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  Greenings. This is our easy-to-use anime dictionary. We list general terms most commonly used in anime. This is in no way supposed to be a complete listing, but a quick guide if you'd like to get a feel for common terms. To find a Japanese-English  superfast dictionary, please go to TwinSeven's Japanese Dictionary Page. If you get lost or have a suggestion or correction, please email us.

        Japanimation Haven's Dictionary of Anime Terms

The following is a quick listing of anime-related terms according to our loving JHaven staff. These terms are not necessarily in Japanese, but those that are are translated into the proper context.(Note: this is still under construction! TS)

*Please note that terms found in italics indicate the term is defined elsewhere in this dictionary and can be found under its correct alphabetical heading
 

A NOTE ABOUT “OU” IN WORDS: If you see “ou” together in a word, the pronounciation for that is to hold the long “O” sound slightly longer than usual. For example, in the word “shoujo”, the long ou is held as if both the “o” and the “u” were their own letters.
 
 

A
anime - (AHN' i may) - from the short form of "dessin-animes", which is the French term for cartoons. Refers to Japanese animation, or, to some, anything that resembles it. Considered a genre.
 
 

B

bishounen- (bee'SHO'nen) - literally, "pretty boy". Refers to stereotypically tall, skinny gorgeous male characters, usually in their teens, with fine features and beautiful colouring. Sometimes shortened to "shounen", which means “boy”. (Note: the "u" in the word is not pronounced. See note in introduction.)
 
 

C
chibi - (chEE-bee) - "small" or "little".

con - A short term for "convention". Refers to anime conventions held to showcase animation, products and related services. Usually features rooms showing anime, voice actor panels, directors, etc, from different shows, demonstrations, cosplays, costume clinics, and any number of jpop discos and assorted activities. A great place to get genuine anime products.

cosplay - A short term for "costume play". Refers to improvised and sometimes impromptu interactions between con-goers dressed as anime characters. Can sometimes refer to even just the act of attending a con dressed as a character.

costume clinic - Ususally offered at a con, a clinic helps fans design and make more realistic-looking and effective costumes.
 

D
dub - A short term for "dubbed". In anime, refers to the act of dubbing another voice over top of an anime originally in a different language. In North America, this means American voices dubbed over original Japanese dialogue. This is seen as an inferior method by anime purists, since original professionally trained voice actors chosen by original directors are being replaced by whatever English voice actor is available. Also implies that the script has been changed, meaning character names, lines of dialogue and indeed whole episodes could be lost. Jokes, swearing and cultural references are almost always cut out.
 

E
ecchi - (E'chi) - the letter "h" pronounced in Japanese. Is a shortened version of "hentai". Usually means "pervert" when used in reference to a person. In anime, refers to series with adult content (i.e. nudity, sex, tentacles).

ED - short form for "end credit theme". Refers to the ending theme music for an anime series or movie.
 

F
fandub - A short term for "dubbed by fans". Usually only for satire, fandubs are mostly joke dialogue dubbed over existing anime.

fanfic - A short term for "fanfiction", these are "what if" stories writen by fans starring their favourite anime characters, sometimes containing adult language or content. Many feature made-up anime characters and are accompanied by fanart. Some also include crossovers between characters, timelines, sets, or storylines from different animes. Fanfics with adult content should contain a warning, possibly using the term lemon or yaoi.

fanpic - A short term for "fan picture". Refers to pictures of official or inspired anime characters drawn by fans. This includes handrawn, computer drawn, and altered pictures.

fansub - A short term for "subtitled by fans". Refers to anime that has been translated, subtitled, copied, and/or distributed by fans, for fans. As long as there is no current North American release, this practice is perfectly legal. Charging for fansubs when there is a commercially subtitled copy available is illegal. Most fansubs are made by fans who only wish to make their favourite title available to other fans. They should always be free, and will have a subtitled notice somewhere on the show stating "not for sale or rent". Original dialogue, voices, jokes, swearing, cultural references,  and terms usually remain intact. Often they include translation notes at the beginning of the volume, explaining terms, words, sayings, jokes, cultural references and double-word meanings.
 

G
genre - a classification of category

generation loss - the technical term for the degradation of quality as something is copied from a copy. Includes a gradual fading of colour accompanied by tracking errors that get worse every time a copy is made of a tape. For instance, if you copy a Master tape, the copy is a second generation copy. If you copy the 2nd generation tape, you have a third generation copy, and so on. Eventually, colours will be so faded on the tape that it is considered useless.
 

H
hentai - (HEN-tai) - "pervert" or "adult", depending on context. "Pervert" if used to refer to someone (see ecchi), "adult" if referring to anime or manga. Implies explicit or pornographic content. In North America, however, most companies will stick this label on if a character  says "hell". It's best to get a professional opinion on an anime with this rating, or take a breath and investigate yourself. You should be able to tell from the back of a video box or by flipping through a manga if it's really offensive.
 

J
jpop - A short term for "Japanese pop". Refers to sprightly, chipper music that is usually used as theme music for animes, despite whether or not their themes warrant happy music. Also refers to current Japanese popular music or anything that sounds like it.

Japanimation - an old term used to describe anime before it hit its boom in the 90's. It is considered slightly rude to use nowadays due to its potential to be seen as a mocking of Japanese culture. (Please note: Japanimation Haven was named before the term was considered rude, and we have no intentions of slandering anyone.)
 

K
 

L
lemon - Used for fanfic and fanpics, this is a general term for adult content. This type of warning should be seen on ANY fan work with mature themes.

laserdisc - A predecessor to the Compact Disc. About the size of a record, it can hold first generation-quality media. In anime, usually has movies or volumes (1-4 episodes) on it. Requires a special player to be used. Taped copies of these look like 1st-generation (Master) tapes.
 

M
manga - (MAWN-ga) - "motionless art". Called  comic books in North America, manga are much more indepth, both in terms of storyline and character development. As well, manga art is extremely beautiful. Most series are based off a manga. In Japan, many people read manga, even adults. Indeed there are manga for each generation and age group. From shoujo to stories about hardworking normal people, it's not unusual to see anyone reading one.

Master - a technical term for the original copy of a piece of media (i.e. VHS tape, laserdisc, DVD).
 

N
ninja - (NIN-ja) - Also seen as "shinobi". A type of stealthy fighter used in fuedal wars in Japan until about 125 years ago.
 

O
OAV - Also seen as "OVA". "OAV" are Original Animated Videos, "OVA" (the official term,) are Original Video Animations. Both refer to the same thing; episodes of a series made beyond the official and/or original storyline, or before it, as a set of pilot episodes. Add-ons, extra anecdotes or adventures, further stories, etc, are the general fare. Some anime only have OAVs due to not being picked up as a whole show, or simply due to the short nature of the story. Some can also be in-between stories added into a manga series.

OP - short term for "opening title theme". Refers to the theme music over the opening credits of an anime series or movie.

otaku - (o'TAWK'oo) - "strange interest". It means "an unhealthy obsession", but is used in North America as a term used to describe avid fans of anime.
 

P
 
 

Q
 
 

R
rounin (RO'nin)- literally, "wave man". In general, a wandering knight. A masterless warrior from the feudal era.
 

S
samurai - (SAM'ur-eye) - literally, "one who serves". Also, "knight".  A knight who works for a Feudal Lord and/or is part of a clan (Fuedal family).

SD - short for "super-deformed". Refers to small, pudgy, childlike versions of characters. Also called chibi versions of a character.

shoujo - (shO-joe) - "girl". Usually refers to "girly" anime, like Sailormoon or CardCaptor Sakura. In the case of Sailormoon, however, its Japanese title is "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon". "Bishoujo" being translated as "pretty girl soldier" or "pretty female warrior".

sub - A short term for "subtitled". In anime, refers to the alternate language translation of character dialogue at the bottom of the screen superimposed over the picture. In North America, this refers to American translations of Japanese script. Again, if done by a commercial company for profit, indicates names, dialogue, jokes, cultural references, swearing, and meaning have likely been altered or taken out completely.
 

T
translation notes - notes by the subtitler found at the beginning, end or during commercial breaks of fansubbed anime. Sometimes they are superimposed as subtitles at the top of the screen to explain a piece of dialogue, or to translate a sign name. They include further explanation of jokes, cultural references, terms, titles, language, name meanings, references and anything else non-Japanese people might not understand.

TV size - refers to anime theme songs in the version played on TV. Usually, the the songs are shortened from a longer version to fit over the opening or closing credits.
 

U
 

V
VCD - short for "Video Compact Disc". These are video-recoradble discs that can be played on a computer (if you have the proper software to run it), or on a DVD with VCD capabities. They are not as versatile as DVDs; you can only run the disc and skip ahead to the beginning of each file (chapter).

volume - A volume of anime tends to contain anywhere from one four episodes of a show.
 

W
 

X
 

Y
yaoi - (yOI) - "gay". This tends to refer to content of a sexual nature between men. This is what fanfic and fanpic artists are supposed to put as a warning preceding works with this sort of content. (See also lemon.)
 

Z
 
 

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