Takahashi Couple



A term used by anime fans to refer to the romantic pairing of a Tsundere with a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, and the inevitable misunderstandings and conflicts from such personalities being put together.

Despite the conflict, there is an attraction. This is obvious to everyone around except the couple. Confront them with the obvious, they'll deny it. When one gets clued in, they will do every thing in their power to play it off. The other soon does the same. Sometimes they will progress to admitting their friendship but insist they are Just Friends.

Might involve a Cannot Stand Them Cannot Live Without Them situation, or even Domestic Abuse (but usually Played for Laughs).

If there is a Love Epiphany with one of these characters, expect it to change almost nothing, at least in the short term.

Rumiko Takahashi is the mistress of this trope; her works display it so well that anime fandom refers to it as a "Takahashi Couple."

Many subsequent anime and manga creators have followed in her footsteps, especially after the popularity of Ranma 1/2.

All examples (with the exception of Takahashi's own works) should be placed in Belligerent Sexual Tension.

Urusei Yatsura
Male Lead: Ataru Moroboshi is a Casanova Wannabe, Unlucky Everydude, Jerk with a Heart of Gold.

Female Lead: Whichever one you think counts doesn't matter, because both Lum and Shinobu Miyake are Tsundere.

Will They or Won't They? goes on forever, and is never resolved - although this may be due to a crossfire of Ship Sinking and Executive Meddling, since the author (who favored Shinobu) and the fans (who preferred Lum) disagreed about who should be the Official Couple. In the end, the Reset Button was hit, rather than let Ataru and Lum progress to "official" Official Couple.

Maison Ikkoku
Male Lead: Yuusaku Godai, is an Unlucky Everydude, usually a nice guy, to the point where he doesn't fit the Jerk with a Heart of Gold stereotype so much as he's a lazy, cowardly, wishy-washy person who's rather immature and unable to say "no" to anybody, be it an unwanted girlfriend or a drunken flat-mate, although he is a bit of a Covert Pervert, and often offends people with his attempts to please everyone. His progression from loser trying to get into college to responsible adult is one of the primary Character Development aspects of the work. Much less of a jerk than other characters in Takahashi's work. Notably, his rival fits this mold a little better (as a conceited rich boy) and has similar character development.

Female Lead: Kyoko Otonashi is a repressed Tsundere. Changed into a Yamato Nadeshiko by the death of her first husband, her developing relationship with Godai brings the Tsundere back out.

Will They or Won't They? is finally resolved after 70 plus episodes. Ending on a definite note with Godai and Kyoko married. Their issues were more serious and realistic {Godai's wishy-washiness, Kyoko's inability to let go of her late husband} than Takahashi's usual stubborn Will Not Spit It Out.

Ranma ½
Probably the most famous of the Takahashi works.

Ranma: Jerk with a Heart of Gold for his birth form / Tsundere Type A for her girl form, although one could argue he qualifies for both in either form.

Akane: Tsundere. Her type varies: the manga makes her a Type B (more deredere), the anime gives her more Type A (more tsuntsun) aspects than she had in the manga but she can still be considered a Type B.

Ranma seems to be locked in the The Masochism Tango with all his possible Love Interests.

The Trope Codifiers: Many a fan-theory exists as to why they're so unable or unwilling to admit the obvious (a combination of Ranma's ultra-macho upbringing and Akane's Kuno-induced misandry being the most popular). Takahashi couldn't even bring herself to put them officially together in the manga's final issues. This may have also been due to the fact that no couple could really go anywhere without horribly dishonoring most of the rest of them. Plus, they are still in high school so perhaps a lack of progress is understandable. At least some (minor) hints of progress at the very end. (They hold hands). Note that Ranma can't say yes without either curing his curse (good luck violating the First Law of Gender Bending) or Akane admitting she likes it like that. (Violating the movie rating code.)

Inuyasha
Inuyasha: Jerk with a Heart of Gold, with mre than one shade of Type A Tsundere. Grew with his mother Izayoi in a rich household where people looked down on him for being half-human, half-Youkai. Lost his mother early in his life, then some years later he met a lonely Miko named Kikyou who offered him kindness, and they fell in love due to their common lonely issues. Were planning to use the Shikon no Tama to make him a fullblooded human so he could live with Kikyou happily, but then... Naraku happened. Kikyou died, Inuyasha ended up pined to a tree for 50 years until Kagome released him - logically, he has huge issues in regards to people.

Kagome Higurashi: Type B Tsundere (deredere). Kikyou's descendant and reincarnation, a highschool student who lives in modern Japan. Is accidentally thrust into the past and, to protect herself and her surroundings, releases Inuyasha, and later teams up with him to retrieve the lost Shikon shards. Has a good heart, but latent self-esteem issues as well as quite the uncertainty in regards to her own place in the world. Which aren't helped by the fact that, later, her original Kikyou is forcibly revived, kicking off her insecurities.

Inuyasha and Kagome are a variant: They clearly have come to an understanding as to their mutual feelings, so tend to have moments of Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other occasionally sprinkled into the denials, fighting, and plot-stretching bouts of Cannot Spit It Out. They actually do become an Official Couple towards the end of the manga (and appropriately enough, their romance then receives much less attention until the end). Not to mention, thanks to Character Development, Kagome warms up to Inuyasha quite faster than the standard Takahashi Tsundere, and Inuyasha is slightly less prone to verbal abuse than the standard Takahashi Jerk with a Heart of Gold.