ACG ("Animation, Comics, and Games") is a term used in some subcultures of

Greater China Greater China is an informal geographical area that shares commercial and cultural ties with the Han Chinese people. The notion of "Greater China" refers to the area that usually encompasses Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan in East ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

. Because a strong economic and cultural connection exists between anime, manga and games in the Japanese market, ACG is used to describe this phenomenon in relative fields. The term refers in particular to Japanese

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

, manga and

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s, with the video games usually referring to galgames. The term is not normally translated into Chinese; if the meaning needs to be translated, it is usually "動漫遊戲" (''dòngmànyóuxì'', animation, comics and games), "two-dimensional space" (二次元, ''Èr cìyuán''; ja, 2次元, translit=nijigen) or "動漫遊" (''dòngmànyóu'', animation, comics and games).

Etymology

In 1995, a

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

ese fan of animation and comics using the name "AIplus" established a board at

National Sun Yat-sen University National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU; ) is a public research-intensive university renowned as an official think tank scholars' community, located in Sizihwan, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. NSYSU is listed as one of six national research universities, ...

's BBS; the board was named the "ACG_Review Board", referring to animation, comics and games. It is considered the first appearance of the term "ACG". Popularizing by Taiwanese anime and comics critique group

Shuffle Alliance This is a list of characters featured in the Japanese anime television series and subsequent spin-offs. Shuffle Alliance The Shuffle Alliance is a public team composed of five members: Domon Kasshu, Chibodee Crocket, Georges de Sand, Tsai T'z ...

, the arrangement of the three letters was stabilized, and the term became popular on the

Chinese Mainland "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

, in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and

. After

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

s, which are often adapted into anime, comics and video games, became more popular, the term "ACGN" was coined. However, the term ACG is still used in the majority of situations and is generally thought to include light novels even without "N."

In other regions

Japanese do not use the term ACG, though a similar concept is "MAG", meaning "Manga, Anime and Games". Japanese speakers usually use to refer a series of anime and manga culture (containing

s and

garage kit A garage kit (ガレージキット) or resin kit is an assembly scale model kit most commonly cast in polyurethane resin. They are often model figures portraying humans or other living creatures. In Japan, kits often depict anime characters, and ...

s). The refers to the related- subculture, while refers to related industries. In India, AVGC is used instead, referring to Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics. The term ACG is not prevalent in English-speaking regions.

References

Animation terminology Comics terminology Video game terminology Chinglish National Sun Yat-sen University {{anime-stub

Etymology

In other regions

See also

References