Within the anime there are thousands of characters that over the years have enchanted us, a recent example of this is Frieren from Sousou no Frieren, although there are characters like Haruhi Suzumiya from the series with the same name that for its time was the canon of waifu. Therefore, users in Japan have discussed about how Tsunderes have gone from being something not so far-fetched and characters like MaoMao or Frieren are now trending. Are Tsunderes no longer loved by the public?
Has the waifu canon over the years changed in anime, discussion in Japan forums.
In a recent post in Japanese forums, a very interesting topic has been brought to the table for those who have been watching anime for a long time and have noticed this kind of changes in trends. In the words of the user, in previous years, characters like Haruhi Suzumiya or Asuka Langley were that canon of a girl with somewhat hostile feelings, but with a touch of femininity behind. Nowadays the status has changed drastically, offering the new generations waifus that are not so “Feminine”, according to comments.
Within the Twitter/X social network where this hot topic originated, there are hundreds of users offering their point of view: “Reflecting I came to the conclusion, aren’t the Tsunderes very childish?”, “The appeal of the Tsunderes was knowing that feminine side, as if it was someone to protect in critical moments”, “Haruhi used to be someone very hostile, but her feminine side came out revealing part of her personality, just like Asuka”. They agree that the Tsunderes of the time have a special appeal.
Nowadays the canon has changed with respect to waifus, although there are characters like Fern in Sousou no Frieren, she is not a character that shines as much as Maki Zenin from Jujutsu Kaisen or Mirko from My Hero Academia. On the other hand, if we switch to the RomComs anime genre, girls are the ones who approach our protagonist. Don’t toy with me miss nagatoro, My dress-up darling, The Dangers in my Heart, Teasing Master Takagi-san, Uzaki-Chan Wants to hang out! We could count the whole day. If you’re interested in seasonal waifus, you can see a special post about them on this note.
This thread arose from a certain post that offered somewhat unkind words about the female characters we love so much, luckily this one just moved forward as a discussion about the Tsunderes and the new waifus within the anime. Apparently now the guys have changed their vision of canonical waifu from wanting a Tsundere or Deredere girl to protect to a Tomboy or Kuudere style girl to protect them. It doesn’t mean that Tsunderes and Derederes have been pushed aside, but they are no longer the center of attention like in the years of Evangelion or The Melancoly of Haruhi Suzumiya.
The waifus are so varied that between these last 30 years have changed their approaches, for a long time there was the canon of the Tsunderes until the beginning of this decade where it began to change slowly in the anime: Sword Art Online, Steins; Gate, Mirai Nikki. Series that in effect start the decade with a Yandere, a Tsundere and a girl (Asuna Yuuki) who starts as someone more sympathetic and naive within the game, to gradually change. The point is, waifus are indispensable in each of their stereotypes, it is something normal that trends flow from one side to another according to the time.
Very soon there will be a change in these trends, the glory of the Tsunderes with pigtails Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! style or very passive characters with respect to our protagonist will return with a new approach, what waifus the future holds for us in the anime, we can only wait for the new works of the mangakas or writers. If you want to take a look at this great discussion thread, you can do it directly from here.
