Anime Slang

[Aya-kun]

I'm trying to create a compilation of slang or words that anime fans use.

**remember, Anime slang consists of four basic slangs: Japanese words (many of which have been grossly changed from their original meaning), videogames, computer slang, and fanfiction. This is because a number of anime fans also like videogames and spend a lot of time online reading, chatting, and going on forums**

Here's what I've got so far:

Anime- Japanese Animation
Manga- Japanese comics
Doujinshi- Japanese fan comics
fanart- fan art of certain anime characters or objects
fanfiction- stories which are based off of an anime/manga and feature anime characters or their world (also known as fanfic)
Fansubs- when anime is subbed by fans and distributed via tapes or online
bootlegs- dvd/vhs versions of fansubs, sometimes with duel languages
scanlations- when manga is translated into English with the words directly on the images. It is distributed online via bittorrent, http downloads, or mIRC
translations- when manga is translated from one language to another
shoujo- anime/manga aimed at girls
shounen- anime/manga aimed at guys
hentai- anime pornography
shounen ai- light, physical relationship between males
shoujo ai- same as shounen-ai only with girls
yaoi- similar to shounen ai, but "heavier"
yuri- similar to shoujo ai, but "heavier"
bishounen- an attractive anime guy (also known as "bishie/bishy")
bishoujo- an attractive anime girl
fanservice- when the creators of an anime put in specific things (breast shots, bishounen) to appease the anime fans.
eye candy- things which appease anime fans. usually art (adj)
mecha- a robot which is used in battle, kind of like the gundams in gundam wing
mech anime- anime focused on mechas and/or mecha battles
sugoi- cool, awesome
baka- idiot, moron, fool
kawaii- cute
Watashi- I
anata- you
~san- attaced to a person's name. Translates into mr., mrs.
~chan- attached to a person's name. Used for little kids or friends
~sama- attached to a person's name. Translates into "lord" or "master", but also is used for a certain bishounen or Voice actor that a fan really likes
nani- what?
hai- yes
fandom- the world of fans and what comes out of it (fanfiction, fanart, etc)
otaku- someone who is obsessed with [anime]
con- convention, giant party where anime fans get together and buy anime
seiyuu- Japanese voice actor
sub- Japanese language, usually is referred to "subs" because you need to put subs on to understand what is going on. (subbed- adj)
dub- english or other language that is used instead of Japanese. It is also available for people who don't want to have to read subtitles (dubbed- adj)
dubbie- someone who likes dubs
subbie- someone who likes subs
to cosplay- dressing up as your favorite anime character, v (cosplayed, cosplaying)
a glomp- an immense hug, usually knocking recipient to the ground
(to glomp, v - glomped, glomping)
eeto, anou- umm, uhh
Ja ne- seeya later (or just "ja")
ne- right?
j-pop- Japanese pop
j-rock- Japanese rock
K-pop- Korean pop
C-pop- Chinese pop
gaijin- foreigner
onna- woman
wakatta- I understand, I know, understood
shimatta- I've done it! Oh, no!
mou- geez
Gambatte (yo!) or Ganbatte (yo!)- good luck!, go for it!
che- geez
slash fic- a fic which contains homosexual relationships, some of which would not be normal
canon- an "official" pairing (i.e. Kenshin and Kaoru)
Lemon- a very sexual fanfiction
Lime- a sexual fanfiction, not as bad as a lemon though
fluff- cuteness in a fic, such as "snuggling" or "hugging". Used when referring to occurences in homosexual fics sometimes
Demo- but
hammer space- empty space in which a character pulls an item from: such as a gun or whatever he needs at the moment (also used in reference to videogames)
nihon- the name of Japan
katana- a Japanese style sword
ken- sword
urusai- You're annoying, shut up!
tenshi- angel
OAV- original animated video (also called "OVA": original video animation). Similar to an anime series, but shorter. Sometimes runs in addition to anime to explain things that the anime couldn't or didn't get time for. (I.E Wolf's Rain OAV, Rurouni Kenshin Trust and Betrayal, and Reflections)
rip- to copy music from a CD onto your computer
burn- to create a CD from mp3 on your computer
copy- to copy directly from CD to CD
skin- referring to the background image on your winamp. With some versions of winamp you can create a background image instead of using the normal winamp image. This is known as "skins"
skinning- creating a skin for winamp,
AIMing- to talk to someone through Aol instant messaging
IMing- same thing, only with any instant messanging system
tomodachi- friend
sou ka- I see
wakarimashita- I understand, I know
foruming- to go on forums and post
threads- a forum topic
avatar- image you use as a user icon
ASL- age, sex, and location. Used often in chatrooms
PM- private messaging. Used as a private way to communicate between members of a forum.
emoticons- smiley faces people use to convey thoughts or feelings
leet- Also, and often, known as l337. It is a "language" used online. It's similar to pig-latin in regards of its purpose and use.
*smiles*- used to convey actions or thoughts on a topic. Similar to smiley faces.
(i.e. *cries for help* *sings at the top of his lungs* *grins* *laughs*)
pocky- a kind of Japanese cookie (very popular with anime fans)
onigiri- japanese rice balls
neko- cat
inu- dog
youkai- a kind of "ghoul". Often translated into "demon", though not all of them are evil.
hanyou- a half- youkai
gomen- sorry
arigato/arigatou- thanks
doomo/doumo- very much (thanks)
doozo/douzo- go ahead. help yourself
ryoukai- kind of like "roger". The "R" is barely noticeable
hiragana- Japanese phonetic alphabet, used for normal Japanese words (shortened name: hira)
katakana- Japanese phonetic alphabet, used for foreign words, emphasis, and names (shortenend name: kata)
kana- compilation of hiragana and katakana
kanji- "advanced" Japanese writing. Symbols used to signify words. Often found in names, adjectives, verbs, etcetera

Feel free to add more ^^

 

[Quinadal]

bishounen- an attractive anime guy (also known as "bishie/bishy")

um, not exactly
bishonen means beatiful boy. Duo, Yuki from Furuba and Kurama are bishonen
biseinen means beautiful MAN. Hotohori, Ayame from Furuba, and Tsusuki rom YnM are biseinen

katakana- a Japanese style sword

katakana is a style of japanese writing. KATANA is the sword.

 

[Aya-kun]

um, not exactly
bishonen means beatiful boy. Duo, Yuki from Furuba and Kurama are bishonen
biseinen means beautiful MAN. Hotohori, Ayame from Furuba, and Tsusuki rom YnM are biseinen


katakana is a style of japanese writing. KATANA is the sword.

Katakana? Did I write katakana? Well, i meant katana -_-

bishounen DOES mean beautiful boy, but anime fans refer to all attractive guys as bishounen. This includes Ayame from FB and Tsuzuki from Ynm. I'm not trying to be realistic to how the Japanese would say it, but the fans. I've never, ever seen a fan use "biseinen", though I do know its meaning myself. (Bishounen- up to fifteen. Biseinen- past fifteen)

Look above at the information I've detailed in **. I said that a lot of the Japanese integrated into anime slang is grossly altered, and bishounen is no exception.

 

[Quinadal]

Katakana? Did I write katakana? Well, i meant katana -_-

I figured it was a typo.

 

[Qyöt27]

AMV - Anime Music Video; term generally applies to videos made by non-Japanese editors, and consist of scenes from anime set to popular music (popular in the technical sense; not 'Pop Music' or the contents of the Billboard charts and MTV)

MAD - Japanese Anime Music Video; term coined by the phrase 'tape of madness'; MADs come in two forms: Seishiga, which are done with still pictures (often clean images from H-games or other dating sims) and animated using motion graphics engines, and Douga, which is the equivalent of an AMV. MAD is almost always used to describe Japanese videos, and the term has the same meaning to Japanese videomakers, but is usually further distinguished by using Seishiga or Douga in front of the term.

H-game - Hentai-game. Refers to a dating sim computer game which contains adult material. Sometimes mild games (such as Kanon) are included in this category, despite having very little sexual content, isolated to only one or two instances.

ecchi - heavy fanservice, but not hentai. also used as a description of behavior, somewhat below the level of perverted.

rip can be expanded to also include DVDs, and so can burn and copy.

 

[Quinadal]

H-game - Hentai-game. Refers to a dating sim computer game which contains adult material. Sometimes mild games (such as Kanon) are included in this category, despite having very little sexual content, isolated to only one or two instances.

There are also shonen ai games like Graduation M. It's a dating game set at an all male boarding school.

And lest we forget Chibi's and SD's!

 

[Aya-kun]

role-playing- acting as a character (also known as rpging). Happens frequently on chats, aim, forums, and on online journals
fanclub- a club dedicated to a specific character
fandub- basically it's similar to a fansub, except the translators insert their own voices instead of using subtitles. It can sometimes be used for humor. It does not go well with most fans.
voice over- basically a voice actor who works as the dub voice for an anime.

 

[Quinadal]

fandub- basically it's similar to a fansub, except the translators insert their own voices instead of using subtitles. It can sometimes be used for humor. It does not go well with most fans.

Neon Genesis SouthPark, for example. (I actually own it). Fandubs are ALWAYS done for humor, though. I've never met anybody that didn't like them, even at the Cons.

 

[JoyfulSongs]

Chibi and Kawaii

*edit* chibi was just mentioned, sorry...

 

[taboo]

Seiyuu- Japanese Voice actor
Arc/Saga- Used to describe a certain time period in the series focused on a specific event, person(s), or place(s). Ex: DBZ Cell Saga- has to do with all episodes and chapters about the character Cell.
Flashback- a memory of a character

 

[somedude]

katana- a Japanese style sword
ken- sword
leet- Also, and often, known as l337. It is a "language" used online. It's similar to pig-latin in regards of its purpose and use.

Let's clear up some stuff...

A Katana is not just any Japanese sword. If you are strict(as the word is thrown around quite loosely these days) it must be longer than 2 shaku(about 60cm) and must be worn blade-up with a belt sash.

A ken is a special knife/shortsword used by buddhists in their rituals.

Leet is a system of writing that is usually used to poke fun at immature people and is often made into generalisations(as humour, although sometimes offensively) such as 12 year AOLer.

 

[Nienor]

I had a question that kind of fits here- In Rurouni Kenshin, Kenshin says 'oro' a lot. Does that have a specific definition?

 

[Aya-kun]

I had a question that kind of fits here- In Rurouni Kenshin, Kenshin says 'oro' a lot. Does that have a specific definition?

It kind of means "huh?". It's not a real Japanese word though. It's kind of a joke/rip off of "ara", a word girls use for "huh". I guess it kind of adds to Kenshin's girliness XD

 

[Nienor]

It kind of means "huh?". It's not a real Japanese word though. It's kind of a joke/rip off of "ara", a word girls use for "huh". I guess it kind of adds to Kenshin's girliness XD

thanks

 

[bobbichan]

con- convention, giant party where anime fans get together and buy anime

Not exactly. I've been to about 15 conventions in the past three years and I've never bought any anime there. It's not always a giant party either. Here's a better description of an anime convention:

con- anime convention. An event ranging from very small to very large that focuses on anime, gaming, and other forms of japanese pop culture. Events that are usually found at anime conventions are: panels (open forums/discussions on various related topics), video rooms (where anime and live action are shown), a dealer's room (where attendees can buy merchandise), artist's alley (where artists sell their artwork), a dance or "rave" (dance to j-pop and techo music), hall cosplay (casually wearing a costume at the convention) and a masqurade (a costume and performance competition). Sometimes conventions are also showcases for the anime industry. Conventions can be found throughout Japan, the United States, Canada, Europe and the rest of the world.

 

[Aya-kun]

Not exactly. I've been to about 15 conventions in the past three years and I've never bought any anime there. It's not always a giant party either. Here's a better description of an anime convention:

You've never bought anime at a con!? The one I went to sells tons of anime.

 

[bobbichan]

You've never bought anime at a con!? The one I went to sells tons of anime.

Ever been to Otakon? More anime vhs and dvd than you know what to do with. =P

Nope. on the exceptoin of a few Rayearth tapes that I haven't watched, but they were only $2 each. *shrug* The reason being is that it's too overpriced. I usually only watch a series once. There's only a few series that I do anticipate buying, but they aren't out on DVD yet (Digi Charat first season and Digi Charat Nyo, not panyo panyo). Even then, I wouldn't buy them at a con. I'd go to best buy and get them cheaper. =P

I have bought figurines, jewelry, wigs for cosplay, plushies, snacks and other things in dealer's rooms though. I just don't see the point in spending $1,000 on 3 series that I will only watch once and collect dust on my shelf.

 

[Qyöt27]

Not exactly. I've been to about 15 conventions in the past three years and I've never bought any anime there. It's not always a giant party either.

Listening to the stories the AMV editors bring back would make you think it is.

(well, actually, they make it seem like a real-life Animal House)

 

[Fly]

iie-no
kun-same as san(which also means 3) but used for young boys

 

[FireRock]

Wow, thanks for this thread! I had a lot of questions referring the slang used a lot in anime talk, but always felt kinda dumb asking since I watch it so much.