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Content Warning! Content Warnings: Mentions of murder and depictions of images featuring knives and blood. |
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"Sashidere" (JP) is a term for a character who enjoys stabbing their love interest with a knife, but is also cute, affectionate, lovey-dovey, and deredere with them. They are someone who enjoys two things in life: being all cute and lovey-dovey with their lover and the feeling of putting a knife through someone's flesh. Most of the time they act very cutely in public and do romantic things like going on dates, holding hands, or kissing their love interest. However, when they are alone with their love interest, once per day, they have to consentually stab the person they are in love with with a knife as a condition for dating them. Despite this unusual habit, when they are not stabbing their love interest they have a very amicable relationship with them and can be extremely sweet and loving. It is because of this condition that this personality type only works if their love interest is an immortal shindere character who can be stabbed infinite times and never die.
Etymology
Meaning of the Term
Sashidere (サシデレ) is a combination of "sashimi" (サシミ), referring to a "Japanese food consisting of fresh meat sliced into thin pieces", and "deredere" (デレデレ), a mimetic word for "being lovestruck (overly affectionate, lovey-dovey, not hiding one's romantic feelings)".
The word "sashimi" (サシミ) itself is a combination of "sashi" (サシ), meaning "to pierce", and "mi" (ミ), meaning "body; meat".
Origin
Shinanai Otoko ni Koishita Shoujo by Kazuki Sorano
The term originates from the 2008 supernatural romance comedy light novel series Shinanai Otoko ni Koishita Shoujo (JP) by Kazuki Sorano about a ex-serial killer girl who falls in love with an immortal man.[1][2][3][4]
The story follows a high school student named Kigito Node who was born with an immortal body. Because of his condition he was abused severely by his father who was afraid of him. He was also repeatedly attacked by delinquents in the neighborhood and, under normal circumstances, he would have died. He has been stabbed, beaten to death, bombed, poisoned, and otherwise killed on numerous occasions, but he survives as if nothing had happened with his amazing resilience and has become a banchou (gang leader), a title that has shaken up the neighborhood.[5][6]
One evening on his way home from shopping he is attacked in the park and stabbed to death by a girl about his own age. The girl who stabbed him to death left the place, but after a while Kigito got up and went home after he saw the attacker had disappeared. The next day Kyoko Kirisaki, the girl who attacked him, transferred to Meito Academy. After school, Kyoko called Kigoto to the back of the school building and suddenly confessed to him, asking him to become her lover. She had become so moved by the fact that Kigoto, who she had stabbed to death the night before, had come back to school the next day as if nothing had happened that she immediately fell in love with him. After the two start dating, Kyoko agrees to stab Kigoto with the knife she carries around with her on the condition that she only stabs him once a day at school and refrains from murdering anybody else. She gives up her role as a serial killer to be with him leading to a very unusual romance.[5]
When Kyoko was a child she awakened a fetishism for the feeling of cutting flesh with a blade, which gradually escalated to the point that she tricked a middle-aged man into being murdered by her in her second year of junior high school. Thereafter, she repeatedly committed street murders, driven by her impulses. As a result, she has become known as the "Midnight Murderer" and even has followers who consider her methods to be artistic. Her physical abilities are on a super-high school student level, but when she's not in front of Kigito she plays the role of a "demure young lady" - a character far removed from her usual self.[5]
During one incident with Kigito she is unwillingly forced to join an "organization" that executes criminals who cannot be punished by law in extrajudicial ways, by making the crime look like a random attack. Kyoko's code name in the organization is "Jack" (a nod to "Jack the Ripper") while Kigoto's name is "Guts of the Dead".[5]
Personality
Sashidere characters enjoys stabbing their love interest with a knife (sashi), but are also cute, overly affectionate, and lovey-dovey with them (deredere).[3]
Sashi Side
Kyoko Kirisaki stabbing Kugito Node the first time prior to falling in love with him from Shinanai Otoko ni Koishita Shoujo
Sashidere characters have a fetish for the feeling of stabbing their knife into another person's flesh. It is because of their fetish that they usually become a serial killer in order to take out their urges.[1]
However, after falling in love with their love interest they will choose to stop killing others under the condition that once per day their love interest agrees to let them stab them with a knife. This satisfies their two strongest desires: the need to stab someone with a knife and the feeling of wanting to be close to the person they are in love with. They will do things like stabbing their love interest in the morning in place of a morning greeting, going out on a date with their love interest and slowly stabbing them in a secluded place, or even taking them to a love hotel so they can enjoy the stabbing in private before getting all intimate with each other.[2][6]
While they may have killed people who they did not care about in the past, they are not someone who is going to kill or mindlessly hurt the person they are in love with. Even though they can be quite scary, this stabbing does not come from a place of wanting to hurt their love interest it is simply a fetish that they must satisfy and this is the way for them to do it without killing other people. This is why the condition for dating them is for their love interest to agree to be consentually stabbed by them at least once a day. It is because of this strange condition that this personality type only works if their love interest is an immortal shindere character who can be stabbed infinite times and never die.[3][2]
Deredere Side
Kyoko Kirisaki lovingly gazing at Kigito Node from Shinanai Otoko ni Koishita Shoujo
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Despite their usually quite scary behavior, sashidere characters also have a surprisingly cute and lovey-dovey side that they show off after falling in love with their love interest and they are not the kind of person who will hide their romantic feelings. Aside from the unusual habit of stabbing their love interest, their relationship with their love interest is very amicable and they can be extremely sweet and romantic.[2][6]
Because they can't afford to let the public know about their other side, they maintain a cute demure appearance in public. They will get shy when their love interest holds their hands, they blush when their love interest kisses them, they dress up in a cute yukata when going on a fair date. From the perspective of the general public they're a complete cute and lovey-dovey deredere couple.[3]
Despite the desire for stabbing, their feelings of love towards them are completely genuine and pure. They feel very loved every time they are with their love interest and will often passionately and lovingly stare at their love interest.[3][6]
Differences From Other Archetypes
This type shares some similarities to yandere since they both are associated with knives. The main difference is simply that sashidere characters are not sickly obsessed with their love interest and they won't try to hurt others for getting close to their love interest or do immoral things such as stalking them. A yandere character is also someone who will stab third parties and not their love interest since their devotion to them is so high.
It also has similarities to kichidere since they normally act quite dangerous, but sashidere characters don't necessarily have any mental illnesses and kichidere characters try to keep their mental health issues under control so they don't end up hurting their love interest.
Sashidere characters would be the perfect compatible love interest for a gurodere character who enjoys being made to bleed by their love interest.
Similar Archetypes
- Gurodere: A term for a deredere character who enjoys being all lovey-dovey and romantic with their love interest but also has an ultra-masochistic personality that enjoys being punished by them in erotic and grotesque ways.
- Kichidere: A term for a character who has gone insane and usually acts like a crazy lunatic, but whose romantic feelings toward their love interest are surprisingly cute and deredere.
- Shindere: A term for a character who has died but becomes finds a love interest and becomes deredere after coming back to life.
- 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
 Kyoko Kirisaki from Shinanai Otoko ni Koishita Shoujo  Kyoko Kirisaki with Kugito Node from Shinanai Otoko ni Koishita Shoujo  Kyoko Kirisaki with Kugito Node from Shinanai Otoko ni Koishita Shoujo  Kyoko Kirisaki from Shinanai Otoko ni Koishita Shoujo  Kyoko Kirisaki with Kugito Node from Shinanai Otoko ni Koishita Shoujo |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Shinanai Otoko ni Koishita Shoujo. Fire Cross. “The era of "Sashidere" begins! Kigito Node is a man who cannot die no matter how much he is kicked, punched, or run over by a car. He meets the genius murderer, Kyoko Kirisaki, also known as the "Midnight Killer." After being stabbed to pieces, Kigoto remains completely unfazed, and Kyoko's next words to him are... "W-Will you go out with me!!" This is the start of a new kind of "sashidere love story" drawn by a genius!!”
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Shinanai Otoko ni Koishita Shoujo #2 - Fragments of Everyday Life. Fire Cross (2008/11/01). “Look out for Kyoko, the Sashidere girl! The genius murderer Kyoko Kirisaki has fallen in love with Kigito Node, a man who will not die no matter how many times he is kicked, punched, stabbed, or run over. The reason is that "no matter how many times he is stabbed, he does not die". This work features the school life of Kigito and Kyoko. How do the "man who never dies" and the "genius murderer" spend their time at a regular high school? Isn't everyone interested? This is a must-read!”
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Shinanai Otoko ni Koishita Shoujo #4 - Momentary Bonds. Fire Cross (2009/08/01). “Summer of Sashidere, Summer of Japan. As usual, Kyoko hot loving gaze for Kigito only grows stronger. Normally, one would be deredere when a beautiful girl like Kyoko falls in love with you. But Kyoko is a "sashidere" and a former genius murderer. Kigito is an "immortal man". They make a perfect couple. However, a handsome guy, who doesn't know Kyoko's true nature, tells her off! What will Kigito do?”
- ↑ Shinanai Otoko ni Koishita Shoujo #5 - The Battle of Sadame. Fire Cross (2009/12/01). “Even under a foreign sky, the sashidere is in full swing!! One day, Kuto and Kyoko receive a new mission from the Organization. According to the Organization's messenger, Hal, the location of this mission is overseas. The order is to solve a series of murders that occur in a beautiful European city. As various intentions intersect, Kuto and his friends cross the sea and gradually get a foothold on the culprit...! Also pay attention to Kyoko Kirisaki's worldwide sashidere!”
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Shinanai Otoko ni Koishita Shoujo. Wikipedia JP (2008/06/01).
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Sashidere. A Diary of a Strange Gentleman's Reading (2009/04/07). “The main character gets stabbed really often. He stabs her once in the morning instead of greeting her and when she goes out on a date, she stabs him slowly and profusely in a secluded place. The hero is fed up and urges the heroine, Kyoko Kirisaki, to be more careful, but Kirisaki-san makes a remark like, "In return, let's go to a hotel, I stab you and you stab me, this is what I call 'a relationship between a man and a woman,'" which disgusts the hero. Kirisaki-san does not try to hide her fondness for the protagonist, and apart from the unusual act of stabbing him with a knife, their relationship is very amicable. It is truly a "sashidere", as they say. However, this Kirisaki-san is a real murderer who has killed dozens of people all over Japan to satisfy her desire to stab people until she met the immortal protagonist. She cannot lead a happy everyday life so easily, and from the latter half of the first volume, the story develops in a "detective skeleton" style, involving the main character. The first half of the second and third volumes were a lighthearted daily life part, but around the middle of the first volume, the "organization" sends a command to the protagonist, and the second half of the volume plunges into battle. This basic pattern is likely to continue for a while when the next volume is released. Will there ever be a day when this perverted couple can rest in peace? Puyo-san's surprisingly macho illustrations are also well suited to the work.”
| v • eDere Types | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Overview | |||
| Japanese | Standard |
Bakadere ♡ Biridere ♡ Bokodere ♡ Butsudere ♡ Chindere ♡ Dandere ♡ Darudere ♡ Deredere ♡ Dorodere ♡ Erodere ♡ Gandere ♡ Gesudere ♡ Goudere ♡ Gundere ♡ Gurodere ♡ Hajidere ♡ Himedere ♡ Hinedere ♡ Kamidere ♡ Kichidere ♡ Kiredere ♡ Kiridere ♡ Kuudere ♡ Kuzudere ♡ M Dere ♡ Megadere ♡ Nyandere ♡ Ojoudere ♡ Onidere ♡ Osadere ♡ Rindere ♡ Roshidere ♡ S Dere ♡ Sashidere ♡ Shindere ♡ Shundere ♡ Sunao Cool ♡ Sunao Heat ♡ Sunao Surreal ♡ Tsundere ♡ Tsuyodere ♡ Undere ♡ Usodere ♡ Utsudere ♡ Uzadere ♡ Wandere ♡ Yandere (Yanderu) ♡ Yandere (Yankii) ♡ Yoidere ♡ Zondere | |
| Variations |
Deretsun ♡ Tsun-Aho ♡ Tsun-Ama ♡ Tsunbaka ♡ Tsundero ♡ Tsundora ♡ Tsungire ♡ 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 | |||