Shunsuke's Glossary of Anime Terms

Hey, you gotta remember we're dealing with entertainment from another country!

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. ^_^

From here you can choose to either:

1) Scroll down to view the glossary.

2) Choose a letter to begin scrolling the list.

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

3) Choose a word from the list to jump to immediately.

akuma
anime
aniparo
arcade game
background music
bgm
bishojo
bishoujo
bishonen
bishounen
-chan
chara
chibi
city gothic
console game

dojinshi
ecchi
eiga
esper
face fault
fan boy
fan service
gaijin
gaikokujin
garage kit
gekiga
h
hentai
hiragana
idol

japanimation
kaiju
kanji
kami
katakana
kawaii
manga
mamono
mecha
megami
oav
oni
original animation video
original soundtrack
ost

otaku
ova
oyaji
roleplaying game
rpg
-sama
-san
sd
seiyuu
sempai
sensei
senshi
sentai
shojo
shoujo

shonen
shounen
side story
superdeformed
sweatdrop
talent
tenchi
tenshi
urusai
urusei
usagi
yaoi
yakuza
yoma
youma

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akuma

a devil (literally, evil beast)
see also mamono, oni, and youma

anime

Japanese word for animation
see also japanimation

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
see also superdeformed

arcade game

computer games played in arcades on large boxed machines
see also console game

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
(literally translated, beautiful young year)

-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
see also -san and -sama

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
(note: it is not a prerequisite for the title to have the word city to be part of this genre ^_^ )

console game

a computer game played on a home gaming system, often a modified version of arcade games
see also arcade game

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
ecchi is the Japanese pronounciation of the English letter H
(sometime the meanings of ecchi and hentai are interchanged)
see also hentai

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
see also sweatdrop

fan boy

a derogatory term for people obsessed with hobbies; does not necessarily refer to anime or manga
see also otaku

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
see also gaikokujin

gaikokujin

foreigner (literally, person from a foreign land); a more polite term than gaijin
see also 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

Japanese for graphic novel

h

the first letter in the word hentai, used as a way of referring to a person or subject of that nature
see also ecchi and hentai

hentai

pervert, perverted (literally abnormal, an anomaly); a negative term of reference for anything or anyone of a more serious perverted sexual nature
(sometime the meanings of ecchi and hentai are interchanged) see also ecchi

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
see also kanji and katakana

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
see also anime

kaiju

monster, usually referring to a beast of destructive power (eg., Godzilla)

kanji

the set of pictograms used most often in the Japanese language, adopted from Chinese during Japanese invasions of China during the 14th century
see also hiragana and katakana

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
see also megami

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
see also hiragana and kanji

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 Japanese 19th century literature

mamono

a demon
see also akuma, oni, and youma

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
see also kami

oav

see original animation video

oni

Japanese ogre, ususally (but not always) malicious
see also akuma, mamono, and youma

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
see also fan boy

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
see also -chan and -san

-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
see also -chan and -sama

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
see bishoujo

shonen

see shounen

shounen

young boy (literally, "young year")
see bishounen

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
see also aniparo

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
see also face fault

talent

a euphemism for female breast size (larger breasts=more talent)
(note: this term originated from an infamous episode of Sailor Moon, where in the dubbed English version, a character says "I have the most talent"; in the orignal Japanese version, she says "I have the largest breasts")

tenchi

heaven and earth
(note: when used in the phrase "tenchi muyo", the characters, when pronounced differently, can also mean "this side up")

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
refers to Japanese organized crime or its members, somewhat akin to Italian mafia, though more ruthless

yoma

see youma

youma

a term for demons and supernatural entities of evil intent
see also akuma, mamono, and oni

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