“Utsudere” refers to sad and depressed characters in the anime. They are not as sad as shundere characters, but they will show depression whenever they are sad. The primary difference between Utsundere and Shundere anime is that utsudere characters have a good reason to be depressed. While shundere characters are sad from the beginning because of their gloomy personality and aura.
Meaning of the Name
The word utsudere is a compound of “utsu” (鬱), and “deredere” (デレデレ). Utsu means Depression. On the other hand, Dere means Lovey-Dovey. Thus, Utsu is one of the hardest kanji to write. nIt appears to have the highest stroke orders. Primarily, it is taken as numb while depicting the meaning of depression.
Characters from Anime
- 3-gatsu no Lion –
- Ayumu Kouda
- Rei Kiriyama
- 11eyes –
- Kakeru Satsuki
- Kukuri Tachibana
- Shiori Momono
- Yuka Minase
- Yukiko Hirohara
- Ao no Exorcist – Rin Okumura
- Asobi ni Iku yo! – Aoi Futaba
- Baccano! –
- Chane Laforet
- Huey Laforet
- Lua Klein
- Beelzebub –
- Ananta
- Izabella
- Naga
- Vritra
- Yata
- Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon –
- Joou Nehellenia
- Mamoru Chiba
- Black Cat – Eve
- BLACK LAGOON – Yukio Washinime
- BlazBlue – Jin Kisaragi
- Bleach – Muramasa
- BLOOD+ –
- Irène
- James Ironside
- Julia Silverstein
- Moses
- Boku no Hero Academia –
- Izuku Midoriya
- Shouto Todoroki
- Toshinori Yagi / All Might
- Touya Todoroki / Dabi
- Yuuga Aoyama
- Canaan – Hakkoh
- Chrno Crusade –
- Azmaria Hendric
- Florette “Fiore” Harvenheit
- Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch –
- C.C.
- Lelouch Lamperouge / vi Britannia
- Cossette no Shouzou – Cossette d’Auvergne
- DARKER THAN BLACK –
- Havoc / Carmine
- Hei
- Mina Hazuki
- Yin
- DARKER THAN BLACK: Ryuusei no Gemini –
- Tanya Akurou
- Date A Live – Natsumi Kyouno
- Dennou Coil – Yuuko Amasawa / Isako
- D.Gray-man – Miranda Lotto
- Dragon Ball – Piccolo
- EDENS ZERO – Homura Kougetsu
- Eikoku Koi Monogatari Emma – Hans Molder
- Elfen Lied – Lucy / Nyuu / Kaede
- Ensemble Stars! –
- Kuro Kiryu
- Mayoi Ayase
- Midori Takamine
- Rei Sakuma
- Tsumugi Aoba
- El Cazador de la Bruja – Ellis
- FAIRY TAIL –
- Juvia Lockser
- Meredy
- Seilah
- Zeref Dragneel
- Fate/Grand Order –
- Archer
- Byakuya Matou
- Kirei Kotomine
- Fate/Zero –
- Kiritsugu Emiya
- Maiya Hisau
- Sakura Matou
- FLCL –
- Mamimi Samejima
- Naota Nandaba
- FLCL Progressive – Hidomi Hibajiri
- Freezing –
- Creo Brand
- Satellizer L. Bridget
- Fruits Basket –
- Hatori Sohma
- Kisa Sohma
- Machi Kuragi
- Momiji Sohma
- Yuki Sohma
- Full Metal Panic! – Yu Lan Xia
- Fuun Ishin Dai Shogun –
- Kiriko Hattori
- Toshizou Hijikata
- GANGSTA. –
- Erica
- Veronica
- Gintama – Shinsuke Takasugi
- Golden Kamuy –
- Asirpa
- Hyakunosuke Ogata
- Saichi Sugimoto / The Immortal
- Gunslinger Girl –
- Petrushka
- Victor Hartmann / Hilshire
- Gun Sword – Ray Lundgren
- Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji – Kaiji Itou
- Haibane Renmei – Reki
- Hanamonogatari – Rouka Numachi
- HELLSING – Walter C. Dornez
- Hidan no Aria – Kinji Tohyama
- High School DxD –
- Karlamine
- Koneko Toujou
- Marion
- Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – Rika Furude
- Houseki no Kuni – Cinnabar
- IDOLY PRIDE – Kotono Nagase
- Jasal Sonyeon – Lee Hoon
Conclusion
Utsudere characters develop the feeling of sadness over any bad experience in their past. These experiences may include, being bullied at school, witnessing or being part of a devastating accident or event, having some chronic illness, having a loved one or other close person dying or being fatally injured, etc.
However, these characters often develop themself in a positive way. They start to rebuild themselves. The characters begin to build relationships and trust.