A tsundere is a character archetype that commonly appears in anime and manga. The term describes a character who starts cold and temperamental but slowly becomes warm and affectionate over time. While tsundere characters can appear in any context, they most often appear in romance stories as potential love interests.
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Tsundere heroines are a common sight in anime nowadays, but they’ve been around since the early ’80s with characters like Lum from Urusei Yatsura. Therefore, anime has a long, storied history of tsundere heroines and love interests. Here are the best female tsundere anime characters.
Updated on September 23, 2025, by Mark Sammut: Tsundere anime girls are arguably becoming rarer, as the archetype feels played out by this point. Still, there will always be some room for tsunderes, and maybe the upcoming Fall 2025 season will contribute a few newcomers.
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Akane Sakuramori – I’m Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class
100% Tsundere All The Time
I’m Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class‘s Akane is unapologetically tsundere, in a way that most modern anime seem to try to avoid. Due to their awful grandparents, Akane and Saito are forced to marry, a situation worsened by the fact that they hate each other. While keeping their relationship a secret at school, they try to make things work at home, at least for the time being, as neither of them plans to stay together long-term. However, unsurprisingly, some real feelings start to develop.
Akane shouts the majority of her dialogue, and her target is exclusively Saito. Even when their relationship softens, Akane still tends to erupt whenever she starts to feel anything positive towards her partner, and she does not hold back. Now, to be fair, I’m Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class is mostly played for laughs, and it is a better comedy than a romance. Akane will make or break the show for most viewers as she is the primary source of humor.
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Elf – Uncle from Another World
The Most Tsundere Elf To Ever Tsundere
Usually, a tsundere anime girl is not directly described as a tsundere, but exceptions exist for everything. After spending more than a decade in a fantasy world, Ojisan returns to Earth, where he begins to recount his misadventures to his nephew. A common player in his stories is a tsundere Elf who very, very obviously has a crush on Ojisan, but the latter was isekai’d before the archetype became popular. Consequently, he mistook her behavior for genuine hatred rather than clumsy interest.
Now, Elf is kind of reduced to a parody of her archetype, so she is not the most complex character ever. That said, she has a cool design and contributes to the anime’s humor quite a bit. If a sequel is ever produced, she should get some development, but a continuation seems unlikely.
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Saki Saki – Girlfriend, Girlfriend
A Strangely Receptive First Girlfriend
Saki Saki is the childhood friend of Naoya Mukai, who has doggedly pursued a relationship with her for quite a while. At the beginning of the series, she has finally begun dating him, only for him to suddenly suggest adding a third person to their relationship.
While Saki is open about her feelings for Naoya, her shyness and exasperation at his antics lead her to act cold and prickly at times. Despite all this, she does love Naoya and wants to continue being in a relationship with him, regardless of how he acts.
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Aoba Tsukishima – Cross Game
An Estranged Old Friend That Grows Warmer With Time
Aoba Tsukishima and her older sister Wakaba were inseparable, which is why she always hated it when Wakaba spent time with their neighbor, Koh Kitamura. The two of them never got along, and when Wakaba died in an accident, the two of them drifted apart for several years.
When their paths cross again later in life, Aoba and Koh’s relationship remains frosty. However, as Koh starts to take baseball seriously and becomes a proper pitcher, Aoba can’t help but respect him. Their initially antagonistic relationship slowly turns into a romantic one.
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Kallen Stadtfeld – Code Geass
An All-Time Iconic Anime Character, But Not A Huge Tsundere
While easily one of the most iconic anime female characters of all time, Code Geass‘ Kallen only occasionally shows tsundere traits, so she is not that synonymous with the archetype. Still, she acts antagonistically toward Lelouch during most of the first season, all the while being enamored by Zero, his alter ego.
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However, their relationship grows far more complex once Kallen learns that Lelouch is Zero, and she struggles to come to terms with her opposing feelings. At best, Kallen goes through a passing tsundere phase that never defines her, and her circumstances justify her tendency to be resistant to developing romances or even fostering friendships.
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Ami Kurimoto – DNA2
The Classic Tsundere Childhood Friend
Ami Kurimoto is the childhood friend of Junta Mochizuki, a boy with a bizarre allergy to girls that causes him to vomit whenever he is attracted to one. Despite this, Ami is an exception to this allergy, likely because Junta sees Ami as a sister more than a woman.
Regardless of Junta’s feelings, Ami does feel affection for him, though she is not honest about it. Because she knows Junta only sees her as a friend at best, she does her best to act out the role of a feisty childhood friend while keeping her feelings hidden.
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Hinagiku Katsura – Hayate the Combat Butler
A Talented Heroine And A Loyal Friend
The Student Council President of Hakuo Academy, Hinagiku Katsura is an incredibly competent young woman who is skilled with swords. She meets Hayate when he enrolls in her school to accompany his master, Nagi Sanzen’in, and slowly falls in love with him as they continue to encounter each other.
For Hinagiku, her love for Hayate causes complications due to her friendship with Ayumu, who has also been in love with Hayate for a long time. While Hinagiku finally manages to be honest about her feelings for Ayumu, it takes a bit longer for her to reveal them to Hayate.
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Risa Koizumi – Love Com
A Tall Girl With An Unlikely Crush
Lovely Complex
- Release Date
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2007 – 2007
- Network
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TBS, MBS, CBC
- Directors
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Konosuke Uda
Risa Koizumi is tall for a girl, a fact that she hates. She constantly butts heads with the shortest guy in class, Atsushi Otani, but the two decide to work together when they learn that the other is interested in their friend.
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Unfortunately, things don’t work out as their respective crushes start dating each other instead, but Risa finds that instead of feeling sad, she finds herself seeing a new side to Atsushi. As time passes and the two remain friends, she starts noticing that they have a lot in common and pair well together. Though she is initially unwilling to admit it, she soon realizes that she has fallen in love with him.
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Izumo Kamiki – Blue Exorcist
Takes A Very Long Time To Warm Up To Her Classmates
Blue Exorcist
- Release Date
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2011 – 2011-00-00
- Directors
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Tensai Okamura, Koichi Hatsumi, Daisuke Yoshida
- Writers
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Ryōta Yamaguchi
Blue Exorcist has a pretty great cast of characters, most of whom are given time to shine. While Rin and Yukio take center stage, the rest of Class 1A’s students are nearly always in the thick of things, and they have developed a strong bond throughout the seasons.
Compared to some other characters, Izumo takes longer to embrace her classmates. She is, at times, straight-up awful to them during the first two and a half seasons, not only pushing them away but also seemingly getting some joy from seeing them fail. Her traumatic family life goes some way to explaining her personality, but she is also just a pure tsundere.
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Clair Francois – I’m in Love with the Villainess
The Villainess Becomes The Love Interest
Isekai villainess anime have become quite common nowadays, and these stories tend to be enjoyable but similar. However, I’m in Love with the Villainess shakes up the formula by featuring a protagonist who reincarnates as an otome game’s hero; however, Rae is absolutely in love with Claire, the villainess. A fairly traditional tsundere, Claire starts as a stereotypical example of an uptight and insecure elite student who looks down on anyone she feels is not of her level. Wanting to get closer to her, Rae kind of ignores Claire’s personal space as she gradually forces a friendship upon her.
Due to being primarily a comedy, I’m in Love with the Villainess does not take itself too seriously, although Claire and Rae’s dynamic is surprisingly complex. While the latter has her moments, the villainess is by far the best part of the show, and Claire’s development is the anime’s heart and soul.
