Have you ever heard of the Japanese word Pettanko [ぺったんこ]? In Japanese, this word is used to refer to small-breasted girls, especially in anime and manga. However, this word has a much broader meaning which we will try to cover and explain in this short article.
First of all, the word Pettanko doesn't refer to small breasts, but to a female character who attaches great importance to the fact that her breasts are flat. To talk only about a woman's physical condition, we use the term "Tsurupeta".
Having small breasts is no problem in Japan, and nor should it be in the rest of the world, but Pettanko girls make a big fuss about the size of their breasts.
The girl can be extremely proud of having flat chests like a board or extremely embarrassed and angry. Some girls take the fact that their boobs are small so seriously that they curse and tease girls with big boobs, either out of envy or pride in being a board.
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The girls with the pettanko complex
It is worth mentioning that girls who have small or flat chests and don't mind this fact cannot be called pettanko. There is another popular term to refer to small breasts, which is "pechapai" [ペチャパイ]. There are no age requirements to become a pettanko.
Despite being an absurd subject to write about, pettanko can be a serious issue in Japan, especially when it comes to anime. Some girls resort to extreme methods to try to increase the size of their breasts, change their diet, or exercise. There are even e-books to increase nipples (I don't know if it works).
List of Small-Breasted Characters
In the west the complex for small chests is called Or Delicious Flat Chest (DFC). We can see in several anime that breasts are really a problem among women. A picture I found on wikipedia shows some anime characters that can have this complex of small breasts:
| Pettanko Girls | Anime / Manga / Game |
|---|---|
| Aisaka Taiga | Toradora! |
| Amakusa Shino | Seitokai Yakuindomo |
| Aria Holmes Kanzaki | Hidan não Aria |
| Medo Kubrick | C³ |
| Haruna | Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? |
| Hinagiku Katsura | Hayate no Gotoku |
| Honda Masazumi | Kyōkai Senjō no Horizon |
| Kagura | Gintama |
| Kisaragi Yamaguchi | Classe de Design de Arte GA Geijutsuka |
| Kodama Himegami | Maken-ki! |
| Konata Izumi | Sorte ☆ estrela |
| Kurimu Sakurano | Seitokai no Ichizon |
| Kuroko Shirai | Para Aru Kagaku no Railgun |
| Kuroyukihime | Mundo de Accel |
| Lina Inversa | Slayers |
| Lisara Restall | Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai |
| Louise | Zero no Tsukaima |
| Mahiru Inami | Trabalhando!! |
| Mayumi | Shuffle! |
| Mikazuki Yozora | Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai |
| Minami Iwasaki | Sorte ☆ estrela |
| Minami Shimada | Baka para testar a Shōkanjū |
| Mio Isurugi | MM! |
| Miyamoto Konatsu | Tari Tari |
| Momiji | Binbougami-ga! |
| Nakano Azusa | K-ON! |
| Nana Astar Deviluke | Para amar Ru |
| Nazuna | Esboço de Hidamari |
| Ninfa | Sora no Otoshimono |
| Riko Suminoe | Beijo × sis |
| Sae | Esboço de Hidamari |
| Sakurako Oomuro 6 | Yuru Yuri |
| Sakurano Kurimu | Seitokai no Ichizon |
| Setsuna Kiyoura | Dias escolares |
| Shana | Shakugan no Shana |
| Tainaka Ritsu | K-ON! |
| Yuno | Esboço de Hidamari |
The Literal Meaning of Pettanko
"ぺったんこ" is an onomatopoeia that describes the situation where an object is crushed or flattened by its own weight. It is also used to describe the action of pressing a stamp or sticking a sticker. On Pixiv, this term is often used to refer to "wooden board" or "tsurupeta."
Pettanko vs Tsurupeta
"Pettanko" (ぺったんこ) and "tsurupeta" (つるぺた) are both used in Japanese culture, especially in otaku contexts, to describe women with small breasts, but there is a subtle difference between the two.
- Pettanko (ぺったんこ): This term is generally used affectionately or humorously to describe women with small breasts. It focuses on the idea that the bust is "flat" or "level," like a smooth surface. It is often used to refer to girls who are bothered by this.
- Tsurupeta (つるぺた): This term is a combination of "tsuru" (つる), which can refer to something smooth or shiny, and "peta" (ぺた), which suggests something flat or pancake-like. "Tsurupeta" goes beyond "pettanko" by describing not only the absence of a bust but also smooth, curve-less skin. It is a term that suggests both youth and a lack of physical development in of curves.
And who has big boobs?
Some women complain about having big boobs or wanting to have smaller boobs, we can occasionally see this in some anime and clearly in real life. Some even get bullied because of the size of their breasts and are called dairy cows.
I don't know a reverse word for pettanko, but there are some words to refer to large breasts, such as: boinboin [ボインボイン] or simply boin, which is an onomatopoeia for huge breasts going boing. Other words like mechapai [めちゃぱい] and hotomune [ほと胸] are also used.
I hope you enjoyed this little article, it was quite tense to write about this delicate subject. If you liked this article, don't forget to share and leave your comments. This is the fourth time I've covered boobs in an article, the other articles I've written and recommend reading are:
