The following is a glossary of terms that are specific to

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, 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 Japane ...

and

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

. Anime includes

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

, films and videos, while manga includes

graphic novels A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

, drawings and related artwork. ''Note:

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

words that are used in general (e.g. ''oniisan'', ''

kawaii ''Kawaii'' is the culture of cuteness in Japan. It can refer to items, humans and non-humans that are charming, vulnerable, shy and childlike.Kerr, Hui-Ying (23 November 2016)"What is kawaii – and why did the world fall for the ‘cult of cu ...

'' and '' senpai'') are not included on this list, unless a description with a reference for notability can be provided that shows how they relate.''

Character traits

* : Refers to any noticeable strand of hair which sticks in a different direction from the rest of an anime/manga character’s hair. * : Beautiful young woman. * : Japanese aesthetic concept of the ideally beautiful young man:

androgynous Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression. When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics i ...

effeminate Effeminacy is the embodiment of traits and/or expressions in those who are not of the female sex (e.g. boys and men) that are often associated with what is generally perceived to be feminine behaviours, mannerisms, styles, or gender roles, rather ...

or gender-ambiguous. In Japan, it refers to youth with such characteristics, while in Europe and the Americas, it has become a generic term for attractively androgynous males of all ages. * : typically used to describe early teens who have delusions of grandeur and have convinced themselves they have hidden knowledge or secret powers. * : A

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

love interest who is quiet and asocial. They are afraid to talk, fearing that what they say will get them in trouble. Their name is a portmanteau of , meaning silence, and . * : An umbrella term for all words with the

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...

; i.e. any stock character, usually female, who is distinguished by interacting with their love interest in a certain way. Several entries on this list are examples. * : A cute girl who tends to be clumsy. They may make mistakes that hurt themselves or others. ''Dojikko'' character traits are often used for stock characters in anime and manga series. * : A character who relentlessly pursues their own vision of their love interest's desires, which they typically misunderstand in some comically over-the-top fashion. * : Characters with animal features such as ears and a tail, but a human body. One of the most common types is the

catgirl A is a female kemonomimi character with feline traits, such as , a cat tail, or other feline characteristics on an otherwise human body. Catgirls are found in various fiction genres and in particular Japanese anime and manga. Catboy is a term f ...

. * : A stock love interest who is calm and collected on the outside, and never panics. They show little emotion, and in extreme cases are completely emotionless, but may be hiding their true emotions. They tend to be leaders who are always in charge of a situation. Their name is a portmanteau of the Japanese pronunciation of , and . * : a man who has a culturally feminine gender expression, which includes amongst others a feminine appearance, or

cross-dressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...

. * : A stock love interest who is usually stern, cold or hostile to the person they like, while occasionally letting slip the warm and loving feelings hidden inside due to being shy, nervous, insecure or simply unable to help acting badly in front of the person they like. It is a portmanteau of the Japanese terms , meaning to be stern or hostile, and , meaning to be "lovey dovey". * : A term for a person who is initially loving and caring to someone they like a lot until their

romantic love Romance or romantic love is a feeling of love for, or a Interpersonal attraction, strong attraction towards another person, and the Courtship, courtship behaviors undertaken by an individual to express those overall feelings and resultant emot ...

admiration Admiration is a social emotion felt by observing people of competence, talent, or skill exceeding standards.Algoe, S. B., & Haidt, J. (2009). Witnessing excellence in action: The ‘other-praising’ emotions of elevation, gratitude, and admirati ...

and devotion becomes feisty and mentally destructive in nature through either overprotectiveness, violence, brutality or all three combined. The term is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words

Demographics

* : Anime and manga intended for the adult female demographic. * or : Anime and manga for children. * : Anime and manga intended for the adult male demographic. * : Anime and manga intended for the adolescent female demographic. * : Anime and manga intended for the adolescent male demographic.

Fandom

* : A slang term for the parodic use of anime characters by fans, a portmanteau of "anime" and "parody". * : One of the largest trade fairs for ''dōjinshi'' comics, held twice a year in

Ariake, Tokyo is a district in Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan. It is best known as the region adjacent to and directly east of Odaiba. Ariake is subdivided into four Japanese addressing system, ''chome'' and comprises part of the Tokyo Bay Landfill No. 10 and Tokyo Rink ...

. * : A fan-made or amateurly produced work such as a parody,

fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF) is fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, settin ...

or manga. *

fandub A fandub is a fan-made dub or redub of a live-action or animated production. Dubbing is the act of re-recording of a live-action or animated production, typically in a language other than the original. Most productions are translated from diffe ...

: Short for fan-made dub, describing a film or video in which fans have voiced over the dialogue. *

fansub A fansub (short for fan-subtitled) is a version of a foreign film or foreign television program, typically anime or dorama which has been translated by fans (as opposed to an officially licensed translation done by paid professionals) and subtit ...

: Short for fan-made subtitles, describing a film or video in which fans have translated and subtitled the dialogue into another language. * : A male fan of

yaoi ''Yaoi'' (; ja, やおい ), also known by the ''wasei-eigo'' construction and its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features Homoeroticism, homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typi ...

. * : A female fan of

. * : Appeared in the early 1980s and describes the perception that two-dimensional

, and

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 ...

characters are more attractive visually, physically or emotionally than people from the real world, or that a person is solely sexually aroused by 2D characters. *

Odagiri effect The Odagiri effect is a television phenomenon in which a program attracts a larger than expected number of female viewers because the program stars attractive male actors or characters. It is named after the Japanese actor Joe Odagiri, who starr ...

: A television phenomenon in which a program attracts a larger than expected number of women viewers because the program stars attractive male actors or characters. * : The literal translation of the word is another person's house or family ( ''otaku''). In Japanese slang, ''otaku'' is mostly equivalent to "

geek The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In th ...

" or "

nerd A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly tec ...

", but in a more derogatory manner than used in the West. In 1989, the word "otaku" was shunned in relation to anime and manga after

Tsutomu Miyazaki was a Japanese serial killer who murdered four young girls in Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture between August 1988 and June 1989. He abducted and killed the girls, aged from 4 to 7, in his car before dismembering them and molesting their corpses. ...

(dubbed "The Otaku Murderer") brutally killed underage girls. Since then, the word has become less negative in Japan with more people identifying themselves as some type of an ''otaku''. * / husbando: A fictional character from non-live-action visual media (typically an anime, manga or video game) to whom one is attracted or whom one considers their ideal

significant other The term significant other (SO) has different uses in psychology and in colloquial language. Colloquially, "significant other" is used as a gender-neutral term for a person's partner in an intimate relationship without disclosing or presuming ...

. *

weeaboo Japanophilia is the philia of Japanese culture, people and history. In Japanese, the term for Japanophile is , with "" equivalent to the English prefix 'pro-' and "", meaning "Japan" (as in the word for Japan ). The term was first used as earl ...

(also weeb): A derogatory slang term for an obnoxious fan of Japanese culture, originally a replacement word for "wapanese" (a contraction of "wannabe" Japanese or "white" Japanese)

Genres

* : A genre of

pornographic Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of Human sexual activity, sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

media focusing on the depiction of women with large breasts. With regards to bra size, ''bakunyū'' are said to be above a G75

bra size Bra size (also known as brassiere measurement or bust size) indicates the size characteristics of a bra. While there are a number of bra sizing systems in use around the world, the bra sizes usually consist of a number, indicating the size of the ...

but below an M70.Alt URL
/ref> * : A masculine gay men's culture and, in manga circles, a genre of manga about

beefcake Beefcake is a performance or a form of glamour photography depicting a large and muscular male body. Beefcake is also a publication genre. A role a person plays in a performance may be called ''beefcake''. The term was believed to be first used ...

y gay men usually by gay men. Compare with the female-created Boys' Love. Also known as * : Abbreviated "BL", male homosexual content generally aimed at women, currently in general use in Japan to cover ''

'' and ''

shōnen-ai ''Yaoi'' (; ja, やおい ), also known by the ''wasei-eigo'' construction and its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typically created b ...

'. *

harem Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...

: A subgenre of anime and manga characterized by an ordinary guy surrounded by a group of women with some being potential love interests. An ordinary girl surrounded by guys is a reverse harem. * : A subgenre of manga and anime in which characters are transported or reincarnated into an alternate world, often with a

high fantasy High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot.Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Press, Pl ...

setting. * : a sub-genre of slice of life, portraying characters living out peaceful lives in calming environments, which is intended to have a healing effect on the audience. * : Portmanteau for "

lolita complex In Japanese popular culture, is a genre of fictional media in which young (or young-looking) girl characters appear in romantic or sexual contexts. The term, a portmanteau of the English phrase " Lolita complex", also refers to desire and ...

". A genre of manga and anime in which childlike female characters are depicted in an erotic manner. *

mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the mean ...

: anime and manga that feature robots (

) in battle. Series that feature mecha are divided into two subgenres: "super robots", where the mecha have unrealistic powers and the focus is more on the fighting and robots themselves, and "real robots", where the mecha have more realistic powers and there is more drama and focus on the mecha's pilots. * : Manga or anime that focus on romances between women. * : A term denoting male homosexual content in women's media, although this usage is obsolete in Japan. English-speakers frequently use it for material without explicit sex, in anime, manga and related fan fiction. In Japan, it denotes

ephebophilia Ephebophilia is the primary sexual interest in mid-to-late adolescents, generally ages 15 to 19. The term was originally used in the late 19th to mid-20th century. It is one of a number of sexual preferences across age groups subsumed under the t ...

. * : A genre of manga and anime wherein childlike male characters are depicted in an erotic manner. * : Anime or manga with a focus on homosexual male relationships and/or male-on-male sexual content; usually created by women for women. * : Anime or manga with a focus on lesbian relationships. In Japan, the term denotes a broad spectrum of attraction between women. It is also used for sexually explicit content outside Japan, and is more explicit than shojo-ai.

Other terms

anime music video An anime music video (AMV) is a fan-made music video consisting of clips from one or more Japanese animated shows or movies set to an audio track, often songs or promotional trailer audio. The term is generally specific to Japanese anime, howeve ...

(AMV): Video clips from at least one anime series arranged to fit a musical piece playing in the background. * CV: Character Voice, see Seiyu. * dub: When the voices in an anime are translated into another language. * : A scene or illustration used to begin and end a commercial break in a Japanese TV program, similar to commercial bumpers in the United States. * : An eroge, a portmanteau of , is a Japanese video or computer game that features erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork. ''Eroge'' originated from ''galge'' that added adult content rated 18+. * : Elements specifically included to sexually amuse (such as scantily-clad or naked males or females, or ''ecchi'' content) or titillate the audience, which may or may not be necessary to plot development. * : This is a type of Japanese video game centered around interactions with attractive anime-style girls. These games are a subgenre of dating sims targeted towards a male audience. * : A term adopted by more serious Japanese cartoonists, who did not want their work to be associated with manga. It is akin to English speakers who prefer the term "

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

", as opposed to "

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

". * : A term used by

derivative work In copyright law, a derivative work is an expressive creation that includes major copyrightable elements of an original, previously created first work (the underlying work). The derivative work becomes a second, separate work independent in fo ...

s to credit the original creator of a series. It is also used to refer to the writer of a manga, as opposed to its illustrator. * guro: A type of anime, manga or game which includes violence, torture and sometimes death of the character. The purpose of the violence is to increase pleasure of the audience, reader or player who likes that kind of genre. Sometimes it's also synonymous with the ''hentai'' phrase, ''

ero guro is an artistic genre that puts its focus on eroticism, sexual corruption, and decadence.Silverberg, Miriam Rom. "By Way of a Preface: Defining ''Erotic Grotesque Nonsense''". Galley copy of the preface for ''Erotic Grotesque Nonsense: The Mass C ...

''. * : The action of a character transforming into a superhero form. Mostly used by the Kamen Riders in the ''

Kamen Rider Series The , also known as ''Masked Rider Series'' (until Decade), is a Japanese superhero media franchise consisting of tokusatsu television programs, films, manga, and anime, created by manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. ''Kamen Rider'' media genera ...

'', this term ended being used for anything related to metamorphosis in manga, anime and

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, War film, war, fantasy, or Horror film, horror media featuring such te ...

, since ''Kamen Rider'' ended being mainly a tokusatsu series, despite its roots being the works of the manga artist

Shotaro Ishinomori was a Japanese manga artist who became an influential figure in manga, anime, and , creating several immensely popular long-running series such as ''Cyborg 009,'' the ''Super Sentai'' series (later adapted into the ''Power Rangers'' series), an ...

. * : A term used outside of Japan to describe erotic or pornographic manga and anime. In Japan, terms such as "ero manga" and "ero anime" are used to describe the genre. * : A manga or text story with male homosexual themes written for women in an style, named so because of the ''Juné'' magazine. * : When a person slaps or leans against the wall and the other person has nowhere to go. This has become popular as a "clever move of confession" * : Derived from the hentai anthology series , the term is used to refer to material with explicit sexual content. * : Manga artist. A creator of manga; this can refer to both the writer and illustrator of the work. * : A manga scene, usually one single image, spread to cover two opposing pages. * : A rough draft of a proposed manga. Also known as a manga

storyboard A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, i ...

. * : An add-on bonus to anime and manga, like a regular "extra" on western DVDs; or a bonus strip at the end of a manga chapter or volume. *

original net animation An original net animation (ONA), known in Japan as , is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animati ...

(ONA): An anime production intended to be distributed through the internet via streaming or direct download, as opposed to on TV or cinemas. * : A video game that is targeted towards a female market, where one of the main goals, besides the plot goal, is to develop a romantic relationship between the player character (a female) and one of several male characters. *

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

(OVA): A type of anime which is intended to be distributed on VHS tapes or DVDs and not shown in movies or on television. It is also less frequently referred to as original animated video (OAV). DVDs are sometimes known as Original Animated DVD (OAD). * raw: Anime episode or manga scans in its original language without editing or subtitles. * , portmanteau: ; : a Japanese term for a sexual complex. This fetish revolves around a victim, almost exclusively a female, being physically assaulted or psychologically abused by an offender. It differs from sadism in that it is a voyeuristic fantasy fetish with focus towards fictional characters from video games, anime, manga, television and movies that include battering, abusing or otherwise killing women. In case the victim is male it is often labeled as gyaku-ryona (逆リョナ). *

scanlation Scanlation (also scanslation) is the fan-made scanning, translation, and editing of comics from a language into another language. Scanlation is done as an amateur work performed by groups and is nearly always done without express permission from t ...

(also scanslation): The scanning,

translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

and

editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

from one language into another. * : A Japanese voice actor. As well as voicing characters in anime, ''seiyū'' do voicing for video games, radio shows, drama CDs, and other media. * : Refers to the full-page illustration that marks the beginning of most manga chapters. Designed to capture the reader's attention, they sometimes spread to cover two opposing pages, and typically contain the series' title and the chapter's title. The equivalent in American comics is the

splash page Splash page may refer to: * Splash page (comics), a comic book page that is mostly or entirely taken up by a single image or panel * A splash screen on a website or software See also * Splash (disambiguation) * Page (disambiguation) Page most ...

. * : Refers to manga drawn in a four-panel

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

format. * : Refers to the area of exposed thigh when a girl is wearing a short skirt and thigh-high socks. The ideal skirt:thigh:sock-above-knee ratio is often reported to be 4:1:2.5. ''Zettai ryōiki'' are often referred to by letter grades, where grade A is the ideal.

References

Citations

General sources

* *

External links

Anime Terminology Lexicon
at Animeph.com – a large list of English and Japanese terms *

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...

'
Lexicon

pixiv Encyclopedia - The Dictionary of Doujin/Manga/Illustration/Derivative Works
at

pixiv is a Japanese online community for artists. It was first launched as a beta test on September 10, 2007, by Takahiro Kamitani and Takanori Katagiri. Pixiv Inc. is headquartered in Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. As of April 2020, the site con ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glossary Of Anime And Manga Japanese vocabulary

Anime and manga Anime and manga are forms of mass media produced by the content industry of Japan. The anime and manga industry forms an integral part of Japan's soft power as one of its most prominent cultural exports. Anime is a Japanese cartoon with a sp ...

Wikipedia glossaries using unordered lists