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- Aa -- "say," "well," "oh," "er," "ah."
Ai shiteru -- "To know love" or a deep love, life-mate, etc.
Anata --"You" (familiar), often used in songs.
Anime -- Short for Japanese Animation. Anime is more of a medium than a genre. It is well-respected in Japan and is often based on manga. In the US it is a $60 million industry! It has intricate character development, epic storylines, and cinematic themes.
Anou -- "Say," "well," "er."
- Ashita -- "Tomorrow"
- Baka -- "Idiot" or "fool", as in "Duo no baka"
- Biseinen -- "Beautiful man" or a person who is an adult. I think of it as 19 or older.
- Bishoujo -- "Beautiful girl" I think of it as 18 or younger.
- Bishounen -- "Beautiful boy" I think of it as 18 or younger.
- Ch' -- A vulgar expletive.
- -chan -- "Usagi-chan" used for chibis, kids, or among schools girls. Guys do not use it. (there are, as always, a few exceptions, but I'm not too confident of my ability to explain them.)
- Chibi -- "Little" or one of the 'kawaii' forms of anime. The characters are drawn child-like, and they become less real looking (see also: Super Deformed).
- Chigau -- To differ from, as in "That's not it."
- Choho -- "Reckless," or "foolhardy."
- Con -- Short for Convention. Anime fans gather together to buy anime stuff, watch
movies, dress up, and trade with each other.
- Daijoubu -- "Safe," "alright," "OK," as in "Daijoubu desu ka? Ah. Daijoubu." ("Are you alright? Yes, I'm fine.") or "Daijoubu ka, minna-san?" ("Are you alright, everybody?")
- Dare da -- "Who"
- Demo -- "But"
- Doujinshi a.k.a. dj -- Manga drawn by amateurs of established manga. Some famous manga artists started out as dj artists.
- Dub -- An anime with the dialouge translated into another language.
- Ecchi -- "Pervert!" or "perverted." It's usually said by a girl if a guy walks in while she's changing, or something similar.
- Fansub/Fandub -- Fan made copies of anime, where fans are doing the voices, or translating the text. Fansubs are easier to do than fandubs, and therefore are done more often.
- Fanfic -- Short for fanfiction, or stories done about the characters of a particular series by amateur writers.
- Gomen -- "Your pardon," or "I'm sorry."
- Hai -- "Yes"
- Hentai -- "Abnormal" or "pervert." It is stronger than ecchi, and also refers to the x-rated genre. (CAN'T BE USED IN DFAC UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE!)
- Hidoi -- "Cruel" or "Terrible"
- Hiragana -- One of the Japanese alphabets. Uses phonetic syllabary like Katakana, and is taught first, before Kanji. Seen above uncommon Kanji as a pronunciation guide. (see also: kanji, katakana, romanji)
- Iie -- "No"
- Irasshaimase -- "Welcome"
- Itai -- "Painful", but used as slang "Ouch!"
- Itsumo -- "Always"
- Jaa -- Slang term for good-bye. "Jaa ne!"
- Kanji -- The main Japanese alphabet. Each character stands for a word or part of one. (see also: hiragana, katakana, romanji)
- Kanryou -- "complete" as in "Ninma Kanryou" ("Mission Complete")
- Katakana -- One of the Japanese alphabets. Uses the phonetic syllabary like Hiragana, and is taught first, before Kanji. (see also: hiragana, kanji, romanji)
- Kawaii -- "Cute", as in "That girl is so kawaii!"
- Kisama -- "You" (vulgar)
- Kitsune -- "Fox"
- Kitto -- "Surely"
- Kodomo -- "Children," or children's anime. They are simple fantasies, but can be more violent than their Western counterparts. Hello Kitty is a good example.
- Koi -- The shortened version of koibito. It's also a type of fish. ^_^
- Koibito -- "lover" or "sweetheart."
- Koneko -- "Kitten"
- -kun -- Used by boys, in school, etc., as in "Duo-kun."
- Kuso/K'so -- Expletive (vulgar)
- Manga -- Japanese comic books, read by billions. Often are black and white, and are realeased monthly. The main genres are: shoujo, shounen, hentai, seinen, and kodomo.
- Manga-ka -- One who draws manga. Quite a few have gotten their start drawing doujinshi.
- Masaka -- "Never"
- Mecha -- 1. A giant mechanical robot, usually piloted, and human in shape. 2. Can also refer to, in a general sense, to any cool piece of machinery. 3. In the most general sense, it can refer to the genre of anime that features giant robots. Gundam Wing or Neon Genesis Evangelion are good examples of this genre.
- Nanda -- "what is it"
- Nani -- "what"
- Ne -- An add-on term that demands agreement, as in jaa ne? or gomen ne?
- Neko -- "Cat"
- Ninma -- "Mission"
- No -- Possessive Particle, as in Suzaku no Miko (Suzaku's Priestess)
- O -- "At," "is,", "on."
- OAV/OVA -- "Original Animated Video/Original Video Animation." Refers to anime that was released directly to video.
- Ohayo -- "Good Morning"
- Omae -- "You" as in "Omae o Korosu" ("I'm going to kill you.")
- Onna -- "Woman" (I'm not sure if this is a derogatory term or if Wufei just makes it into one.)
- Otaku -- This is a slang term for hard-core anime fans. The Japanese see an otaku in about the same way as we see a fanboy. (someone with an obsessive hobby to the point of neglecting hygeine, etc.) In the US, though, otaku is not a negative thing.
- Pocky -- A snack food. It's a pretzel or something dipped in chocolate, strawberry or other flavors of fudge. (I personally recommend chocolate mousse.=P~~)
- Raw -- Viewing an anime without dubbing or subbing, but in the original Japanese.
- Romanji -- Japanese words spelled phonetically in Roman letters (English). There are three different official spellings (eg: Goku, Gokou, or Gokuu for the lead character in Dragonball Z) but they are all pronounce the same. Seen mostly outside of Japan.
- Ryoukai --"accepted" or "acknowledged" as in "Ninma ryoukai" (Mission Accepted)
- -san -- Honorific, denotes respect. Often used for people older than -kun or -chan.
- -sama -- Ultra-honorific, oozes respect.
- Seiyuu -- A Japanese voice actor/actress. Considered equally talented as their live-action counterparts, and most have talents such as singing. Most fans have favorites, and like to identify their voices from show to show.
Seinen -- Manga directed at 19-25 year-olds. More mature and graphic than shounen manga. It can also mean the adult (hentai) genre.
- Senshi -- "Soldier"
- Shimatta -- "Damn"
- Shoujo -- Manga directed at young females. Mostly about drama and romance, and are enjoyed by both males and females.
- Shounen -- Manga directed at young males. Mostly about action and adventure stories, and is also enjoyed by both males and females.
- Shounen-ai -- "Boy's love" The lighter genre of yaoi. Shounen-ai is more plot driven, and sex doesn't usually take place within the story.
- Sub -- Subtitled anime title. Translated captions are shown at the bottom of the screen, while the characters talk in Japanese.
- Sugoi -- "Amazing" or "wonderful"
- Suki da -- "I care about you," or "love you."
- Sumimasen -- "I'm sorry", or "Excuse me"
- Super Deformed a.k.a. SD -- The characters have been shrunk and deformed, so that even the most disgusting creature is adorable. (Fushigi Yuugi does this a lot, as well as the characters in Magic Knight Rayearth)
- Uso -- "Impossible," "It can't be," "never," "I can't believe it."
- Yamete -- "stop" more polite.
- Yamero -- "stop" rougher, not so polite.
- Yaoi -- The term used to describe male/male fanfiction. The term comes from: "YAma nashi, Ochi nashi, Imi nashi," or "No climax, no point, no meaning." It's called this because typically the stories center around sex, and the plot isn't developed as much, though this isn't always true. It is not always homosexual either, it carries the idea that love trancends gender.
- Yuri -- The term used to describe female/female fanfiction.
- Zutto -- "forever"
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