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A Resource And Guide To Homosexuality, Bisexuality and Transgenderism In Anime |
Here is a short glossary of terms that will help you in learning about anime. Some are funny, and some are very enlightening. O_o Either way, I use these terms quite often on this site's pages, so it might help you to know some of them.
Sometimes in anime and the fandom that surrounds it, there are words or terms that appear and do not make sense on first hearing them. But just like any vernacular, with a little work and a good reference, you can easily understand what the people are talking about. So if you can put in the first part, I have the second here, ready to be bookmarked. ^_^
A B C D E
F G H I J
K L M N O
P Q R S T
U V W X Y
Z
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
akuma |
a devil (literally, evil beast) |
anime |
Japanese word for animation |
aniparo |
anime parody, a genre in manga and anime where well known characters and stories
are used in humourous situations, often unlike the original story or plot; it is a
contraction of the English words |
arcade game |
computer games played in arcades on large boxed machines |
background music | the music from an anime soundtrack, either setting music or songs |
bgm | see background music |
bishojo | see bishoujo |
bishoujo | beautiful young girls, a genre of girl-oriented stories (mostly manga) about young girls |
bishonen | see bishounen |
bishounen |
beautiful young boys, a genre of girl-oriented stories (mostly manga) about young boys |
-chan |
a suffix added to Japanese personal names to refer to younger children (the eldest child will be
referred to by -san); it is also used as a term of affection between friends,
lovers, or family members |
chara | a Japanese-shortened version of the word "character", used to refer to characters in anime or manga |
chibi | short, small, pygmy; sometimes used as a prefix to name to imply junior or inferior status of something or someone (eg.: chibi-usa for Usagi's daughter in Sailor Moon) |
city gothic |
a genre of dark, brooding, and often violent stories with elements of gothic horror; prime examples
are films like Wicked City and Demon City Shinjuku |
console game |
a computer game played on a home gaming system, often a modified version of arcade games |
dojinshi | Japanese fanzines; magazines made by and for fans of anime and manga, (usually) distributed without professional or commercial help, a surprisingly large underground industry |
ecchi |
pervert, perverted ; a less severe term than hentai, used as negative term of
reference for anything or anyone of a less serious perverted sexual nature |
eiga | film, movie |
esper | a psychic; a person or character with supernatural powers, usually ESP |
face fault |
a character losing composure, falling to the ground, or showing total shock at something;
an action by a character upon being confronted with a stupid action or event; common in
comedy anime, very rare in dramatic or dark anime |
fan boy |
a derogatory term for people obsessed with hobbies; does not necessarily refer to anime or manga |
fan service | a euphemism for gratuitious female nudity, ranging from brief breast or panty shots to full frontal nudity; often used solely to attract hentai viewers to anime with lower plot quality |
gaijin |
foreigner (literally, foreign person); an impolite, negative term of reference |
gaikokujin |
foreigner (literally, person from a foreign land); a more polite term than gaijin |
garage kit | homemade plastic or metal sets of models originally made only by fans of anime and manga, usually made to represent a character or a mecha; now a widespread industry, though the product is still known by the name |
gekiga | graphic novel |
h |
the first letter in the word hentai, used as a way of referring to a person or subject of
that nature |
hentai |
pervert, perverted (literally abnormal, an anomaly); a negative term of reference for
anything or anyone of a more serious perverted sexual nature |
hiragana |
one of three sets of written characters in Japanese, once used for women's writing, used to spell
or identify kanji and as the beginning script for schoolchildren |
idol | a young, cute manufactured starlet in many fields, usually singers or actresses; they often have short and intense careers (read: "flavour of the month", or "Spice Girls") |
japanimation |
another word for anime; a bastardized combination of Japan and animation |
kaiju | monster, usually referring to a beast of destructive power (eg., Godzilla) though not necessarily evil |
kanji |
the set of pictograms used most often in the Japanese language, adopted from Chinese during
Japanese invasions of China during the 14th century |
kami |
a god or deity; Japan is a polytheistic society, the term god does not refer only to one
being, there are many gods with different spheres of influence to be prayed to |
katakana |
one of three sets of written characters in Japanese, once used for men's writing, now used mostly
for spelling foreign words in Japanese |
kawaii | cute, cuteness; the big-eyed adorable nature of anime characters |
manga | Japanese comics, usually black and white, but also in colour; the name originated from woodblock prints that appeared in 19th century Japanese literature |
mamono |
a demon |
mecha | large mechanical devices, usually robots used, or armoured suits worn, by characters in anime |
megami |
female god, goddess; me is a prefix or suffix in Japanese that means female |
nijijin | literally "rainbow person"; refers to people who gather under the rainbow gay pride flag |
oav | see original animation video |
oni |
Japanese ogre, usually (but not always) malicious |
original animation video | a film or series made for release only on video, not for theaters or television |
original soundtrack | the music of an anime production, including its songs |
ost | see original soundtrack |
otaku |
a person obsessed with a hobby or activity, someone who puts that hobby above social interaction |
ova | see original animation video |
oyaji | old chap (vulgar), used as an insulting way to refer to an elder |
roleplaying game | a game where people play as characters in a fictional setting, either in a group of people or on a computer game |
rpg | see rolepaying game |
-sama |
a suffix added to a name when speaking to or about a person above one's own social status;
roughly equivalent to the English titles Mr. and Mrs., but has no gender |
-san |
a suffix added to a name when speaking to or about a person of near one's own social status;
roughly equivalent to the English titles Mr. and Mrs., but has no gender |
sd | see superdeformed |
seiyuu | voice actor; a professional voice actor in anime |
sempai | a social elder, most often in a work or school situation |
sensei | a teacher, an experienced person or elder in a field |
senshi | soldier |
sentai | a team; sometimes shortened to tai, it is used as a term of reference for a group of people, usually heroes or protagonists |
shojo | see bishoujo |
shoujo |
young girl |
shonen | see shounen |
shounen |
young boy (literally, "young year") |
side story | a story set in the same universe as an already existing story or anime, usually to develop or protray a lesser known character from the original series; known in the west as a "spin-off" |
superdeformed |
the drawing of characters in an excessively cute manner with exaggerated facial features and
small bodies; usually used in parodies of anime or to make certain characters look kawaii |
sweatdrop |
a large bead of sweat that appears on the heads of characters in anime, shown as a sign of
exasperation or incredulity; common in comedy anime, very rare in dramatic or dark anime |
talent |
a euphemism for female breast size (larger breasts=more talent) |
tenchi |
heaven and earth |
tenshi | an angel |
urusai | annoying, bothersome, irksome; also Japanese equivalent of "SHUT UP!" |
urusei | foreigner, alien |
usagi | rabbit |
yaoi |
a genre of anime involving homosexuals, usually with the story having tragic consequences; an
acronym referring to homosexual relationships; also known as slash |
yakuza |
literally meaning useless, worthless, good-for-nothing |
yoma | see youma |
youma |
a term for demons and supernatural entities of evil intent |
yuri |
the lesbian version of yaoi fics, involving female characters in tragic relationships; reputedly
called this because of the number of characters in them named Yuri |
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