I have no idea if I should post this, however a question is lingering on my mind and I can't make it go away!!!!
I am currently writing a story with a small girl who is a bit of a bitch (bad word :O) to her male counterpart. Some betas say its fine; however others say she is really unlikeable.
However I've seen this quite a few times in Anime, take Toradora or zero no tsukaima.
In Zero.... Louise goes as far as beating the boy with a stick and tying him up like a dog.
The sole reason why I loved those two animes were because the main characters were such opposites and the girls were aggressive and not just passive. They voiced their opinions with fists and or whips.
So finally my question.... what made Louise so likeable that I continued watching? Did anyone else find Louise to be mean? I didn't.
I'm not surprised to see you make this post, since you loved Victorique from Gossick, who is the same basic character type (google "tsundere"). These girls (almost always girls) usually fall in love or start to rely on a guy (almost always guys), but they used to be outsiders who had to try extra hard to get on, and they're often socially awkward, so they get confused by that new sort of relationship and see their independence threatened. Beneath that harsh exterior, they're really no different than anyone else, and it's nice to rely on someone else - but admitting that is hard: it threatens the hard-earned independence, and there are feelings of fear (what if I rely too much on him and then he goes away?). There's usually some sort of vulnerability that only that certain boy (or sometimes close friends) really gets to see - and they're punished for that breach, while at the same time they grow closer.
I actually like the type.
Louise didn't particularly stick in my memory. I saw (part of?) the first season of
Zero no Tsukaima, and didn't bother with the others. But from what I remember, her main problem was that she wasn't too good at magic, and her fellow students pretty much laughed at her (or ran for their lives when she tried to cast...?) I really can't remember too much; but she certainly wanted to earn respect. Since the guy in this case was the "familiar" she summoned she felt she had to establish that relationship ("It's an honour to serve me"). She didn't do these things out of cruelty. No, I didn't think she was mean; but it's undeniable that she did mean things.
Taiga from
Toradora suffered from a mismatch of bodysize and the English meaning of her name, so people started to make fun of her. As a result she developed the temperament of hunted tiger. I love her dearly; she's among my favourites of the type. (And
Toradora is great fun, not the least because Ryuji actually holds his own against her.)
Victorique has been locked away for so long that she's now locking herself away. She has trouble trusting people, and when she opens up to Kujo she starts to fear losing him, as the feeling of being able to rely on someone is so precious and rare. It's interesting to see the quality of her abuse develop that way - from playful dismissal to cautious bonding.
There are always those "awwww" moments when they drop their masks for a second or so. Or when they're so obvious in their denial ("It's not like I made this for
you!") It's simply an appealing mix of strength and vulnerability. A tag line could be: "You can make it on your own, but - you know - you really don't have to." That's basically the character trajectory of the type.
Works almost always on me, but there are exceptions (I never warmed to Hitagi from
Bakemonogatari, for example).
Try
Otome Youkai Zakuro.