Sensate Saturday: Dere

This week for Sensate Saturday I’m doing a quick primer on some stereo types people will find in Japanese romance, and to a lesser extent everywhere else! It’s all about Dere!

What is Dere?: It’s a Japanese onomatopoeia for lovestruck, dere dere.  There are four main types of “Dere”, Tsundere, Dandere, Kuudere, and Yandere.

Tsundere: Someone who runs hot and cold, or aloof but secretly in love. Some great examples of Tsundere characters are, Tohsaka Rin from Fate Stay/Night, Kirisaki Chitoge from Nisekoi and from Western Lit, Princess Ce’Nedra from the Belgariad and Mallorean series.  There’s also a variant where the person is generally sweet, but piss them off and they can become violently cold towards you. A good example of this is Stella Vermillion from Rakudai.

Dandere: Someone who is really shy and sweet, pretty much the exact opposite of Tsundere’s in outward appearance for the most part. Some great examples of Dandere characters are Hyuga Hinata from Naruto, Onodera Kosaki from Nisekoi, are some of the more recent outstanding notables, but there are plenty more.

Kuudere: Kuu, from the English word “Cool”, is someone who is cold and rather emotionless on the outside towards pretty much everyone, but that special someone can melt their heart in a quick second. Examples include Seishirou Tsugumi from Nisekoi, Meng Qing from Peerless Martial God, and Ayanami Rei from Evangelion.

Yandere: Probably the most disturbing personality type of the four, Yandere’s are typically crazy about someone. Literally. They don’t take rejection well at all and become incredibly violent. They might even go down the road “If I can’t have him/her, no one can”. Some notable and famous examples are Yuno Gasai from Mirai Nikki, Vander Decken IX from One Piece (What you expected this to be just a female only trope? Get real.), Harold and Nadine from Stephen King’s The Stand are some Western Literature examples as well.

That’s it for this week’s Sensate Saturday!

Manga Monday: Hayate no Gotoku by Kenjiro Hata

This week for Manga Monday I’m covering a series I sort of enjoy. It’s Hayate no Gotoku, or Hayate the Combat Butler in English, by Kenjiro Hata!

Plot Synopsis: Hayate Ayasaki is an unlucky 16-year-old who has worked since childhood to make ends meet due to his parents’ irresponsible behavior. One day on Christmas Eve, he finds out that his parents shoulder him with a massive ¥156,804,000 gambling debt, the Yakuza (who the money was borrowed from in the first place) plan to settle that debt by using him for their needs. While running away from the debt collectors he ends up meeting Nagi Sanzenin, a young 13-year-old girl who is the sole heir of the wealthy Sanzenin estate, and due to a misunderstanding, Nagi ends up falling in love with Hayate

Plot: The plot seems to be super serious, but it quickly devolves into endless romantic comedy and gags. I’m not one for a series that ignores the plot, but sometimes you just need a laugh and this series is perfect for this.

Characters: Hayate is hilarious, partly because he’s a dolt and because he’s interested in Nagi’s maid. This leads to many fights with Nagi herself and it’s pretty funny. Nagi is also a pretty funny character and most of the gag’s come from her.

Art: It’s been running since 2004, so it’s not as dated as the older One Piece chapters. It’s alright, but nothing super special.

Overall: This is a skippable series, but it is pretty funny.

For those who like: Comedy, Romantic Comedies, Gags, Parodies.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.