WARNING: The following contains spoilers for episode 1 of Aharen-san is Indecipherable, "Isn't This Too Close?", now streaming on Crunchyroll.
The Spring 2022 anime season has arrived, and it features more than a few wholesome anime series, including the brand-new Aharen-san is Indecipherable, which feels like a sister to the ongoing series Komi Can't Communicate. Both anime shows feature a heroine who has trouble speaking to others, but even so, Aharen and Komi have their differences.
These slice-of-life heroines are both shy girls who can't easily form friendships or romances with the people around them, but their personalities differ on a fundamental level, which helps set Aharen-san apart. While Komi Shoko is a traditional dandere anime character, Aharen Reina is a twist on the kuudere archetype, and that makes her more compelling than ever.
In the course of just one episode, Aharen-san is Indecipherable establishes its namesake heroine as not just a kuudere anime character like Nifuji Hirotaka or Sohma Yuki, but one who is made more complex with elements from other -dere types, too. In anime, the -dere archetypes usually describe how a character expresses their affection, with hot-headed tsunderes being prickly and defensive before opening up, kuuderes being aloof and cool-headed before opening up to their chosen love interest and so on.
A kuudere in particular simply chooses to not get too involved with the people around them; they are quiet and unexpressive as a matter of preference. This sets them apart from dandere characters like Shoko, who are shy and unassertive to the point of putting themselves down out of excessive modesty or insecurity. It could be said that danderes are less in control of their behavior than kuuderes are, but Aharen Reina blurs the line between these archetypes plus adds a little more.
In the series premiere, Aharen is compelling not just because of her cuteness or the humor of her silent mouth movements, but because she has the assertive nature of a kuudere combined with the insecurities of a dandere, making her something entirely new in modern anime. She is quiet and aloof by choice, as a true kuudere, and she is self-assured when she expresses affection for her new friend, her high school classmate Raido. At the same time, Aharen is insecure about her difficulty speaking to others and being heard, and she has unpleasant memories of her female classmates rejecting her offers of friendship in middle school.
Aharen is "once bitten, twice shy," but she is only insecure about her ability to express herself, not her worthiness as a friend. Self-doubt and self-depreciation are major symptoms of being a dandere, but Aharen lacks those. She knows she can be a good friend to someone, but the barrier of silence stands in her way. For a time, she had chosen to give up trying to overcome that obstacle, but now she's fighting to be heard, and Raido wants to listen.
Aharen's unusual combination of kuudere and dandere not only sets her apart in the story of Aharen-san is Indecipherable but also allows fans to make general predictions about the future of her character arc, her relationship with Raido and the story's overall tone. Fans can compare her hybrid -dere antics to similar characters such as Nifuji Hirotaka from Wotakoi and certainly Komi Shoko from Komi Can't Communicate, to make some guesses about what she might say or do next.
In Episode 1, for example, Aharen chooses to only stay in Raido's company and direct all her affection toward him, kuudere-style, which suggests that she may act jealously in future episodes if anyone else tries to be Raido's friend. Aharen isn't necessarily a petty or selfish person, but it's clear that this new friendship is an important and symbolic step for her, and she might overreact and shoo away anyone else who wants her to share Raido with them. If so, this will likely happen in a humorous rather than dramatic way, given the series' rom-com tone.
It's also possible that Aharen and Raido's relationship will become romantic sooner than expected, especially given Aharen's slight megadere streak, and she might get in over her head. In that case, her dandere side may take over, and she could get flustered and retreat back into her shell, which may take Raido by surprise. Aharen isn't afraid to assertively express her affection to Raido, but once a certain point is reached, she may lose her nerve and rethink her relationship with him. She will have to determine if she has the courage to get serious with Raido and let her kuudere nature triumph over her dandere insecurities.
