Shinigami's Anime Glossary

All entries are arranged alphabetically. Click your browser's back button to return to the page you were on.

Need help with pronunciation of Japanese words? - check out Shinigami's pronunciation guide

Notes: ´ indicates where the stress of the word is placed (when known and/or applicable); since I did not have access the a macron (the line over vowels that make them "long", I have chosen to write the long 'o' sound as 'ou'; sorry for the inconvenience. See the pronuncitaion guide for other tips on speaking.

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ai/ai shiteru (á-ee / á-ee shee ter' u) n: love / I love you; this is one of the many ways to say "I love you" in Japanese. The term ai denotes a very passionate love, often physical in nature. Although it is very common among fanfic authors to use this term, in anime it's not used that much. Other forms are more common such as "koi shiteru" or, even more frequent, "suki desu."

angst n: anxiety, heartbreak, agony; usually used when describing what characters may go through in fanfics
anime (á-nih-may) n: in general, animation that is created in Japan; also refers to the overall Japanese animation industry and related companies (equivalent to the older and less-used term, japanimation)

art book n: a book of pictures from an anime or manga series; some are "official", from the series creators, others are done by doujinshi artists; very expensive to buy in the States; often sold for ridiculous prices on ebay; fans eat them up.

baka (bah´ kah) n: idiot; stupid person (usually one of the first words you pick up from anime); adj - no baka: stupid or idiotic, e.g., "Duo could not believe that Heero set his own broken leg. "Heero no baka," muttered Duo."

biseinen (bih sahee nayn) n: literally, beautiful young adult; in anime refers to a very pretty or handsome young man, usually over the age of 17-18 but no older than mid-twenties; e.g., 15-year-old Duo is a bishounen, but 19-year-old Zechs is a biseinen.

bishoujo (bih sho jo) n: literally, pretty girl; usually refers to an animated female character with a pretty face and other attractive body parts adj - bishoujo series: anime starring one or more bishojos (Sailor Moon is a classic bishojo anime)

bishounen (bih shoe nen) n: literally, pretty boy; usually refers to an animated male character whose features may be somewhat feminine or androgynous, usually includes large eyes, long eyelashes, and may includes long hair or hair that sweeps over the eyes; n, derogatory(Japanese): in Japan, bishounen is sometimes used in a derogatory fashion to refer to boys or young men who are overly-feminine in looks or behavior.
bubbles n (pl.): that's right, I am talking about the regular old soap kind, but with an anime twist; when bubbles (usually pastel in color) appear in back of, beside, and over characters in a scene, it means that someone is experiencing one of the following emotions: love, ecstasy, infatuation, romantic fantasy; because these really only appear in shoujo anime, I refer to them as "shojo bubbles"

Cancer n: One of two water-based mobile suits seen in Shin Kidousenki Gundamwing; they have the ability to fight underwater and are used somewhat like nuclear submarines, but for one person.

chara (care ah) n: short for character (as in "anime character")
chibi (chee bee) n: literally kid in Japanese; also derogatory term for "short person"; in anime chibi refers to a particular style of drawing characters that makes them look very young and somewhat chubby; one of the many ways of characters being kawaii

con (kon) n: convention; usually referring to a meeting of anime fans where videos are screened, merchandise is bought, character dress and role play is common, and much, much more. Some of the largest cons are A-kon (in the U.S.) and Otakon (Japan)
crossover n: a meeting of two or more anime or manga universes, with characters interacting based on their personalities in their own series; usually refers to fanfics

daijobu (da-ee jo bu) adj: multi-purpose Japanese word meaning: safe, fine, alright; interjection: I'm fine; interrogative - "Daijobu?" or "Daijobu desu ka?": Are you alright? e.g., "Quatre: Heero! You just tried to self-destruct (again). Daijobu desu ka? Heero: Daijobu."
doujinshi (due jin shee) n: broadly, refers to a class of manga, books, and artwork that are produced by people or groups other than the series creators; in Japan, there are hundreds of doujinshi circles which specialize in certain series, or even certain characters; mainstream anime series have been known to come out of doujinshi work, in which a doujinshi artist is discovered and give the opportunity to create an actual series to be produced. Almost all published yaoi work for anime is found in doujinshis.

facevault n: facial expression of shock/surprise seen in characters; involves the entire jaw dropping open several inches, in a manner that is completely impossible anatomically
falling over v: just what it says; done by characters to express shock, surprise (pleasant or unpleasant), dismay, elation, severe embarrassment
fan n: a person who is enthusiastic about anime and/or manga (and who spends much time and not a little money on collecting and viewing the same); fans can be otaku, but the two are not equivalent.
fanart n: artwork created by fans of an anime or manga series; usually centers around images of a character (or characters interacting); created with blood, sweat, and tears, and put on the web with much trepidation for other fans to admire.
fandom (fan´dum) n: the larger community of anime and manga, that includes fans from all over the world and the communities (often virtual) that they inhabit
fanfic (fan´fick) n: (also known as a fic) a story involving characters and (sometimes) situations from anime or manga series; these may follow closely to the original series information or be in a completely alternate universe; other fics may include characters placed in other anime series (known as a crossover fic) or in common stories such as fairly tales;
fansite n: website devoted to one or more anime/manga series; may include or more of the following: descriptions of plot and characters, character images, information about the seiyuus, fanfiction, and links to other sites about the series; sometimes they include silly glossary's of anime terms ^_^
fansub (fan´subb) n: videotape of an anime series, made by fans of the series and subtitled by them; most fans distribute or buy these when the series they want to see has not yet been released through a company in their own country; they are lifeblood to fans and only happen because of the dedication and hard work of the fans involved (yeah subbers! yeah distributors!)
gaijin (gah ee jin) n: foreigner; someone who is not from Japan
ganbarou (gan bah roo) interj: do your best!
ganbatte (gan baht teh) interj: good luck! (but also more equivalent to 'doing your best' - see ganbarou above)
glomp v: to come up to another person and throw yourself onto him/her in a massive bear hug, often putting your cheeks together and hanging on long enough to make the other person irritated (in fanfiction, Duo is always glomping Heero)
gomen (go´meyn)adj (?): I'm sorry, excuse me; it can be made more fervent by adding nasai (na sa´ee) at the end; see also sumimasen
gundam (gunn´dahm)n: (1) a type of mobile suit which is made of the metal alloy gundanium; usually the term applies to both singular and plural references to the suits, hence: "Duo loves his gundam," and "Tsubarov saw the five pilots landing and cursed. He hated the gundam."; (2) can also be used to refer to the entire group of different anime series in the universe created by Gundam 0079 in 1979; generally, when searching for videos, models, and other merchandise, items under "Gundam
gundanium (gunn dahn´ee oom)n: an ultra-strong metal alloy that is used in the manufacture of mobile suits in the various Gundam series
Gundam Wing n: (1) a series in the Gundam universe that employs an alternate timeline to the ones in the majority of Gundam series and that involves the story of five teenaged terrorists sent to Earth by Space Colonies to force the terrestrial government to acknowledge the Colonies' independence; (2) the particular gundam designed for and piloted by Heero Yuy, pilot 01 (this machine is also referred to as "Wing Gundam")

hammerspace )n: a mythical place from which female anime characters pull large mallets (and sometimes other weapons) when they become angry (the better to smash the male character, who is no doubt responsible for engendering the wrath of the female...)
honto ni (hone´ toe nee)adv: really; usually heard in anime as a question e.g., Duo: "Man, I'm starved!" Quatre: "Honto ni? You just ate two hamburgers!"
IC (eye see)n: abbr. in character; the state where a character is written, drawn, role-played in a manner that is consistent with his/her behavior in a series; some fans are purists when it comes to characters and avoid any kind of fanart or fiction where characters are not IC.
idol singer n: in Japan, a young singer who sings popular songs and ballads and is good looking enough for youthful fans to worship and drool over; there are many shojo anime series where the plot centers around the lead bishojo becoming an idol singer (e.g., Creamy Mami, Creamy Lemon, Pretty Sammy)
incantation n: the words that causes a magical girl to transform from "an ordinary elementary/junior high/high (pick one) school student" into the magical girl she is destined to be; incantations are given to the magical girl by the person who informs her of he new abilities; strangely enough, incantations are often in English.
itai adj: literally painful; used as an interjection that is roughly equivalent to "ouch!"; in GWing fandom, Duo's standard response to Heero grabbing his braid.
ja ne (jah ney)interjection: (also "ja") see ya; casual way of saying goodbye, used most among young people; used widely on anime mailing lists to sign off of e-mail messages.
kawaii (kah wah eee) adj: cute; although in Japan kawaii is much more than an mere adjective - it's a lifestyle maintained by thousands and thousands of Japanese girls and young women, and admired by the culture as well.* Usually refers to objects and characters that are small, round, and very child-like. Chibis are the ultimate kawaii characters, although the furry and adorable sidekicks that seem to accompany all magical girls come in a close second...) [Note: for a fascinating look at kawaii culture from a gaijin's viewpoint, check out the article on kawaii from Wired magazine.

kisama (kih sah mah) pronoun: you (impolite form); often used as English speakers would use, "bastard"
koi/koibito (ko-ee; ko-ee bee toh) noun: boyfriend or girlfriend; koi is a shortened form used a lot by certain fanfic authors

koi shiteru (ko-ee shee ter' u) phrase: I love you; the use of koi denotes an affectionate, rather than passionate, bond is being denoted. Constrated with ai shiteru. See also suki desu.

kudasai (kuh dah sah ee)adv: please (used as a sentence ending when the speaker is asking another person to do something) e.g., Duo: "Oi, Wufie! Pass the fish rolls, kudasai!"

kumi (kuh mee) n, pl.: group; team; also, the group of students who are in the same classroom in school; antiquated, 1) a group of samurai who fight for one lord; thread, 2) braid

kuso (k' soh) interjection: literally shit; often the first word of Japanese an anime fan learns, given it's widespread use among amine characters. ^_^

lemon adj

story scenes that involve graphic descriptions of sex; lemon differs from lime in its highly detailed and graphic descriptions of genitalia and sensitive body parts as well as specific sexual acts
Leo (lay´oh)n: in Gundam Wing, a type of mobile suit used in combat by the Federation and OZ. This is a land-based suit that looks somewhat like a gundam, but is vastly inferior to them in fighting ability, strength, and armored ability. If you are an Oz soldier in a Leo when the gundam boys show up, you're pretty much a dead man.
leopard tail/ears n: parts that appear on anime characters, usually when they are slightly SD, to signify that the character is feeling mischievous or sexually frisky

lime adj: story scenes that involve strong inferences about sexual behavior; lime differs from lemon in its avoidance of graphic descriptions of genitalia and sensitive body parts and specific sexual acts
magical girl n: an ordinary female elementary/junior high/high (pick one) school student who is usually reluctantly recruited by either alien beings or a supernatural agent to fight evil and help restore peace, justice, and /or happiness to the world; magical girl anime is a large genre within anime as a whole and has its own conventions and formulas; the magical girl is almost always hesitant or resistant to the idea of being a magical girl, has a special outfit she transforms into when her magic is needed, and has some sort of wand/scepter/baton that appears when she transforms; she usually has a kawaii furry sidekick that helps her know when to transform; she is almost always a popular girl who is average-to-mediocre in her schoolwork and who loves fun (don't know why these supernatural agents keep choosing fun-loving airheads who don't want to do the job...)
magical girl pose n: the body position a magical girl assumes at the end of her incantation; all magical girls have poses. Some got theirs with the wand/scepter/baton and some had well-meaning friends make them up (see the series Card Captor Sakura for the best example.) Magical girl poses walk a delicate line between making the girl appear powerful and making her appear kawaii or sexy. For the latter, many magical girls are given poses that require their knees to end up together and feet apart ("knock-kneed" style) - apparently Japanese males find this position highly appealing (go figure)
manga (mahn gah)n: Japanese comic books; manga come in various genres from simple children's stories to romantic shojo dramas or comedies to shounen war epics and sexually explicit stories
mecha/mech (meck´ ah, meck)n: broadly, refers to anything having to do with technology or machinery; specifically refers to any machine used by a character to fight (usually in war); mecha anime is a huge genre and is considered to be a form of shonen anime

miko n: literally a Shinto priestess who acts as an assistant to a priest within a particular god's shrine; in anime (especially on the Web) refers to a girl or woman who is passionately devoted to a particular character (and who usually creates a web page, or shrine, devoted entirely to that character); characters that have miko's are usually male and very good looking; used with no to indicate which god or character the miko serves e.g., I am Zechs no miko, and I have a shrine dedicated to Zechs Merquise; others may be Quatre no miko (Quatre's miko) or Duo no miko (Duo's miko) On the Web, there is an actual miko registry that records the first person to claim the shrine for a particular character. In accordance with the anime Fushigi Yuugi, from which the term is used, a miko gathers a her god's seishi.
mina/mina-san (mee nah, mee nah sahn) n: everyone, everybody; can be made more polite by adding san to the ending; often begins e-mail messages to fan mailing lists, e.g., "Hello, mina-san!"
mobile suit n: in the Gundam universe, a large machine that a pilot sits in and directs to fight in battle; mobile suits often resemble robots, but are almost always controlled by a human pilot who "wears" the suit and directs its movements and fighting; gundam are a type of advanced mobile suit
nani interjection: what; often used as a question, as in "What?" e.g., Heero: "Duo, you're a sexy devil." Duo: "Nani???" *big grin*
nimru ryoukai (nim ruh ree oo kai) phrase: "mission acknoledged" - Heero's favorite line
nimru kanryou (nim ruh kahn ree oo) phrase: "mission complete" - Heero's third favorite line favorite line
nosebleed n: occurs to characters in anime and manga when they have lustful thoughts, usually to quite humorous effect
Oi! interjection: "Hey!"
"Omae o korosu" (oh mah ee oh kor ohs) phrase: "I'm going to kill you." In Gundam Wing, Heero's second favorite line and now famous reply to most people who get in his way or who annoy him, e.g., Relena: *hands Heero an envelope* "It's an invitation to my birthday party. I hope you can come." Heero: *rips envelope to shreds inches from Relena's face* "Omae o korosu." Also used by Gundam Wing fans to people who get in their way or who annoy them.
onna n: woman; usually used quite derogatorily by Wufei towards any woman he has to fight and/or work with
OOC adj: abbreviation for "out of character"; refers to behavior that is inconsistent with the personality of a character as established by the anime he/she is from; often used when describing fanfics, e.g., "Warning: general silliness and characters wildly OOC"
otaku n: literally you; in Japan used as a derogatory term for obsessive anime fans who are so far gone that they no longer have any social skills and may even be neglecting personal hygiene in order to get more of their addiction; in U.S. fandom, used less derogatorily to refer to a passionate anime/manga fan who has a great deal of knowledge about anime and who spends most of his/her time studying/acquiring/using/admiring anime/manga and its related merchandise.
OVA /OAVn: acronym for Original Video Action, refers to anime (often for an established series) that is released directly to video as opposed to being a television series or a cinematic release; although OAVs exist in the U.S., they tend to be for lower-status titles that are not equated with motion picture or television releases. In Japan, however, OAVs are often better than the television series they are based on. (e.g., many fans think the Gundam Wing OAV series, Endless Waltz, is of higher-quality animation than the series.)

Pisces n: One of two water-based mobile suits seen in Shin Kidousenki Gundamwing; they have the ability to fight underwater and are used somewhat like nuclear submarines, but for one person.
pocky n: A favorite Japanese snack food that seems to be something of a long-standing tradition among anime otaku. Basically they're thin cracker sticks that have been dipped in chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, and other flavors. Gotta have pocky? Go here.
PWP n: acronym for "Plot? What Plot?"; refers to fanfics that have no storyline (or just a meager one); often used in reference to fics in which the primary reason for the fic is to describe sexual encounters between the characters
SD/super-deformed adj: a particular drawing style that makes a character look very young and somewhat chubby; the use of SD within anime and manga is an art form in and of itself, as it seems to be a way to express strong emotions in a character. Usually a character is drawn in SD when he/she is very angry/sad/embarrassed/frisky/silly. Sometimes known as chibi. Also, v, to morph from your regular state into an SD state, e.g., Heero grabbed Duo's braid which caused Duo to SD.
seishi (sayee shi)n: a celestial warrior for a particular god; from the anime Fushigi Yuugi in which four celestial gods chose seven wpecial warriors (the seishi) to fight for them and protect the god's miko; other fandoms have adopted this arrangement in which one person is a miko for a character and others become that character's seishi (ex. I am Zechs no miko - the priestess of the anime god Zechs Marquise - and my good friend tizzy Yoiko is a Zechs no seishi - a divine warrior for Zechs.)
seiyuu (sayee yoooh)n: voice actor; seiyuu's are highly regarded in Japan and are thought to be largely responsible for giving anime characters their personalities. Because of this, many fans avoid dubbed versions of an anime series, insisting instead on subtitled tapes/disks.
shoujo (sho-o joh)n: literally, girl; shojo anime is created explicitly for young girls in Japan. There are many sub-genres of shojo, e.g., Magical Girls, romantic comedy, romantic tragedy, romantic epics. Shojo stories are usually centered around the relationships between the characters in the series; other not-so-essential features include lots of pastel colors, abundance of bishounen, abundance of kawaii objects, costumes, and characters, lavish use of shojo bubbles and sparkles.
shounen (sho-oo nayn)n: literally, boy; shonen anime is created explicitly for young boys in Japan. Shonen stories usually revolve around warfare, crime, science fiction (usually with warfare) or quests (often with warfare). See a pattern here? Shonen stories are also where you will usually find the most mecha (used - of course! - for warfare.) Gundam Wing, although it contains some elements of shojo anime (namely an abundance of bishounen), is considered a shonen series.
shounen-ai (sho-o nayn ah´ ee)n: literally, boy-love; refers to anime or manga stories that portray a romantic relationship between two boys, who are usually bishounen. While that kind of content isn't tolerated well by many fans in the U.S., the Japanese audience is much more open to it. Because of this, shonen-ai implications are not at all uncommon in anime.
suki desu (ski dayss)v and adj: literally, I'm fond of you; you're my favorite (person); I love you; in anime, this phrase is usually used when one character makes a proclamation of love to another, especially when it's the first time he/she has said it. Although fanfic authors like to use the term ai shiteru for "I love you," that term would usually be considered too strong/intense/passionate for two young people expressing a preliminary interest in each other. Using suki is by far more common in anime.
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sparkles n: just what they sound like; little sparkles serve two basic functions in anime: in general, sparkles around a character's face are usually tears (that have an amazing ability to fly gracefully out from the crying character and float beautifully on the breeze. In shoujo anime, sparkles around a character and all over a scene represent either beauty (or that someone looking at the character finds him/her beautiful) or happiness (often romantic in nature.) As with the bubbles, I refer to these as "shojo sparkles."
sumimasen (suh mee mah seyn) interjection: I'm sorry; forgive me
seiyuu (sayee yoooh)n: voice actor; seiyuu's are highly regarded in Japan and are thought to be largely responsible for giving anime characters their personalities. Because of this, many fans avoid dubbed versions of an anime series, insisting instead on subtitled tapes/disks.
shoujo (sho-o joh)n: literally, girl; shojo anime is created explicitly for young girls in Japan. There are many sub-genres of shojo, e.g., Magical Girls, romantic comedy, romantic tragedy, romantic epics. Shojo stories are usually centered around the relationships between the characters in the series; other not-so-essential features include lots of pastel colors, abundance of bishounen, abundance of kawaii objects, costumes, and characters, lavish use of shojo bubbles and sparkles.
shounen (sho-oo nayn)n: literally, boy; shonen anime is created explicitly for young boys in Japan. Shonen stories usually revolve around warfare, crime, science fiction (usually with warfare) or quests (often with warfare). See a pattern here? Shonen stories are also where you will usually find the most mecha (used - of course! - for warfare.) Gundam Wing, although it contains some elements of shojo anime (namely an abundance of bishounen), is considered a shonen series.
yaoi (ya-oh´ ee)n: literally, boy-love; refers to anime or manga stories that portray a romantic relationship between two boys, who are usually bishounen. While that kind of content isn't tolerated well by many fans in the U.S., the Japanese audience is much more open to it. Because of this, shonen-ai implications are not at all uncommon in anime.
yoshi! (yohsh! like the 'o' in 'host') interj: Good!; Yes!; Let's do it!; Right, let's go take down those Romefeller bastards and toast 'em like marshmallows on my scythe!