Top 10 Best Tsundere Characters From Anime [Meaning Revealed]

Tsundere Definition

As Wikipedia puts it best,

Tsundere (ツンデレ ^?, pronounced [tsɯndeɽe]) is a Japanese term for a character development process that describes a person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing their warm side over time.

I am sure you have heard or met people who are like that. While it is uncommon to meet them, it is much easier for anime to portray characters like this. So lets take a look at the top 10 tsundere characters. Keep in mind the list is in no particular order.

Kaname Chidori – Full Metal Panic! Series

Now Kaname is the main female character in the show. The plot revolves around Sagara Sousuke, a young military geek who is sent to protect a “Whispered” human which happens to be Kaname. Sagara works for MITHRIL and alongside two other members, they have to make sure Kaname stay safe and out of harms way. “Whispered” humans have the ability to create Black Technology and possess advanced technology.

Now Kaname is very “violent” towards Sousuke due to him not being able to differentiate normal and dangerous situations. Due to the lack of common sense, Kaname always smacks Sousuke with a paper fan or reprimand him when he does something stupid. At the same time, she hides her romantic feelings for her and she rarely shows it and masks it with “violence”. Below shows some funny scenes in the series where she shows her “violent” self.

Misaki Ayuzawa – Kaichou wa Maid-sama

Misaki is the female president of the student council that used to be an all boys school. To make it safe for girls in the school, Misaki tries her best to protect girls from the potential boy bullies. Due to this, her reputation among boys is poor and is known as the “demonic boy hating dictator”. The interesting thing is that nobody knows that Misaki works in a maid cafe part time to support her family.

All is good until one of the popular and handsome boy named Takumi finds out about her working there. Now Misaki is very cold towards Takumi initially as she feels the need to protect her “strong girl” image. She eventually starts falling for Takumi but still finds it hard to express her feelings.

Hitari Senjougahara – Nisemonogatari

Now Hitari has got some really weird mood swings that classifies her as a “unique” tsundere character. Her tendency to be abusive and also ignoring people while being rude puts her in the tsundere quota. In the anime, she is depicted as aloof, arrogant and a “rich girl”. But the truth is, she is actually poor and pretending to be rich. Her wanting to take Araragi expensive dates and doing whatever it takes to impress him and look rich sums it all up about her obsession to look wealthy.

Chitoge Kirisaki – Nisekoi

Chitoge is your classic tsundere character – always fighting with Raku and is unable to express her romantic feelings towards him. Plus, she is quite oblivious to others’ love interests as well, making her a “newbie” in relationship intelligence. However, she boasts incredible demonic strength and often sending Raku the flying punch. Her hatred for Raku initially in the show is evident and you will get to see her getting closer to Raku eventually as the story progresses.

Louise de La Vallière – The Familiar of Zero

Louise is the “dumb” magician in the show in the magical fantasy world of Tristain. She is a student in the Tristain Academy of Magic. During a school magic practice, Louise was supposed to summon a familiar but ends up summoning a real life boy named Saito from our world. Plenty of funny scenes occur due to the differences between the real world and the fantasy world.

Now Louise hates Saito very much initially and treats him like a dog and therefore a tsundere. Saito is a horny young boy that does not know how to behave around women. Saito often gets punished by Louise as he often “disobey” her. As the show goes on, Louise starts developing feelings for him and gets jealous when Saito pays attention to other girls.

Shana – Shakugan no Shana

Shana, the female lead of the show is a former human but turns into a flame haze and live forever due to a contract with the crimson lord. She starts off the show without a name and it was the main male character Yuji that gave her a name. She often says shut up 3 times whenever she gets embarrassed, especially by Yuji. Her inability to show her emotions towards Yuji classifies her as a classic tsundere.

Nagi Sanzenin – Hayate the Combat Butler

Nagi is a tomboy, rich girl and tsundere. Nagi prefers to stay indoor and perceives outdoor activities and dangerous due to her status. You could also classify her as a tsundere otaku. She has trouble conveying her feelings and emotions not only just to Hayate(her love interest), but also people that are close to her. Most of the time, she is very immature. That isn’t surprising considering she is only 13. Despite her “short comings”, Nagi is intelligent and very well educated.

Mikoto Misaka – Toaru Majutsu no Index

Mikoto is quite the short tempered, prideful girl that has plenty of insecurities. She becomes extremely immature and selfish when her love interest Touma insults her. That usually “summons” her tsundere behaviors and gets plenty of fan votes as the tsundere queen. She also has a very childish side and particular loves Gekota and Kill bear merchandise.

Maki Nishikino – Love Live!

Maki is quite childish and still believes in Santa Claus. She ranks quite high in the tsundere poll and is quite evident in the anime as she has a hard time admitting her true feelings to her peers. Maki is your typical normal school girl that does school girl things. She is quite skilled at playing the piano and has shown great musical talent. Oh and did I mention that she is from a wealthy family and there is a trend of tsundere characters usually being rich?

Taiga Aisaka – Toradora!

Haha, Taiga is your classic tsundere and a unique one. She is short, cute and childish. These are often the qualities that come with being tsundere. Taiga gets upset quite easily and is very honest when she is going ham on someone. She also comes from a wealthy family(tsk-tsk). Her rapid mood swings and unstable emotions really makes her character extremely volatile and someone fans may complain that she lacks proper character development. Despite her shortcomings, Taiga is actually a very loyal friend and always stands up for them.

There you have it folks. There are obviously more tsundere characters than the 10 I mentioned but they are some of the more popular ones.