Yandere Kanojo

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Manabu and Reina. Actually, you could call them Megane-kun and Yankee-chan, if not for copyright issues.

Tanaka Manabu is a regular honors student. On the way to school, he meets a girl carrying a bloody bat. That girl is Ryuuzaki Reina, leader of the school's female delinquents. It's love at first sight. Yandere Kanojo is a gag manga (with a combination of Yonkoma and normal page) about having a yankee dere-dere girlfriend.

A drama CD came out in Japan in 2010.

NOTE: In the title of this series, "yandere" refers not to this term, but to the "yankee"+ "dere-dere" combination. In this sense, 'yankee' means troublemaker, not an American.

Not to be confused with Onidere, which has a strikingly similar concept, but is only similar to this series in that regard.

Tropes used in Yandere Kanojo include:
  • A Day in the Limelight: Reina's parents in their flashback chapters, and Hijiri and Shiratori in chapter 27.
    • Sumika and Nanami in their flashback chapters, and Shiratori solo in chapter 34. A-ko in chapter 37.
  • The Ace: Shiratori would be this if anybody treated him with any respect - he actually is good at sports and academics, good looking, and popular with the ladies...except the girls like his adorkability and Manabu and Reina treat him as an Unknown Rival and Butt Monkey.
  • Adorkable: Shiratori thinks he's popular with girls because he's so cool. In reality, he's popular with the girls because they find how easily-flustered he gets when they flirt with him adorable.
  • All Gays Are Promiscuous: Shuuei Mori. In his introductory chapter, the first thing he says to every guy he meets is "Hey, wanna go to a hotel later?".
  • All Men Are Perverts: HOLY SHIT MANABU!
    • To put it simply, it WOULDN'T be a big problem if the guy saying it was NOT a Stoic one.
  • Anti-Hero: The Magical Girl Princess Mamii, if her eagerness to Shoot the Hostage is anything to go by.
  • April Fools' Day: The subject of chapter 27.1.
  • At Arm's Length: Reina does this to Nanami the first time they fight.
  • Author Appeal: The author likes characters that look tough, but aren't, and who have 'evil eyes' - hence Reina's dad. Similarly, because he likes old guys, he included Manabu's grandad.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: Reina really should, especially when a certain clown might be listening.
  • Beach Episode: Chapter 17.1.
  • Berserk Button: If Reina considers you to be a friend, consider it to be a nice privilege. If she feels that you've betrayed that feeling, however, God help you.
  • Beta Couple: Manabu and Reina are essentially this to Hijiri and Shiratori, even though they're the main characters while Hijiri and Shiratori are secondary characters. This can be tricky (in that the Hijiri/Shiratori story has been one story arc in one of the two published titles), and Manabu and Reina may swap back into the alpha couple once the story arc concludes.
  • Big Bra to Fill: Lampshaded.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Reina's uncle's dog feels this way toward Reina; that's why he dislikes Manabu, because he feels that Manabu isn't strong enough for Reina.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Manabu saves Chibita and Reina from attacking cats using dried bonito as a diversion.
  • Big Friendly Dog: Chibita, Reina's uncle's dog. Except around Manabu.
  • Bilingual Bonus: There are a lot of puns in this manga that wouldn't translate to English well.
  • Birds of a Feather: Manabu and Hijiri comment on how similar they are during a talk in chapter 33.
    • The manga occasionally points out the similarities between Reina and Shiratori.
  • Bishie Sparkle: Shiratori, in his initial appearance.
  • Blah Blah Blah: How Reina summarizes the need for Manabu's grandfather to help them teach Akira to feel more girly.
    • Becomes an actual form of communication here.

Hijiri: Please go back to using normal words!

Reina: You should really find a better person than me for that.

  • Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Reina and Mayami do this so often that Reina eventually has Mayami playing tsukkomi in her head when she's not around.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: "What is with that expression that looks like it's saying 'What a pain in the ass' in bold face Ming type font?!"

Manabu: You look really distant...

    • The whole conversation between Reina and Mayami about the Tanakas' family situation. They even say they're Breaking the Fourth Wall to avoid Mood Whiplash.
    • Reina questions why Sumika gets two panels for her introduction at the beach.
    • Reina yells at the school doctor to shut up and act like "a little side character".
    • "He'd never draw us in swimming caps anyway."
    • Completely broken for the intro of the Valentine's Day chapter.
    • "Wait, I've hardly had any screentime thanks to your ass!!!"
    • In chapter 35.1:

Reina: Ahh! You're right!! I forgot about that part of the plot!!!
Manabu: Reina, the fourth wall!!

  • Butt Monkey: Shiratori. He has only his own Wrong Genre Savvy to blame - he wants people to be impressed with his good looks and talent at academics and sports, and Manabu to treat him as The Rival. There's a time and a place for that...and this is not it.
    • Tsukihitsugi. She wants to hunt ghosts, but has no spiritual powers and the only reason why she encounters them is because, as Kuroko says, her mere presence is incredibly annoying to spirits.

Kuroko: You can think of her like a huge pile of shit that only spirits can smell.
Reina: That's a pretty harsh way to put it.

  • Captain Ersatz: Taiga, is that you?
    • Shiratori was based off of the rival character in Tokimeki Memorial 3, because the author hated him and wanted to see him get beaten up. That said, the author does like Shiratori (though he's not feeling the love).
  • Cat Smile: Reina occasionally pulls this off, and it's adorable.
  • Cats Are Mean: To be fair, it's Chibita who strikes first...
  • The Cats Strike Back: Chibita tries to scare a cat stealing a fish. The retaliation is swift.
  • Character Development: Reina gradually becomes more honest about her feelings and less violent towards Manabu as the series goes on.
    • Shiratori makes less of an effort to be obnoxious around the gang, though he still wants to be recognized by Manabu as a rival and as a friend. He's unwilling to admit the latter, however (at least until chapter 35).
  • Class Rep: Hijiri.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: Reina's pretty foul mouthed when she's angry, unsurprisingly for a Delinquent.
  • Combat Masochist: Mayami likes to provoke Reina into hitting her so that she can get off on the pain.
  • Cool Old Guy: Manabu's grandfather literally puts him to shame - he has such a complex about his granddad being so much cooler than him that it's far and away the leading cause of any Not So Stoic moments he has.
  • Cooldown Hug: Kouichirou to Ran in Ch 37
  • Cosmetic Catastrophe: Reina starts out well when learning how to use makeup, getting Mayami to help her, but when she tries to go solo, it descends into this.
  • Covert Pervert: Reina has a tendency to warn Manabu not to do or think of perverted things that never occurred to him.
  • Cry Cute: Can't be more Dere-dere than that.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: The Kendo Club shows up to defend the school from a possessed Reina, which ends exactly how you'd expect it to. Then the Judo Club shows up only to suffer the same fate.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: While the principal has a way of turning bad kids into good kids that can only be described as brainwashing and he isn't afraid to beat the crap out of his students (including girls) to enforce rules, he doesn't seem to be all that evil and is genuinely nice to those who follow the rules.
  • Date Peepers: After telling Mayami she can't come with them when they go to see Avatar, Reina and Manabu end up spending most of their date following Mayami after they see her seeing the same movie with some guy they don't know, to make sure he's not a creep.
  • Demonic Possession: "The Cursed Black Bat". Manabu manages to stop it with The Power of Love.
  • Deus Exit Machina: In "The Cursed Black Bat" (26.1), Manabu and the Principal are conveniently absent when trouble starts, though Manabu returns to save the day.

Hijiri: Why now of all times!

  • Disappeared Dad: Nanami's dad left after she beat him up in pre-school. They reunited some years later.
  • Doctor Jerk: The school doctor. And he knows it.
  • Double Standard: Mayami is a masochist who wants to be beaten up by Reina, but thinks that men who beat up women are the lowest form of life.
  • Dreadful Musician: Kuroko. She can't move on to the next world till someone recognizes the music she's playing, but she plays so badly it's impossible. She apparently remembers what it was at the end of her introductory story, but sticks around.
  • Dull Surprise: Manabu's 'Hooray' when Reina is dressed up.
  • Elephant in the Living Room: Tanaka's relationship with his parents. He's told mutually conflicting stories and at least one outright lie (about his grandfather and Mayami not getting along).
  • Even the Girls Want Her: Reina.
    • Akira is this, albeit in a different way than Reina.
    • Nanami got this in elementary school.
  • Every Girl Is Cuter With Hair Decs:
    • Gender-flipped: Shiratori has a hair clip in the front of his hair for no particular reason.
    • Parodied with the character of Tsukihitsugi, introduced in Chapter 25.1, who looks like she fell into a pile of hair decs.
  • Everything Is Worse With Bears: Subverted in one chapter. Manabu is worried about encountering bears when he and Reina are in the mountains looking for a Sakura tree. Reina reassures him and says she'd gladly kill and eat any bears threatening them. A bear overhears them and is absolutely terrified.
  • Face of a Thug: Reina's dad utterly terrifies most people around him because he looks like a gangster, acts gruff and makes sudden, very violent-seeming movements most of the time. The gag is that he's only terrifying because he's actually absolutely terrified of social situations.
    • The school principal, however, is as terrifying as he looks.
  • False Friend: Sumika was this to Nanami when they first met in pre-school, but over time, it became the real thing. Nanami never caught on, even when Sumika confessed it - as far as she was concerned, they'd been friends all along.
  • Family-Friendly Firearms / Nerf Arm: The weapons shops sells weapons that look and feel like real weapons, but do no serious or permanent damage. They are only to be used for comedic effect.
  • Fictional Counterpart: Mouseland -> Disneyland.
  • For Halloween I Am Going as Myself: Kuroko loves Halloween because she can go out and trick-or-treat as a Bedsheet Ghost.
  • Fountain of Youth: Reina in chapter 28 - albeit with a few modifications, because she doesn't look like her childhood photos.
  • Fractured Fairy Tale: The Cinderella chapter, with Reina as Cinderella, Manabu as the wizard who helps her, Shiratori as the prince, and a rival gang as the stepsisters.
  • G-Rated Drug: Amazake in chapter 31.1. Normally it's either non-alcoholic or has a low amount of alcohol. Reina, under the impression it's non-alcoholic regardless, puts in too much sake lees, making it hugely alcoholic, and everyone has a crazy moment.
  • Generation Xerox: Reina is shaping up to be just like her mother was.
  • The Generic Guy: Hijiri. Pretty much everybody else has some sort of quirky personality traits, but Hijiri doesn't have much going on besides Ship Tease with Shiratori, as well as playing the role of a "normal girl" to contrast Reina with.
    • Lampshaded in her profile: originally, she was intended to be a background character in her initial chapter, then after they got the go-ahead for serialization, she got upgraded to the main cast. Her being the class rep was a complete accident.
  • Ghost Shipping: Of the unrequited variety, considering that the object of Kuroko's affections can't even see her.
  • Girlish Pigtails: Mayami and Hijiri both sport these. Tsukihitsugi does too, in 'civvies'; it looks like she also has them in her exorcist outfit, but the hair decs make it hard to tell.
  • Golden Snitch: Mayami pulls this as hostess of a gameshow. Reina, as one of the contestants, is not happy.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: After Shiratori calls Manabu's sister "Mayami-kun," Hijiri goes into a minor Heroic BSOD that's serious enough for her to request that Reina punch her to snap her out of it. Mayami is sharp enough to notice it and assures her that she has no interest in Shiratori while teasing Hijiri about her jealousy.
  • Happily Married / Sickeningly Sweethearts: Reina's parents.
  • Harmless Villain: Nanami and her gang, without a doubt. You might even start wondering if she's even a villain at all, as one of her gang members outright states that she likes to help people.
    • Later, we learn her favourite doll was Red Ranger, and that she was 'strong, but kind' when she was younger. A Hero Antagonist, perhaps...?
  • He Is Not My Boyfriend: Reina wants to preserve her tough image. Manabu is happy to go with the flow.
  • Het Is Ew: According to Shuuei Mori.
  • Hidden Depths: Beneath all the loud bombast and obnoxiousness Shiratori does when trying to pursue his "rivalry" with Manabu, he's actually a really nice person. Hijiri seems to be developing feelings for him after seeing said hidden depths.
    • Mayami has shown that she can be pretty perceptive when she wants to be, occasionally being nicknamed "Professor Mayami" by the other characters. That's why it's such a shame that she uses it to try and find new ways to provoke Reina into beating the stuffing out of her. Also, as much as she insults her brother, there's no real malice in it and she goes into a stony rage if someone hurts him.
    • Even characters like Nanami, Sumika and Tsukihitsugi have these moments.
    • This happens more and more as the series continues, and we delve further into the characters.
  • Hot for Teacher: A-ko falls for Kouichiro after he helps her, and tries to convince him to leave his wife for her. Three guesses as to how well that works out.
  • Ho Yay: Hijiri, Mayami, and Reina determine that the reason Shiratori doesn't show interest in love and dating girls is because he's preoccupied with something else. That something else being Manabu. Make of that what you will.
    • It's shown that he's not interested in love because of his upbringing at home (he has dominating sisters). Analyzed by Mayami, no less.
    • Chapter 32 has the girls try to improve Shiratori and Manabu's friendship using Kimodameshi . . . which is usually an anime plot device used for Ship Tease and/or invoked by the Shipper on Deck.
    • It goes right back to Shiratori's first appearance in chapter 3. Shiratori and Reina make a bet; if Manabu wins, Shiratori has to eat spaghetti through his nose, while if Shiratori wins, Reina owes him a date. When Reina starts freaking out afterwards, Manabu says he'll go on the date instead.
    • In chapter 35, Reina notes Manabu gets obsessed over whatever he targets (in this case, Shiratori).
    • In chapter 39.1 Reina outright invokes this when she nonchalantly accuses Shiratori and Manabu of flirting with each other.
  • Hypocritical Humor: When Reina saw one of her subordinates crying because she saw her boyfriend with another girl, she just told her to go kick their asses. When she sees Manabu with another girl...
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Played for Laughs in chapter 29. Ran (Reina's mother) suspects that her husband Kouichirou's odd behavior means he's having an affair (it turns out he's actually hanging out with Manabu's grandfather). The following exchange occurs:

Reina: What was that? Dad is cheating on you!?
Ran: He's not cheating on me!! He fell in love with another woman besides me!!
Reina: Uhh, that's what you would call cheating, isn't it?
Ran: Kouichirou has the right to love whoever he wants, so I'm not going to call it something as bad as cheating!
Manabu: Whoa, that reasoning of yours is oozing with love...

Hijiri: "I must say, you look really cute when you're working hard...in fact, I'd say I'd rather love Reina than some guy. *beat* O-OF COURSE I DIDN'T MEAN IT IN A WEIRD WAY! I MEANT AS FRIENDS!"

  • Theme Naming: Reina's flunkies are named Eiko & Biko ("Girl A" and "Girl B"), fitting their largely unimportant to the plot status.
  • Token Loli: Nanami, though she's also a case of Older Than They Look (her age is given as 16). It works against her anyway since Manabu treats her crush on him as a Precocious Crush, not to be taken seriously.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Reina and Hijiri.
    • Nanami and Sumika.
  • Too Kinky to Torture: Physical retaliation by Reina to any of Mayami's antics doesn't work because it's exactly what she wants.
  • Tranquil Fury: There's no better way to describe Manabu's reaction to Wakako badmouthing Reina behind her back.
  • Tsundere: Oddly enough, this applies to Reina. She quickly gets shy and tsuntsun with her boyfriend, but wants to hide the whole relationship to preserve her reputation.
    • Reina's mother as well.
    • Shiratori seems to be platonically tsundere for Manabu, wanting to be his friend instead of significant other.
    • Nanami gets a platonically tsundere moment over Reina in 27.1.
    • After Manabu saves Reina and Chibita from cats, Reina worries about his injuries. Manabu says it's better than getting a lady's face injured. Reina's response to that is... interesting.

Reina: Geeeez, you idiot! Moron!!! You're so smug! Trying to act like some cool knight! You prince on a white horse!! You glasses-wearing stud!!!

  • Two Lines, No Waiting: Is actually two different titles; a web published one (the 4-koma) and a print one (the conventional one). Since most scanlation sites just put the story up in order, it leads to the two-part stories being cut off in between.
  • Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Reina's parents. Her dad isn't that ugly, but anyone who doesn't know the couple might think they're mismatched.
    • Ironically, having the Face of a Thug is what attracted her to him in the first place.
  • Unknown Rival: Shiratori - no matter how much better his grades are than Manabu's, no matter how obnoxious and insulting he is, Manabu and eventually Reina barely pay him any mind.
    • Nanami and her gang definitely count, as Reina just sees her as a pest rather than an actual threat.
  • The Un-Smile: In chapter 22 Hijiri's face freezes into a smile when she becomes jealous about Shiratori calling Mayami by her first name.
  • Violently Protective Girlfriend: Reina. She's pretty protective of her friends generally, but god help you if you mess with Manabu. Even if Manabu himself doesn't care.
    • Like many of Reina's traits, it comes from her mother. In one story, Ran crucifies a solicitor for wasting Kouichirou's time while they're on a date, while in another, she threatens his entire class if they cause him trouble.
  • What Does She See in Him?: Manabu's a relatively ordinary-looking guy. Reina seems to think he's on the male supermodel/"legendary man-whore" end of the spectrum.
  • When He Smiles: Reina's dad smiled once, and everyone was surprised.
    • During the high school days of Reina's parents, Ran (Reina's mom) fainted after Kouichirou (Reina's dad) smiled at her. The effect of the smile was so profound it made her deredere side the dominant one. Note that Ran was one of the most feared delinquents in her neighborhood during her time.
  • Whole-Episode Flashback: Reina's parents' first meeting, and Sumika and Nanami's first meeting, both get two chapters.
  • Yandere: Subverted, when you consider the title and Reina's personality. An omake reveals that Mayami was originally supposed to be a murderously jealous yandere little sister before the author decided otherwise.
    • Ran, on the other hand, plays this trope straight in chapter 37.
  • Yonkoma
  • Zettai Ryouiki: Reina on one of her dates.
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