The BCDB's List of Japanese Animation Terms

The Big Cartoon DataBase's List of Japanese Animation Terms

The Creators of this list (in alphabetical order):

Artytoons (Moderator)- Lead Animator

KrisAHQ (Administrator)- Zinc Saucier

Commander_Yammark (Moderator)- The Anime Freak

TammiToon (Moderator)- Cartoon Afficianado

This a list of common terms found in Japanese Animation, or Anime. It was created as an aid to those new to anime and to avoid incorrect use of terms or confusion in the Anime community of the BCDB.

Anime: In the U.S. and other countries outside of Japan, this refers specifically to Japanese animation in general, including TV shows, movies, and videos. In Japan, anime refers to anything animated, regardless of origin. This word has replaced the term 'Japanimation' in the mainstream.

Japanimation: A word that was used to define Japanese animation in general. Now outdated, it was used more frequently in the 1970s and 80s in America. It survived into the mid-90s but was eventually replaced by the term 'anime' (see above).

Shoujo: A genre generally acknowledged as catering to female audiences; with character-driven storytelling, romance, and emphasis on relationships.

Shonen: A genre generally acknowledged as catering to male audiences. Adventure, sports (especially martial arts), action, and mecha make up the bulk of the genre.

Hentai: A Japanese term that translates literally to 'pervert'. Adult content or intimate scenes that can be more graphic or violent; many times straightforward sex scenes.

Ecchi: The Japanese letter 'H'. A pseudo-synonym of the term 'hentai', but more often used to describe more softcore shows than true hentai.

Lemon: A term mainly used in the fan-fiction community that describes an original story, sometimes based on existing anime or manga, that includes sexual content .

Yuri/Shoujo-Ai: Depicting a deep relationship between two women. Unlike 'Yaoi' (see below), Yuri literally means 'lily' (as in the flower) and is usually, but not all the time, non-sexual.

Yaoi/Shonen-Ai: Almost identical to the term 'Yuri', with the exception that Yaoi applies to males. Yaoi is used to desrcibe an explicit sexual relationship between two men, where-as Shonen-Ai is not as graphic and usually doesn't include overt sexual situations.

Seiyuu/Seiyu: The Japanese term for a voice-over actor/actress for radio, television and video games. Known mostly from anime and commercials, they are considerably more famous than voice-over actors traditionally are in America.

Here is a short list of some prominent Japanese seiyuu:

Megumi Hayashibara: Lina Inverse (The Slayers), Musashi (Pocket Monsters/Pokemon), Nam (Bubblegum Crisis), Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop:The Movie), and Haruka Urashima (Love Hina).

Kotono Mitsuishi: Sailor Moon (Sailor Moon), Maki Matsumoto (Cardcaptor Sakura), Yuri Konno (Detective Conan/Case Closed), Misato Katsuragi (Neon Genesis Evangelion).

Kappei Yamaguchi: InuYasha (InuYasha), Ranma Saotome (Ranma 1/2), Shesta (Escaflowne).

END OF SEIYUU LIST

Mecha: A genre that is mainly Science-Fiction oriented, in which commanders/pilots control war robots that are often human-shaped. The original definition of mecha has the broader denotation of all things mechanical including cars, guns, computers and other objects without pilots or limbs. Examples of this genre include: the Gundam franchise, The Vision of Escaflowne, Blue Gender, Full Metal Panic, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Macross (part of which, in the US, was absorbed into and re-titled as Robotech; in addition to Macross various parts of Genesis Climber Mospeada and Southern Cross were also edited together).

Manga: Japanese comic books or strips. Some examples include Dragonball (created by Akira Toriyama), Yu-Gi-Oh (created by Kazuki Takahashi), Sailor Moon (created by Naoko Takanuchi), Cardcaptor Sakura (from the CLAMP studio), and Inu Yasha/Maison Ikkoku/Ranma 1/2 (just some of the manga created by Rumiko Takahashi).

"Summer Festival": A commonly used anime story device. An annual Japanese celebration that features characters dressing in kimonos and attending a carnival-like festival where they play games for prizes, purchase food, and watch entertainment.

OVA or OAV: Original Video Animation. Series or 'specials' animated for release directly via home video, not for TV. Similar to Direct-to-Video releases in the U.S.

Magical Girl: Common anime theme featuring young females that battle evil by obtaining special powers (and new frilly costumes) with a wave of a magic wand or utterance of a magic incantation. There are many examples of this genre, including Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Magic Knight Rayearth, Pretty Sammy, and Mahotsukai Sally/Sally The Witch (created in 1966, usually considered to be the first magical girl series).

Bishonen: A male character that appears as highly androgynous, usually with long hair and "delicate" manners. Slangily referred to as "pretty boy".

Otaku: Extreme fans ('Otaku' is a very negative term in Japan) of any pop culture phenomenon; including anime, video games, technology, toys, etc.

Cosplay: A pastime taken up by otaku and other anime fans that involves donning hand-made costumes of their favorite anime and manga characters at conventions and parties.

Newtype: A major monthly anime magazine in Japan (and within the past 5-6 yrs., the U.S. as well). Taken from a term used in the anime series Gundam.

Note To Everyone:
This is by no means meant to be an all-inclusive list. It is meant as an aid to those new to anime. If there is a term or terms missing that you deem important enough to be added, please send a Private Message to any of the Creators listed above (but only to those names listed). We will discuss the proposed entry and possibly add it to the list.

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“There’s nothing on it worthwhile, and we’re not going to watch it in this household, and I don’t want it in your intellectual diet.”-Philo Farnsworth

Cool list but other Asian places like Korea, China and some european places like the French also use ANIME as the label not only Japan.

Your point is????

First, I believe the above definition fits with your "addition"

Did you have a problem with that?

JapanCon The regular Japan WorldCon by whatever name will probably use these or related terms. I remember earlier popular US release films that I've seen that these terms might fit.
On a more recent note it might be fun to use the information in a forum speech at my Japan/English Toastmasters event- I'll talk to the main admin person for that and ask-.