Head Pat (atama nade-nade 頭なでなで)

In anime, sometimes characters get patted on the head, usually child characters and girls. This display of affection happen when they need to be consoled, or praised, or, mainly, because some people think this sort of scenario is cute.

See noogie for the painful sort of head rubbing.

Anime: Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon, 小林さんちのメイドラゴン (Episode 10)
Anime: Mairimashita! Iruma-kun 魔入りました！入間くん (Season 2) (Episode 6)
Manga: Gakkou-gurashi! がっこうぐらし！ (Chapter 17)
Anime: Shinchou Yuusha 慎重勇者 (Episode 7)
Anime: Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! 私がモテないのはどう考えてもお前らが悪い！ (Episode 7)
Anime: Spice and Wolf, Ookami to Koushinryou 狼と香辛料 (Episode 5)

• In Japanese
• Examples
  • Children
  • Animals
    • Animal Ears
  • By a Hot Guy
  • Heights Reversed
• External Links

How to Say in Japanese

The word for "head pat" in Japanese is atama nade-nade 頭なでなで, meaning literally "head patting."

• naderu
  撫でる
  To caress. To touch softly.
  To pat. To rub gently.
  (ichidan verb.)
  • dare-ka no atama wo naderu
    誰かの頭を撫でる
    To pat someone's head.
  • dare-ka ni atama wo nadete-morau
    誰かに頭を撫でてもらう
    To have [your] head patted by someone.
    To get someone to pat [you] head.
  • atama wo nadete-kureru
    頭を撫でてくれる
    [He] pats [my] head for [me].
• nade-nade
  なでなで
  Pat pat.
  Patting repeatedly.
  (reduplication, sometimes used as sound effect as if it were a mimetic word.)

Examples

For reference, examples of anime head pats.

Children

Children are often targets of head pats in anime, often by a parental figure, or younger siblings by their older siblings.

Manga: Kimetsu no Yaiba 鬼滅の刃 (Chapter 6, 山ほどの手が)

• Context: Urokodaki Sakonji 鱗滝左近次 pats orphan shounen protagonist Kamado Tanjirou 竈門炭治郎 on the head.
• yoku ganbatta
  よく頑張った
  [You] worked very hard. (literally.)
  [You did very well].
  • yoku
    よく
    Well. Good. Very. (often used to say someone did something well, impressive, or dared to do something.)
    (adverb.)
  • ganbaru
    頑張る
    To work hard. To put effort into doing something. To exert oneself.
• Tanjirou, omae wa sugoi ko da......
  炭治郎　お前は凄い子だ･･････
  Tanjirou, you are an amazing kid.....

Manga: Yotsuba to! よつばと！ (Chapter 2, よつばとあいさつ)

• Context: upon returning home with Ayase Fuuka 綾瀬風香: Yotsuba finds a note from his father saying that he went to the store and that she should take care of the house while he's away. Learning this, Fuuka says:
• yoshi!
  よし！
  Alright!
• jaa oneechan mo {issho ni} rusuban shite-ageyou
  じゃあお姉ちゃんも一緒に留守番してあげよう
  Then [I]'ll [stay here] {together [with you]}..
  • oneechan - "older sister," also a way to refer to young women not related to you, and used by them to refer to themselves, too.
  • rusuban - "stay-at-home duty," in the sense of someone leaving home, and someone else staying there to take care of the house.
  • ~te-ageyou - volitional form of ~te-ageru ～てあげる, [to do something] for [someone else]."
• pon
  ぽん
  *head tap*
• honto ka!?
  ホントか！？
  Really?
  • honto - same hontou 本当, with long vowel shortened.
    (change in pronunciation.)

Left: Kanna Kamui カンナカムイ
Right: Saikawa Riko 才川リコ
Anime: Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon, 小林さんちのメイドラゴン (Episode 10)

• Context: Riko pouting as she's patted.

Character: Miyauchi Renge 宮内れんげ
Anime: Non Non Biyori のんのんびより (Episode 1)

• Context: Ren-chon pouting as she's patted.

Left: Pat Campbell, パット・キャンベル
Right: Ran Luckmolde, ラン・ラックモルデ
Anime: Mugen no Ryvius, 無限のリヴァイアス (Episode 8)

• Context: where were you going with that hand?

Sometimes, a character feels an urge pat a small character on the head, because they're cute, because thy're smol, and the smol character may not like that, because they would rather not be treated like a child, or because this whole head patting stuff feels sorta condescending.

Left: Tennouji Nagisa 天王寺渚
Middle: Ichii Tooru 一井透
Right: Momoki Run 百木るん
Anime: A-Channel, Ａチャンネル (Episode 1)

Animals

It's also common for animals to get petted, I mean, patted.

Manga: Gakkou-gurashi! がっこうぐらし！ (Chapter 17, わんこ, Altered)

• Context: a girl gives a dog a head pat.
• nade-nade
  なでなで
  *pat pat*
• wan'
  わんっ
  Woof.
• wa'
  わっ
  Wah!
• furi-furi
  ふりふり
  *wagging of tail*
  (mimetic word.)

Manga: School Rumble, スクールランブル (Chapter 81)

• Context: Harima Kenji 播磨拳児 pets Napoleon ナポレオン after feeding him.
• gatsu gatsu
  ガツガツ
  *eating noise*
  (onomatopoeia.)
• pon pon
  ポンポン
  *tap tap*
  (mimetic word.)
• ii ko ni shitero yo,
  Naporeon
  良い子にしてろよ、ナポレオン
  Be a good [pig], Napoleon.
  • shitero - contraction of shite-iro, meireikei 命令形 of shite-iru.
• Harima Kenji leaves Napoleon behind.
• buhi?
  ブヒ？
  *concerned pig noise*

Manga: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - Part 5: Golden Wind, JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken: Ougon no Kaze ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 黄金の風 (Chapter 115 (554), 『グリーン・ディ』と『オアシス』 その①)

• Context: Cioccolata チョコラータ heavily petting Secco セッコ after feeding him sugar cubes.
• garigarigarigarigarigarigarigarigarigarigari
  ガリガリガリガリガリガリガリガリガリガリガリ
  *crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch*
  (mimetic word.)
• nadenade
  ナデナデ
  *pat pat*
• yoo~~~~~~shi
  yoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshiyoshi
  taishita yatsu da Sekko omae wa
  良お～～～し
  よしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよしよし
  たいしたヤツだセッコおまえは
  Goo~~~~~~od.
  Good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good.
  [You're] an impressive guy, Secco, you.
  (dislocation.)

Animal Ears

Similarly, cat girls and other characters with animal ears (kemonomimi 獣耳), also get head pats.

Character: Holo, ホロ
Anime: Spice and Wolf, Ookami to Koushinryou 狼と香辛料 (Episode 5)

Left: Edgar エドガー
Right: Misha ミーシャ
Anime: Hataage! Kemono Michi 旗揚!！けものみち (Episode 10, Stitch)

By a Hot Guy

A wise man once said: it's allowed so long as you are an ikemen イケメン, including patting girls on the head out of nowhere.

Left: Adenela, アデネラ
Right: Seiya Ryuuguuin 竜宮院聖哉
Anime: Shinchou Yuusha 慎重勇者 (Episode 7, Stitch, Cropped)

• Context: Seiya talks to Adenela.
• Adenera, ore wa ima kara shugyou ga aru.
  {omae ga iru} to jama de mezawari de uttoushii.
  sassato acchi e iku ga ii.
  アデネラ、俺は今から修行がある。
  お前がいると邪魔で目障りで鬱陶しい。
  さっさとあっちへ行くがいい。
  Adenela, I have training now.
  If {you are [around]}, [you] will be a hindrance, an eyesore, and an annoyance.
  Go [away] already.
• wa, wakatta. su, suki......!
  わ、わかった。す、好き･･････！
  [I], [I] got [it]. [I] love [you]......!
• Seeing this, Ristarte リスタルテ comments:
• iya, mono-suggee hidoi koto iwareteru kedo.
  ikemen no atama nade-nade tte konna ni kiku no?!
  いや、ものすっげぇひどいこと言われてるけど
  イケメンの頭なでなでってこんなに効くの？！
  No, [wait], but [he's telling you] a lot of extremely awful things.
  Is the head patting of a hot guy that much effective?!
  • In the sense that the head pats are powerful enough to make someone ignore completely the words he's saying.

Left: Valac Clara ウァラク・クララ
Right: Suzuki Iruma 鈴木入間
Anime: Mairimashita! Iruma-kun 魔入りました！入間くん (Season 2) (Episode 6, Stitch)

• Context: Clara gets embarrassed enough for steam to come out of her head.

Character: Kuroki Tomoko 黒木智子
Anime: Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! 私がモテないのはどう考えてもお前らが悪い！ (Episode 7)

• Context: Tomoko pats herself on the head, alone, imaging it's a hot guy doing it.

Heights Reversed

Since you have to put your hand on someone's head to pat them, and the head is above the shoulder, it makes sense that it's usually the shorter character that gets head patted. For reference, some examples of the taller character getting head pats instead.

Manga: Aho Girl, Aho Gāru アホガール (Volume 1, Chapter 3, Page 26)

• Context: Akkun あっくん, who doesn't have friends, makes his first friends.
• genki...... dashite kudasai ne?
  元気･･････出して下さいね？
  [Cheer up,] okay?
• yoshi yoshi
  よしよし
  [There there].
• yokatta nee Akkun
  よかったねーあっくん
  [Isn't that great,] Akkun.
• nadenade
  なでなで
  *pat pat*
• ...yasashisa ga tsurai...
  ･･･優しさがつらい･･･
  ...kindness [hurts]...

Left: Ruki ルキ
Right: Alba, アルバ
Anime: Sen'yuu. 戦勇。 (Episode 7)

• Context: Ruki thinks Alba didn't do anything the last battle, then Alba tells her she wasn't paying attention, reminding her of his heroic feats. Convinced, she says:
• sou da na, Aruba-kun mo ganbatta ne
  そうだな、アルバくんも頑張ったね
  [That's right], Alba-kun worked hard, too, huh.
• Her overly long sleeves extend skyward, revealing her hand.
• *head pats*
• arigatou Ruki.. tte nani kore!? ude dou natte-n-no!?
  ありがとうルキ・・って何これ！？腕どうなってんの！？
  Thank you, Ruki.. wait, what is this!? [What is going on with] [your] arm!?
  
  • dou natte-n-no - contraction of dou natte-iru no どうなっているの, literally "what has [it] become."

External Links

• r/headpats
  A subreddit for head patting.