Saturday, February 9, 2008

Anime's Glossaries

Anime
Anime have similar meaning with animation. Usually comes in the form of animated TV series’ or movie, video games, and comic books. Anime also can be used to describe other still art drawn in the same style. The style of animation or Anime are developed and commonly used in Japan since the 1950s. Anime can be read as “Annie-May”.

Baka
Can be interpreted fool or idiot. Commonly used in fanfics or just as an expression, that’s why “baka” can be considered as common insult in Japan.

BGM
Stands for "background music." This refers to the background music (usually instrumental) of an anime TV series, video game, or movie. They're usually fairly common and popular tracks among many anime soundtrack CDs.


Bish-
A prefix denoting beauty. A "bishoujo" is a young and beautiful girl and a "bishonen" is an attractive and often effeminate boy.

Cel
A single drawing on transparent plastic used in the production of animation. Cels or celshading are (usually) hand painted on a piece of transparent acetate and overlaid on a background picture to produce one frame of animation. Most modern animation is produced with digitally painted artwork, rather than hand-painted physical cels, although these images are still sometimes called cels, as in digital cels.

Chibi (CB)
Japanese for "small," "little," or "young." A "chibi" style drawing of an anime character usually depicts them as being baby-like, with smaller, chubbier bodies, larger eyes and head, and shorter arms and legs. CB is an acronym for Child Body, and is a prefix indicating a chibi style. Chibi characters are usually made to be extremely cute and endearing, and it's not uncommon for even villainous characters to be drawn as such.
CG (Computer Graphics)
Usually this refers to 3D animation (or backgrounds rendered from 3D models) done with computers, which is common in newer anime productions. It can also be used to describe art drawn on a computer, including traditional-looking animation, but that is a less common use.

Cosplay
The word is an Americanization of a Japanization of Costume Play; that phrase was adopted by the Japanese and shortened into Cosu-purei, which has been readopted into English as Cosplay. Cosplay is the act of dressing up as an anime character. Many fans tend to do this at Anime Expo (big anime conventions) or in a sort of amateur theater in which fans in costume reenact scenes from anime.

Doujinshi
Japanese for "fanzine." Doujinshi refers to manga produced by fans of anime and manga (drawn in manga style). These fan-made stories can use already existing anime and manga characters, or original ones. Doujinshi also can be catogories as mature version of manga but despite Doujinshi being technically illegal these are generally tolerated in Japan.

Dub
In the context of Anime, it almost always means a Japanese show dubbed with voices in English or another language (also, at times, songs as well). In the anime world, a "dub" is the English language version of an anime. Dubs are generally more popular than subtitled anime (though it depends on the series). Some fans only like dubbed versions, others (purists) hate them with a passion, and a small third group will accept either.

Eyecatch
Eyecatches are quick animation sequence shown in the middle of each episode of a Japanese TV series. Two halves of the eyecatch usually frame the mid-episode commercial break. The eyecatch is different with each anime, but it usually includes the anime's logo as well. Some newer OAVs also include these, though there would have been no commercial, because fans seem to like them.

Fansub
An anime episode or movie with subtitles made by fans themselves, and not by official companies. Technically, this is illegal, but fansubs help promote the anime market. Fansub usually distributed to anime market mostly via the Internet (digisubs). They are very popular among anime fans because many fansubs are made for episodes or movies of animes that haven't yet been officially released and dubbed/subtitled by American companies. Most of Fansub maker, create the subtitling of anime episode or movie, because their passion about anime, not to make a profit.

Fandub
A variant of the fansub, except rather than adding subtitles, the Japanese dialogue is edited out and replaced with a fan-made English dialogue. They are extremely rare.

Fanfic
Sort terms of fanfiction. Fanfics are usually created by fans who want to extend existing stories about their favorite characters past the official storyline of books or movies, without the approval of the creator/owner of the characters. Anime- or manga-based fanfics are popular, though fanfiction exists about many other types of characters, including some non-fictional ones. Usually written in installments and published on the Internet, the content ranges from continuations of the official story to improbable situations to erotica, and the quality of writing from crude to very skilled. But note that fanfic refers to an individual story, while fanfiction is used similarly to the plural to describe the type of material as a whole.

Fanservice
Usually used to mean, basically, otherwise unnecessary stuff thrown into a story to titillate adolescent male fans. It mostly includes shower/bath scenes or flashes of underwear that usually have little to do with the story but seem to be generally appreciated by fans. On a more positive note, fan service could also refer to anything shown in an anime that is unrelated to the story but is pleasing to the fans, such as cute animals, flashy outfits, cool looking robots, etc.

Filler Episode
Refers to an episode of an anime series that does not occur in the series of original manga. The purpose of filler episodes is to give the manga time to catch up with the anime or to make the anime last longer than the manga. Since the stories of filler episodes are not made by the series' original creator, they usually involve events in which nothing to do with the actual main story line. Instead, these episodes usually focus more on character develpoment, or they could just be randomly funny or cute episodes in an otherwise serious or action-packed anime series.

Graphic Novel
A manga book. They're usually around 150 - 200 pages long. Most manga is originally sold in a series of short, weekly issues. About 5 of these issues make up a graphic novel and divided by each chapter of the graphic novel.

Hentai
Consist from two Japanese characters “hen” and “tai”. “Hen” means “strange” and “tai” means “behavior”. So Hentai can be describing as “strange behavior”, but Hentai often attributable to porn. Short form from Hentai sometimes can be said as “Ecchi”.

Ecchi
Picking from the first character “H” from hentai which are read by Japanese as ecchi. The word ecchi are more euphemistically from hentai. The word H/ecchi has since developed into a slightly different meaning in Japan; it most frequently refers to anime with an amount of sometimes humorous indecency, usually involving gratituous nudity and sexual situations. However, it's milder than hentai.

Ending Theme
Refers to the song sung at the end of every episode of an anime series while the end credits role, along with a sequence of animation that usually flows with the words of the song. The ending theme is almost always followed by a preview of the anime's next episode, and is usually more calm, slow, and gentle than the opening theme. Almost every anime has an ending theme that usually changes every 20 episodes or if the anime's plot changes significantly.

Hiragana
Japanese characters/letters used for words of Japanese origin only or words without a based Chinese kanji reading. Japanese grammar particles and certain Japanese names are also written in hiragana.

Kanji
Japanese characters/letters based directly on Chinese writing. Each kanji usually has a specific meaning and several readings.

Katakana
Japanese characters/letters used to write words of a foreign origin. Fantasy-based words, sound effects, and some characters' names are written in katakana.

Japanamation
Also can be referred Japanimation. An old, now rarely used Americanization of Japanese Animation. Now sometimes used derisively by anime fans to refer to crudely produced anime; things that resemble shows like Speed Racer, which were popular when the term was in use.

Kawaii
The Japanese word for cute, since it is often used in anime (exclaiming "Kawaii!"), is frequently used as an interjection, particularly in writing. Kawaii also can be used to descibe characters that are, well, cute.

Manga
Japanese for "comics." In American fandom, it's used to refer to Japanese comics. Most of animes have a manga series that they're based on. Other than that manga occasionally are used (even by the Japanese) to refer to animation. It is also the name of the anime company Manga Video, which is frequently shortened to just Manga in discussions.
mangaka
An artist that drawn a comic book. This term, occasionally used by English-speaking fans, is taken directly from the Japanese word and has the same meaning.

Keyframe
Keyframes, a detailed animation cel are usually drawn by lead animators, who have more skill and are higher in the hierarchy than the rest of the artists in an animation studio. Keyframes usually come at the beginning and end of a particular animation sequence, to provide an artistically consistent, well-drawn starting and ending point for the sequence. Still shots such as a close-up of the main character's face are almost always keyframes. Meanwhile the space between keyframes is filled by with frames that drawn by other artists (lower paid) producing a smooth transition from one position to another.

Mecha
Among English-speaking anime fans, it is usually used a little more specifically to refer to the big robots in anime (Robotech and the like), but it can also be used to mean mechanical stuff in general (including cars, spaceships, and giant robots as well). Comes from the Japanese word for mechanical, "meka," which in turn came from the English word mechanical. It usually shows up in the credits of anime as Mecha Design, being the folks who design the look of the mechanical stuff in that anime.

OAV or OVA
Stands for Original Animation Video or Original Video Animation. OAV’s are usually a series of anime episodes made exclusively for home video release and not for TV or cinema. Series are usually 4 to 8 parts, each one 30 to 45 minutes long. OAV's usually have longer and better episodes (since they don't have to worry about TV censorship), and better animation. An OAV could be based on an already existing anime TV series or it could be a totally original story. Often released in the US on volumes which is containing two or more OAV’s.

Opening Theme
Also called an "opening song". Refers to the song sung at the start of every episode of an anime series while the beginning credits role, much like the "theme songs" of many American TV shows. However, the songs of anime opening themes are usally much more deep and symbolic, and they're made to flow specifically with the animation being shown. Almost every anime has an opening theme that usually changes every 20 episodes or if the anime's plot changes significantly. The opening theme is usually more fast-paced, exciting, and enticing than the ending theme.

OST
Stands for Original Soundtrack. An OST is a music CD including all of the major background music and songs from a given anime series.

Otaku
A derogatory Japanese word used to refer to anyone who's totally obsessed with any one thing. In American anime fandom however, it's less derogatory and is used to refer to someone who's obsessed with anime and manga.

Lemon
A Japanese expression that has made it's way into the vocabulary of English-speaking fans; it is used to refer to mature content or erotic situations, though it tends to be used to describe fairly mild material. Somewhat similar to ecchi, although lemon usually has milder connotations.
Scanlation
Like a fansub, except for manga instead of anime. A scanlation of a manga is when the original Japanese writing is edited out and replaced with a fan's translation.

SD
The SD art style is quite commonly used in comic interludes; it is the cute/silly art style with very large heads and tiny bodies. Often used along with anime or manga series as a kind of self-parody (for example, a few short comic strips at the end of a comic book).

Seiyuu
American anime fans use it to refer to the Japanese people who do the voices for anime characters (voice actor/actress).
Side Story
A story set in the same world as an already existing anime/manga but focusing on different subjects, such as minor characters, new characters, or subtle plots that aren't really talked about in the actual series.

Ronin
Noun: The Japanese term for a samurai without a master.
People who did too poorly on the Japanese college entrance exams to get into a decent school and are studying in cram school so they might succeed next year are also called Ronin.
A lone samurai without master that wandered around looking for work as hired swordsman. The Well-known Ronin which is often shown up in the anime and movie are probably Yojimbo.

Shoujo
Stand for “Girl” in Japanese. Beside that, Shoujo also can be categories to an anime/manga genre. Usually, Shoujo anime/mangas have target audience of young girls and involve a lot of emotional female characters and effeminate, attractive male characters. They're drawn in a pretty, flowery, romantic style and the plots are mainly focused on character relationships and interpersonal conflicts. Fushigi Yugi, Revolutionary Girl Utena and Sailor Moon are some of Shoujo anime’s.

Mahou Shoujo
This terms is generally used to refer to the genre of stories, geared toward younger (preteen) female viewers, involving a normal schoolgirl who is given magical powers (inevitably involving transformation of some sort) and usually expected to save the world. But not all people agree with this definition. Some definitions focus more on the magical superhero-style powers, while others assume that being thrown into an alternate world as a savior is more important. The classic example of this “Mohou Shoujo” is Sailor Moon.

Shounen
Japanese for "boy" but it's also an anime/manga genre. Shounen animes/mangas usually have a target audience of young boys and involve mostly fiery male characters; whose usually have super powers of some kind, and evil, villainous characters which most of them eventually become good guys. They're drawn in a sharp, hard-core style and are mainly focused on fast-paced but often complex plot lines, with a lot of battling and action. Examples of shounen animes/mangas include Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, Shaman King, and Naruto.

Shoujo
A style of anime artwork and story created for girls. Characterized by plots that focus on emotion and relationships, and art that tends toward the florid, with lanky characters and rather effeminate (but always attractive) men. Popular among teenage girls in Japan. Shuojo-style work nearly unknown in other countries, but it does occasionally gain recognition outside Japan. The Shoujo anime which most recognized are Revolutionary Girl Utena and X. The most common uses are shoujo manga, literally meaning girls' comics, and shoujo anime meaning girls' animation.

Shounen - Ai
Have the same meaning with “Yaoi”, an anime/manga story in which the plot is centered on a romance relationship between two male characters, usually at least one of them being very effeminate. There is a good amount of yaoi in many actual anime/manga series', but yaoi is mostly seen in the world of anime fan art and fanfics, in which the fans (usually girls) take the male characters of a particular anime/manga series and put them in gay relationships. Yaoi relationships are also refered to as "shonen-ai," meaning "boy's love."

Shoujo – Ai
Also can be interpreted “Yuri” and have the same meaning with “Yaoi”. But in this case the romance relationships are between two female characters. “Shoujo-ai” having meaning “girl’s love”.

Tankoubon
Japanese word for a volume or graphic novel of a manga series.



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