"Tsunshun" (JP) or "Tsunheko" (JP) is a term for a tsundere character who acts standoffish and disinterested in their love interest and then becomes sad because they couldn't be honest with their feelings.
Etymology
Meaning of the Term
Tsunshun (ツンしゅん or ツンシュン) 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 "shun" (しゅん or シュン), an onomatopoeia for "becoming sad".[4]
Origin
The term "tsunshun" comes from the Japanese light novel author Ryogo Narita (author of series like Durarara!!) to describe the character Hime Yarizakura from the 2006 manga series Yozakura Quartet (JP). Hime was a 16-year-old girl who was forced to become mayor at the age of 9 after the previous mayor her grandmother passed away. Due to the strong sense of pressure from this responsibility, Hime often found herself overwhelmed by her own failures and decisions she made to the point of bursting into tears.
Alternate Name
Although the term "tsunshun" was coined first, the author of Yozakura Quartet himself Suzuhito Yasuda (who also worked on Durarara!! with Ryogo Narita) described this archetype as being called "tsunheko" (ツンヘコ) instead.[5][6] This term comes from the word "hekomu" (ヘコむ), meaning "sad, disappointed, or feeling bad".
Hime Yarizakura is often referred to in official media as "Mayor Tsunheko".[3]
History
Popularity of Ririchiyo Shirakiin
While the term tsunheko is synonymous with the origin character Hime Yarizakura[7], the alternate name tsunshun has instead become synonymous with the character Ririchiyo Shirakiin from the 2009 manga series Inu×Boku SS (JP). Although the term was never used in the actual series itself, several pieces of official media from the series used the term to refer to Ririchiyo, such as the Prism Connect trading card game or several collector's figures which coined her the "Heroine of Tsunshun".[8][1][9][10]
Ririchiyo was so popular as the face of tsunshun that she even spawned several doujinshi fan manga based on her, including So What? It's a Marriage Between Princess Tsunshun and the Bitter & Sweet Prince (JP) released in 2010 and Tsunshun × Natural Black (JP) released in 2012.[11][12][13]
Other Series
The term was also later used in the 2017 video game Haruoto Alice*Gram Snow Drop (JP) which came with a bonus drama CD called Ichiyo's Sweet-Sweet Tsunshun Lover's Situation (JP) about the character Ichiyo Kuonji.[14][2]
Personality
Like a tsundere, tsunshun will act stuck-up and reject or act uninterested in something, but whereas a tsundere would go "I'm doing it, but it's not like I like you or anything!" and try to accept what the other person has to say while trying to keep their "I'm not interested" mask, a tsunshun will not try to find a way to make things work. Instead, they will say "no" and then get sad because they couldn't say "yes".
Example: "No, I'm not going to the festival" words out of their mouth = "Why didn't I say yes and go to the festival!? Why!?" words inside their mind a few minutes later.
It doesn't need to be a straight "no"; it can be any tsun or standoffish expression. A tsunshun will reject others and act like they are above them, but then get upset with themselves for being rude and not being sincere.
Similar Archetypes
- Shundere: A term for a character who get sad when their love interest doesn't pay attention to them but is deredere when they do. Could be considered an inverse of tsunshun.
- Tsundere: A term for a character who can't be honest with their feelings of love towards their love interest so they act distant, standoffish, and stuck-up to conceal them.
List of Characters
Gallery
 Hime Yarizakura from Yozakura Quartet  Hime Yarizakura from Yozakura Quartet  Ririchiyo Shirakiin from Inu×Boku SS  Ririchiyo Shirakiin from Inu×Boku SS  Aika Natsukawa from Yumemiru Danshi wa Genjitsushugisha  Kyou Sohma from Fruits Basket |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 A Figure of Tsunshun's Ririchiyo-sama!. Taito (2012/11/10).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Haruoto Alice*Gram Gecchu-ya Bonus Drama CD "Ichiyo's Sweet-Sweet Tsunshun Lover's Situation". Getchu (2017/06/30).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Yozakura Quartet. Kodansha (2007/09/21). “Hime, the tsunheko mayor of the town, Ao, his sister youkai Satori, and Koto, the girl-loving spirit user. And then there is Akina, a seemingly ordinary person with the most important secret of all. These four take on one bizarre case after another in Sakura-shinmachi, a town of cherry blossoms that exists between the afterlife and this world!”
- ↑ What is Tsunshun. Pixiv Encyclopedia (2011/12/06). “They have a tsundere attitude followed by a shun...a sad personality. It differs slightly from tsundere, in that it is a sad "shun..." after a tsundere attitude toward another person. Ririchiyo Shirakiin herself hates this personality and is trying to improve it, but the road ahead is steep. She often follows up by sending polite apologies from her one-person reflection sessions. However, she still acts tsuntsun at the next opportunity and she falls into an endless loop of sadness again. For those who understand her, the whole process may seem cute and endearing, but for those who do not it tends to give misunderstandings.”
- ↑ What is Tsunshun/Tsunheko. Pixiv Encyclopedia (2011/11/16). “The character of Hime Yozakura, the protagonist of Yozakura Quartet. Hime Yozakura is a town mayor with a lot of responsibilities and she is always reckless and full of worries about the people around her. Although she has a strong spirit, she frequently loses her temper due to regret and blame for her failures. She is called "tsunshun" by Ryogo Narita and "tsunheko" by the author.”
- ↑ "Yozakura Quartet" Will Be Made Into a TV Anime This Fall. My Navi (2008/07/28). “A TV anime adaptation of the popular tsunheko comic "Yozakura Quartet ~Yozakura Quartet~", which has been serialized in "Monthly Shonen Sirius" (Kodansha Ltd.) since 2007, is now in the works. The comic "Yozakura Quartet" will be adapted into a TV anime.”
- ↑ Synonymous With "Tsunheko", Hime Yarizakura is a Figure. Natalie (2009/01/05).
- ↑ Prism Connect - Inu×Boku SS Booster Pack: Tsunshun Ririchiyo Shirakiin. Suruga-ya (2012/09/21).
- ↑ "Tsunshun" Inu×Boku SS - Ririchiyo Shirakiin Product Version Introduction. Ameblo (2013/03/27).
- ↑ Painted Finished Product - Inu×Boku SS Ririchiyo Shirakiin. Bic Camera (2013/03/28).
- ↑ Inu×Boku SS - So What? It's a Marriage Between Princess Tsunshun and the Bitter & Sweet Prince. Suruga-ya (2010/10/10).
- ↑ Inu×Boku SS - So What? It's a Marriage Between Princess Tsunshun and the Bitter & Sweet Prince. Otaku Republic (2010/10/10).
- ↑ Inu×Boku SS - Tsunshun × Natural Black. Suruga-ya (2012/08/12).
- ↑ Haruoto Alice*Gram Getchu-ya Bonus Original Drama CD. Video Game Music Database (2017/06/30).