Small Sweat Drop

In manga and anime, a small sweat drop, typically drawn dripping on the cheek between the eye and the ear, is a symbol used when a character is apprehensive, flustered, tense, weary, or excited about something. It's also used in situations where characters are actually physically sweating.

Often, it's shaped like the shi し hiragana.

See large sweat drop for the teardrop-shaped anime sweat drop.

Character: Nitta Yoshifumi 新田義史
Anime: Hinamatsuri ヒナまつり (Episode 1)

• Usage
  
  • Rendering
• Examples
  
  • Anxiety
    
    • Embarrassment
  • Fear
    
    • Panic
  • Bewilderment
    
    • Aversion
    • Fluster
  • Weariness
  • Astonishment
  • Excitement

Usage

Most of the usage of the small sweat drop is symbolic: characters aren't actually, physically sweating, perspiring to cool off their internal temperatures. Instead, the small sweat drop is used as visual cue for the character's emotions.

The most common use is a single sweat drop drawn on the cheek of the character, between the eye and the ear.

This is used when their expression is supposed to appear tense, like when they're dealing with a weird situation, or thinking about something complicated; in timid characters when they feel shy; and in character who are done dealing with something and feel tired, weary.

Multiple sweat drops means the character is more anxious, but it may also mean the character feels excited or eager rather than tense.

Rendering

In general, the small sweat drop is drawn in manga as a shi し shape using the black color. In color, where the skin isn't pure white, the sweat drop is drawn instead with a white outline and a black shadow under the liquid.

In many cases, it looks very subtle and almost imperceptible at lower resolutions.

Character: Amayadori Machi 雨宿まち
Anime: Kuma Miko くまみこ (Episode 1)

• This frame has focus lines, horizontal blue lines, tear drops, an anger mark, diagonal blushing lines, and two small sweat drops.

Normally, the small sweat drop doesn't drip on the character's face, it just appears and stays there. When a dripping sweat is drawn on a character, it's typically because they're in a sudden state of panic, or because they're sweating due to physical activity.

Examples

For reference, some examples:

Anxiety

• kinchou suru
  緊張する
  To feel nervous. To feel tense.
• hiya-ase
  冷や汗
  Cold sweat.

Manga: Prison School, 監獄学園 (Chapter 168)

• Context: a girl is conflicted about her feelings.
• n? nanda.. kono kimochi wa..
  ん？なんだ･･この気持ちは･･
  Hm? What is it.. this feeling..
  • In my chest..??!!
  • This sentence features dislocation.

Embarrassment

Character: Suou Tamaki 須王環
Anime: Ouran High School Host Club, Ouran Koukou Hosuto-Bu 桜蘭高校ホスト部 (Episode 1)

• sekimen
  赤面
  Red face.

Fear

Manga: Mob Psycho 100, Mobu Saiko Hyaku モブサイコ１００ (Chapter 55, 知らない)

• Context: Mob encounters a foe so powerful that his attacks don't work at all.
• odoro
  おどろ
  (the term for this background effect.)

Panic

Left: Togashi Yuuta 富樫勇太
Right: Tsuyuri Kumin 五月七日くみん
Anime: Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! 中二病でも恋がしたい！ (Episode 2)

• Context: Yuuta's face turns blue as he realizes he accidentally let show a side of his dark past to Kumin.

Bewilderment

Character: Tadano Hitohito 只野仁人
Manga: Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu. 古見さんは、コミュ症です。 (Chapter 2, 平穏です)

• e!?
  え！？
  Eh!?
  

Character: Asagaya Minoa 阿佐ヶ谷未乃愛
Anime: Animegataris, アニメガタリズ (Episode 1)

• Context: Minoa thought something serious was going to happen. Instead, something completely different happened.
• maru-me
  ○目
  "Circle eyes." A symbol sometimes used when a character has no idea what's going on.

Left: Hakubi Ryouko 白眉魎呼
Right: Masaki Tenchi 柾木天地
Anime: Tenchi Muyou! Ryououki 天地無用！魎皇鬼 (OVA, Episode 1)

• Context: Ryouko is speechless at Tenchi's panicking.
• Small sweat drops are rarely drawn on hair, and when they are, it's often a lot of them.
• The flickering circles around Tenchi's head are another type of sweat drop symbol.

Aversion

Character: Gourry Gabriev ガウリイ・ガブリエフ
Anime: Slayers, スレイヤーズ (Episode 2)

• Context: Gabriev is in disbelief of the carelessness of another character.

Fluster

Left: Alphonse Elric アルフォンス・エルリック
Right: Edward Elric エドワード・エルリック
Anime: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Hagane no Renkinjutsushi 鋼の錬金術師 (Episode 21)

• Context: Edward's soul comes out of his mouth, and then Alphonse, a bit lost on what to do, hurriedly puts it back in.

Character: Shinonome Nano 東雲なの
Anime: Nichijou 日常 (Episode 7)

• Context: Nano is obviously totally not hiding anything no, sir.
• "no" no me
  「の」の目
  An eye shaped like the no の character.

Character: Sakura Chiyo 佐倉千代
Anime: Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun 月刊少女野崎くん (Episode 1)

• Context: Chiyo is in love.
• tereru
  照れる
  To feel shy. To feel embarrassed.
• tere-sen
  照れ線
  "Embarrassed lines." The term for the red, diagonal lines used to draw blushes in embarrassed characters.

Weariness

Manga: Gabriel DropOut, ガヴリールドロップアウト (Chapter 5)

• Context: Vignette ヴィネット is done trying to deal with other characters.
• maa ii wa...
  まぁいいわ･･･
  Whatever... (never mind that.)
• hajimemashou
  始めましょう
  Let's start. (already.)

Character: Hiruzen Sarutobi 猿飛ヒルゼン
Manga: Naruto ナルト (Chapter 2, 木ノ葉丸)

• Context: Sarutobi is tired of dealing with Naruto's shenanigans.

Astonishment

Character: Chrome クロム
Anime: Dr. Stone, ドクターストーン (Episode 20)

• Context: Chrome has an idea.
• An Edison's light bulb was used as an idea light bulb.

Excitement

Left: Aguri 亜玖璃
Middle: Uehara Tasuku 上原祐
Right: Hoshinomori Chiaki 星ノ守千秋
Anime: Gamers!, ゲーマーズ！ (Episode 6)

• Context: three characters play 4D backgammon.
• Horizontal blue lines are sometimes used when a character scowls.

Character: Shidare Hotaru 枝垂ほたる
Anime: Dagashikashi だがしかし (Episode 1)

• Context: Hotaru imagines something tasty.
• yodare
  ヨダレ
  Drool.
• koufun suru
  興奮する
  To feel excited.