***This section is so people don't get confused when people use
these words while they are talking about anime/manga related things!***
Anime: Anime is Japanese for "animation”. In America, it's used to
refer to any form of animation that was made in Japan. Anime comes in
the form of animated TV series', movies, video games, and comic books.
Baka: Baka is Japanese for "stupid", "idiot", or "moron”. This
is one of the most common Japanese words used by many American fans to
describe people who are acting like very stupid idiots!
BGM: This stands for "background music”. This refers to the
background music of an anime on a TV series, video game, or movie.
They're usually pretty common and popular tracks in many anime
soundtrack CDs.
Bish: Bish is a prefix that shows a characters’ beauty. A
"bishoujo" is a young and beautiful girl and a "bishonen" is an
attractive and often “hot” boy.
Chibi: Chibi is Japanese for "small", "little", or "young". A
"chibi" style drawing of an anime character is usually a drawing of a
smaller version of a character with chubbier bodies, larger eyes and
head, and shorter arms and legs. Chibi characters are usually made to
be extremely cute, and even villains can be drawn like this.
CLAMP: This is an extremely famous and popular all-female manga
creating team that is made up of Nanase Ohkawa, Mokona Apapa, Mick
Nekoi, and Satsuki Igarashi. Some of their most famous works include
Magic Knight Rayearth (which was their first breakthrough hit),
Cardcaptor Sakura (which became the #1 shoujo manga series in Japan in
1996), Clover, Angelic Layer, and Chobits. They have done many more
also. All of their works are mainly focused on the characters'
relationships, inner conflicts, and that the sheer beauty of their
stories show that fighting and action aren’t necessary to get an
impacting message across.
Cosplay: This is short for "costume play". Cosplay is the act
of dressing up as an anime character (and usually looking stupid^.~).
Many huge fans do this at big anime conventions, such as the Anime
Expo.
Doujinshi: Doujinshi is Japanese for "fanzine". Doujinshi
refers to manga that is produced by huge fans of anime and manga and is
drawn in manga style. These fan-made stories sometimes use already
existing anime and manga characters or original ones.
Dub: This refers to editing out the original dialogue of a
foreign TV show or movie and replacing it with dialogue of a different
language. In the anime world, a "dub" is the English language version
of an anime. An example of an anime-making company that does this is
4kids. Dubs usually make the anime much worse, but at least they are
all in English.
Ecchi: This word refers to anime with an amount of sometimes humorous
content, usually involving nudity and sexual situations; however, this
is a lot more mild than hentai. Ecchi is Japanese for pervert.
Ending Theme: This is also known as the song that appears after
the episode has ended, in which the end credits appear. Almost every
anime has an ending theme that usually changes every 20 episodes or so.
The theme also changes if the plot has made a huge change. The ending
theme is most of the time followed by a preview of the anime's next
episode. This is usually a lot more calm, slow, and gentle than the
opening theme.
Eyecatch: This is a quick animation sequence that is shown in
the middle of almost every single anime episode to signify the
beginning and ending of a commercial break, and that the episode is
half over. The eyecatch is different with all anime, and it usually
also includes the logo.
Fandub: This is like a fansub, except rather than adding
subtitles, the Japanese content is edited out and replaced with English
content that is made by fans. Fandubs happen much less than fansubs.
Fansub: This refers to an anime episode or movie with subtitles
made by fans, and not by official companies. They are distributed among
the anime market mostly by the Internet. They're very popular among
anime fans because many fansubs are made for episodes or movies that
haven't been released and dubbed/subtitled by American companies. This
can sort of be illegal, but most fansub makers do this for fun and not
to make a profit. Also, fansubs help to open opportunities for American
companies to acquire the rights to animes that are very popular
fansubs.
Fanfic: Fanfic is short for "fan fiction". This refers to
original stories written by fans using already existing anime/manga
characters and plot lines, but changing it to make up their own
creative stories.
Fan Art: This is art is made by fans. These can be based on
characters from an anime or manga, or someone's original drawing of a
made-up character.
Fan Service: This is usually used to refer to scenes in anime that are
a bit pointless, but the main purpose is to please any adolesent male
viewers. These scenes include a female character taking a shower or
bath, having her panties show, etc. Also, fan service could also refer
to anything shown in an anime that is unrelated to the story but is
pleasing to the fans, such as cute animals, flashy outfits, cool
looking robots, and much more.
Filler Episode: This refers to an episode of an anime series in
which basically nothing is accomplished in the story. Instead, these
episodes usually focus more on character develpoment, or they could
just be random, funny, or cute episodes.
Graphic Novel: This is another name for a manga book. They're usually
around 150 - 200 pages long. These books are like comic books, and
sometimes are read backwards.
Hentai: Hentai is Japanese for "pervert". Hentai is an actual genre of
anime that includes major nudity and sexual situations, which usually
turns out to be very nasty.
Hiragana: These are Japanese characters/letters used for words
of Japanese origin, or words without being based off of a Chinese kanji
reading. Japanese grammar and certain Japanese names could also be
written in hiragana.
Image Song: This is a song from an anime that is sung by one of
its characters, usually about his/her feelings and conflicts. These
songs are usually only heard on the anime's soundtrack CDs and are
always sung by the actual voice actor/actress of the characters. At
least they don't put these on the shows because anime doesn't have very
much singing in it.
J - Pop: This refers to Japanese popular music that is similar
to English pop music, but with its own unique sound. A lot of anime
uses existing songs and almost all of them have a CD that's available.
Japanime(tion): This is just an old Americanized word used to refer to anime.
Kanji: These are Japanese characters/letters based on Chinese
writing. Each kanji usually has a certain meaning and a bunch of
readings.
Katakana: These are Japanese characters/letters used to write
words of a foreign language. Some fantasy-based words, sound effects,
and characters' names can be written in katakana.
Kawaii: Kawaii is Japanese for "cute" (or hot). This is a very
popular word that is commonly used by American anime fans to descibe
the characters they think are cute.
Manga: Manga is Japanese for "comics". In America, it's used to
refer to Japanese comics. Almost all anime has a manga series that's
based on it.
Mangaka: Mangaka are the people who illustrate the manga books.
Most Mangaka are females, but there are some males too. An example of
Mangaka is Rumiko Takahashi.
Mecha: Mecha is a genre of anime/manga that involves a bunch of
giant robots that are usually piloted by a human (or android). Some
examples of mecha animes include Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gundam Wing,
and Robotech.
Hayao Miyazaki: He is one of the best and most well-known anime
movie directors of all time. Along with his friend Isao Takahata, he
founded his own animation studio, Studio Ghibli, and he produced many
well-loved films. Some movies he directed include My Neighbor Totoro,
Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Laputa: Castle in the Sky,
and Spirited Away. All of his films have a universal feel to them They
involve characters in certain situations that people can relate to.
OAV: This stands for Original Animation Video. OAVs are a series of
anime episodes made only for home video and not for TV or movie
theaters. OAVs usually have longer and better episodes (since they
don't have to worry about being cut in any way), and better animation.
An OAV could be based on an already existing anime, or it could be a
totally different story.
Opening Theme: This is also called an opening song. This refers
to the song sung at the start of every episode of an anime series while
the beginning credits are playing. This is kind of like the ending
theme, but played at the beginning; however, the opening themes are
usally much more deep, symbolic, and made to flow specifically with the
animation that is showing. The opening theme changes either every 20 or
so episodes or when the plot makes a huge change. The opening theme is
usually more fast-paced and exciting than the ending theme.
OST: OST stands for Original Sound Track. An OST is a music CD
that includes all major songs/background music that has taken place on
a particular anime.
Otaku: This is a Japanese word that refers to someone being
obcessed with a particular thing. Usually in America, this word is used
to refer to someone that is obcessed with anime and manga.
Scanlation: This is like a fansub, except this takes place on
manga instead of anime. Japanese writing is replaced with the writing
from fans.
SD: This is an acronym for "super deformed". Sometimes, like in
Azumanga Daioh, the characters' faces look wierd when they are in a
certain mood.
Seiyuu: This is Japanese for "voice actor/actress". In America,
people use this word to refer to the Japanese people who do the voices
for the anime characters.
Side Story: A side story is a story that is set in the same
world as an already existing anime/manga, but these focus on totally
different subjects, such as minor characters, new characters, or plots
that aren't brought up in the anime series.
Shoujo: Shoujo is Japanese for "girl", and it's also an
anime/manga genre. This genre is mainly focused towards younger girls
because of emotional female characters and attractive male characters.
The characters are drawn in a pretty, flowery, romantic style and the
plots are mainly focused on character relationships and interpersonal
conflicts. For the most part, the main characters are females. Some
examples of Shoujo animes/mangas include Fushigi Yugi, Ah! My Goddess,
Revolutionary Girl Utena, Sailor Moon, and Love Hina.
Shounen: Shounen is Japanese for "boy". This is practically the
same thing as shoujo, but this type of genre involves mostly fiery male
characters (who usually have some sort of super power) and evil,
villainous characters who eventually turn good. There often is a lot of
battles that take place and a lot of action. For the most part, the main characters are males. Some examples of shounen
animes/mangas include Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, Shaman King,
Yu-Gi-Oh! and Naruto.
Sub: Sub is short for "subtitled". This refers to an anime that
contains original Japanese dialogue with subtitles that are usually in
English.
Rumiko Takahashi: She is considered to be the best manga artist
of all time; she's made tons of different manga series'. Everything
that she has made became very popular both in Japan and America. Some
of her most well known titles include Inuyasha, Ranma 1/2, Maison
Ikkoku, and Urusei Yatsura. One reason that her stories are so popular
is that they involve very complex relationships, ongoing plot lines,
and clever humor.
Osamu Tezuka: He is considered to be the "father of anime";
almost all modern animes are based on his drawing style (this was
greatly inspired by Walt Disney). He practically invented Japan's
modern manga industry during the 1950s. Some of his most famous works
include Astro Boy, which is considered the very first modern-style
anime (and the first to be released in America) and Jungle Emperor Leo.
During the 1960s, this anime's name was Kimba the White Lion.
Yaoi: This is an anime/manga story in which the plot is
centered around a gay relationship. There is a good amount of yaoi in
many anime/manga series, but yaoi is mostly seen in anime fan
art/fanfics. Yaoi relationships are also refered to as "shonen-ai",
which
means "boy's love." If you want to see an example of this, Gravitation
is perfect.
Yuri: This is the same as yaoi, but with the romance
relationship being between a lesbian couple. Yuri relationships are
also refered to as "shoujo-ai", which means "girl's love."
Copyright © by AnimeLuvers All Right Reserved.
