Do we sometimes see people commenting on anime, genres, terms, and get lost? This Glossary divided into categories is intended to explain in detail the genres, and things that otaku say that you don't understand.
Table of Contents
General
Manga: is the word used to designate the comics made in the Japanese style. In Japan, the term designates any comic book.
Anime: is any animation produced in Japan. In Japan this word refers to any type of animation.
Light novel: These are published Romance Books, with some illustrated pages and diverse original stories.
Visual NovelThey are text games, accompanied by scenes, often resembling novels. Relationship games.
Eroge: Hentai Games, Erotic, often visual novels.
Doujinshi: is a Japanese term for independent publications, usually magazines, manga, or novels.
OtakuIt is a term used in Japan to designate a fan of a particular subject. In the West, the word is used as slang to label fans of anime and manga in general, in a clear shift in meaning from the language of origin of the term.
Otome: It serves to generalize the term Otaku for women, thus forming a feminine word. However, this is only used in the West. Otome means Girl, Pure, Princess.
about sleeves
Manga artist: It's the Japanese word for a comic book artist. Outside of Japan, mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese.
Tankohon: Tankohon or tankobon is a Japanese term used by the manga industry to identify chapter brochures that may be part of a series. Let's say that every month a chapter is released, and when a number of chapters are completed, they join these chapters into a complete manga, called tankohon.
Half-tank: It's half of a tankohon. Let's say a tankohon has 10 chapters, a half-tanko is 5 chapters.
Speed bump: It's the side of a manga.
OneshotIt is a term used for mangas that contain only one chapter and do not belong to a series, whether it is short and posted all at once or long and posted in parts.
about anime
Arch: It's an anime saga.
Season: Do I really need to say what it means?
Filler: is used to refer to episodes (even entire arcs) that do not exist in the original manga, novel, or game series. They are usually produced to prevent the TV series from catching up with the current publications of the series – which is slow, avoiding interruptions. This allows the franchise to still be commercially exploited, maintaining its popularity – even if not always positively.
OVA: is an animation format consisting of one or more anime episodes released directly to the video market (DVD and Blu-ray), without prior airing on television or in theaters in Japan. OVAs serve as add-ons or parallels to the original story, typically run the same or slightly longer than the standard length of an anime episode (25 minutes), but never reach the length of a feature film.
OAD: It's an extra episode just like an OVA. however it usually comes with a special edition of the manga.
Seiyuu: They are the original voice actors of an anime.
Live Action: It's the movies, usually American or Japanese, made by real actors, flesh and bone and often based on anime.
anime genres
Child: Children's anime genre. Ex: Pokemon, Beyblade, Dinosaur King.
Shoujo: Romantic anime genre, dedicated to girls. Ex: Kaichou wa maid-sama, Kimi ni todoke, Toradora.
Shounen: Anime genre, usually fighting, dedicated to boys. Ex: One Piece, Bleach, Naruto.
Josei: An anime genre dedicated to women over 20 years old, and may contain violence or sex. Ex: Gokusen, Nodame Cantabile.
Seinen: An anime genre dedicated to men over 20 years old, and may contain violence or sex. Ex: Death note, Gantz.
Mecha: An anime genre in which one of the main characters are robots or stay inside the robot and fight, or control it with a remote control, or something like that. Ex: Evangelion, Full Metal Panic!
Mahou Shoujo: An anime genre with the same sense as shoujo, but with a kind of young female character with magical powers. Ex: Sailor Moon , Cardcaptor Sakura, Powerpuff Girls Generation Z.
Harem: An anime genre that features a male or female character, who lives surrounded by various characters of the opposite sex. Ex: Sora No Otoshimono, Love Hina, Rosario + Vampire.
Shounen-ai: It's almost yaoi, but it tells other stories, and it's much lighter.
Shoujo-ai: It's almost yuri, but it tells a lot of other stories, and it's much lighter.
Terms
Kawaii: It is a Japanese adjective that means cute, cuddly, pretty, and little pretty among others, and it is widely used in anime and manga and by fans of these genres.
Bishoujo: It is a Japanese term used to refer to young and beautiful girls, usually under college age.
Chibi: It is a Japanese term used in the context of anime or manga to describe a very stylized character design trait, with heads the same size as the bodies, usually for a comedic or more sentimental effect. A striking feature of chibi is that the nose is almost always not drawn, the mouth line is not always finalized and the lines in general are very simplified.
Light Novel: They are romance books with illustrations in anime/manga style, usually targeting teenagers and young adults. They are also called ranobe or rainobe.
Moe: It is a term used by otakus to designate something cute or adorable.
Bonus: It is a term for the extra chapters or comic strips in the manga, and are the extras on DVDs and games that are included with a product purchase. In the West, it only refers to the extras that are included with the purchase of anime or manga. Sometimes it's an extra chapter in an anime.
Tsundere: It is a Japanese term for a personality that is initially aggressive, and then changes to a more amiable one. Tsundere it's a combination of two words, tsuntsun e deredere. Tsuntsun is the onomatopoeia for "cold, abrupt," and deredere means "to become kind/loving."
Yandere: It is a Japanese term for a personality that is initially friendly and later turns violent.
Honors and Treatments
In Japanese, we use many honorific titles. Below are some honorifics that Otakus know from watching anime and reading manga:
-san"Mr.", "Miss", "Mrs.". Respectful titles when there is no intimacy with the person.
-senpaiFrom Japanese ''veteran''. When used together with a name, it indicates the acceptance of a hierarchy.
-sama"Your excellency," an extreme respectful form of address used to highlight a hierarchical difference.
-kun: suitable for boys, a respectful treatment equivalent to “-san” It can indicate a hierarchy when a man in a commanding position uses it addressing a subordinate woman.
Onii-tan: it’s a cute way to say older brother/sister in Japanese
Big brotherIt is a fond way to call an older brother or sister in Japanese.
Older brotherIt is the most respectful way to address an older brother or sister in.
fan words
Some terms were created to designate things related to anime fans. See below:
Fudanshi: It is the name given to fans of Yaoi or Lemmon.
Cosplay: Character-to-character representation. It's when an otaku dresses up in clothes similar to anime or vocaloid characters.
Fujoshi: It is the name given to fans of Yaoi or Lemmon. The word literally means Spoiled Girl.
Scanlation: It is the scanning, translation, editing and distribution of comics from Japan into the distributor's language (in our case, Portuguese).
Music
J-POP: It's Japanese pop. Ex: Yui
J-ROCK: It's Japanese rock. It is very popular. Ex: UVERworld.
K-POP: It's Korean pop music style. Ex: 2NE1.
K-ROCK: It's the Korean rock music style.
erotic genres
Ecchi: An anime genre that presents sensuality as the main theme, but does not show sex at any time. (This is ironic because in Japanese ecchi means sex.)
Hentai: An anime genre that features explicit pornography. (More ironic still, because Hentai is a common word meaning pervert.)
Lolicon: anime genres that They depict underage girls (aged 6 to 14) in sexual situations or nudity.
Yuri: An anime genre that features romantic relationships between women.
Yaoi: An anime genre that features homosexual content. It is only called Yaoi in the West. In Japan it is called BL (Boy's love).
