Belligerent Sexual Tension/Anime and Manga

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Examples of Belligerent Sexual Tension in Anime and Manga include:

  • As mentioned in the trope description, this trope is quite prominent in Rumiko Takahashi's work to the point that it used to be called Takahashi Couple:
    • Urusei Yatsura. Male Lead: Ataru is a Casanova Wannabe, Unlucky Everydude, Jerk with a Heart of Gold. Female Lead: Whichever one you think counts doesn't matter, because both Lum and Shinobu are Tsundere. Will They or Won't They? goes on forever, and is never resolved—although this may be due to a crossfire of Ship Sinking and Executive Meddling, since the author and the fans disagreed about who should be the Official Couple. In the end, the Reset Button was hit, rather than let Ataru and Lum progress to "official" Official Couple.
    • Maison Ikkoku. Male Lead: Godai, is an Unlucky Everydude, usually a nice guy, to the point where he doesn't fit the Jerk with a Heart of Gold stereotype so much as he's a lazy, cowardly, wishy-washy person who's rather immature and unable to say "no" to anybody, be it an unwanted girlfriend or a drunken flat-mate. (His progression from loser trying to get into college to responsible adult is one of the primary Character Development aspects of the work.) Much less of a jerk than other characters in Takahashi's work. Notably, his rival fits this mold a little better (as a conceited rich boy) and has similar character development. Female Lead: Kyoko is a repressed Tsundere. Changed into a Yamato Nadeshiko by the death of her first husband, her developing relationship with Godai brings the Tsundere back out. Will They or Won't They? is finally resolved after over 70 episodes. Ending on a definite note with Godai and Kyoko married. Their issues were more serious and realistic {Godai's wishy-washiness, Kyoko's inability to let go of her late husband} than Takahashi's usual stubborn Will Not Spit It Out.
    • Ranma ½ in the image on the main trope page. Ranma: Jerk with a Heart of Gold. Akane: Tsundere. Her type varies: the manga makes her more deredere, while the anime gives her more tsuntsun aspects than she had in the manga but she can still be considered deredere. Ranma seems to be locked in the The Masochism Tango with all his possible Love Interests.
      • The Trope Codifiers: Many a fan-theory exists as to why they're so unable or unwilling to admit the obvious (a combination of Ranma's ultra-macho Raised by Wolves upbringing and Akane's Kuno-induced misandry being the most popular). Takahashi couldn't even bring herself to put them officially together in the manga's final issues. This may have also been due to the fact that no couple could really go anywhere without horribly dishonoring most of the rest of them. Plus, they are still in high school so perhaps a lack of progress is understandable. At least some (minor) hints of progress are scattered throughout the series: they hold hands a couple of times, and Ranma screams out that he loves Akane (though it's left purposefully vague as to whether he does this out loud or only in his head) when he thinks Akane has been killed in the second last story of the manga.
    • Inuyasha. Inu-Yasha: Jerk with a Heart of Gold. Kagome Higurashi: deredere-type Tsundere. Inu-Yasha and Kagome are a variant: They clearly have come to an understanding as to their mutual feelings, so tend to have moments of Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other occasionally sprinkled into the denials, fighting, and plot-stretching bouts of Cannot Spit It Out. They actually do become an Official Couple towards the end of the manga (and appropriately enough, their romance then receives much less attention until the end). Not to mention, thanks to Character Development, Kagome warms up to Inu-Yasha quite faster than the standard Takahashi Tsundere, and Inu-Yasha is slightly less prone to verbal abuse than the standard Takahashi Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
      • Let's not forget Sango and Miroku.
  • Vegeta and Bulma...so freaking much. It's amazing in what little moments you see of them, how much they can display this trope.
  • Keiko Yukimura and Yusuke Urameshi of Yu Yu Hakusho in that Yusuke is definitely a Jerk with a Heart of Gold while Keiko is working to keep him on the straight and narrow. They obviously love each other (and everyone knows it) but Yusuke's jerkitude tends to keep them apart until the end. There is a mild subversion in that Yusuke realizes early on that he loves Keiko, and there's never really any silliness with love rivals and what not.
    • Hiei and Mukuro may also fit this trope, with The Masochism Tango that doesn't seem to dampen Hiei's interest (even Kurama notes it). Not quite the same since she's only introduced in the last arc, and their hinted attraction is too early to be a Will They or Won't They?. Hiei and Mukuro are pretty much canon. They respect each other, like each other, and he brings her her evil and abusive father trapped in a healing plant that Kurama specially got for such a purpose to torture for eternity as a present. Practically romantic for Hiei—or, for that matter, for Mukuro.
  • Akito Hayama and Sana Kurata in Kodomo no Omocha.
  • Aoba and Kō in Cross Game.
    • Aoba spends the whole series fighting with him in an attempt to show everyone that she hates him as much as she says she does. No one seems to buy it though. In the end, she tells him that she's always hated him when, in reality, it sounds more like an "I love you".
    • Although Kou is hardly a jerk, he does seem to enjoy riling up Aoba. Tsundere are just too much fun to pass up teasing them.
  • The relationship between Temari and Shikamaru from Naruto is almost always described as such in Fanon. In canon, they seem to have a rather less belligerent relationship, though it hasn't actually gone anywhere romantic.
  • Tsukimiya and Hinata in Bloody Cross. But with the antagonistic relationship they share it might not end well...
  • Kyohei and Sunako in The Wallflower. In an eerily similar case to Inuyasha, they've had their moments, but they're not even a third of the way into the Romance Arc progression in the manga and the readers are already going, "Let them progress! End! End!" at all the plot-stretching.
  • Kyon and Haruhi in Suzumiya Haruhi: They're an inverted couple, in that Kyon is closer to a Type A male Tsundere, while Haruhi is the Jerk with a Heart of Gold. Now, if only Haruhi would lose the strong belief that love is for lunatics *coughTheseuscough* and Kyon to stop proclaiming his crush on Mikuru and admit that he wants Haruhi, after the tons of evidence he drops in his monologue. Or just want both of them.
  • Lelouch and C.C. from Code Geass could be considered to have this going, with the former being the Jerk with a Heart of Gold Type A Tsundere and the latter being a Deadpan Snarker Sugar and Ice Personality. Word of God from staff and C.C.'s voice actress tried to sink the ship by saying that their relationship was Like Mother and Son, but it continues to persist in part due to this.
    • Though C. C. could alternate as the more belligerent one, given her apathetic moments.
  • Louise and Saito from The Familiar of Zero take this to the extreme. She's a Tsundere who uses a horse whip, and he is a lecherous Baka and a bit of a Yuri Fanboy.
    • Guiche and Montmorency seem to have a bit of this going on, too.
  • Fullmetal Alchemist has Edward as the Jerk with a Heart of Gold and Winry as his Tsundere.
    • Not to mention the Unresolved Sexual Tension moments between them—Edward subtly thinking Winry looks cute, Winry noticing that his shoulders look broader, Edward having to recite the periodic table after remembering the conversation between him and Hawkeye (where Riza suggested he loves Miss Rockbell), Winry wondering why she fell in love with "such a weirdo", and their reunion before the Promised Day, resulting in a flustered Ed and almost-topless Winry. Those are all no doubt proof of Belligerent Sexual Tension. All thanks to puberty, folks!
    • The 2003 anime actually averts this. While their exact relationship isn't clear, Ed and Winry soon begin to stop fighting and they start acting Like Brother and Sister.
  • Detective Conan (more specifically Magic Kaito, set in the same universe with overlapping characters) has Kaito as the Jerk with a Heart of Gold and Aoko as the Tsundere—to the point where fanart of Kaito drawn as Ranma and Aoko drawn as Akane has become fairly popular. In the series proper, Heiji and Kazuha also fit the mould. Shinichi and Ran approach it, but Shinichi isn't enough of a jerk and Ran isn't enough of a tsundere, and both come to realize their feelings early in the series, even if they don't act on them (for life-threatening reasons on Shinichi's part).
    • One should take note of Kogoro and Eri—why were they separated but not officially divorced after all these ten years?
  • An earlier (and, given that one of them is considered anime's prototype Tsundere, possibly the earliest) example: Sayaka Yumi and Koji Kabuto from Mazinger Z. He's a tactless Idiot Hero, she's his Tsundere partner in crime.
    • Tetsuya and Jun from Great Mazinger provided another example.
    • Duke and hikaru from UFO Robo Grendizer averted the trope, but Kouji and Maria kept it. Given that Sayaka was going to show up in the series but she was replaced with Maria due to Executive Meddling, that was to be expected.
    • Mazinkaiser tones it down: Sayaka is tsuntsun for everyone but Kouji and deredere for him, and Kouji's asshattery is reduced to abusing Boss and making snarky comments every now and then.
  • One Stormy Night.
  • Hiroshi and Kyoko from Hell Teacher Nube.
  • In the Axis Powers Hetalia fandom, most America/England fanworks accurately portray the pairing as this. It helps that both characters have Jerk with a Heart of Gold and Tsundere qualities.
  • Sousuke Sagara and Kaname Chidori from Full Metal Panic!. Although Sousuke is more of an oblivious Baka than intentional jerk- his obliviousness does tend to make him act like a Jerkass.
  • Alto Saotome and Sheryl Nome in Macross Frontier, a rather interesting case in that they both alternate as to who's the Tsundere and who's the Jerk.
  • Surprisingly, Laura Haruna's very Happily Married parents from Hamtaro started their relationship this way, with the dad as a snippy Jerk with a Heart of Gold and the mom as a textobook Type B Tsundere. They got over themselves by the time they got married and Laura was born, though.
  • Lovely Complex has Atsushi Otani and Risa Koizumi starting out very much like this, although it's somewhat unusual in that it's entirely viewed from the Tsundere's perspective. Also, their feelings for each other develop at a more or less realistic pace.
  • Yuuji Kagura and Kazuki Arisaka in Tona Gura. Subverted somewhat in that, while Yuuji will take his beatdown when he has it coming (and he often does, even past animanga standards), he will be vociferous in telling off Kazuki when she has it wrong (and she often does). Both can be jerks, and both can be tsunderes, though it more or less settles traditionally based on gender.
  • Kamille Bidan and Fa Yuiri from Zeta Gundam. To the point that the Argama's crew calls their constant bickering their "hobby". They also lampshade it when Kamille kisses Fa after a rather tiring battle and tells her that they should reconsider their mutual interaction since he's getting tired of the fighting.
  • Ayano and Kazuma from Kaze no Stigma, full stop.
  • Every series of Yu-Gi-Oh!, especially since it was created by another Takahashi, Kazuki. Despite all the heavy hints, we never get so much as a kiss. That is, until 5D's Episode 58.
    • The best example would be Jounouchi and Mai, who alternate between positions.
  • Roger and Angel and Roger and Dorothy in The Big O. Of course it's difficult to determine which is the Tsundere and which is the Jerk with a Heart of Gold, since all three characters are a bit of both...
  • Dancougar: Sara is stuck in Type A mode because her ex-boyfriend Shapiro pulled a Face Heel Turn; and Shinobu acts like a macho jerk to try and get her attention. These issues begin to resolve once Shapiro dies at the end of the TV series, and in the sequel OAV they finally start to move toward Official Couple status.
  • Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Describes well Kamina's and Yoko's relation untill the culmination, plays this for as much tragedy as it possibly can.
  • Kotaro and Natsumi of Mahou Sensei Negima! are well on their way to becoming one of these.
    • Even more so: Nagi and Princess Arika.
  • Usagi, the bubbly and easily-angered heroine of Sailor Moon loves Mamoru, the cool and snarky hero. In a twist, they're reincarnated, destined lovers and the tension between them dies almost completely after the first season's reveal.
  • Kei and Hayato from Project ARMS. Possibly best summed up when the group is crawling through a tunnel. Hayato coments on the lovely view (of Kei's rear) and Kei gives him a good kick in the face.
  • Only a Ship Tease instead of an actual couple, but The Slayers TRY has Filia Ul Copt and Xellos. Filia is a Holier Than Thou Type B Tsundere, Xellos is an Affably Evil Token Evil Teammate Lovable Traitor and Magnificent Bastard. For extra 'spice', Filia is a Golden Dragon, a race that is ( or, rather, believes itself to be) Always Lawful Good, while Xellos is a Mazoku, which are Exclusively Evil... also, during the last war between their two races, Xellos single-handedly killed thousands of Golden Dragons.
  • G Gundam has Domon Kasshu as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who later evolves into a Type A Tsundere. His partner Rain Mikamura is a Type B Tsundere, being the perfect lady unless she's dealing with him.
  • School Rumble's Harima & Eri.
  • Chiara and Rodney from Element Hunters.
  • Ayuzawa Misaki and Usui Takumi in Kaichou wa Maid-sama are a much milder example than most of the others listed, having progressed to being very nearly a confirmed couple in no more than about forty manga chapters, but they still deserve a mention for continuing to follow the general pattern. Even after kissing several times and going on a couple of actual dates, Misaki is still very Tsundere where Usui is concerned, and Usui still claims that he doesn't date because it's too much trouble.
  • Nana to Kaoru are Tsundere and Jerk with a Heart of Gold, respectively.
  • Choco Mimi has Spoiled Brat Mumu and Type B Tsundere Mimi.
  • Kazuhara and Kirie from Girls Bravo.
  • Oz and Alice from Pandora Hearts.
  • Chrono and Rosette from Chrono Crusade. Although Chrono isn't exactly a jerk, he does often run out of patience with Rosette's antics, which leads to him being often sarcastic toward her and calling her an idiot. Rosette, on the other hand, is a Tsundere through and through, and often will behave violently toward him for doing that (or even sometimes when he's not). At one point he even ends up laying in a pool of his own blood! (But he has regenerative powers so it's always Played for Laughs.)
  • Revy and Rock from Black Lagoon take this to new extremes, seeing as she's nearly blown his head off multiple times. (Not to mention, he's slowly but surely sliding into Magnificent Bastardry, which actually disturbs her).
  • B Gata H Kei has Yamada and Kosuda. Notable in that the first plans to sleep with and then just dump the latter so she can then go on having 100 sex friends. The genuine feelings she develops for Kosuda will most probably foil this.
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion: Asuka Langley Soryu and Shinji Ikari. Everyone Can See It. Even TOJI can see it: Asuka starts chewing out Shinji for not bringing their lunches, while he tries to get his side in. Toji tosses off a remark that they're arguing Like an Old Married Couple. Cue double Luminescent Blush (they HAD kissed not many days earlier), then simultaneous denial in perfect stereo. But due to their personality problems, neither can actually tell the other, leading to... well, The End of the World as We Know It. Luckily, many fanfiction authors go out of their way to fix these problems.
    • Asuka/Toji shipping usually applies this trope liberally.
  • Puppy Love version: Horio (Jerk) and Tomoka (Tsundere) from The Prince of Tennis. If we go to Fanon, there's Plucky Girl An and Blood Knight Kirihara.
    • Ho Yay shippers apply the dynamics to many fanon match-ups, the most "famous" one being Momoshiro and Kaidoh.
  • In Brain Powerd, we have Jerk with a Heart of Gold Yuu Isami... and his Tsundere Fiery Redhead girlfriend Hime Utsumiya.
  • Ash and Misty in Pokémon, so much. (Misty definitely fits in the Type A Tsundere department but Ash isn't too much of a jerk...)
    • During the Hoenn arc we have May and Drew, who fit the mold so much more perfectly than Ash and Misty. And with less ambiguity, too.
  • Quarterback Hiruma Youichi and Manager Mamori Anezaki from Eyeshield 21 are hinted to be like this; by the end of the series a lot of their scenes together are more of the Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other kind though.
  • Fakir and Ahiru from Princess Tutu, depending who you ask.
  • The step-sibling pair of Minami and Otome in Cherry Juice often switch between flirtatious and BST moments, the latter at times involving Otome walking in on Minami while she's in a compromising position, and getting a Megaton Punch for his efforts.
  • Toradora! is all about this trope.
  • In Berserk, this is the usual dynamics between Guts and Casca, especially pre-Eclipse. But then again, what did you expect? Guts is an ultra-manly, aloof and cocksure Byronic Hero who has been Raised by Dudes. Casca is the sole female in a group of mercenaries and a type-A Tsundere Hot Amazon to boot. Not to mention that both enjoy fighting. Physically, of course.
  • Genesis of Aquarion: Apollo and Silvia. Turns out mixing Reincarnation Romance with the usual setup causes some very odd results.
  • Hellsing's own Alucard and Integra have this in spades, especially in the manga. The latter, of course, is a Tsundere.
  • In the second drama CD of Tiger and Bunny, Karina tells Barnaby that she's fully aware that this trope tends to occur between people like them, and that she has every intention of making sure that doesn't happen, because there's no way she could possibly fall in love with such a Jerkass. No surprise to anyone, she then proceeds to fall in love... with Barnaby's partner, Kotetsu.
  • Yoru and Ran and Sora and Sunao in Sukisho.
  • In Steins;Gate this is the kind of relationship between Okabe and Kurisu.
  • While Riku is a Nice Guy, his girlfriend in Wandering Son is a Jerkass Type A Tsundere. Their early days were full of Slap Slap Kiss.
  • Lal and Colonello appear as sort of this in Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
  • Nakaba and Caesar from Reimei no Arcana.
  • Takano and Ritsu from Sekaiichi Hatsukoi with a mix of Slap Slap Kiss. Episode starts, they're fighting at work, later on in the episode, they're still fighting after work and then at the end, they slowly try to understand each other near the end of the episode. Rinse and repeat at the very end when Takano blows his chance every time Ritsu is close to admitting that he likes Takano.
  • Sakura and Naruto are hinted at being this, though its not sure if Sakura has feelings for Naruto.
  • Momo (Tsundere) and Kairi (Jerk with a Heart of Gold) in Peach Girl.
  • Strawberry Panic: Much of the interaction between Tsubomi and Yaya hints at this.
  • Riku (Tsundere) and Dark Mousy (Jerk with a Heart of Gold) via the Forceful Kiss Dark gives Riku in D.N.Angel and how they always argue and sometimes get along and Dark is hinted to like Riku.
  • Kagura Sohma (an odd mixture of Tsundere and Yandere) and Kyou Sohma (Jerk with a Heart of Gold) in Fruits Basket. Note that it ultimately doesn't go anywhere because Kyou eventually falls in love with and marries Tohru instead.
  • Tomoe and Nanami from Kamisama Kiss. Tomoe is a definite Jerk with a Heart of Gold while Nanami is very deredere. It is obvious to several other characters in the series that they like each other and Nanami doesn't bother to hid the fact she has feelings for Tomoe, but Tomoe has some real problems admitting his feelings about Nanami.
  • Bakemonogatari: Hitagi and Koyomi.
  • Black Bird: Kyo and Misao. So much.
  • Bokura ga Ita: Nanami and Yano. Nanami frequently says "Shine, baka!" ("Die, you idiot!") to Yano, whom she loves, before the two of them start dating.
  • Ai Ore Love Me: Akira and Mizuki.
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