Just What Is An "Otaku" Anyway? A Guide To Useful Japanese Terms Found In Anime.

• ADR(Automated Dialogue Recording) - The process of making an English language soundtrack which, as much as possible, fits to mouth movements on screen.
• Anime - The word used in Japan for animation. Now used in the Western word to distinguish Japanese animation from all other forms.
• Arigato - Thank you
• Bakka - Japanese word used for "idiot" or "stupid"
• BGM - Back Ground Music from an Anime soundtrack.
• Bishojo - Beautiful young girl
• Bishonen - Beautiful young boy
• Bosozoku - A term found mainly in 80's anime. Used for motorcycle gangs("speed tribes")
• -Chan - Suffix meaning darling or little one. Usually used by romantic partners or female friends. Often applied to animals or children. EX: Yui-chan of Fushigi Yuugi fame
• Chibi - The Japanese word for small. Often used as a prefix for name sin Anime. EX: Chibiusa in Sailor Moon
• City Gothic - An Anime genre set in a cyber punk future with elements of traditional Gothic Horror EX: AD Police
• Dare - who (pronounced "dar-a")
• Demo - but(as in "I would go to the store, but I have to watch anime!")
• Dojinshi - Japanese for Fan Zine. Many dojinshi are hentai
• Doko ni - Where?
• Doshite - Why?
• Etchi - Milder than hentai. Often used to describe anime which deal with sex and nudity, which do not contain any pornographic material, but are still "perverted" EX: Ranma 1/2
• Esper - Popular in the 70's and early 80's. Another word for psychic. EX: KOR
• Fansubs - Subtitled anime created by fans for fans.
• Furigana - Another word for Hiragana
• Gachapon Toy - Cheap, attractive toys found in vending machines.
• Gaijin - Means "strange person." Normally used for foreigners.
• Gaikokujin - Means "person from another country"
• Garage Kit - Model Kits
• Gekiga - Japanese word for graphic novel
• Giri - A feudal concept of duty or obligation. Most often found in Samurai Anime. EX: Dagger of Kamui and, to an extent, Yotoden
• Hai - the most common word for "yes" you'll come across in anime
• Hakama - Floor length wide pants worn by men and mikos.
• Hara-kiri - Like seppuku it is ritual disembowelment. However, seppuku is honorable while hara-kiri implies disapproval.
• Hentai - Like Etchi it means perverted. However, hentai is often used in the anime world(at least Western) to describe either pornographic anime or anime with sex scenes. EX: Magical Twilight
• Hiragana - One of three Japanese scripts consisting of 46 basic syllables and variations on them. Any Japanese word which is written in Kanji can be written in hiragana. It is the first script taught to children.
• Idol - Japanese term for a popular, rather cardboard starlet in any field. They usually have short lived, hectic, intense careers.
• Iie - the most common form of "no" you'll come across in anime
• Jampai - Pain in the but(Alright, so I've only come across this in one anime ever.....but it's cool anyways, right? =)
• Kabuki - All male theatrical tradition in which female impersonators play women's roles.
• Kaiju - Japanese word for monster.
• Kami - Often translated as "God" it tends to mean "soul" or "spirit." Look at the context in which it's used. Also used to imply great respect. EX: Osamu Tezuka wa manga no kami desu =)
• Kanji - The Chinese characters which make up the bulk of the Japanese language.

• Katakana - Devised to write foreign words such as names. Also used to write mechanical and biological terms. EX: The word "Gundam" is written in katakana
• Kawaii - Japanese for cute. Often applied to super deformed(SD) characters. Anime fanatics often use it to describe anything and everything. EX: Kawaii inu ga imasu =)
• Kohai - An underclassmen.
• -Kun - Suffix most often used between friends. EX: Tamahome-kun, who beats up the great "kami" Tasuki in Fushigi Yuugi
• Magical Girl - The genre of anime which deals with a band of heroines with "magic" powers. EX: Sailor Moon; Wedding Peach; Magic Knight Rayearth
• Manga - Japanese for comic
• Mecha - comes from the English word "mechanical." Though it means any kind of mechanism, it is often used to describe the genre of anime dominated by giant robots. EX: Gundam
• Miko - Technically a Shinto priestess. In anime it's any sort of priestess. EX: Suzaku no Miko(Priestess of Suzaku)
• Mobile Suit(Armor) - A humanoid fighting machine that requires one or more human operators to function EX: Neon Genesis Evangelion
• Ninja - A mercenary spy or assassin feudal Japan. They were thought to have special powers and are often portrayed that way in anime. Some Anime With Ninjas: Ninja Scroll; Yotoden
• No Daa - Cute, meaningless thingy said by Chichiri in Fushigi Yuugi(and other people in old anime whose names I can't remember =P
• OAV/OVA - Original Animation Video or Original Video Animation. Stories made specially for release on video rather than TV or in theaters. Almost all popular anime shows have OAV's. Some shows(Mahou Tsukai Tai, for example) are released as OAV's only.
• OST - Original Sound Track
• Otaku - Japanese word meaning obsessive fan of anything.Somewhat derogatory meaning that you put your interest above all else. Westerners tend to use it without the derogatory connotations. Rather, an otaku is someone who is a dedicated fan of anime and/or manga.
• R.A.A. - Formerly the abbreviation for rec.arts.anime. It is now broken down into nine categories due to increase in popularity.
• Redisu - Ladies Manga. Often grouped with shojo by westerners.
• RPG - Role Playing Game
• -Sama - More respectful than -san. Often used in anime when adressing royalty. EX: Hotohori-sama, yet another of Fushigi Yuugi fame (It's my favorite anime, in case you haven't guessed =)
• -San - Respectful suffix added to names. EX: While brainwashed Tamahome orders his true love, Miaka, to refer to him as "Tamahome-san"
• Samurai - Japan's warrior caste.
• Seiyu - Japanese term for voice actor or actress
• Sempai - The best translation is "upperclassmen." Is used either by it's self of as a suffix used with the last name. EX: Hino-sempai, as in Rei Hino of Sailor Moon fame
• Sensei - A Japanese term of respect often used to mean "master" or "teacher." Can be used alone or as a suffix. EX: Haruka-sensei, Usagi's teacher(from Sailor Moon, duh ;-)
• Sentai - Japanese for team. Often used in Super-hero anime. EX: The Sailor Scouts or Angels of Love are both sentais.
• Seppuku - Ritual suicide involving disembowelment. Is considered honorable while hara-kiri is a suicide which is disapproved of in some way.
• Shinto - Major Japanese religion. Literally it means "the way of the gods." Shinto contains over 8 million kami. Many anime(such as Lum Urusei Yatsura and Tenchi Muyo) are based on Shinto myths.
• Shogun - High Japanese army official. Often has control of the entire army(or most of it) EX: Nakago in Fushigi Yuugi
• Shojo - Girl's Manga. Tends to focus on relationships, especially romantic ones. EX: Rose of Versailles
• Shonen - Japanese for boy. Shonen manga are often more action oriented. EX: Akira
• Shonen Ai - "Boys Love" stories. These homo erotic stories are made for the female audience. Usually they don't involve any graphic sex.
• Super Deformed(SD) - Characters drawn way out of proportion. EX: CLAMP uses an SD style. Pick up any CLAMP comic(even the tragic "X") and you will find SD characters.
• Ultra Kawaii - More than just cute(or super deformed) this is something that is exceptionally cute!
• Yaoi - Intense, emotional stories which often feature doomed relationships between and men and men.....more adult than shonen ai EX: Kizuna, Zetsuai/Bronze
• Yakuza - The literal translation is something along the lines of "worthless, good for nothing, etc...." and is applied to gangsters and members of organized crime. The Yakuza are Japanese Mafia men. EX: Hojo(and everyone else who isn't a politician or cop) in Sanctuary
• Yoma - Term used for demons or entities of evil intent. EX: Curse of the Undead Yoma

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