Utsudere

"Utsudere" is a term for a character who is normally depressed and gloomy all the time but becomes cheerful, loving, and deredere when around their love interest. They will depend on their love interest to put a smile on their face and motivate them to improve their life. With enough time after meeting their love interest, they will gradually begin to become happier as a whole to help them move on from their prolonged sadness.
== Etymology ==
=== Meaning of the Term ===
Utsudere (鬱デレ) is a combination of "utsu" (鬱), meaning "depression, gloom or melancholy", and "deredere" (デレデレ), a mimetic word for "being lovestruck".
=== Origin ===
The exact origin is not currently known, but uses of it can be seen as far back as early 2007.
The first use in an official media was in the 2009 doujinshi romance manga series Utsudere to Purin no Ginen by Kingdom Come. The series was described as "A school love story featuring a girl who is always gloomy yet becomes modest and loving before the boy she loves."
== Personality ==
Utsudere are characters who are normally depressed and gloomy all the time (utsu) but become cheerful and loving (deredere) when around their love interest.
=== Utsu Period ===
Utsudere are characters who are depressed and appear gloomy all the time. They will often have a very negative personality and be very pessimistic about their outlook on life. They tend to keep to themselves and will ignore or avoid most other people because of their apprehensive mindset. They can often be found crying while alone.
Utsudere characters have usually experienced a traumatic event or series of events that caused their depression. This could be from several different reasons, such as being part of a devastating accident, having a chronic illness, having a loved one die, or it could even just be lots of smaller factors such as not having any friends, being bullied at school, not getting a job they wanted, being overwhelmed by responsibilities, etc., that have caused their life to not go the way they wanted it to. It is for this reason that utsudere characters likely had another, happier personality before the events that caused their prolonged sadness, which is something their love interest will start to pull out of them.
=== Deredere Period ===
Contrary to their normal gloomy state, when they are with their love interest they become cheerful, cute, loving, and affectionate. Their love interest is their beacon of light in all of the darkness and is often the only thing they find joy in. They will depend on their love interest to put a smile on their face and motivate them to improve their life.
Their love interest will help them start to open up and feel happy again. Talking about their life experiences with their love interest can help them accept and deal with the past. Spending time with their love interest will raise their spirits and they will start to act more and more cheerful and loving over time, even when their love interest is not around. They will begin making new friends and finding joy in life as a whole.
With enough time after meeting their love interest, they will become a happy person again and be able to move on from their prolonged sadness.
== Differences From Other Archetypes ==
In the Western community, this dere type is often mixed with and confused with shundere. It was thought that a "shundere" was simply an utsudere who didn't have a reason for being sad, however, this is incorrect. The difference between these two types is that utsudere have a prolonged sadness while shundere get temporarily sad because their love interest doesn't pay attention to them. In this regard, it's a lot more of a harmless and cute type of sadness in comparison to the more tragic depression of an utsudere.
== Similar Japanese Archetypes ==
* Hikikomori: A term for characters who shut themselves away from the outside world by staying at home.
* Menhera: A term for a character who is suffering from a mental illness. It is similar to utsudere in that depression is also a type of mental illness, but it is generally a lot more extreme. Utsudere is also characterized by being cheerful and loving when around their love interest when compared to their normally depressed state, while menhera is focused on bringing attention to serious mental health issues and the characters don't necessarily have to also have a cheerful and loving side.
* Shundere: A term for a character who gets sad when their love interest doesn't pay attention to them but is deredere when they do.
== List of Characters ==
See Utsudere/Japanese Characters to see characters from Japanese media.
See Utsudere/Non-Japanese Characters to see characters from non-Japanese media.
== Gallery ==
Utsudere Gallery.png|link=Utsudere/Gallery
Violet Evergarden from Violet Evergarden (1).gif|Violet Evergarden from Violet Evergarden
Tomoko Utsudere.jpg|Tomoko Kuroki from Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!
Laymia from Beelzebub.png|Laymia from Beelzebub
Aya-asagiri.jpg|Aya Asagiri from Mahou Shoujo Site
76fb72de298e809f8ab59cdffad8289a.jpg|Haruka Kotoura from Kotoura-san
Crona Gorgon (Soul Eater).webp|Crona Gorgon from Soul Eater
== References ==
Category:Melancholic
Category:Distant