Terms to Know?

There's a lot of untranslated shit in anime fandom (the word "anime" itself, for one). These terms often become common knowledge, but sometimes, they just become common to fans of certain genres or those that scour the internet. Let's try to think up all the terms used in anime fandom, explain how they should be used, what they mean, and maybe even discuss whether or not they should stay or go.

I'll start off with very simple things:

Shonen -> for boys
Shojo (or Shoujo) -> for girls
Typically, series are labeled as either shonen or shojo, indicating whether they are aimed mostly towards males or females. Liking a series from the genre does not, however, make you a tom boy or a sissy. People have different tastes, and really good shows can appeal to both men and women. These terms are best used when describing whether a show is more about action or emotions, though very generally.

These two terms aren't going anywhere, and I don't mind. To most anime fans, "shonen" and "shojo" goes far beyond the simple "boys/girls" thing, and if we instead called them "boys' comics" or "girls' comics," things would be too simplistic. It might be off-putting to potential fans as well.

Another one that goes hand in hand with the ones you put Shaggy are the words seinen and josei.

seinen: Seinen refers to a mature male audience. To put it simply it's the same as saying as older boys or mature males.

josei: it's the same thing as seinen but instead this time it's for females. Older girls or mature females.

This term is mostly used as a genre classification for anime and manga.


When I first learned about these terms, I was confused like hell. I don't think it's really necessary but these terms are mostly used to refer to a target audience. I guess it makes sense to say that mature males are different when it comes to thinking or understanding something that is complex from a little boy or boy child. In the end I guess it's needed to distinguish this difference.

Sensei - means "one who has come before" but it could also refer to someone who is a something cooler like a Lawyer(PWright) Or a Doctor (TCenter) or Teacher or masters of any profession of art or something...

Having translated to Teacher can get pretty annoying after a while and having characters say "teach" is a little off and shows disrespect but I don't know if Sensei could have that connotation.

Honorific San equals to Mr. or Mrs. It's to show politeness.

Hate it when Official Translators put Mr. or Mrs. in front of a name if it's a kid. It'd probably be better if it was "Lost in Translation" and they used first names.

The word, "sensei", does have that connotation. In most Asian cultures, the word teacher doesn't just refer to a school teacher. It could also refer to a doctor or someone that holds a title that is given respect. You could even call a writer sensei.

Yuri has pornographic or sexually explicit content of two women or more in a relationship.

Yaoi has pronographic or sexually explicit content involving two men or more in a relationship.
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[color=red] It is HIGHLY recommended you do not get the above terms confused[/color]
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Shonen ai is the non-pornographic version of yaoi.

Shojo ai is the non-pornographic version of yuri.


Itadakimasu - does not mean "thanks for the food" as is sometimes translated. It literally means "I will recieve" or "I humbly recieve" and is a mostly a traditional saying said out of politeness to start a meal.

Itadakimasu is a pet peeve of mine... >__>

might as well throw out some terms.

lolicon

A reference to the book titled, "Lolita" (which talks about Man in a relationship with a 12 year old girl), is a term used to express interest in young girls (under 18 ) or girls with child like qualties (a flat chest for example).

Shotacon

Like lolicon, but it describes an attraction to pre pubescent boys :D

Tsundere from the word tsun tsun and dere dere which literally means she'll say the exact opposite of what she's feeling. example : Kyou Fujibayashi (clannad)

Yandere Literally means a girl who's sweet on the outside until you do something that she thought of a betrayal act or there's another girl wanting you for themself which she'll switch into a psychotic girl who'll do anything to keep you for herself even using irrational means. example : Kotohona (school days)

Kuudere This one's derived from Kuu >>> Coo >>> Cool and dere which means a cool girl that'll act cool on the outside and all mushy on the inside. example : Kusunori Kasuga (Kami nomi zo Shiru sekai)

Well, for "One Piece" fans, the word "Nakama" is usually not translated in fansubs (At least for the older episodes). So, I will add that here:

Nakama: A term that is usually translated as ally, friend, comrade, or something of the sort.

Shounen (shonen) - as a term used for anime/manga "genres", this reffers to works directed towards young males, usually under the age of 20.

Shoujo (shojo) - as a term used for anime/manga "genres", this reffers to works directed towards young females, usually under the age of 20.

Seinen - as a term used for anime/manga "genres", this reffers to works directed towards males, usually above 20 years of age.

Josei - as a term used for anime/manga "genres", this reffers to works directed towards females, usually above 20 years of age.

Since a majority of anime takes place in school we might as well add this.

Senpai: A senpai is mostly someone that's one or more grades above you in school, but it's not limited to that and can be used to for people that's been longer in or have a just a slightly higher position in pretty much any community, company or mysterious organization. Should be treated with respect from the kouhai.

Kouhai: Opposite of Senpai

Except it doesn't mean that at all. That's just a trait of some tsunderes. Just like how only a small number of tsunderes are actually violent (ex. Taiga, Louise).

...any fansubber who leaves that untranslated should be banished to the pits of hell.
Ditch any fansub that leaves something like that in their finished script.

Kotatsu: A kotatsu is a low, wooden table frame covered by a futon, or heavy blanket, upon which a table top sits. Underneath is a heat source, often built into the table itself.

I didn't even know about this one.

It's like a new "-dere" pops up every year.

Hmm... a good kuudere example would be Hitagi Senjogahara from Bakemonogatari. She remarks that her type of person is called a "tsundere" then Araragi remarks to himself, that no that isn't quite correct, Senjogahara is like a tundra. *So damned cold, and cool*.

Actually, all the -deres have been around for a long time now. Kuu- and yan- aren't that much younger than tsun-.

The four tsundere wonders (Louise, Taiga, Shana, and Nagi) are the classic tsunderes. Meaning at the beginning of the story, they are cold and violent towards the protagonist. As the story progresses she becomes less mean and more love struck, until shes completely head over heels for the male lead. Kyou is an example of the modern tsundere; she is mean, cold and violent towards Tomoya, but on the inside of this rough exterior is a girl who is warm and fuzzy in love with Tomoya, but hides it. Whew! The Lucky Star vid explains it pretty well.