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I think I have taken a liking to you. Won't you be my darling?
"Teasedere" is a term for a character who flirts with their love interest in a non-serious way to playfully tease them and get a flustered reaction out of them at first, but eventually adopts a more serious deredere side that is more open and honest with their true feelings. They will make suggestive remarks to mess with their love interest and playfully laugh at their reaction, which they find to be cute. Although they are characters who like to joke about their feelings and pretend they're just messing with their love interest to hide their true intent, everything they say about them is actually true and they are completely genuine in their love and care for them. Once they realize that their relationship won't get anywhere if they aren't open with their feelings, they will make a more serious confession to their love interest. From this point on they will adopt a more openly loving deredere side. They may still tease their love interest on occasion because they still find their reactions adorable, but they will be more upfront with their true feelings of love.
They are not characters who try to directly seduce their love interest, but rather do it with the sole intent to provoke a flustered reaction out of them because they find their reactions cute and funny.
Etymology
Meaning of the Term
Teasedere was created by combining the English word "tease", meaning "to attempt to provoke in a playful way", and "deredere" (デレデレ), a mimetic word for "being lovestruck".
Origin
Teasedere was created on the internet in the Western anime community in 2009 to describe the character Holo from Spice and Wolf (JP).[1][2] Holo enjoyed teasing her love interest Lawrence by saying things that will make him blush, such as the idea of them having to share the same bed, and then playfully laughing at his reaction when he freaks out. Although she likes to joke about her feelings of affection for Lawrence at first, she slowly falls in love with him throughout their journey together and depends on him for emotional support.
Alternate Name
Although teasedere is the correct name, the term "hiyakasudere" has also gained popularity online in recent years as an attempt to "Japanese-ify" the name.[3] However, this name gives a different connotation than the original that significantly alters its intended meaning. Hiyakasudere comes from the word "hiyakasu" (ひやかす), meaning "to make fun of, ridicule, or make rude and mocking remarks". This is in contrast to the English "tease", which means "to playfully provoke someone", and in the case of this dere type, to "playfully provoke someone in a flirtatious manner". The term "hiyakasudere" would perhaps better describe S dere; a character who enjoys playing with the feelings of their love interest by teasing them.
A more accurate translation of the word "tease" in this context would be the Japanese word "karakai" (揶揄い), which means "to tease someone in a playful or lighthearted way". It can also refer to joking around with someone or making fun of them in a friendly manner and is typically done in a good-natured way that's meant to create a sense of camaraderie or playfulness between people. So if this type were to be an official Japanese type a possible name for it that preserves its intended meaning and the correct dere type naming format would be "karadere".
History
The teasing romance genre has also gained more popularity in recent years.
The 2013 romance manga series Teasing Master Takagi-san (JP) is a very popular example of this. The main protagonist Takagi has a crush on her classmate Nishikata and likes to pass time by teasing him on a daily basis because she finds his reactions to be adorable. Takagi even tells Nishikata that she will reveal a secret: "I like you", but "that was a lie". However, it is revealed that the only part that was a lie was that it was a secret. Although it is out of love, Nishikata is oblivious to her true feelings and brushes off the idea of Takagi having romantic feelings for him (even though he also has a crush on her). Even through all of the teasing, there are times when Takagi tries to have genuine romantic experiences with Nishikata, but he struggles to let his guard down in fear of being teased again. Often, Takagi's teases serve as romantic hints to Nishikata to see whether he would reciprocate her feelings.
Characteristics
Teasedere are almost exclusively female characters. This is because when it comes to flirting, male characters tend to fall under either the more pervy sukebe type or the more direct and frivolous charao type instead. It is typically female characters that act like a tease and walk away after making a flirtatious comment or find it cute and funny when their love interest gets flustered by their comments. Male characters also tend to get more easily flustered around someone they find attractive than female characters do, making them a prime target to tease.
However, some male characters do still fall under this type.
Personality
Teasedere characters will flirt with their love interest in a non-serious way to playfully tease them at first, but then eventually adopt a more openly loving and honest deredere side. As the name suggests, they are characters that "tease" their "dere". They will show hints of their true feelings and deredere side, but then play it off as just being them teasing their love interest.[4]
Tease Period
Takagi from Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san
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Teasedere characters are playful at heart and enjoy teasing their love interest by flirting with them in an attempt to get a flustered reaction out of them. They will act very provocatively towards them or make suggestive remarks for the sake of teasing them that typically result in their love interest suddenly becoming flustered or embarrassed. They enjoy seeing their love interest get flustered by their actions and find their reaction to be "cute" or "charming" and may playfully laugh at it, which is further motivation for them to continue teasing them. Although they like teasing and acting mischievously towards their love interest, they greatly care for them and truly enjoy their time together.
Some teasedere characters may even do this as a way to subtly hide their true feelings when flirting with their love interest by playing it off as just having fun teasing them, which might be because they are too embarrased to be open with their true feelings. This can also be a way to judge their love interest's feelings and see if they like them back without opening themselves up to potentially getting hurt. They might do things like telling their love interest they "like" them to see their reaction and then play it off as them just kidding (even though they were completely serious).
It is very common for their love interest to not realize that the teasedere character is 'actually' in love with them. They will usually think they're just messing with them and don't have any real feelings or intent behind their flirting when this is not actually the case. This will often cause problems for them down the line when they decide to confess their feelings to their love interest in a serious manner. It can even cause their love interest to become distant because they don't want to let themselves get their hopes up again if they're just going to be messed with.
Dere Period
Hayase Nagatoro from Ijiranaide, Nagatoro san
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Eventually the teasedere character will fall in love with their love interest to the point where they want to start getting into a serious relationship with them. They will start to realize that they won't get anywhere in their relationship if they're only teasing their love interest. They may start noticing that their love interest isn't taking their romantic advances seriously, even when they are no longer teasing them, and realize it's because they weren't taking it seriously at the start either.
After they come to realize they're in love with their love interest and don't want to hide their true feelings any longer, they will want to become more serious about telling them how they feel. They will slow down on their teasing and be more open and honest with their feelings. If their love interest still thinks they are just teasing them after all of this, they may even state in a saddened and serious voice "I'm not teasing you" to make it clear they are serious with their romantic confession.
If a teasedere character is in a relationship, they may still tease their love interest from time to time to make them excited about being with them, but they will now be much more open to expressing their love for them as they will be less embarrassed to do so. They might make suggestive actions that make their love interest want to be more physical towards them, whisper something romantic in their ear out in public to see their flustered reaction, or even tease them about how much their love interests likes them back.
Differences From Other Archetypes
Teasedere is very similar to a more mild S dere—characters who gain pleasure by toying with and teasing their love interest—since they both enjoy playing with the feelings of their love interest and teasing them, but the main difference is that the teasing is a lot less harsh and physical with teasedere. Teasedere characters don't like toying with their love interest physically by dominating them or forcing them to do humiliating things, they just want to make their love interest flustered which they do in a flirty and teasing manner. A teasedere character will also playfully laugh at their love interest's reaction while an S dere character will be visibly excited from pleasure. To put it simply, a teasedere character will make a suggestive remark and then play it off as a joke to laugh at their love interest's cute flustered reaction, while an S dere will make a suggestive remark and then become excited by actually making their love interest do it.
A more extreme version of this type is erodere—characters who act erotic at first but after falling in love start to have a more pure, innocent and romantic love—but the biggest different is the intent. While teasedere characters can sometimes suggest lewd things to cause arousal in their love interest, such as the idea of the two of them having to share a bed, they only do it soley with the intent of teasing their love interest and having fun laughing at their cute flustered reaction. This is in sharp contrast to an erodere character who suggests lewd things to their love interest with the direct intent of causing arousal in them for the purpose of seducing them and making them fall in love with them.
Similar Japanese Archetypes
- Charao: A term for a flirtatious male character. Unlike with teasedere, they do not tease or playfully make fun of their love interest and are instead directly trying to attract and enter a relationship with them, rather than trying to get a reaction out of them.
- Erodere: A term for a character who will act erotic at first, often in the form of teasing, but will become extremely embarrassed after experiencing true affection.
- Koakuma: A term for young female character who is flirtatious and seductive. They have a very captivating personality and enjoy playing with the hearts of men.
- S Dere: A term for a character who enjoys playing with the feelings of their love interest, which is sometimes seen as a "mean teasedere".
List of Characters
See Teasedere/Japanese Characters to see characters from Japanese media.
See Teasedere/Non-Japanese Characters to see characters from non-Japanese media.
Gallery
 Takagi with Nishikata from Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san  Hayase Nagatoro from Ijiranaide, Nagatoro san  Holo from Ookami to Koushinryou  Hana Uzaki from Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai!  Yoruichi Shihoin with Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach  Zero Two from DARLING in the FRANXX |
References
- ↑ Types of "Dere" - Teasedere. Wattpad (2009).
- ↑ You are a Teasedere!. Quotev (2012/11/09).
- ↑ The Hiyakasudere Archetype and Its Most Famous Anime Characters. CBR (2022/11/14).
- ↑ All About the Hiyakasudere (Teasedere) Archetype in Anime & Manga. WikiHow (2024/07/10).
| 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 | |||