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She may sound a little blunt, but you know, that's what I love about her.
"Tsundora" (JP) is a term for a tsundere character who acts so dry and emotionless when being tsun that they make it seem like they are serious, showing a complete rejection of their own feelings. At first glance they appear to have no deredere side whatsoever, however, there are times when their icy exterior will start to melt and their more loving affectionate side will slowly show through over time.
Etymology
Meaning of the Term
Tsundora (ツンドラ) is a combination of "tsundere" (ツンデレ), meaning "a character who acts distant, standoffish, and stuck-up towards their love interest in order to conceal their feelings of being lovestruck", and "dorai" (ドライ), meaning "dry (tone of voice; a delivery of words that sounds cold and lacking in emotion)".[1]
It is also a pun on the word "tsundora" (ツンドラ), which is the Japanese word for "tundra (an arctic region that has a permanently frozen layer below the surface)". Because these two words sound so similar it is easy to make a pun that a tsund-ere is so cold that they are actually a tsund-ora. This is in reference to the cold dry delivery of their words.[2]
Origin
Hitagi Senjougahara with Koyomi Araragi from Bakemonogatari
The archetype originates from the 2009 anime series Bakemonogatari (JP). In the first episode, Hitagi Senjougahara claims that she would be considered a tsundere to which Koyomi Araragi retorts that someone like her should be called a tsundora (tundra) instead, comparing her icy nature to the permafrost found in a tundra.[3]
Localization
Since the pun doesn't quite translate into English, the archetype is often unofficially localized as "tsundra" in an effort to make the pun make more sense in English, though perhaps "tsun-dry" would make more sense. However, in all official media for Bakemonogatari this pun is translated as simply "tundra", leaving out elements of being related to tsundere.
History
Although the use of the word "tsundora" as a variation of tsundere appears to originate from Bakemonogatari, there are earlier instances of characters being called "tsundora" in reference to having an ice-cold personality. In the 2005 light novel series Watashitachi no Tamura-kun (JP), the character of Hiroka Soma is officially introduced as "the beautiful Tsundora Queen" (JP) (translated in the English release as "Ice Queen") due to her cold and standoffish personality.
Personality
Tsundora are characters who act so cold and uninterested towards their love interest that they come off as completely serious in their rejection of their own feelings. They act tsuntsun as dry as possible, rarely showing any deredere side and making it seem like they are only tsun.[4]
While a regular tsundere will call their love interest childish names in a flustered fashion—hinting at the fact that they don't actually believe in their own words—a tsundora on the other hand will make brutal, ice-cold comments about their love interest making it seem like they really 'do' hate them. This makes it very difficult for their love interest to understand that they like them. However, eventually, the ice-cold exterior will melt and their more loving side will slowly show through over time.
Alternate Meanings
There is also another "tsundora" type that showed up on Japanese social media as an unofficial nickname for the character Veldora from the series That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (JP) in 2018. This "tsundora" is an abbreviation of the phrase "tsundere doragon/dragon" (ツンデレドラゴン) and is a reference to how Veldora, the evil and scary powerful dragon, suddenly started acting cute and tsundere in his introduction in the first episode.[2] This surprised audiences and made him a huge hit thanks to the gap between his scary appearance and adorable tsundere personality. After the episode aired, Japanese social media became flooded with mentions of "tsundere doragon" and later simply "tsundora".[5]
Similar Japanese Archetypes
- Kuudere: A term for a character who is calm and collected on the outside, though has loving feelings deep down.
- Tsundere: A character who acts hostile towards their love interest to hide their loving feelings. Tsundora characters are a variation of this trope.
List of Characters
See Tsundora/Japanese Characters to see characters from Japanese media.
See Tsundora/Non-Japanese Characters to see characters from non-Japanese media.
Gallery
 Hitagi Senjougahara with Koyomi Araragi from Bakemonogatari  Ram from Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu  Shinmon Benimaru from Enen no Shouboutai .jpg "Hoozuki from Hoozuki no Reitetsu (5).jpg (410 KB)") Hoozuki from Hoozuki no Reitetsu .png "Sousuke Sagara from Full Metal Panic! (1).png (154 KB)") Sousuke Sagara from Full Metal Panic!  Sumire (left) with Momo from Kimi wa Pet |
References
- ↑ What Is Tsundora. Pixiv Encyclopedia (2022/12/08).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 What Is Tsundora. Nico Nico Pedia (2010/02/14).
- ↑ Bakemonogatari: Tsundora Girlfriend. TCG Republic.
- ↑ What does "tsundora" mean in the moe attribute?. Yahoo Japan (2010/02/14).
- ↑ Is the Huge Success of "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime" Thanks to the Tsundere Dragon?. Kodansha (2016/05/26).
| 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 | |||