Nosebleed

Marilyn Monroe, eat your heart out!

Soul: It's okay, cool guys like me see naked women all the time, I'm used to it.

Blair: Right, I'm sure that's why your nose is bleeding.
—Soul Eater

In Japanese media, healthy young men that have no other sexual outlet will often suffer nosebleeds upon seeing the naked female body, or even just a pair of well-filled panties. It's probably a side effect of High-Pressure Blood in a body that's Overdrawn At the Blood Bank.

The nosebleed is, of course, a visual shorthand/euphemism for sexual arousal. It is commonly interpreted that way for males and females, with little trickles of blood indicating mild arousal, and gushing fountains of blood indicating erection/extreme arousal in both sexes. It can also be interpreted as shorthand strictly for erections in males. In that case, when blood shoots from the nose explosively, and in ridiculous quantity, the implication would be an ejaculation. In certain circles, an erection has been referred to in recent years as a "Japanese nosebleed".

This happens in virtually every anime with Fan Service.

The concept comes from a Japanese old wives' tale, and might be Truth in Television in very rare circumstances.

In recent anime and manga, female characters are increasingly becoming subject to nosebleeds. This typically happens to characters with strong... appetites and Schoolgirl Lesbians in particular. Yaoi Fangirls are also likely to show this effect; and last but not least, in smutty Josei or Shojo manga, a nosebleed might happen to a Defrosting Ice Queen female lead, as a sign that she's starting to thaw for the sexy male lead. The more benign, traditionally feminine version of this is Luminescent Blush.

Female characters may also get nosebleeds upon seeing something they think is absolutely adorable, although males have lately become increasingly vulnerable to that as well.

Frequently results from a Panty Shot. May also occur from a Megaton Punch to the face, with or without the sexual implication. Contrast Psychic Nosebleed, where the blood loss is caused by the strain of overusing Psychic Powers, and Deadly Nosebleed, which denotes serious physical injury. Compare Visual Innuendo, Something Else Also Rises, and (far more realistic) Jizz in My Pants.

No real life examples, please; human biology doesn't work this way in Real Life.

Examples of Nosebleed include:

Anime and Manga

  • A lot of Girls Love series have females getting this reaction because of other females. Examples include Sakuya from Candy Boy, Sumika from Sasameki Koto, Yuu from Otome Kikan Gretel, Mamiya from Kurogane Pukapuka Tai, Julia from Strawberry Shake Sweet, etc.
  • In Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu, one nosebleed alone is so Overdrawn At the Blood Bank it makes pools around the bleeder right where it drips. Once, someone even needed a blood transfusion!
  • Reimi from Bamboo Blade gets these when she becomes enthralled by the victim of her stalking habits, Miyamiya.
  • Happens occasionally, and only during Filler and Omake in Bleach - usually to Kon, who is a plushie, with no blood... go figure.
  • In Persona 4: The Animation, Kanji's gotten these on a couple of occasions.
  • In the OVA Call Me Tonight, this happens to a guy in public, with people laughing at him. They stopped laughing when his blood covered the entire floor leading up to him turning into a tentacle monster.
  • Hideki Motosuwa, the protagonist of Chobits, has so many nosebleeds during the series while seeing Chii tumble about that one would think he'd need a transfusion.
  • And another female example is Jenny from Cosplay Complex, who gets nosebleeds around very young Athena.
  • In possibly the most sexually questionable scene of Detective Conan (also known as Case Closed), Conan has a nosebleed on listening to Ran relate the events of their bath together. She ignores the suggestion of this trope because he "is still a child", not knowing who Conan really is...
  • Kaneru from Doujin Work, after she gets afflicted with the Yaoi Fangirl bug. Maybe it's not that rare after all.
  • Dragon Ball: Master Roshi's tendency to spew blood from the nose was actually a vital part of one battle. As Yamcha fought an opponent who was completely invisible, Krillin positioned Roshi just right at the side of the arena, then removed Bulma's top in front of him. The resulting blood spew coated the invisible man, allowing Yamcha to see him and beat him easily. Afterwards, Roshi first yelled angrily at Krillin over potentially having a heart attack before patting him on the head, saying "Good job". As this plot point was too sexual for the broadcast cut of the dub, they replaced it with some nonsense involving tomato soup.
  • In the FLCL episode "Full Swing", a room full of female government agents all get nosebleeds after observing a rather suggestive dialogue between Haruko and Naota.

"Impressive!"

Lunamaria: (Her nosebleed sends her flying) "Weapooooon!"
Rey: "Lunamaria's been taken down."
Shinn: "I wonder what she saw?"

  • Most of Nube's male students in Hell Teacher Nube have high-pressure nosebleeds upon seeing their classmates (or any other woman, really) either nude or nearly there. This caused Minki some distress, as she first appeared to Katsuya and Hiroshi in a Stripperiffic outfit... without panties. The resulting fountain coated her in blood.
  • Rena Ryuugu in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei has a nosebleed after she imagines ripping off Keiichi's swimsuit and exposing his furry seal. Although she doesn't have another nosebleed after she actually sees it, blushing instead (just like the rest of the girls).
    • Keiichi has had a nosebleed in Hirukowashi-hen. Rena also has had more then one nosebleed in the series.
    • Rena is actually quite prone to nosebleeds. In the first arc of the visual novel, she has one as a somewhat disturbing reaction to Rika acting adorable, obviously Played for Laughs in this situation.
  • This happens to Schoolgirl Lesbians Mitsu from Honey Crush. She gets bonus points because she's a ghost and shouldn't even have blood in the first place.
  • Yet another female example: Andou from Hyakko gets nosebleeds around pretty girls. She also checks out Ayumi's panties at one point and announced loudly that is she is bisexual.
  • Subverted in volume 9 of the manga I''s. At a trip to the beach Nami, in a very revealing outfit, asks protagonist Ichitaka if her swimsuit is sexy. His reaction isn't what she expected and she forces her fingers into his nose, demanding if he shouldn't at least get a nosebleed.
  • Ichinensei ni Nacchattara: Genderbent Iori gets some reassurance that his memories of his past life are genuine when he passes out from a nosebleed at seeing his crush naked.
  • Bell, the resident Meido of Haré+Guu, is prone to massive Nosebleeds over her master, Weda. They're both female.
  • Kannagi's Takako is of the Yaoi Fangirl kind. Happens when she sees friendly interaction between Daitetsu and Jin or even when Akiba brings manga to school, including ones aimed towards girls.
  • Kanokon usually averts this. Despite Kouta having a girlfriend whose favorite activity is seducing him with her body and a would-be girlfriend who refuses to be outdone, he almost never nosebleeds. He passes out, runs away or gives in instead.
  • Lampshaded in episode 1 of Blue Exorcist as a Cut Himself Shaving: Reverend Fujimoto asks Rin why his nose is bleeding (he's been beaten up by the local bullies) to which he replies that he "ran into a really hot chick" outside.
  • Subverted in Karin: Karin does have a nosebleed whenever she is near her love interest Kenta Usui, but for very different reasons. She is a "Blood Maker" vampire, who produces more blood when she is around depressed people. The result is a literal High-Pressure Blood situation, wherein it actually explodes from her veins in a spectacular fashion if she can't bite someone and inject them with the excess blood, which, incidentally, cures their depression. To down the gore factor, the blood is portrayed as flowers exploding from her nose—at least, until it settles and we see the room soaked in blood.
    • In the manga there are no flowers. Just blood. So much blood...
  • Keita from Kiss×Sis gets a nosebleed that, in his case, quite obviously symbolizes an erection. In the OVA there is also an explosion of blood when he goes off screen, which could possible symbolize ejaculation...
    • Then there's Ako, one of his twin older sisters who gets massive nosebleeds whenever she imagines Keita.
  • Kakuka, a lesbian from Shin Koihime Musou gets quite an exaggerated version of this trope. The slightest perverted thought will create a spew of blood so large that she can actually use it as a weapon.
  • Günter in Kyou Kara Maou has severe cases of nosebleeds rather frequently. Bonus points for the fact that these are caused by Yuri, who happens to be a guy as well.
  • Love Hina: Keitaro is known by his female friends for his nosebleeds, the usual result of his seeing too much female skin, to the extent that when at one point it fails to happen, Naru becomes suspicious.
  • First chapter of Magical Pokaan: while casting a spell, Yuuma summons a magical wind that lifts her skirt... just enough for Dr. K-ko's aide to see her not wearing panties. His nosebleed is so hard he gets sent out flying across the room... multiple times, only to stop after hitting K-ko in the head and knocking her out!.
  • Ayaka, in the manga version of Mahou Sensei Negima, nosebleeds upon seeing Negi in a compromising position. This is lampshaded once by Kotaro: "You some kind of pervert?"
    • She also gets an especially explosive nosebleed when she sees Negi dressed up in a fox girl costume. It actually knocks her over.
      • And she gets several in chapter 559 courtesy of Negi.
      • Chapter 296 has her getting a small one upon hearing that Negi will "Personally punish" those that forgot their summer homework. Shen then confesses to not having done her's either (just after criticizing the class for not having done it.)
      • Chapter 340 has poor Ayaka get a nosebleed with the pressure of a fire hose upon seeing Negi in a cute sailor girl outfit. Complete with collapsing in a large pool of her own blood! As if that weren't enough, she'd been having a nosebleed for a page before that, and somehow manages to make a cute heart shape out of it...
    • Negi himself is apparently too young to get nosebleeds. However, he's not above a Spit Take through the nose.
    • Chamo gets one when Haruna creates Dark Nodoka. Oddly, it seems to be not a result of sexual arousal, but because of the Squee that occurs when he thinks that Nodoka is getting serious with Negi.
    • Setsuna gets one when she sees Konoka in her bathing suit in the first OVA after they jump out of the plane.
  • My-HiME: When he spies Kuga Natsuki without panties (due to the efforts of a Panty Thief), a member of the Fuuka Academy kendo team actually passes out because of a veritable pair of blood fountains that erupt from his nose.
  • Kanako, the female protagonist of Maria Holic, is extremely prone to these whenever she sees a cute girl.
    • Nosebleed is also the name of the anime's OP.
  • Mayu from Monochrome Factor is a Rare Female Example. Her severe obsession with anything bishounen causes her to have massive nosebleeds every now and then.
  • Naruto: Whenever Naruto uses his Sexy Jutsu in front of one of his (male) elders, they almost always have a massive nosebleed that knocks them off their feet. The blood, however, is completely edited out in the English TV broadcast version, although it is still intact on DVD.
  • Ninin ga Shinobuden has a weird example in episode 7. The gang of ninja has a group nosebleed...in response to Onsokumaru shapeshifting to completely cover Miyabi's body, and generating a pair of Gag Boobs.
  • Sanji from One Piece is often seen nose bleeding. One other, rather peculiar example of this trope in the series is when Brook nosebleeds, because he is just a skeleton (with an afro) that has no blood in his entire body.
    • Shortly before chapter 600, the crew was separated for about 2 years in the story for off-screen training arcs. Sanji spent the entire time on his own personal hell island, being trained by ugly transvestite men who were trying to seduce and convert him. Upon his return, Sanji was so susceptible to women that viewing them gave him nosebleeds that would rocket him back. In one chapter, just turning in the direction of one of his female crewmates, with his eyes closed, caused him to rocket nearly off their pirate ship. He had to be given a blood transfusion, and was shown visibly desiccated from blood loss.
      • There has been a total deconstruction of this trope in chapter 609. As you would expect, Sanji got a massive nosebleed upon arriving on Fishman Island and seeing the mermaids, to the point where it has become likely that he would quickly die without a transfusion. This is currently the major point of stress in the story.
    • The funniest one is Episode 128 in the anime, when Sanji suggests they all peep into the ladies' bath at Alubarna. Nami responds to this with "Happiness Punch"—she gives them exactly what they want by flashing them. They all get massive nosebleeds: Sanji, Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, Igaram, King Cobra, even a camel. (All but Zoro, who probably got lost.)
    • Funny enough, in Episode 341, Usopp saw Nami totally naked, and didn't get a nosebleed. But he did bow and thank her, though.
  • This happens in the Ouran High School Host Club manga to Tamaki when he sees Haruhi in a dress. Hikaru and Kaoru notice this and call him a pervert. However, because Tamaki doesn't actually realize that he's in love with Haruhi, he thinks he just hit his nose. Honey then tries to administer "first-aid" by hitting him with a karate chop, which just makes it worse.
  • In Paradise Kiss, Yukari provides a female example when introduced to hair stylist Seiji Kisaragi.
  • A rather amusing example happened in Pastel; the protagonist's sexy stepmother went to their school to bring him his lunch. One thing led to another and she inexplicably decided to be the class's swimming coach. This led to so many of the boys getting nosebleeds that the pool itself was stained in blood! Soon after the protagonist realized that his stepmother still hadn't left the school as evidenced by all the blood stains in the school corridors!
  • In Plastic Little, a character suffers an explosive nose bleed while scuba diving in a tank full of predatory fish. Nothing really comes of it.
  • Mikan in Potemayo suffers several massive nosebleeds fantasizing about Sunao, often resulting in her being hauled off to the hospital.
  • Ryoma gets a nosebleed the first time he sees Rouge in the Power Stone Animated Adaptation, despite his attempts to cover it up. But who wouldn't get one in the first place?
  • Ryōga in Ranma ½. Even when he's P-chan the pig. This often confused Akane. Why should Marshmallow Hell arouse a pig?
    • Notably, he's immune to Ranma's naked female body (except on one or two occasions, though he normally may get a little flustered at most), because he considers his rival to be nothing if not 100% male. Any other naked woman will have this effect, regardless of his feelings for her.
    • There was also an episode centered around a child who could read minds. When he peeks into the thoughts of Happosai, he gets a brief nosebleed before going pale and fainting.
  • Kokoa, Moka's little sister, in Rosario + Vampire frequently displays nosebleeds at the sight of female fanservice.
    • It's also a running gag involving Tsukune in the anime. It's utterly torrential when Yukari uses a voodoo doll to make him pull Kurumu's panties down right in front of Moka! Naturally, Kurumu has no complaints.
    • And let's not forget that Skirts and Ladders moment with Moka and Tsukune close to the end of the werewolf episode...
  • In the Rumic World short story "Excuse me for being a dog!" the protagonist (and his father) changes into a dog whenever he bleeds. Unfortunately for him, he's a boxer, and his nose is his weak spot. His father tries to train him not to bleed (or punishes him) by showing him centerfolds from nudie magazines.
  • This happens to Luke in The Sacred Blacksmith when Cecily's armor cracks and falls off, exposing her naked breasts.
  • Minako in Sailor Moon has a nosebleed after imagining taking a bath with one of the members of the band "The Three Lights". And in the Sailor V manga she has a explosive nosebleed (and faints) after being kissed on the lips by a Bishounen villain she has the hots for. Also in the Sailor V manga, regular male nosebleeds are seen several times.
    • In one of the Sailor Moon manga side stories, several characters (including Mamoru) have these induced by two half-dressed female elementary school students.
  • Kudou Yuuichi in Sensei no Ojikan has huge, fountaining nosebleeds whenever he imagines doing naughty things with his male classmate Suetake Kenta.
  • The eponymous character of Soul Eater is very prone to this, which is a source of annoyance to both himself (it ruins his 'cool guy' persona) and his meister Maka.
  • Kaname in S.S. Astro anytime she sees Izumi in the way she thinks is very cute.
  • In one episode of the Tales of Eternia anime, Keele turns bright red and falls over with blood streaming from his nose at the sight of Minima clad in only a towel.
  • Tenchi in the Hot Springs Episode of Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki.
  • Tasuke Yasuda (and his equally perverted little brother) gets these all the time in Tenshi na Konamaiki, although the blood is for some reason pink, as are occasional full body blushes.
  • During the Beach Episode of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, when Nia emerges in a thin bathing suit, there's a machine-gun edit Montage of nosebleeds from the male cast.
  • Played with in A Certain Magical Index. Touma suffers a normal nosebleed in the middle of the night, and while stumbling around for a tissue accidentally wakes up the half-dressed girl sleeping nearby. Quickly realizing that this seems somewhat incriminating, Touma hastily points out that the whole nosebleed thing is an old wives' tale and that he wasn't actually ogling her. Then he gets beat up for not being attracted to her.
  • Happens to Morinaga in the Boys Love manga The Tyrant Falls in Love when he moves in temporarily with Tatsumi who often walks around bare chested and thus causes Morinaga to nosebleed.
  • Raiel from Violinist of Hameln suffers from a variation of this. Instead of being triggered by anything remotely lewd, he suffers catastrophic nasal bloodloss just from standing too close to a female. Apparently, he's just that sensitive. Once as a child, a young girl told him she liked him. After being drenched in the resulting high-pressure spray, she suffered a mental breakdown and never smiled again.
  • Sunako from The Wallflower has such an aversion to anything she considers bright or beautiful that seeing anyone male or female she considers to be a "Bright Creature" causes her to spout torrents of blood out of her nose. The male cast members also inflict nosebleeds on almost every girl they meet.
  • Happens to Satou once in Welcome to The NHK. Interestingly enough, despite being linked to arousal, it's a regular, realistic nosebleed instead of an explosive fountain of blood.
  • All the male officers of Bokuto Precinct in You're Under Arrest, but most notably Ken Nakajima, spring major nosebleeds the first time they meet new officer Aoi Futaba, who is beautiful, kind, highly accomplished and generally everything one might want in a woman. There's just one minor problem: Aoi isn't a woman...

Nakajima: All I have to say is, this whole thing shrivels the morale of the men!
Natsumi: Pervert.
Nakajima: No! All I meant to say is, this whole business is swelling out of control!
Yoriko: Oh, you're one to talk, Mr. Nosebleed...

  • Happens a quite often in the manga series Instant Teen Just Add Nuts, a series about a girl who transforms into an adult woman after eating magical nuts.
  • Ilya of Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya is another female who gets nosebleeds... over her brother. Ruby then proceeds to use the blood from her nosebleed to create a contract with her.
  • Hayate the Combat Butler tells you quite clearly how much of a Chaste Hero Hayate is when he sees Izu-nyan 'attacking'. Hinagiku and he don't have this reaction, while still showing other reactions associated with it.
  • Lampshaded in chapter 1 of Ane Doki when 17-year-old girl Natsuki flirts with 13-year-old boy Kouta. She's initially worried at the sight of him bleeding, but then says, "Oh, that's right; guys your age get nosebleeds really easily." Thus reassured, she returns her attention to her cooking.
  • Becomes a running gag in the manga Kanojo Wa Kannou Shousetsuka. Shiina Keisuke, the main character, becomes the editor of an S&M author whose work he really admires. As part of his job is to hear out new plotlines (and Kuroki Chihiro, the author, does "hands-on" research), he is constantly affected. However, this is quickly Lampshaded when Chihiro's maid begins to follow him around with a box of tissues, or when Chihiro refuses to start work until Keisuke blocks his nose somehow.
  • Military crazed policeman Volvo Saigo in Kochikame is very unaccustomed with women which he always gets nosebleeds whenever he gets physically or mentally contacted with the protagonist women. Ryotsu also gets occasional cases.
  • Lampshaded and subverted in Asu no Yoichi. Ibuki accuses Yoichi of having a nosebleed for thinking perverse thoughts (a frequent occurrence, thanks to Yoichi being an Accidental Pervert). Yoichi counters by saying it's because he had one because she had just hit him in the face multiple times.
  • Maylene from Black Butler gets more than one of these when she hears Sebastian making ambiguous comments to Ciel.
  • Macross Frontier's Ranka Lee goes Glamorous Wartime Singer on a Zentradi Marine Regiment, causing some noses to explode from sheer Moeness.
  • Keima of The World God Only Knows can apparently do this at will.

Keima: Tch...what a bad, westernized taste. Oops, I'm supposed to be her fan. (explosive nosebleed)

  • Discussed and immediately thereafter played straight in The Weatherman Is My Lover during the Hot Springs Episode.
  • In one episode of Durarara!!, the slimeball thug Horoda gets a realistic looking nosebleed after looking at the rather large-breasted Anri. This leads to a somewhat amusing scene when Shizuo arrives. Horoda upon seeing Shizuo fearfully sucks the blood back up his nose. When Shizuo notices Horoda and other thugs surrounding Anri, the blood runs back out of his nose as if the sight of Shizuo gave him a nosebleed. Shizuo promptly flies into one of his trademark unstoppable rages.
  • In K-On!, Mio tripped on a cord, and the way she got up gave the audience a Panty Shot. The entire performance was saved on DVD, and when 1st-year Azusa (who didn't know what had happened) expressed a desire to see it, Yamanaka-sensei had Ritsu and Yui restrain Mio so Azusa could watch. Cue the small streams of blood at the aforementioned point of the recording.
  • In Mai-Otome Zwei, Kazuya gets a nosebleed after Anh Lu rips off the tops of the bathing suits of several of the other Otome, including her own. In response, Akane slaps him and calls him a pervert.
  • At the start of Nagasarete Airantou, Ikuto could easily be knocked weak or unconscious by one of his frequent geyser nosebleeds. Later on, he toughens up and manages to stay active despite his nosebleeds. It's also an example of a functional nosebleed, as opposed to just shorthand for arousal; other characters actively comment on it like it were the weather and its spray conveniently blinded another character once.
  • Chitose of Yuru-Yuri will react this way whenever she fantasizes about Kyouko and Ayano, usually with her glasses off.
  • Fujimura-kun Meitsu: Eriko Usami in particular and a few others in general, except Fujimura himself.
  • Sanae from Squid Girl gets these all the time. Sometimes it's from just being a pervert at the thought of just being around Squid Girl. Most of the time though, it's brought on when Squid Girl knocks her into the sand for trying to get too close. Either way, Sanae is in bliss when it happens.
  • Happens to Miyako Shizutani from the short manga Oboretai, as she watches her co-worker Takamura take nude pictures of some cute models anf tells them to relax. She imagines that he's talking to her and then starts nosebleeding as a sign of how much this Defrosting Ice Queen is suddenly starting to get turned on by him...
  • Happens to Natsuru Senou in Kämpfer during one of the bonus episodes of the manga. Seeing the reflection of her own half-naked body makes her nosebleed. Then again, Natsuru is a boy that has been genderbent into an incredibly hot girl, so no big surprise here.

Film

Literature

  • Surprisingly, mentioned in Meir Shalev's Esau; the narrator says that a book about seduction "had photos that caused me to urgently need a blood transfusion".

Live-Action TV

  • In Frasier, Niles gets them around Daphne quite frequently. Also, whenever he tells a lie.
  • In an episode of How I Met Your Mother, Barney agrees to teach a socially inept male co-worker how to hit on women. Barney discovers, to his dismay, that the guy in question can't even talk to attractive women without suffering a nosebleed (it occurs every time he gets an erection). Learning that his co-worker was a former reserve soldier, Barney decides to try passing it off as an injury acquired in the line of duty—and somehow, this actually works.
  • Bottom - Mentioned in passing by Eddie in "Contest" when having the Art vs. Pornography argument with Richie. Argument can be viewed here.

Eddie: There's those three birds on the top of the third pillar from the left [in The Sistine Chapel] with the bit of blue ribbon. Gaww! Some of the things they're doing would make your nose bleed!

  • Han Seul when he spots his first love (and whenever he thinks about her), in the Korean Series Twinkle Twinkle.
  • An episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia began with Frank running into the bar, falling on his face, and getting a massive nosebleed. He proceeds to tell the gang that he's in trouble because his business partner in a beauty pagent was arrested for coming on to one of the contestants. It turns out, this is a pagent for children, and Franks spends the majority of the episode trying to convince everyone that he is not a pervert. However, with this trope in mind, his constant nosebleeds take on a whole new meaning.

Video Games

Web Comics

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