The Best Anime Series Featuring Deredere Boys

A male anime character might be crowned Best Boy for any number of reasons, from his powerful abilities to his stylish outfit or even his personal philosophy and memorable dialogue. Examples range from My Hero Academia’s troubled powerhouse Shoto Todoroki to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure’s Jotaro Kujo — but sometimes, fans just want a nice guy who makes everyone smile.

This is where the deredere archetype, or the “lovey dovey” personality type, comes in. Deredere boys and girls are beloved for their compassionate, empathetic and balanced personalities, generously showing love to everyone around them while lacking any personality extremes. This archetype is especially popular with anime girls like MHA’s Uraraka and Fruits Basket’s Tohru, but more than a few popular boys also take the lovey dovey route — and they might have clever overlap with similar -dere types, too.
Gurren Lagann’s co-star Kamina is an unconventional deredere, but he still fits this archetype better than others. Kamina is an inspiring and brave resistance leader who seeks to reclaim the surface world from the Beastmen, but he’s not doing this for his own glory. He enjoys being the center of attention but his motives are purely selfless; he fights this hard to reclaim the world so future human generations can live in happiness and security instead of fear and danger. In that sense, Kamina extends his love to all of humanity fairly and equally, refusing to act for his own sake or for an exclusive lover. He also became romantically involved with Yoko Littner for a brief time, behaving as a warm-hearted, inspiring lover rather than being possessive like a yandere or timid like a dandere.