Kuudere are known for their emotionless exterior despite the love they hold for others. The Japanese term "kuudere" refers to characters who struggle to verbalize or outwardly display their love, only revealing their true feelings through their actions. These characters are notoriously difficult to read because they appear calm and collected -- even if their emotions are running rampant. Here are five manga to read if you love this icy and complex archetype.
ReLIFE
ReLIFE stars Hishiro Chizuru, a kuudere high school girl who is cold and antisocial. Her angry, intimidating expression tends to scare away her classmates who misunderstand her. Despite her difficulty socializing and expressing herself, she meets Kaizaki Arata who is part of an experiment called "ReLIFE," which is a pill that makes the consumer ten years younger. Arata, 27, takes part in the experiment because he's single and unemployed while the program gives him the opportunity to redo his youth in high school so he can improve his life outcome.
Chizuru and Arata become classmates, where Chizuru is the class representative and top scorer in their grade. Despite her brilliance in academics, Chizuru often lacks common sense and knowledge of matters outside academics. As the pair become closer, she works on her social skills to express herself without being so blunt and straightforward. She also tries to appear less cold by smiling more, although she ends up terrifying others. While this kuudere works to soften her expressionless exterior in ReLIFE, she soon finds love lurking beneath its surface.
Inuyasha
The Inuyasha manga is a must-read for any kuudere fan, with Inuyasha's half-brother Sesshomaru being the archetype's ideal embodiment. An incredibly powerful dog demon feared throughout the land for his superior strength and abilities, Sesshomaru looks down on fellow demons and humans alike for being weak and pathetic. He notoriously despises Inuyasha for being a half-demon born from a human mother. Due to Sesshomaru's unrivaled power and infamous reputation, the manga originally sets him up to be its ultimate villain.
However, Sesshomaru unexpectedly undergoes some of the most dramatic and extensive character development known throughout the manga world when he meets a young girl named Rin. When he finds her dead body in the forest, he's compelled to use his Tenseiga for the first time to resurrect her after she had tried to help him previously. Not only does he save the life of a human child despite his hatred toward humans, but he also allows her to travel beside him as he protects her with his life. Given Sesshomaru's cold and emotionless exterior, he appears to dislike everything and everyone, only showing strong emotions when Rin is in danger.
Yona of the Dawn
Since Yona of the Dawn is a popular reverse-harem manga, most fan-favorite archetypes can be found among the various male leads -- including kuudere. While many of Yona's travel companions are lively and animated with large personalities that occasionally clash, Shin-Ah the Blue Dragon Warrior is different from his peers. Having been raised in a cruel and abusive village, he was locked away inside a cave and forced to wear a mask by the villagers who feared his eyes and incredible power. While most kuudere characters wear an emotionless, figurative mask, Shin-Ah wears a literal and physical mask that hides his thoughts and expressions.
Since he was never given a name at birth, Yona names him Shin-Ah to mean "person of the moonlight" because he shines brightly despite the darkness. Given his isolated childhood with very little human interaction, Shin-Ah is incredibly shy and reserved. He struggles to outwardly express himself or verbalize his thoughts, but his actions prove his love for Yona and his companions time and time again as he risks his life to protect them. While he's often reluctant to give his input and fears upsetting anyone in the group, Yona's warmth and kindness encourage him to open up as the manga progresses. Despite Yona of the Dawn having a popular anime adaptation, it was never completed, so fans will have to read the manga to see more of Shin-Ah's greatest moments.
Fruits Basket
While Fruits Basket is a top manga recommendation for tsundere fans because of Kyo Sohma, it's also perfect for kuudere lovers thanks to Yuki Sohma. Yuki finds it difficult to interact with others, making him jealous of Kyo's natural ability to express his thoughts and talk to their classmates. Yuki is taken aback after Tohru befriends him and discovers his biggest secret, finding unfamiliar joy and happiness when she moves in with him at Shigure's house. Since Yuki's social awkwardness prevents him from using first names, he continues to call Tohru "Ms. Honda" even after they open up to each other.
As a kuudere whose emotions are hard to read, Yuki struggles with being the prince of his school and is reluctant to be class president because he doesn't know how to return his classmates' feelings and admiration for him. However, he actively explores his love for Tohru and finds happiness within the student council. Wanting to improve his relationships with others, Yuki's efforts allow him to eventually show more emotion and kindness than the typical kuudere.
Missions of Love
Himuro Yukina is a famous cellphone novelist who goes by the name Yupina in Missions of Love. Despite her popular writing identity, her classmates avoid her and call her the “Absolute Zero Snow Woman” because of her cold expressions. Unfortunately, her writing suddenly hits a snag and her ratings likewise start to drop. She believes romance will improve her work, but she personally doesn't know enough to properly write about it.
Yukina approaches the popular student council president and blackmails him into teaching her about romance, believing he's an expert in the subject given the regular love confessions he receives. Kitami Shigure agrees to teach her, but she can only observe love in an abstract sense because she struggles to feel emotions herself. Unable to understand her own feelings, she remains stoic and detached from the outside world. As an extreme kuudere with icy behavior, Yukina will have to work hard to understand romance in Missions of Love.
