Sensitive Guy And Manly Man / Anime & Manga

• CLAMP seem to be into this trope:
  • In ×××HOLiC, Watanuki and Doumeki's characterization plays a lot with this, Watanuki is a keet and Tsundere most talented at cooking, knitting, and housekeeping, while Doumeki is a Tall, Dark, and Handsome archer that mostly serves as his Knight in Shining Armor. Despite this, Doumeki is more emotionally mature, doesn't seem to have any problem whatsoever with the fact that he used to dress in girl's kimonos as a kid and is also strongly hinted to be in love with Watanuki.
  • Touya Kinomoto and Yukito Tsukishiro in Cardcaptor Sakura. As well as their counterparts (King Touya and High Priest Yukito) in Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-.
  • While we're on the subject of TRC, Fai and Kurogane.
  • Tokyo Babylon's Sumeragi Subaru and Sakurazuka Seishirou.
  • X/1999's Kamui Shirou and Fuuma Monou. Sorata and Kamui also fit the bill, albeit in a platonic way - despite Sorata's penchant for commenting on Kamui's good looks and his tendency to invade his personal space, but well, it's Kamui. While we're listing them, Kakei and Saiga, as well as Kazahaya and Rikuou.
• Beastars: Legosi and Louis play with this. Legosi is a very tall guy with muscles, and, being a carnivore, he's also much stronger and powerful than most of the cast, but he's also extremely shy, meek and introspective, virgin, caring and loves small things like bugs and Haru. Louis, on the other hand, is much smaller and more physically frail, by virtue of being a herbivore, but he's also outgoing, ruthless, domineering, has an active sex life, and even terrifying to other people, even those that should be able to easily deal with him. It's worth noting that their characters arcs are about meeting in the middle. Louis mellows out and learns to have consideration and care for the struggles of carnivores, while Legosi grows to be braver and utiliza his strength to protect herbivores precious to him.
• Berserk: Guts and Griffith. The two were best of friends and while Guts is possibly the manliest man you'll see in any manga, Griffith is poetic, attuned to the emotions of people, and is described as "beautiful". Guts is a person who would just kill the problem with his sword as soon as it's a possibility. It's too bad that Griffith later betrays Guts and his other comrades in order to become a perfect demon that is powerful enough to be in the God Hand group.
• Bleach:
  • Ichigo is passionate, aggressive, rough, and physical, and spent years courting a jerkass image and delinquent reputation. He solves problems fists first. Uryuu is quiet, reserved and one of the two main stars of the sewing club. He has excellent tailoring skills, although the men he tailors for tend to view his designs as too feminine. Together, the pair are Vitriolic Best Buds, with Uryuu trying to get Ichigo to think more in battle and Ichigo getting impatient with Uryuu thinking too much.
  • Before Ichigo met Uryuu, Ichigo's oldest male friend is Sado. Sado is a huge, physically powerful man who can shrug off motorcycle collisions and falling steel girders even when powerless. However, he is extremely gentle, refuses to fight to defend himself, and adores cute animals and teddies. Ichigo, therefore, fights to protect Sado, who only ever fights to make sure Ichigo (or any other friend) doesn't get too badly roughed up in battle.
  • Ganju is a rough, aggressive boisterous man, who rides boars for fun and fights with every dirty trick he can think of. Hanatarou is a gentle healer, a mouse of a man who shies away from combat, and whose Empathic Weapon is a sword that heals injuries before it can strike just once. Together, they actually make a good team... in a brawn-and-brains sort of way.
  • Hisagi has a flair for the rebellious image. He's covered in tattoos, loves to fight dirty, to the extent of hiding bombs in his armbands. He even once got in trouble with the captains for bringing a motorcycle back from the World of the Living and causing trouble with it in Soul Society. Kira is a gentle, constantly-worrying poet who believes War Is Hell. However, during the Fake Karakura Town battle, the pair are forced to confront an overly emotional Yumichika. Hisagi takes the Sensitive Guy route of attempting to talk Yumichika down. Kira doesn't bother and simply tranquilizes Yumichika into unconsciousness, disapproving of the way a fifth seat is talking to a lieutenant.
  • The anime plays straight with Ikkaku (manly man) and Yumichika (sensitive guy) solely through a considerable softening of Yumichika's character. However, they're subverted in the manga and databooks: Ikkaku's good at meditation and inner communion and is more in touch with Kenpachi's feelings than Yumichika. Yumichika's true idea of beauty is that only flowers are beautiful and people can only achieve it at the moment they're torn to death. While Ikkaku tells some slackers they're idiots for getting caught, Yumichika tells them he'll kill them if they don't do a perfect job. Lampshaded when Yumichika and Ganju fight; Ganju observes how sadistic Yumichika's personality really is.
  • Love is a rough, physical guy who wallops his way through his fights with a giant club and who tackles his problems as aggressively as possible. Rose is a poet and musician who doesn't so much as fight as engage in an "artistic performance". Rose won't make a move if he can't do something artistically. Love just crashes through life without a care.
• Cells at Work! features this in the main pair of T cells. Killer T is the loud, brazen, and very chiseled leader of his squadron. Helper T is more relaxed, friendlier, and has tea whenever he's on break. Their days in training were the exact opposite, where young Killer was weak-willed and prone to tearing up while young Helper was colder and willing to fight.
• Code Geass: Played with for Suzaku and Lelouch, especially in the sound dramas. Lelouch is much more feminine in his tastes and appearance while Suzaku is far more masculine. Yet of the two, Suzaku seems much more kind and sensitive than snarky, aloof Lelouch. Of course, Code Geass being the universe it is, this gets deconstructed. As children, however, they played this trope straight as Suzaku was rough, boisterous, and a bit cruel whereas Lelouch was sensitive, sheltered, and more gentle.
• D.Gray-Man:
  • Allen Walker and Yu Kanda.
  • The second being Froi Tiedall and Cross Marian. The latter are a bit similar in that Cross seems to have a softer side, but he tries to keep his in check. Said he laughs at Tiedoll's being openly sensitive, and affectionate with his pupils, even though it's said by Hoshinon he thinks Allen is cute. So, seems Cross may see Tiedoll as a bit overly openly emotional-possibly a crybaby, and Tiedoll, thanks to Cross' hiding his true self and being Jerk with a Heart of Gold, seems to find Cross to be a hoodlum. And while Cross hates the Order, Tiedoll has been known to blow it off in favor of what he feels are other matters. While Winters and Klaud returned to HQ before the others with no issues.
• Digimon Adventure has this with troubled, sensitive musician Matt and Hot-Blooded soccer player Tai respectively.
• Dragon Ball Z has Goku and Vegeta, respectively. In this case, the characters' relative appearances are inverted, with Goku being taller and more physically imposing than Vegeta, who's shorter than his wife.
• Eyeshield 21: Rikiya Gaou and Hiromi Kisiragi of the Hakushuu Dinosaurs. Interestingly, they are both Blood Knights who share an obsession with physical strength and power and serve as Co-Dragons to Big Bad Marco; the difference is in their appearances and attitude, with Gaou being a beefy lineman who loves direct assault for its own sake, while Kisiragi is a mincing Bishōnen who waxes eloquently about the beauty of raw destruction.
• Fate/Zero has RIDER, KING OF CONQUERORS!, and his sidekick, er, summoner, Waver Velvet.
• The blood brothers Toki and Raoh from Fist of the North Star have this kind of relationship, with the former being a healer who treats the sick and the latter a tyrannical conqueror. Of course, Toki can kick as much ass as his brother Raoh, it's just that he's more reserved about it and only does it when necessary.
• In Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric is tough and short-tempered and his brother Alphonse is a sensitive Kindhearted Cat Lover. They subvert the stereotypes as for most of the story Edward is a short but muscular teenage boy while Alphonse is stuck in a suit of armor, and thus looks older and scarier than Ed.
• Future GPX Cyber Formula:
  • Hayato Kazami (sensitive guy) and Naoki Shinjyo (manly man). While Hayato is generally polite and energetic when it comes to racing, Shinjyo is moodier and has a more focused approach in his skill.
  • For side characters, Gudelhian and Heinel and Bootsvorz and Osamu. Katagiri plays the sensitive guy to Shinjyo's manly man.
• Professor Go (sensitive guy) and Chujo (manly man) from Giant Robo. Professor Go is always getting overcome with emotion and crying, but Chujo keeps walking along as a stoic paragon of masculinity. Naturally, the two are best friends.
• Badass thief Ray/Noir and emotional aristocrat Florian from the manga Gorgeous Carat.
• Gundam:
  • From the original Mobile Suit Gundam are Char Aznable and Garma Zabi in Zeon. Char is an Ace Pilot (who also happens to be hell-bent on avenging himself on the Zabis) and one of the best warriors in Zeon. Garma is softer and very in love with his girlfriend and feels inadequate next to both his siblings and Char. He's also the Zabi who is probably least deserving of Char's retribution.
  • George de Sand is the sensitive guy to Chibodee in Mobile Fighter G Gundam. George is a Cultured Warrior with a strong code of chivalry (and the pilot of Gundam Rose). Chibodee is a Boisterous Bruiser who leaps without looking and uses both boxing and gunslinging as his method of fighting.
  • Gundam Wing has Quatre and Trowa. Quatre is a Technical Pacifist who always tries to negotiate before he has to kill his opponents and wants to bring peace above all else. Trowa, although very kind beneath the surface, is cold and calculating in battle.
• Harlem Beat: there are Sakurai-Umakure Imagawa-Kobayashi, and Takao Yuuta.
• Hetalia: Axis Powers: Several examples.
  • Chibitalia and Holy Roman Empire. Chibitalia is a meek, cross-dressing artist while HRE is a bold warrior who wears men's clothes. HRE even mistakes Chibitalia for a girl.
  • Sweden and Finland. The former is a tall, stoic, and assertive man. The latter is a short, expressive, and passive boy. Additionally, Finland refers to himself as "a delicate flower" in the dub.
  • Germany and Austria downplay it. They both read, cook, and have stern dispositions, but Germany is a soldier whereas Austria is a non-combatant who receives protection from the female Hungary. They also subvert it since Germany is a virgin and Austria is sexually experienced.
• Mikael and Raphael from I'm Gonna Be an Angel! mostly play it straight - visually, Mikael is of slight build, feminine looking and Raphael is more muscular and manly looking in comparison. In terms of personality though, they have lots of shades of their opposite spectrum - Mikael is mostly cold, stubborn and shows that he can be pretty aggressive and determined when the need arises, while Raphael has a rather mellow and carefree attitude and shows lots of kindness towards not only Mikael but also Noelle and Natsumi. That said, the last episode plays it straight again, though - in the climax scene, it shows that Mikael is totally dependable on his teacher and helpless without his help, while Raphael appears as a strict and unbending, leaving his student to clean up the mess his responsible for.
• Etienne and Nicolas from Innocents Shounen Juujigun are the main duo of the series, with Etienne being a gentle, feminine boy with endless compassion and a soft heart, and Nicolas being a hotheaded, aggressive young knight who'd rather cut down the infidels than show them kindness. The two are best friends and extremely close, with Nicolas willing to die and kill for Etienne's sake.
• The Irresponsible Captain Tylor plays this straight for laughs early on. Two terrorists seize a building, one of them an effeminate "sensitive guy" and the other one more traditionally manly, despite being an alien.
• Although all of its male characters are rather manly-looking (at least early on), JoJo's Bizarre Adventure features a handful of examples:
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency gives us Joseph Joestar, a brash and stubborn Guile Hero, and Caesar Zeppeli, his refined and chivalrous vitriolic best bud.
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders stars Jotaro Kujo: a stoic, surly and foul-mouthed delinquent. Early in the story he defeats and befriends Noriaki Kakyoin, who is portrayed as gentle, polite and soft-spoken.
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable reverses the pattern set by the two previous parts by having its main character, Josuke Higashikata, be an All-Loving Hero with the power to heal. His best friend Okuyasu Nijimura, however, is a dimwitted brute with a stand that can do nothing but destroy things.
• K has Shiro and Kuroh. Shiro is a Non-Action Guy who carries a Parasol of Prettiness and is incredibly Moe. Kuroh is a swordsman who is the most powerful fighter in the series other than Kings, whose supernatural powers make them unbeatable except by other Kings (even Shiro). Played with in that Kuroh cooks for their team, but he doesn't consider that to be a gendered trait - the body requires sustenance, after all. He learned cooking from the same person who taught him sword-fighting, helicopter piloting, poetry, and everything else a proper vassal to a king should know.
• Sensitive Eagle Vision and Manly Lantis from Magic Knight Rayearth.
• Mahou Shounen Majorian blurs the line between this and Tomboy and Girly Girl with Iori and Masaru. Iori is extremely feminine in appearance and manner, and Masaru is a typical boy who plays sports and doesn't like girls because he has four obnoxious sisters. Then they're both turned into magical girls by aliens who mistook Iori for a girl. Naturally, Masaru has a huge problem with that.
• Akito and Gai from Martian Successor Nadesico.
• In fitting with their girlfriends being the Tomboy and Girly Girl of Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, motorcycle-riding boxer Hamasaki Masahiro and junior Keet Shiroi Nagisa are Manly and Not, respectively.
• The eventual alliance between Paptimus Scirocco and Yazan Gable in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam comes off as a twisted version of this trope, with cultured psychological predator Scirocco as the Sensitive Guy and op brutish physical predator Yazan as the Manly Man. While neither one actually cares about each other, they genuinely seem to enjoy one another's company and make a very effective duo.
• Monster: Roberto is burly, loves to fight, and is generally as manly can be. Johan is beautiful, well-read and highly intellectual, and far more in touch with his feminine side. Why do they even associate with each other? Johan likes to make use of Roberto's muscle to kill people and ruin their lives during those pesky times when he's too busy driving small children or his sister to nearly kill themselves or otherwise proving why he's been compared to both Hitler and the Antichrist, while Roberto is completely in love with Johan.
• Nozaki of Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun is the manly man who gives his advice and support (with, admittedly, mixed results) to the sensitive and naive Wakamatsu, who has been Nozaki's underclassman since middle school.
• My-HiME:
  • Hilariously and endearingly subverted in My-HiME. Takumi Tokiha and his buff roommate Akira Okuzaki fit perfectly in the archetype, and they even have a group of girls as their in-universe fans, but Akira is actually a young girl who's pulling a Sweet Polly Oliver to fulfill her Hime mission better. And later, Takumi finds out as he accidentally sees Akira undressing, doesn't mind the truth... and they fall in love. Aaaaaaw.
  • Yuuchi Tate, who's the Sensitive Guy to Masashi Takeda and the Manly Man to Reito Kanzaki.
• Physically, best friends Takeo and Suna from My Love Story!! match. Takeo is an absolutely huge boy who looks like a stereotypical gonk (though his girlfriend finds him very attractive) and is very muscular. Suna, however, is a skinny and Bishōnen Chick Magnet with absolutely no interest in girls. Personality-wise, Suna isn't quite feminine, though Takeo is more masculine than him.
• Naruto: Naruto is the Sensitive Guy to Sasuke's Manly Man. Naruto is more cheerful and pretty emotional, one of his hobbies is watering and taking care of plants, and he develops into an All-Loving Hero. Conversely, Sasuke is very stoic, hardly lets anyone into how he really feels, and has a real ego at times and develops into a Byronic Hero.
• Negima! Magister Negi Magi has Quintessential British Gentleman Negi Springfield and his best friend and rival, Hot-Blooded Wolf Man Kotarou Inugami.
• Sion is the sensitive guy to Nezumi's manly man in No. 6. Sion is a sweet Nice Guy while Nezumi is a badass Jerk with a Heart of Gold. They also have a lot of Ho Yay between them.
• Penguindrum: Shouma is the polite, expressive, Househusband-in-training sensitive guy to Kanba's blunt, stoic, playboy manly man. It extends to their appearance as well - Shouma has Tareme Eyes, visible eyelashes, and longer hair, while Kanba has Tsurime Eyes and shorter hair.
• The Prince of Tennis:
  • Sort of inverted with the doubles pair of Ohtori and Shishido. Choutarou Ohtori, the taller, physically stronger of the two, is sensitive and nice (he even plays classical violin and wishes for world peace), while Ryou Shishido is shorter, louder, bad-tempered and much more butch (he even has the scars to prove it!).
  • Another subverted example would be Seiichi Yukimura and Genichirou Sanada. The first is polite, soft-spoken, with frail health and long hair...; the other is very tall, stern, and the Kendo Team Captain in a tennis setting. The subversion comes from Yukimura being the captain of their team as well as a Knight Templar Magnificent Bastard when it comes to tennis, and Sanada being extremely devoted to Yukimura - like a Samurai's devotion to his feudal lord (and yes, they're one of the most popular Ho Yay couples in the fandom).
• Record of Ragnarok: The ninth round is a fight between Apollo (Sensitive Guy) and King Leonidas (Manly Man). Apollo is a radiant, flamboyant, beauty-obsessed Sun God; King Leonidas is a cigar-chomping, scar-riddled, foul-mouthed Spartan warrior.
• Rurouni Kenshin has Kenshin (short and lean Warrior Poet and homemaker in his spare time, with a pink kimono and white hakama as his most remarkable outfit) and Sanosuke (immature, Hot-Blooded lancer, former professional brawler, appropriately One Head Taller).
• Sailor Moon:
  • Snarky badass Mamoru, a.k.a. Tuxedo Mask is the Manly Man to his Nice Guy friend Motoki's Sensitive Guy.
  • The villain Ho Yay duo Kunzite and Zoicite.
  • While Tiger Eye and Hawk Eye were way too Camp to really fit in, they deliberately invoked the trope in episode 141 when they decided to pursue Minako at the same time and get a shot at peeking into her dreams. Hawk Eye disguised himself as the sweet and sensitive artist Mr. Takano, acting all wholesome to get in her good graces; meanwhile, Tiger Eye's facade was that of the handsome Badass Biker Torashima, who wooed Minako with his bad-boy appeal.
  • The few episodes where the Tsukino males play a major role reveal them to be this way. Tall, Dark, and Handsome Kenji is all about protecting his loved ones and he cannot cook. Adorably Precocious Child Shingo is nerdier and he has been seen enjoying things like cuddly pets and dolls (not that he likes to admit it).
• Saint Seiya: There are many partnerships/rivalries/brother duos that play with this concept to different degrees: Shun and Hyoga, Shiryu and Seiya, Seiya and Jabu, Aiolos and Aiolia, Asterion and Moses, Hyoga and Isaac, Kanon and Saga, Milo and Camus, Mu and Shiryu, Shiryu and Ohko, Aphrodite and Deathmask...
• Ryu and Joe in Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, sort of. Ryu is definitely the softer-hearted of the two but is far from "in touch with his feminine side". Joe is definitely a guy's guy but in a more grizzled way rather than oozing testosterone. Ken and Joe's dynamic is sort of a subversion; Ken only looks the part of the doe-eyed sensitive one, but it's his repression of emotions that leads to some rather ugly outbursts.
• Both of the same-sex partners in Sekirei are this, with the Ashikabi as the Sensitive Guys to their Manly Man Sekirei.
  • Minato is gentle and deeply emotional, and looks up to Kagari as a "cool guy". Kagari is a chain-smoking Casanova and a Mysterious Protector and remains the more traditionally masculine of the pair even after his unstable state results in him becoming a Gender Bender.
  • Mikogami and Mutsu are a villainous example, playing the trope completely straight. The former is The Dandy, and highly emotional while the later is a quiet, serious Master Swordsman.
• Death the Kid is the sensitive guy to Black*Star's manly man in Soul Eater. This is most easily noticeable in the episode where they go to find Excalibur together, and Kid winds up riding on Black*Star's back, so as to avoid the water on the floor. Oddly enough, this is the episode where they become friends.
• Played with in SWOT. Iwashida, the sensitive guy, is fairly typical since was the weakly kid who was always victimized by the delinquents in his school. He's also all about being loyal to his newfound friendships. The manly man is Manabizaki who is crass, arrogant, routinely beats up delinquents, and has a Hair-Trigger Temper. He's also a "swot," someone who studies way too much, and is initially dismissed as a harmless nerd.
• Simon and Kamina are like this at the start of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. By the end of the series, Simon grows into the Manly Man role fantastically. Kamina even says that Simon's become more of a man than him during Simon's time in the Lotus-Eater Machine.
• Subverted with Kaneki Ken and Hideyoshi Nagachika from Tokyo Ghoul, at first it was played straight where Hide is more brash and loud compared to the more shy and quiet Kaneki. But later in the series, Kaneki becomes Ax-Crazy after his transformation and Hide is a Non-Action Guy.
• In Wild Rock, Yuuen is the small and pretty Non-Action Guy and Emba is the cheesecake Hunter Trapper with a big sword.
• Wolf's Rain:
  • Hubb and Quent.
  • Also Tsume and Toboe.
• In Yellow, Goh is the more macho of the duo, whereas Taki takes the sensitive guy role as he increasingly gains woobie points.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! gives us the main protagonists and best friends Yugi Muto, a caring and patient boy who tries to keep the peace, and Katsuya Jonouchi, a boy from the streets who isn't afraid to throw hands at anyone who hurts him or his friends. Additionally, Katsuya suffered from toxic masculinity and a big part of his Character Development was him letting go of those mentalities while being more receptive of his friends.
  • Judai Yuki and Jun Manjome on Yu-Gi-Oh! GX play with this dynamic. Judai is a kind-hearted and energetic boy, compared to Manjome, who is arrogant and serious. Of course, the fourth season actually inverts this trope, as Judai is far more serious than Manjome (mostly due to the Yubel incident in the third season).
• Tetsuo and Taichi from Yuureitou. Tetsuo is an assertive and cool Byronic Hero while Taichi is a more average guy with Distressed Dude and Lovable Coward qualities. Taichi is the one who ends up Disguised in Drag, though Tetsuo is far more Bishōnen than Taichi. They end up the Official Couple.

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