Futaba was well known in her middle school as being extremely attractive, and obsessed over by the boys. The girls however felt an extreme jealousy and ostracized her a number of times. Despite the negativity she encountered, it never stopped her from moving forward and focusing on the one person that mattered most: Her classmate Kou Tanaka. Her feelings grew for Kou when the two had shared a shelter from the rain, followed by other memorable events that took place in their lives. There was a time when two had planned to meet up at a summer festival, but Kou unfortunately never showed up causing Futaba to feel lonely. Fast forward several years to high school where now Futaba has grown more mature in her ways, but this time behaves differently compared to her past experiences. Her tomboyish behavior garners her attention so much that a very attractive boy notices her. That very same boy is none other than Kou, who also has changed, not only his family name, but his appearance. A great example of agokui in a scene where the two are standing in the living room, and another young boy walks in to see Kou caressing Futaba's blushing face in the famed agokui position. This scene accurately represents the overwhelming power of agokui, since it truly melts a woman's heart and shows how much the man cares for her. No words are said, just an action that speaks volumes in a strong romantic fashion. We highly recommend watching this great romantic comedy to get your slice of the agokui aciton.

This drama filled anime will surely have your heart strings being pulled at every moment, as Sukitte Ii na yo is about saying I love you in the most profound way. Mei was your ordinary school girl who enjoyed the finer aspects of life, until a traumatic incident involving her friends reshaped her life forever. Due to this experience, she became somewhat reclusive and made sure to avoid as many people as she could to avoid being hurt. Throughout high school she was able to strongly maintain her iron clad exterior until one day at school, she comes across an attractive young boy named Yamato Kurosawa. Suddenly, the more introverted and protective girl now questions her behaviors as to whether they were the right choices. Yamato shows great attention to her which Mei can't seem to reject, simply because he doesn't ignore her like everyone else is. Being the confident man that he is, Yamato unabashedly slips her his phone number, completely changing the scale of the relationship in an instant. Over the course of the series, we see the relationship of these two grow fonder, as Yamato unexpectedly gives Mei a kiss using agokui, completely making her heart swell with passion. This strong form of affection is what truly made the agokui scenes in this highly romantic anime stand out. Unlike most anime that cut to the next scene just before the anticipated kiss, sukitte ii na yo shows us every little detail of what a kiss looks like. The premise of the show is to demonstrate how powerful love can be when two people can embrace their imperfections, look past the pride and prejudice, and develop a bond so strong that saying I love you can be done through action rather than words. Agokui is not a skill one learns but rather is a natural gift we all have to show our true affection for the one we admire. This anime will surely make you wish for a fantastic romantic adventure of your own, so check it out.

Misaki has had her fair shares of ups and downs throughout school. Many of the boys around her have nicknamed her “demon president” due to her strict orderly fashion, and her ability to use her mastery of Akido techniques to defend the girls around school. Behind this striking demeanor lies a secret that many of her classmates are unaware of; it's that she works as a part time maid at a maid cafe. Misaki uses the job to help cover the bills due to her current family situation, and so she feels embarrassed to let anyone know of her private life in fear of being ridiculed. However, all secrets must be exposed as one day Takumi, the most popular boy in school, walks into the maid cafe. Knowing of her secret, Takumi uses strategic thinking to coax Misaki into doing what he wants. Eventually, the coaxing slowly turns into an infatuation as the two become closer romantically over time. There is one fantastic example of agokui in Kaichou wa Maid Sama! when Takumi catches Misaki alone at night after work. The two are clearly enamored by one another, and so Takumi proceeds to grab her chin like a true champion and goes to lay the final blow. This example not only proves the act of agokui, but also demonstrates to everyone how important self confidence is when dealing with relationships. Actions surely will overpower that of words, as long as you are confident enough to gently caress your loved one’s chin and bring them closer to say...I love you.

A kamidere, in the simplest terms, is an anime archetype for characters with a god complex. The word derives from the roots ‘kami,’ which means god and then the common suffix of ‘dere,’ which means loving and is commonly attached to other anime archetypes like tsundere and yandere. As a result, 'dere' generally suggests romantic feelings coming from a female character. However, this is not always the case. First off, Deres can be both female and male. Secondly, the connotation of romance and love doesn't always apply to another person. For Kamideres, the aspect of love is attached to the desire of power. It's a perfect example of how language is able to bend its own rules and create more nuanced subjects and meanings. Now to begin, the essential thought process for such characters cover a couple aspects. First, they tend to believe they are destined for greatness. When your dream is to conquer the world, it would be a bit strange if you actually didn’t feel this way. The second is that they are certain that the life they lead surpasses or is beyond the grasp of their fellow men. This facet of their personality generally acts as the catalyst for them turning into kamidere. The moment you start believing that you are above your fellow man is the moment you have developed a god-complex. As a result, it should not come as a surprise that many of these characters come off as confident, if not just arrogant.

Death Note follows Light Yagami as he creates a “utopia” through the power of the Death Note. The Death Note is simply a journal owned by shinigami, gods of death, that has the power to kill the person whose name is written into it. There are quite a few rules that go along with how to properly use such a journal, however, the price of using the Death Note is that you can neither go to Heaven nor Hell. Well, after the shinigami Ryuk drops his Death Note on purpose into the human world, it falls into the hands of the idealistic and slightly bored Light. From there, Light begins to use the Death Note in order to create a world that he sees as just, but his version of justice is questionable to say the least and catches the attention of the world-renowned detective known as ‘L’. A pretty obvious give away that Light is a kamidere is the simple fact that he wants to create a utopia that he’s the god of. He goes so far as to say “I am the God placed here to save the weak and create a perfect world.” If that does not depict a god complex, then only god knows what does. Admittedly, Light is a genius, one that not only is able to successfully outplay L, but also create his utopia within the span of the show. To do this he uses everyone and everything at his disposal. In fact, even the people he’s been closest to are nothing more than tools. During his father’s last breaths, instead of being legitimately sad, he tries to use the moment to find out the actual identity of ‘L’ in order to kill him. Anyone who desires any sort of intimacy with him is used as means of a spokesperson or scapegoat. It is quite sad if you consider that his initial goal was to protect the weak and innocent. The ends don’t always justify the means, and that’s something Light should have remembered.

Generally, it can be expected for what started off as confidence to turn into arrogance as the narrative develops. The reason behind this is that kamideres often do have a few skills/attributes that are at an exceptional level. Their communities frequently observe and praise these characters at a young age for intellectual brilliance or physical promise. Many have already accomplished quite a few incredible feats in their life or have attained a certain status. It is their belief in their skills as well as the supportive environment that allows them to appreciate and love life for all the possibilities it brings. Thus, kamideres can often see the good or at least true talent in other people. However, their abilities also tend to immediately seclude them from their society as they are hoisted onto a pedestal. It’s from this point that they receive the opportunity to see all that is wrong with the world. Throw into the mix a supernatural ability to change the world (Lelouch’s Geass in Code Geass or Akashi’s Emperor Eye in Kuroko no Basket) when the character has reached such a stage and, well, there’s no stopping them now in trying to enforce a new world order. Did that escalate too quickly? The mixture of their reasoning and character traits generally lead to a very interesting plot as the characters are forced into an extremely dynamic environment. In general, a story that follows someone trying to conquer anything, especially something as grand as the world, will have lots of action and some political intrigue as well. That’s exactly why a revolution is a common setting for a kamidere.

In a futuristic world where mobile mecha known as Knightmares exist, Japan has been conquered by Britannia and declared as District 11. The Japanese people, unhappy with Britannia’s rule, have formed resistance groups. One such resistance group is under the lead of the tactician Zero, aka Lelouch vi Britannia, an ex-prince who wants to get revenge on his father for murdering his mother and exiling him and sister. It is with the power of Geass and his supreme intellect that he is willing and capable to take on the overwhelming force of a world superpower. “Before creation there must be destruction. If my soul stands in the way, then I'll toss it aside. Yes, I have no choice but to move forward.” Here’s a prime example of Lelouch exalting himself past normal human standards, albeit, in a slightly painful manner. Lelouch, like Light Yagami, has an enormous intellect and when given the power to create change, allows himself to dive headfirst as a leading revolutionary. He also has a slight tendency to use people in order to get what he wants. Unlike, Light though, Lelouch does feel guilt over using human life and is actually affected by his personal relationships while relying on them heavily. Though he is ego-centric and believes he is the only one capable of reigning in a new future, it is purely a future for the people. SPOILER: Thus, his willingness to sacrifice himself as the final act of the rebellion.

A nice thing about this archetype is that it can actually be used for various effects outside of drama/action. Admittedly, it is generally entertaining to watch a leading kamidere, such as Light Yagami from Death Note, go all-out in his/her desire to change the world. Nonetheless, if kamideres were always associated with such drama, then the archetype would be rather dull in respect to the other anime character structures, which tend to allow more room for differing subtleties. Thankfully, the spectrum of a kamidere has quite a bit of range. For example, there’s the more humorous type of kamidere like Black Star from Soul Eater, who’s greater than god attitude is consistently used for comedic relief. I mean when someone has the guts to declare the majestic statement: “Are you scared? I understand. The first time I saw my reflection in the mirror, even I was frightened by how BIG my reflection was.” It takes quite the ego to even utter such a statement, but Black Start has a plethora of lines that touch upon his lack of humility. There’s also Keima from Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai (The World God Only Knows) who views himself as the “God of Conquest” for having beaten an unheard amount of dating sims. “I don't give a damn about the real world,” is one of his most famous quotes, which demonstrate just how far he has removed himself from the realm of mortals. Also, despite the fact that he doesn’t have any aspirations for world conquest, his confidence when it comes to winning over a girl is on display throughout the series. With such characters, it’s not too hard why some could see kamideres as the drama queens of the anime world. They are after all the characters who demand immediate attention the moment they are on-screen. They’re also the type who will blow a fuse whenever something goes slightly off the planned course. Whether that’s have the tides of battle turned by an unexpected opponent or simply someone, who they would refer to as a ‘peasant,’ touching them without permission depends on the character. The type of character will also determine whether or not the audience finds such an outburst rather attractive or simply childish. If you take a character like Jamil from Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, then chances are you will see his frustration as simply childish and self-delusional to the fullest extent.

Acting as a prequel to Fate/Stay Night, Fate Zero depicts the events of the Fourth Holy Grail War and the reasons why it is considered one of the most horrific and gruesome wars within the series. Though the narrative follows several characters, the main figures are Kiritsugu Emiya, who is known as a “Mage Killer,” and the noble Sabre spirit he summoned, Arturia. Well, opposing Kiritsugu and Sabre as one of the most deadly antagonists is the Archer spirit of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh considers himself as the most powerful beings in the universe. He dons a complete golden armor set, becomes extremely irritated when Berseker touches him, and demands that Sabre become his wife. “Ephemeral and brilliant one, fall to my embrace. That is my decision” is apparently a reasonable proposal in his mind. Even though there are a few redeeming moments, such as when he pays his respect to Alexander the Great, overall, the guy is quite the tyrant. Nonetheless, he is the “King of Heroes” for a reason and has the power to back up almost everything he claims. He is, after all, the one heroic spirit who was capable of becoming corporeal again and existing within the human plane of existence.

There are always two sides to every coin, and the same philosophy can be applied to the husbando. As stated in our intro, the husbando can take on various roles but still maintain his irresistible demeanor that just have us all trembling at the knees. In this case, we will start off with the more delicate side of the husbando since the popularity of bishounen anime have always been on the rise, especially as of late. The brave affectionate husbando is the one who we wish to sweep us off our feet with their strong, yet sweet attitude to everything. Their gentle embrace along with their confident character can have us experiencing a new euphoria that can only be received through him. In our upcoming examples, we will explore what it means to be a strong yet sweet husbando and why we chose them as our candidates. We will start off with Kittan from the very popular Guren Lagann series, and from there we will move into everyone's favorite Levi from Attack on Titan. We decided to start off with these two gentleman because they both demonstrate the core foundation of a husbando, one who is courageous on the outside, but deep down their loving embrace captivates us all.

Gurren Lagann is one of the better classic anime that dropped around the mid-2000's, with a spectacular story that we can all enjoy, because of its wide array of characters all of whom possess colorful personalities. After discovering a mysterious artifact that turned out to be the ancient artifact of war, Simon and Kamina fend off a whorde of enemies who are out to recapture the Lagann. Shortly after the battle, Simon and Kamina set off on a new journey to explore more of the wastelands in search for more. They soon find themselves against the beastmen, who are humanoid creatures that are out to destroy the gunmen, who are the last surviving remanants of humanity. It is now up to Simon and the rest of the team he has formed to reclaim the surface, while uncovering the mystery behind the ancient artifact of war. So while the show focuses on Simon and his two other comrades, Kittan plays an extremely major role in the show and really shows us what a real husbando is. Kittan is the leader of the black siblings, a group of survivors who work alongside Simon to bring an end to the terror of the beastmen. After acquiring his own ganman named “King Kittan”, he became a force to be reckoned with and became a great assistance to the Gurren Brigade. So what makes him a great husbando? Not only does he show us a side of bravery and a willingness to protect everyone around him, his more obnoxious behavior and carefree view on life is what we all strive to be like. One great example is when Simon finds himself trapped in battle with the beastmen, Kittan jumps in to save him and shortly after the two laugh it all off in a very humbling way as if he were saying everything will be alright so long as I'm around. That fearless attitude is what makes us all feel a sense of safety when in the arms of Kittan.

Attack on Titan came into the anime spotlight back in 2013 with amazing praise from many fans. It's story takes place in a world where mankind were slaughtered to the brink of extinction by gigantic humanoid monsters known as Titans. Their lust for human flesh sparked a lot of terror forcing those who survived to create large walls of concrete to keep them at bay. However, that peace came to an abrupt end when a colossal titan approaches the town, breaking through what was once thought of as an impenetrable wall, creating havoc within minutes. It is now up to the team of elite team Survey Corps to put a stop to all of the chaos that is ensuing, and restore peace to the town before all the titans destroy the wall and also humanity as we know it. Levi is the captain of the scouting legion division and leader of the special operations squad, which is an elite team of hand picked individuals brought together to protect Eren. The reason why we chose Levi as one of our husbando's is because of his handsome features, strong leadership qualities, and demonstrates loyalty to everyone who is around him. Levi is also somewhat of a perfectionist, in that he ensures that everything around him is spic and span, and readily available. A great example of his bravery is when one of his comrades fails to fend off one of the titans and finds themselves on the verge of death. Levi being the great husbando, flies in courageously fending off the titan and saving his comrade from near death, doing so in an almost effortless fashion. Everyone falls in love with this type of husbando because we all desire to have one who can take care of things, keep our place clean, and take charge when necessary to protect us. Our hearts melt with joy as we are greeted with an individual who not only takes good care of himself, but his charm and confidence will have you absorbed immediately.

There is that one husbando who you just want to fix because they have so many great qualities about them, but they misuse them on so many occasions. We have all come across that one individual who just can't seem to get it right, but when they do we immediately feel like we've contributed to their success. Evil or good natured, every husbando we desire to fix will more than likely have some side to them that somehow doesn't bring all the pieces together. We have decided to choose Light Yagami from Death Note as the one who we try so hard to change, because we know behind that cold exterior is a charming and warm individual who really only wanted to do the best for others. However they somehow slipped along the way and we need to be there to help pick them back up. So let us hop in and cover more about our handsome devil, Light.

The story of Light begins in an odd way, since he wasn't really aware of the events that would follow in his very pathless life. He was a very distant student in school who really had a strong disdain for those who brought harm to the world. He felt in his heart that there should be justice for those who brought pain and suffering, and that he would be deemed a God if he could simply rid of all of the evil around him. That is when shinagami Ryuk shows up one night, accidently dropping his death note while wandering around the human realm. Light eventually stumbles upon the note book on his way home from school, and from here his life changes forever. Curious about how the death note works, he witnesses a very disturbing event take place on TV, and so he writes the name of the suspect down in his book unknowingly aware of the events that would transpire. Soon after the suspect dies in the same way he had wrote it, his thirst for justice grew stronger and his twisted ways became more apparent over the course of the series. With the divine strength in his grasps, Light uses this note to dispose of anyone who gets in his way creating serious consequences for our handsome husbando. Light is by no means an evil person, as we can see that his intent to seek justice is not wrong. However, his approach to it all is what created a span of countless investigations around him, deeming Light to be a criminal himself. He demonstrates very positive qualities about him that we love, such as his calculated mind state and ability to foresee things. This shows a man who is very organized in his ways, and plans out his actions with every ounce of detail being written down. This great quality is what makes us fall in love, but we just want to change that careless and impulsive side to him since it's what puts him in trouble in the first place. Nobody is perfect, but this is exactly why everyone tries so hard to bring peace into his confused heart.

Last year we saw a lot of long white or light violet hair, not only in kuuderes and danderes, but in general. This season still has a few of those, but its looking a bit more varied and leaning towards more blues, aquas and greens. And pink, but there’s always pink, this is anime we’re talking about! Long flowing hair - most commonly blonde or black - is usually a symbol of beauty and femininity in anime. Danderes and kuuderes are usually not ones to care about fitting into a mold and so their hair tends to be short, messy and/or asymmetrical and comes in varied colors! This season we saw a lot of short hairstyles; some brightly colored bobs, like Nanami Shiranui from Norn9 and Lelei from GATE; and even shorter shaggy styles like Mana Asuha from Luck & Logic and Koito Minase’s red shag from Musaigen Phantom World. And of course, there’s also Saki Inui’s very anime-ish asymmetrical pale aqua hairstyle in Aokana which matches her outfits perfectly. A little more than half our kuuderes and danderes had short hair this season, making it the go-to look. And the vast majority of them had unnatural hair colors. In fact, all of the long haired girls had either a cool color or an interesting hairstyle making all of them stand out in some way. Clarion from Koukaku no Pandora and Shizuru from BBK/BRNK both accentuated their innocent looks with different shades of pink, while Sylvia from Schwarzesmarken keeps her wavy violet mane wild and messy.

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And while kuudere/dandere boys are rare, we had a couple this season, and though one is blond and the other’s brunet, one thing they have in common is, they both have long hair! Aoto from Divine Gate keeps his chin length; and super kuudere Tomoe Yagami from Prince of Stride has his layered, asymmetrical and in his face. Such the cool guy!

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The vast majority of the danderes and kuuderes this season (though I think that’s usually the case), were pretty modest with their outfits. Granted, Sylvia shows her cleavage when in uniform in Schwarzesmarken and some girls give a peek of thigh, but you don’t really see anything else! Lelei in GATE and Merry in Hai to Gensou no Grimgar also wear the clothes required by their profession and so they are limited as to how much skin they can show. The modesty of kuuderes and danderes can also be appreciated in their choice of legwear when in school uniform. This season we saw many of these girls decked out in thigh-highs or full-on tights. Nanami from Norn9 and Mana (Luck & Logic) are completely covered up, while Saki Inui (Aokana) opts for thigh-highs and short sleeves. The boys didn’t fall behind; Tomoe from Prince of Stride was entirely covered up from neck to toe almost the entire time! Well, I guess he did show his forearms a few times…

Let’s be honest, few things say “cool chick” like a pair of knee-high or combat boots! And this season, most of the kuuderes and danderes were wearing just that. There were some pretty cool cyber boots you’d probably see at an electronic music show like Mana’s, especially when she’s Tranced with Artemis. Her boots have neon accents and buckles and are just all-around badass. Aika Suzuki’s boots in PSO2 are actually more than knee-high and they almost have a mecha-ish feel to them.

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As for the more subdued looks, we have some styles we could wear on the daily! Koito wears brown fold-over knee-high boots with brass accents. Nanami Shiranui also sticks to brown but wears the laced-up style that came with the uniform all the girls wear on the ship. Sylvia of course, wears her military issue black combat boots (no laces). But not everyone’s in knee-highs, Inui rocks short black combat boots with neon green accents to match her outfit and Merry wears navy blue booties to match her outfit and hair!

Except for Lelei, all the kuuderes and danderes this season wore black in some way. Inui and Mana both wear all black except for a few accents in lime green and aqua respectively. All others have black tights, skirts or a dress in Shizuru’s case. Saki Inui’s flying outfit is green and black with black wing-like sleeves (talk about a cool-dere!). Lelei la Lelena’s outfit is mostly white and green with some blue accents and Aika Suzuki’s outfit while in PSO2 is teal colored with a bit of black and white mixed in. Koito wears the same white, teal and black pattern on her uniform as well! No doubt these were the colors of the season! Though there was quite a bit of blue as well. Merry’s outfit is mostly white, one of the seasonal colors, but her cincher and accents are mostly navy blue like her hair. And Clarion’s Lolita dress is mostly dark blue with a bit of black and white here and there. Even our dandere Aoto and kuudere Tomoe got into it! Aoto rocks a blue jacket, white tee and black pants and Tomoe is seen in black most of the time.

One thing that stood out to me this season, and even inspired me to write this article is that two of the characters I think have the coolest style wear headphones! And they happen to be a dandere and a kuudere as well. These two of course are Mana Asuha and Koito Minase. Both of them send the international sign for “don’t bother me” by wearing the biggest headphones they could find. We don’t always have headphone characters, and this season we had two!

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Another unexpected trend this season was the beret. Usually a symbol of involvement in the military, the beret is no longer only for Street Fighter characters and Jean-Claude Van Damme! danderes and kuuderes can also rock this look regardless of their affiliation. Aika Suzuki’s look in PSO2 is a bit military and she wears her teal beret with pride! Shizuru opts for a cute purple beret that matches the rest of her outfit and adorns it with a cute little onigiri pin.

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Another set of head accessories were ears and horns. And of course, we couldn’t have an anime list of any sort without some sort of a cat-girl making an appearance! Clarion has cute little cat ears that go extremely well with her Lolita look and Mana’s trance outfit comes with one of the coolest hoodies I’ve ever seen. It’s baggy, black and has horns!

The easiest place to look is wherever you think you could find a real princess. That’s right. A good number of himederes are actually princesses. That personality has to come from somewhere, right? It might be more accurate to say that a lot of himederes are former princesses and have lost some of their status. After all, what are they doing mingling with the commoners anyway? Even if she’s lost their status, she hasn’t lost her pride. She’ll keep up the strong and sophisticated act to keep you at arm’s distance so that, hopefully, you won’t learn about her dethroning. Once you do though, be ready for a wonderful change in personality!

Ange, or formerly Angelize Ikaruga Misurugi, first princess of the Misurugi Empire, is a definitive himedere princess in the ecchi, action, mecha, fantasy genre mish-mash Cross Ange. After being stripped of her royal status and dignity for lacking the ability to control magical technology, Ange is forced to join a mecha military army of rough and tumble girls who fight dragons. Ange takes on a cold demeanor to protect herself both physically and mentally. She throws away her royal name, but her royal upbringing comes out in the way she speaks and carries herself. In true himedere fashion, Ange warms up to the sweetest guy on the planet, while simultaneously royally denying the biggest piece of garbage in the multi-universe, and we love her for it. You go girl! Himedere became even more popular in 2015, with two new anime princesses: the hot-blooded Stella Vermillion in Chivalry of a Failed Knight and cool-headed Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld in The Asterik War. Both are talented princess from their respective countries trying to make a name for themselves on a big stage of duel fights. These two himes are initially extremely combative to their male protagonists. Stella orders Ikki to stop breathing, while Julis is ready to give a full beat down to Ayato, a newbie at the school. Stella might be a little faster to the punch line than Julis, but both girls find themselves warming up to their dueling partners as the major romances in both series. At any rate, himederes with real hime credentials won’t be leaving the ecchi or harem genres any time soon.

Does a himedere have to be princess? No, sometimes a himedere is a more of a societal princess, an elite or socially well-off person. This includes Sanzenin Nagi from Hayate the Combat Butler (2007), who is a snobby tsundere but secretly has feelings for her butler. You could even include our favorite tsundere gangster princess Kirisaki Chitoge from Nisekoi (2014). Much like the real princess type of himedere, the social princess type can also be former elites, such as Aoyama Mio in The World Only God Knows (2010), who keeps up the elite daughter act even after she lost it all. These types of himederes aren’t hard to find, usually with a servant in tow, but some himederes are straight-up pretending, as we’ll soon see below.

Azuki Azusa, from the harem comedy The Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat, was bullied at her previous school. She decides to pretend to be an elite, taking on several part-time jobs to fund her rich girl act. Her social princess façade is broken, and she develops feelings for our main man Yoto, but we can easily see why people would mistake her for an elite princess. Beyond having popular girl looks and the style to match, Azuki is sure to be disappointed in your commoner’s date. Still, as a tried and true himedere, she’ll over look your minion status once she gets a good look at your beautiful personality. As such, some himederes have little reason for their hime act, and they simply have princess syndrome. They demand the best in everything, are egotistical, and can be quite narcissistic. They act like God’s gift to the world, or at least God’s gift to you. Still, you can’t hate them, because they’re so darn cute! This princess-y attitude is well described in the song “World is Mine” by Hatsune Miku, a virtual singer, or vocaloid. In the song, Miku-tan proclaims that she is the number one princess in the world. If you want to know exactly what modern himederes want, this song would be a good place to start your research.

Just as there are tsundere guys, there can be guys with a little himedere in them, or should we say a little oujidere in them? “Ouji” is Japanese for “prince,” and just like himedere, it describes a princely tsundere, or more commonly, a princely kuudere. They’re arrogant and annoying, but a true prince charming is lurking behind those haughty sneers and holier-than-thou glares. Be it true royalty like Prince Raj from Snow White with the Red Hair (2015), or the social elite like Ootori Kyoya from Ouran High School Host Club (2006), these turn-around guys could be princes that dreams are made of. Sometimes they are just mean bad boys, like Sata Kyouya from Wolf Girl and Black Prince (2014), but there’s a good reason why these guys get the girl in the end. Eventually, we see they have hearts of gold.

Oujideres aren’t exclusively for shoujo romances, mind you. Be it “King of the Court” Kageyama Tobio in the on-going Haikyuu!! (2014) or Mr. Emperor’s Eye Akashi Seijuro from Kuroko no Basket, oujideres are popping up everywhere and learning to bare their souls to everyone they care for. Kageyama learns that his superior skill doesn’t make him above the team and soon becomes the setter of Karasuno’s dreams. For Akashi, though, this guy is the final boss super villain of Kuruko no Basket. A social elite with obsessive perfectionism, he ruled the Generation of Miracles, and now he rules the best high school team in the country, Rakuzan. Like any ruling emperor, Akashi is always making people kneel before him and using his less talented teammates as pawns. Akashi totally deserves his royal moniker and perpetual captain status, but he’s not exactly Mr. Nice Guy. Akashi refuses to change his haughty ways. It isn’t until Kuroko and Seirin High School show him a thing or two that he realizes the madness brewing inside him. He reverts to the sweet, caring, and still extremely competent young leader we always knew he could be.

Most yangire characters can be divided into two categories: yangire with one personality and yangire with two personalities. The first group includes all characters who - you guessed it - only have one personality, meaning that they are fully aware of all of their actions. They know exactly how psychotic they are and yet don’t really seem to care. One of these characters is Rena Ryuuguu from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.

When They Cry is a thriller with psychological and mystery elements set in a quiet Japanese town. Since the story is based on a mystery game it is told in the form of different story arcs all revolving around Keiichi Maebara. He lives the life of a normal school boy, but as it usually goes in anime this soon is about to change. He gets involved in a mysterious murder that not only turns his world upside down, but also makes him question the true identity of his closest friends. Even though Rena is not the main hero of the story, she is easily one of the most well-known characters in the series. Her appearance and behavior perfectly match the sweetheart stereotype. She is a kind girl who loves treasure hunting and collecting everything small and cute. But we wouldn’t mention her right now if that was all, right? Without giving too much away of the storyline, let’s just say that Rena has a traumatic past which caused her to discover a darker side of herself. And when we say “darker” we mean “more psychotic and clearly ready to kill you”. She is highly unstable and can turn into a killer within seconds if someone crosses her path. If you want to see a yangire girl in full action, definitely check out When They Cry.

What is better than a person with a psychotic personality? A person with two psychotic personalities of course! That’s not really how it goes, but you get the point. This group includes all characters with a split personality, mostly due to a traumatic experience. They usually don’t know that they have an alter ego and are genuinely harmless people. But when their second personality comes out you’d better run, because these characters are not known to be forgiving. Just like Mahiru “Shinya” Banba from Akuma no Riddle.

Akuma no Riddle is an anime for all fans of Battle Royale and similar murderous games. Thirteen girls enroll in Class Black of the prestigious Myoujou Academy, but they are not here to learn algebra nor grammar. Their mission is to assassinate one of their classmates and whoever succeeds in doing so will get one wish granted. Sounds like the place to be for a yangire character. Mahiru or Shinya is one of the school girls and the very definition of a split personality. Her two names can be translated to “midday” and “full night” and that is exactly how much her two sides differ from each other. Mahiru is a shy girl who struggles at standing up for herself and usually walks away from confrontations. Her other side, Shinya, has a different way of solving problems and let’s just say it involves lots of cursing and the use of a giant sledgehammer. Her split personality is also reflected in her clothing since she wears both a white and a black sock on her legs. Even though Mahiru knows of Shinya’s existence, she treats her like a different person and talks to her more like a friend than to herself. Once again, a traumatic past was the cause for Mahiru losing her mind and creating Shinya as a coping mechanism.

You didn’t think only anime girls could be this crazy, did you? The most famous yangire characters might be girls, but there are more than enough male counterparts out there to keep you up at night. Just take a look at your favorite anime psychopaths and chances are high that they are at least to some part yangire characters. But there is one man who all of you know, but probably weren’t aware that he is yangire. We are talking about no one else than Light Yagami from Death Note.

Death Note is easily one of the most famous anime out there and of those shows that you recommend to your friends who say “anime are only for kids”. The mystery thriller revolves around Light Yagami who stumbles across the Death Note, a notebook with the power to kill anyone whose name is written inside of it. What comes next is a head-to-head between Light and the police force as well as his restless pursuit of becoming a god. Light shows all the yangire characteristics. He is a sweet boy and ace student on the outside, loved by everyone and role model to his peers. But what no one knows is that he hides a darker personality on the inside. He might be fueled by a strong sense of justice, but his way of fighting for it is more than questionable. What is also debatable is what actually causes Light to create Kira as a second identity. Some might say he was just born this way and already had an almost psychotic side. It’s also possible that Light couldn’t handle the power the Death Note gave him and slowly lost his mind. But whether the Death Note is the actual cause of his madness or simply brought out a side of him that was already sick before doesn’t really matter. What’s important is that as the story continues Light slowly but surely grows insane and doesn’t back away from killing anyone standing in his way.

So instead of following the usual naming convention, it has gone rogue and named itself the same thing twice. The simplest way to interpret such a thing would be to assume that it means precisely what Dere means, except twice. To put it simply, a character that is a Deredere is a very sweet and energetic person whose entire character archetype centres on their love for a single character. This differs from the other archetypes like Tsundere or Yandere as while they are indeed in love with someone, they are still able to develop their characters separate from them along a different path. For example, a Yandere character would still be able to carry out actions that are entirely selfish in terms of the character that they are in love with by doing things to harm those who would get close to him or by kidnapping him for themselves. A Deredere wouldn’t even be fazed by another girl getting along with their main love as long as they’re not doing anything harmful to them. She’s even completely fine if their love starts to couple with another girl because that’s just how nice they are. In the end, as long as he/she is happy, the Deredere won’t kick up a huge fuss with whatever happens in the end. They’ll even be nice to all their rivals and have fun in the process. In the end, Deredere ends up being the “vanilla” option, which is not a bad thing, because you can’t go wrong with a Deredere. No mix signals or psychopathic killers, just a straight forward, plain relationship.

Girls Bravo follows the story of Yukinari who can’t seem to catch a break. Not only is he small in stature, this leads to him having no real luck with women all his life, because of his size. He is constantly bullied and belittled by other girls when he was younger and this lead him to be somewhat apprehensive towards approaching women, though not to the point of a mental breakdown whenever a female appears in the room. His “can’t catch a break” streak continues as he begins high school where he develops a condition that causes him to break out in hives whenever he comes into direct contact with a female. As if being nervous around girls wasn’t bad enough, now he has to fear for his life around them purely from a touch as well. To further compound his issues, he is transported to another world into the city of Seiren where women outnumber men by a large margin, fortunately! The females here seem to be a lot nicer to him and there’s even a girl whose touch doesn’t cause him to break out in hives! While the show seems a bit dark in the outset, his transport to the new world with more women does exactly what you’d expect, set up for a harem. Whilst the girls on Earth are more vicious and realistic like people usually are in real life, the girls in the mystic world are noticeably more “touchy” towards the main character and go so far as to chase him down the street in droves just to interact with him. There’s not specific character that embodies Deredere the most in this show as many of the girls themselves are Deredere due to the general light heartedness of the series as a whole. This show is what happens when a majority of the characters end up being Deredere.

Keichii is just the average guy of your run of the mill anime guys who passes each day like any other would go about his day. Like most guys, he doesn’t have much luck with many things, like his studies, clubs or love life in general. Yet at the same time, it’s mostly okay just not fantastic. Whilst going about his chores like a normal guy would do, as opposed to using a Rasengan or a Death Note to kill people, he tries calling his Senpai, only to accidentally reach something called the Goddess Help Line. Enter Belldandy, a goddess who has responded to his call and appears to him through the mirror. She’s ready to help and he’s freaking out about it but she isn’t fazed at all because that’s just the kind of Deredere character she is. Throughout the show, he continues to get into hijinks in an episodic nature and she always helps out him out in the end, though sometimes it’s more indirect than direct. He has to solve his own problems sometimes too. Though the premise of having a generally unlucky guy be the main character is still present like the previous anime, it contrasts itself in the sense that instead of being in a world full of Deredere characters who converge on the main character like locusts, Megami-sama is focused more on a central character who is extremely Deredere. Belldandy is helpful, kind, free spirited and just plain loves the main character. There’s never really any heart breaking moments or tense situations with her because that’s what Deredere characters do.

When talking about Deredere girls it’s a must to mention the magical girls genre, and what better way to talk about magical girls then to use one of the long running series of Lyrical Nanoha, which has four seasons under its belt so far, where the magical girls are generally light and vanilla in nature, as opposed to the darker themes of Madoka Magica. The premise is pretty basic as far as magical girls anime can get. The main character Nanoha comes across a ferret that is secretly a mage who grants her a red jewel which allows her to transform into a magical girl. This allows her to fight off evil monsters and find the Jewel Seeds that the ferret lost throughout the world. There’s not much more to talk about without spoilers as that’s pretty much the basic summary of the beginning. The unique point of the show is that Nanoha is indeed a Deredere as most magical girls tend to be. She’s sweet, kind and has a caring family as a whole. However, this contrasts with the rival character of the series who is pretty much in the opposite situation as her. Compound this with fighting monsters and having to find the Jewel Seeds, what we witness is actually a Deredere character who becomes more matured over time instead of remaining a one dimensional nice girl. She doesn’t stop being Deredere when the situation calls for it, but when the going gets tough, Nanoha becomes a tough chick who is able to use her magical powers to kick ass and chew bubble gum. This development of a Deredere character is what makes the anime slightly different to other anime that feature Deredere characters.

You’re into anime and you wanted to date a guy who is into anime, too, so of course, you looked for an otaku boy. Well, we hate to break it to you, but otaku boys can be pretty well-rounded and no, we do not mean in shape. Everyone has their own tastes in what they like and many otaku boys like a wide range of genres including action, ecchi, and comedy, but let’s not put otaku boys into a box. There are many genres out there. When you decide to date an otaku, you need to learn to share your interests. He’s not going to like everything you’re into and you may not like everything he’s into, but you’d be surprised when you watch anime you wouldn’t have otherwise watched. Maybe you actually like harem anime more than you thought. They aren’t all about girls fawning over an obtuse boy. Or maybe they are. Of course, otaku boys can have various hobbies aside from just anime. The most common hobby would have to be playing video games, but of course, not every otaku is made the same. What does this mean for you? Whether you like it or not, you are either going to have to accept that your otaku boyfriend will spend time away from you for his hobby or you’re going to have to join in. Don’t worry; it could be more fun than you imagined! It all falls under the bracket of sharing your interests. Let’s take a look at the anime “Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken,” otherwise known as “I Can’t Understand What My Husband is Saying.” Kaoru is clearly not an otaku, but she loves Hajime enough to listen to everything he has to say about anime and all things pertaining to it including work. Despite being as different as night and day, Kaoru and Hajime share their interests and make it work. Take note, girls! This is what you need to do to date an otaku boy!

Put away the fancy heels and cocktail dress you pulled out. We don’t mean that. If you want to dress to impress for your otaku boy, you’re going to have to pull out the cosplay. Take out those maid costumes, nekomimi, or that nurse’s uniform! We can’t forget the cheongsam. Now that is impressive! If you want to make your otaku boy happy, you’re going to have to appeal to his fantasies! Contrary to popular belief, these types of fantasies aren’t limited to just otaku boys. All men have fantasies. You don’t have to watch ecchi anime to have fantasies, you know. Declining is always an option, but if it makes your boyfriend happy, what’s wrong with a little cosplay? Doesn’t he do things just to make you happy? Of course, it’s important to remember to act the part. You’ll find it makes it more worthwhile for him and you may even enjoy it as well. How can you forget the scene in Fruits Basket when Ayame and Mine dress Tohru up, igniting the fantasies of the innocent Yuki? Oh yes, something within him stirred. No matter how innocent, every boy has his own fantasy. He may not even know it yet. Do not be fooled! However, it’s a girlfriend’s job to help fulfill them. Of course, if you fulfill his, your otaku boy will fulfill yours. Hey, don’t pretend that you don’t have any of your own fantasies. Moving on….

As worn out as this may sound, it’s true: the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach! Now, when you’re an otaku, you’ll come across this choice quite often: should you stop and eat or should you keep binge playing/watching? Yes, you can eat while watching anime, but eating requires either going out to buy something or cooking. It’s wasted time, but it’s also necessary for survival! Damned nature. Do you know what would really touch an otaku boy’s heart? If you prepared something for him to eat! You don’t even have to cook the food yourself. Most otaku aren’t as picky, especially when that pickiness will take time away from a hobby. You could just bring something that you found at the konbini. Still, you will take out the hassle of preparing food, allowing your otaku to spend more time doing what he enjoys, and show him that you can be considerate. He will be more than happy you did! Plus, doesn’t every otaku dream of having someone to feed them? It’s not just a cliché in shoujo and harem anime. If you want a good example of a considerate anime girlfriend, check out Takasu Ryuuji from Toradora. No, we did not make a mistake; Ryuuji would make a great boyfriend because he always prepares meals for Taiga, knowing she would not eat properly otherwise. Ryuuji even takes into consideration the nutritional balance of each meal. Now that is dedication! While you don’t have to be that detailed, an otaku boy will really appreciate the gesture regardless.

One part of a relationship that always seems skewed is how much partners spoil each other. Girls are usually showered with gifts, but girls, you can’t forget to reciprocate! So many relationships are one sided. Boys will always show how much their girlfriends mean to them by giving them gifts at any time, but how many girls remember to give back? You would be surprised to find out that very few do. Now, that is just not right! Show your otaku boy that you think about him with a gift or a gesture once in awhile. If your boyfriend enjoys collecting things, buy him something for his collection. If he enjoys Gundam, take him to see the life-size Gundam in Odaiba! OK, you don’t have to go all the way to Tokyo to spoil him, but you get the picture. No matter how big or small, just show your otaku boyfriend that you put as much thought into your relationship as he does. It’s fun to be spoiled, but it’s just as fun to spoil someone else, too. In Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, Chiyo will usually consider what will make Nozaki happy. Chiyo has given up her time to help Nozaki work and will even go out to buy supplies whenever he needs them. Nozaki might be more than a little dense, but he notices these thoughtful gestures. Remember, it’s the little things that count. Everyone wants someone to spoil them the same way they’d spoil a loved one. It just shows how important that person is to them.

Take this last piece of advice with a grain of salt. If you want to date an otaku boy, sometimes you have to learn to just shut up. We mean no offense by this statement. Truly! Sometimes, an otaku boy may just want some peace and quiet to enjoy his hobbies. There are times when he may want to watch an anime without having someone chiming in about every little detail, or listen to a vocaloid song without having to explain why that particular vocaloid is so great. Maybe he just does not want to hear the 100 reasons why you hate his favorite series. In truth, there are just times when he does not want to hear any of it. That’s normal. It’s healthy for you, too. Even you’ll have moments when you want to be alone. No one wants to be “on” all the time. We all need a break. Just respect an otaku boy’s wish for peace and quiet. There’s always later. An otaku boy, himself, may not even want to talk at all. Silence isn’t a bad thing. It can be a sign of comfort in a relationship, so be a bit more self aware and realize when an otaku boy wants to be left alone. Of course, not all otaku boys are the same as mention in the first point of this article. There are many who love to talk about their passion for the anime they love by expressing it in ways that may surprise you, but what you can do is at least listen and show some support, as they will indeed return it. Support each other and work things out. That is key!

This is not a joke. One look at the title and the art, people are quick to think Ping Pong fans are joking when they praise this anime as a masterpiece. They most definitely aren’t joking. As one of Yuasa’s more recent works, Ping Pong harbors a lot of popularity for its timeless story of friendship accented with sports drama. The art, as you know by now, is amazing. The story has an air of maturity, brought out with intelligent cinematography and accurate table tennis play. The people don’t always look like people, but the quaint character designs match the impressively natural personalities as nearly every single character is uniquely portrayed and developed. If you’re going to start somewhere with odd-looking anime, this is the one.

If we’re talking about mixing styles, though, we have to mention Kuuchuu Buranko. Of many other art styles, Kuuchuu Buranko uses rotoscoping, an animation technique with a bad rap in anime circles due to controversial works like Kowabon (2015) and Aku no Hana (2013); but the proper mix of art styles can redeem its obvious shortcomings. Kuuchuu Buranko, in addition to Yuasa’s Mind Game, selectively uses rotoscoping in very crazy packages. The realistic images lets the characters express certain human emotions that their drawn anime faces couldn’t pull off. Still, there’s a whole lot more than rotoscoping going on in Kuuchuu Buranko. The anime integrates psychedelic art, pop art, paper figures, and one gravure nurse into very colorful backgrounds and character designs that seems like a hot mess that you just want to keep watching.

While we’re talking about beautiful art and color, let’s take a minute to discuss Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, the fantasy drama that just finished airing and was a 2016 sleeper hit, largely due to its artwork. Pleasant watercolor tones are infused into most backgrounds and the animations for the openings and endings. It’s the type of refreshingly beautiful that when you see the key visuals, you immediately think, “I want to watch that.” It’s a small art change that paid out big for A-1 Pictures.