I've noticed a good number of questions through out forums and blogs on what certain terms mean. And I know I don't always know everything either. So, I thought it may be nice to have a glossary for the Union to reference. Please feel free to offer additional info or other terms in comments :) .Here's a small list
Anime (ann-ee-may) Japanese for "animation".
Bishoujo (bee-sho-jo) The Japanese equivalent of "pretty girl". Bishoujo are female characters that are usually quite cute. The cast of Miyuki-chan in Wonderland are good examples of bishoujo.
Bishounen (bee-sho-nen) The Japanese equivalent of "pretty boy". Bishonen are male characters with soft or sometimes very feminine features. The male cast from Fushigi Yuugi are good examples of bishonen.
Doujinshi (doe-jeen-shee) Manga created by fans or amateur artists.
Ecchi (ehtch-ee) A slang term for erotic or sexually suggestive anime; not as heavy duty as "hentai". Also, means "pervert" in Japanese.
Fan Service In general, fan service refers to scenes designed to excite or titillate the viewer. This can include scantily-clad outfits, cleavage shots, panty shots, nude scenes (shower scenes especially), etc. Some broader definitions also include things like cool mecha, big explosions, battle scenes, etc. Basically, if it has little plot-redeaming value, but makes the viewer sit up and take notice, it's probably fan service in one form or another.
Fansub Fansubs are anime that are translated and subtitled by fans. This is usually done for anime that have not been commercially licensed outside of Japan, and is a way for fans to view anime that they normally wouldn't get a chance to see. While fansubs are technically illegal, they are usually tolerated by companies as long as the titles have not been commercially licensed and are distributed on a non-profit basis.
Harem Subgenre of anime and manga characterized by a protagonist surrounded by three or more members of the opposite sex. The most common scenario is a male surrounded by a group of females; when this is reversed it is informally referred to as a reverse harem. More recent variants include removing the protagonist's opposing sex to allow for yuri harems and yaoi harems
Hentai (hen-tai) Hentai means "pervert" or "perversion" in Japanese. It is usually associated with erotic or sexually-explicit anime.
Josei Refers to the target demographic of manga created mostly by women for late teenage and adult female audiences with more realistic and mature storytelling.
Kawaii (kah-wah-ee) Japanese for "cute".
Manga (mahn-gah) The Japanese term for comic book. In Japan, manga are targeted at all age groups and cover a wide range of genres. This is in contrast to Western comics which are typically based around superhero themes.
Mecha (meck-ah) Typically means giant robots, but can also refer to any mechanical or robotic devices used in anime.
OAV OAV stands for "Original Animated Video". Another term also used is OVA, which means "Original Video Animation". This is basically the same as a direct-to-video release, bypassing theatrical or television markets.
Otaku (o-tah-ku) In Japan, otaku is a fairly derogatory term used to describe an obsessed fan of something (not necessarily anime). In North America, however, the term is often a badge of honor for hard-core anime fans. Sometimes also used to refer to anime fans in general.
Seinen A subset of manga that is generally targeted at an adult male audience typically aged 18-30. In Japanese, the word Seinen means "young men" and is not suggestive of sexual matters but emphasis is on storyline and character development instead of action.
Seiyuu (say-yu) The Japanese term for "voice actor". Typically used by Western fans when referring to Japanese voice actors.
Shoujo (sho-jo) Japanese for "girl". Anime referred to as being "shoujo" are targeted at females. Examples of shoujo anime include Fushigi Yuugi, Sailor Moon, and Vampire Princess Miyu.
Shoujo-ai Anime or manga that focus on the spiritual or the emotional aspects of the relationship between female characters.
Shounen (sho-nen) Japanese for "boy". Anime referred to as "shounen anime" are targeted at males. Examples of shounen anime include the Dirty Pair, Dragonball Z, and Street Fighter II.
Shounen-ai Refers to anime or manga that deals with love between young men, especially of the bishonen variety dealing with romantic but generally non-sexual relationships between young men.
Yaoi (ya-o-ee) Also known as Boys' Love, is a popular Japanese term for female-oriented fictional media that focus on homoerotic or homoromantic male relationships usually sexually explicit.
Yuri (yu-ri) Stories in anime or manga which focus on explicit female homosexuality.
Actually, yaoi and yuri generally refer to pretty explicit content, although not necessarily erotic yaoi and yuri anime/manga are generally explicit enough that they would merit a mature audiences only. So they would generally merit at least an FSK-12, FSK-16.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING! I HOPE YOU ALL LOVE THIS POST!
I hope that you guys could correct me someway if I'm wrong in any of these definitions.. I accepts comments *dont worry, I wont bite* hehehehe X)))
-SHANEE-
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