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Sempai-Kohai: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
The concepts of ''sempai'' ("senior" or "upperclassman"; pronounced "sempai") and ''kouhai'' ("junior" or "underclassman") permeate Japanese society. They're most usually encountered in [[Anime]] in situations set in school, but the system also applies after graduation in the workplace. Older students (or workers with greater seniority) are known as ''sempai'', and junior students/workers (or ''kouhai'') are required to defer to them, and address them with the [[Japanese Honorifics|honorific]] -''sempai''. In return, the ''sempai'' is obligated to look out for, and protect, the ''kouhai''.
{{examples
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
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** In ''[[Robotech]]'', this is changed to Rick calling him "Big Brother," which is not quite the same.
* Maya Ibuki in [[Neon Genesis Evangelion (Anime)|Evangelion]] calls Ritsuko "sempai", which was given [[Seme|a whole]] [[Girls Love|new context]] in a scene in ''End of Evangelion''.
* Tatewaki Kunou in ''[[Ranma
* Sei Suga in ''[[Maria-sama ga Miteru]]'' is thrilled to receive a visit from current Lillian students at her office, as all of them are her ''kohai''.
** The Soeur system is based on this as well.
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** Taiki himself becomes a sempai to Tagaru and Yuu in the [[Digimon Xros Wars the Young Hunters Leaping Through Time (Anime)|sequel season to Xros Wars]].
* [[Drop the Hammer|Shin]] of ''[[Dorohedoro]]'' is [[Statuesque Stunner|Noi]]'s sempai. They happily makes bets on who will kill the most or eat the fastest. Despite being basically assassins, they're [[Punch Clock Villain|pretty]] [[Crapsack World|decent]] [[Grey and Gray Morality|guys]]. Shin only allows Noi to call him like that though.
* In ''[[Code Geass (Anime)|Code Geass]]'', Andreas Darlton and Gilbert G.P. Guilford begin treating Suzaku Kururugi in a [[Sempai
** Princess Cornelia, despite her royal status (she's officially fourth in line for the throne, and unofficially closer to second in line), treats Nonette Enneagram, the Knight of Nine, as her sempai in the audio dramas.
* Subverted in ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya (Literature)|Haruhi Suzumiya]]''. Mikuru is Haruhi's sempai, but still gets [[[[The Chew Toy]] used like [[Cosmic Plaything|a dishrag]] by Haruhi.
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* In ''[[Bakuman｡ (Manga)|Bakuman｡]]'', Iwase addresses Aoki as a sempai while they attend Tokyo University together, as Iwase is a freshman while Aoki is a graduate student. Hattori is Miura's sempai among the Shonen Jump editorial department.
** Mangaka refer to more experienced ones as "sempai", as Takagi refers to veteran mangaka Arai as "Arai-sempai." Some of {{spoiler|Nanamine's}} helpers decide to leave after hearing that he's going to "pick a fight with a sempai mangaka".
* In [[Mai Otome]], each second-year Pearl Otome serves as an [[Onee
** In the English dub, this is translated as "big sister," with no difference given between -onee-sama and -sempai. Even the Meister Otome whom Arika calls "-san" get "Big Sister".
** In the [[Mai Hi ME]] sound drama, "As the Cherry Blossoms Bloom", Shizuru, believing that Natsuki will never return her feelings, decides to be a good friend and sempai to her, until the Carnival starts, causing her 1)to realize that Natsuki will die if Shizuru loses and 2)to gain some hope that Natsuki will accept her feelings. Yuuichi also refers to Reito as "[[Last
* Satou Takanashi from ''[[Working (Manga)|WORKING!!]]'' only ever refers to [[Spell My Name With an "S"|Popurar]] Taneshima as "Sempai"(she doesn't reciprocate); this might have something to do with her being [[Older Than She Looks]].
* In ''[[Kochikame]]'', Kankichi Ryotsu is often called Sempai by most of the fellow police officers.
* [[Yu-Gi-Oh GX]]: At the start of the second season, Juudai is thrilled to finally be one of the older students, especially during his first duel against Edo, who refers to Juudai as 'sempai'. A few episodes later, Edo's final words to Ryou in their Pro duel have him calling himself Ryou's sempai, since he's been in the Pro Leagues longer than Ryou has. After that, Edo switches to calling Juudai by his name instead of "sempai". Also, Kenzan continually refers to most of the older students with the sempai honorific (except for Juudai, who is his aniki).
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* In [[Tomica Hero Rescue Force]] [[The Hero|Hikaru]] commonly refers to [[The Lancer|Kyosuke]], [[Action Girl|Rei]] and [[The Medic|Juri]] as this until he found out that the teams [[Sixth Ranger]] was [[Da Chief]] he reffered to R5 as "Dai-Sempai".
** [[Tomica Hero Rescue Fire]] has a similar example, Tatsuya refers to Hikaru and the rest of Rescue Force as "Sempai". As for the team itself, [[The Hero|Tatsuya]] calls [[The Big Guy|Yuuma]] his sempai, who is in turn seen as a sempai by [[The Chick|Jun]].
* Invoked in ''[[
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