Read some old posts of mine, about past OTPs and my preferences for fluffy ships, portrayed with soft affection for each other.
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I never liked the "annoyed with each other", "enemies to lovers" tropes or relationship dynamics. I don't read it as "sexual/romantic tension". I just never understood how characters who don't even enjoy spending time together, could be in love. And I certainly couldn't enjoy watching characters just being annoyed, arguing, and yelling all the time, especially if we're asked to empathize with them. I've always enjoyed fluffy ships, like movie-Goldenheart, and mostly been annoyed with tsundere, with only a few exceptions.
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The ironic thing is that, I do love some tsundere characters, a few tsundere ships, and some of those ships have been my OTPs. I love England from Hetalia, IchiRuki, Rumiko Takahashi, and my favorite Rumiko Takahashi series is Ranma 1/2, which is arguably the seed that created over a decade of tsundere ships (and Harem anime). I've got some cognitive dissonance to work out here.
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Now, I've said before that the thing that made some tsundere tolerable to me, has been when they weren't abrasive. England from Hetalia and Kagami Hiiragi from Lucky Star don't spend every interaction they have, being jerks to other people. On top of that, the direction makes it pretty clear that they are merely embarrassed to show vulnerable, intensely sincere emotions. The direction focuses on their internal experiences of fearing vulnerability, even if just for a few moments or in subtle ways. Their portrayals still do it often enough to accumulate into the fakeness of their facades, attempting to look "cool" or "mature". It's always very clear that their tsundere behavior is very fake, non-malicious, and just silly embarassment on their parts.
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As for tsundere couples… Because I never enjoy watching people make each other miserable, I've never been into most "enemies to loves" tropes. Because my enjoyment of Romance plots comes from watching people be sweet and affectionate towards each other, couples that yell, irritate, and generally don't seem to enjoy spending even a few minutes with each other, have never been my preferred ship dynamics. And yet, I am on some tsundere ships.
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I used to be obsessed with IchiRuki. Ichigo is tsundere in that he hides his more vulnerable/sincere emotions with a stoic "cool", instead of yelling or abrasiveness. But in reality, manga-Rukia is not necessarily tsundere. There have been many moments where she will address sensitive emotions and express even her own intensely sincere emotions, outright, without hesitation. She spoke directly to Ichigo about being there for him, at his mother's cemetery, but not wanting to "drag mud thru his heart" by speaking carelessly about it, until he was ready to talk. When Orihime felt insecure, Rukia didn't hesitate to clutch her cheek and reassure her. Rukia wasn't afraid to show sincere softness in her face. But instead of being emotionally broken or oversensitively vulnerable about her emotional expressions, she is instead, as direct, forthright, and declarative about it, as anything else. And I can only assume that this is partly why people are inclined to think of her more as tsundere. Sometimes she hits Ichigo, but it's always clearly after he's said something insulting or when the scene's tone demands comedy to break the tension, when nothing else can. People talk about Akane Tendo being mischaracterized by her anime adaptation, but I often think of Rukia Kuchiki. We IchiRuki shippers often fangirl over an anime-only scene from the Bount/Bounto filler arc, simply because it's been so long since Ichigo and Rukia have spent so much time with each other, interacting with only each other. Nevermind that the scene is full of them arguing for dumb, manufactured reasons, and anime-Rukia is pretty much picking fights out of nothing. When I speak of manga tsundere girls mischaracterized in anime adaptations, I say Akane and Rukia in the same breath. As such, it took a long time for me to recognize IchiRuki as a "tsundere couple". But it's still difficult for me to call Rukia tsundere, when she's so open about her caring, her enthusiasm, and all those more vulnerable, intense, sincere emotions that most tsundere are too embarrassed about. But she just carries a dignified, serious aura and occasionally slapsticks Ichigo when necessary, so fandoms call her "tsundere". But if "tsundere" is what we're calling characters who don't take shit, crumble, or cry when they're slighted…then sure, I GUESS "tsundere" doesn't just mean "characters embarrassed by vulnerable/intensely sincere emotions to the point of desperately trying to cover them up". Language is constantly evolving, organic, and I accept that. But it's still going to take a while for me to adapt to new definitions…and I'm still unsure how much I accept an expansion of the "tsundere" definition.
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The funny thing about my love for Ranma 1/2, is that I was never obsessed with Rankane. They were not my OTP. I accepted the ship as canon. (The plot doesn't work without their reciprocated feelings as the premise.) But I wasn't constantly obsessing or squeeing over them. Was I even a fan of their relationship dynamic? Actually, it wasn't until the 2024 remake, that I interacted with the fandom, and began to learn what makes Rankane's relationship work. And I'm convinced. I was already on board, but now I feel like I'm beginning to better understand just how much in love Ranma and Akane are. Thanks, Rankane fandom. ^_^
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But the ironic thing is, that Ranma and Akane are THE tsundere couple. They were one of, if not the first prototype, that generated a decade of tsundere couple imitators. And yet, I never had a problem with Rankane. They never irritated me. I never wasn't enjoying their antics. Their arguing was actually funny to me. After all my statements about disliking couples who do nothing but argue, Rankane never was bad to me. Maybe that just reflected Takahashi's masterful storytelling: able to set up tones that made violent slapstick feel innocuous and warranted; able to make the constant verbal arguing humorous, clever, or impressive; able to make argumentative banter the satisfying culmination of previously set-up tensions; etc. Rumiko Takahashi is a master, for a reason. (Anyone who can master short story formats, and make paneling so clear to follow for literal decades---I've only had 2 instances where I couldn't understand what happened between panels, and that was over multiple years of reading many of her series. She is a master.) I don't doubt Rumiko Takahashi's skills. So it shouldn't be surprising that her argumentative tsundere couple is the center of my favorite manga series, while a decade of imitators flop, in my eyes, with abrasive tsundere couples that can't stand each other (besides the sexual tension).
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Lelouch and C.C. are another ship I like, that I just realized often portrays them as annoyed with each other. So shouldn't I be feeling cognitive dissonance over their tsundere qualities clashing with my romantic preferences? But in reality, I like Lelouch and C.C. were only irritating each other during the beginning of their friendship. And it was mostly just Lelouch being annoyed. C.C. was thoroughly amused by him. And they quickly become so supportive of each other. They remind me that another major relationship dynamic that I prefer are the "peers". Whether they're intellectual peers, like ZelLina, or hold the same core ideals, like NaruHina, I love couples that are on the same level. I even prefer couples with characters designs that put them on equal footing, like Dee and Ryo from Sanami Matoh's FAKE, as opposed to many BL couples where the uke is super tiny, young, and effeminate, while the seme contrasts too much with his exaggerated masculinity and height. Lelouch and C.C. are peers, on the same level, with an evened power dynamic (by the end of Code Geass). Lelouch and C.C. don't actually slot into the category of "hate each other so much, they don't notice they're in love" irritation. They very quickly become not a tsundere couple. Besides which, C.C. barely prolongs arguments with yelling or immature responses, and Lelouch gives the impression of calm or self-control, even while he's melodramatically getting angry. C.C. is more mature, than "abrasive tsundere". If anything, she's more like the tsundere embarrassed about their vulnerabilities…but she spend so many plot points getting past even that, when it comes to interacting with Lelouch.
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So now I'm wondering if Rankane always worked for me because they seemed to be peers. They had a fairly even power dynamic, even while the series portrayed Ranma as a better martial artist than Akane. They both have equal power over each other, emotionally. They even have a similar level of immaturity (as remake episode 11 reminded me). Maybe the reason I never got annoyed with Rankane was that I never saw them as a "tsundere couple". Maybe I was having too much fun watching them banter, to empathize with their irritation at each other. Again, thanks to Takahashi's masterful setup of tension, making their banter into satisfying pay-off. So many other tsundere couples from so many other Harem anime, just make you feel as irritated as the characters are. And while getting the audience to empathize with characters, should be proof of skill and often is the goal of conveying ideas through writing…I've never been a fan of getting as irritated as the tsundere characters are with each other. But Ranma and Akane feel very much to be on an equal level. And now that the 2024 remake has gotten me finally participating in the fandom, I'm beginning to see good arguments, supporting Rankane. There's the direction of scenes, emphasizing and signaling romance between them, of course. And I can't forget how well their friendship clicked together, when they first met at girl-Ranma and non-fiancée-Akane. But also, Ranma and Akane are both martial artists, who approach life from that perspective. They can have very similar core values and mentalities. Even their arguing could be taken as an extension of their strong values in being martial artists. They both have fighting spirit. They both expect that. There are even times when one doesn't reciprocate a willingness to fight, and that worries the other. They respect when the other doesn't back down from a fight. They share similar ideals about fighting spirit, and maybe that's enough to explain why their relationship works. (Plus, they can both be very kind, even to opponents who don't deserve it.) All the tsundere tropes of arguing and slapstick towards each other can be superficial, compared to their shared values as peers. And maybe that's why Rankane works.
