the status of a noble lady or princess, but fights by arming herself.
- Oujodere (Western): 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, affectionate, and deredere when alone with their love interest.
- Tsunpuri: A term for a female princess character who acts dishonest with her feelings in a dignified and ladylike manner.
List of Characters
Gallery
 Aika Tenkuubashi from Ore ga Ojou-sama Gakkou ni "Syomin Sample" Toshite Gets-Sareta Ken  Claire François from I'm in Love with the Villainous  Claire François from I'm in Love with the Villainous  Saki Tenjouin from Motto To LOVE-Ru |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Story in Which I Was Kidnapped by an Oujo-sama's School to be a "Sample of the Common People". Syomin Sample Official Site (2015/11/20).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Giant-Ojo-sama. Sunday Web Every (2021/07/30). “Oriko Fujidou, the daughter of a wealthy family, has been growing in the "town" she received as a present when she was four years old. One day, a giant enemy attacks the town! The young lady panics as her beloved town is in danger, but her butler Sebastian hands her a giant drink with a straight face...!?!?!? The bigger the town, the body, and the love, the more lovable it is! A comedy about an ojo-sama getting bigger!”
- ↑ What is Ojou-sama. Pixiv Encyclopedia (2010/05/04). “A respectful term of endearment when referring to another person's daughter, especially the daughter of a superior person such as the head of the family. It refers to a naive woman or girl who grew up in a wealthy family and has no financial difficulties.”
- ↑ What is Ojou-sama. NicoNico Pedia (2011/02/25). “The daughter of a noble or high-class family, the daughter of the master (in a master-servant relationship). It can also refer to an underage female lord. The term "ojou-sama" is derived from the word "jou", which means a young woman, with the respectful word "o" added, and the respectful word "sama" added. It is mainly used for girls and women of high status. Also, the appearance of being of high status and naive. In creative works such as manga and anime, "ojou-sama" appear so often that they are indispensable. In most cases, the "ojou-sama" in creative works is the daughter of a high-class family, a rich family, or the daughter or granddaughter of a school president in a school story. In some cases, the "ojou-sama" is the master herself. Originally, the word "ojou-sama" in Japanese was used for daughters of Japanese-style families, such as nobles in the Edo period, but many ojou-sama in manga and anime are daughters of fashionable Western-style families. Many of them are daughters of millionaires.”
- ↑ What is Reijou. Pixiv Encyclopedia. “Daughter of a person of high family, status, or position. Ojou-sama”