Anime Glossary

Cyberpunk is the science-fiction mode of high technology and low life: advanced networks, cybernetics, and megacorporations set against street-level survival.

Isekai, literally "different world," is the genre in which a protagonist from ordinary life is transported to, reborn into, or otherwise stranded in another world, usually a fantasy one.

Iyashikei means "healing type," and it names works designed to leave the audience calmer than they arrived: gentle pacing, kind characters, beautiful ordinary places, and conflicts that resolve softly.

Josei, literally "woman," is the demographic category for manga and anime aimed at adult women.

Kodomomuke means "directed at children," and it is the demographic category for anime and manga made for young children, roughly under age 10.

Magical girl (maho shojo) is the genre built around girls who transform to gain powers, usually through an item and a transformation sequence, and use them to protect their world.

Mecha is the genre of giant robots and mechanical vehicles, named for the machinery itself.

Seinen, literally "young man" or "youth," is the demographic category for manga and anime aimed at adult men, roughly ages 18 and up.

Shojo, literally "girl," is the demographic category for manga and anime made for young female readers, roughly ages 10 to 18.

Shonen, literally "boy" in Japanese, is the demographic category for manga and anime made for young male readers, roughly ages 12 to 18.

Slice of life is the mode of anime and manga built from everyday experience: school days, work routines, friendships, meals, and weather, with low external stakes and attention paid to small moments.

Spokon, short for "sports root" or sports fighting spirit (supotsu konjo), is the tradition of sports manga and anime built on effort: training, rivalry, teamwork, and growth measured in matches.

An adaptation is a version of a story made in a different medium: a manga turned into an anime, a light novel into a series, a game into a film.

Anime-original describes a work created first as anime, not adapted from a manga, novel, or game.

Canon is the body of material treated as the official, factual version of a story's world and events, as opposed to material invented for an adaptation, a spin-off, or a fan work.

A cour is a three-month block of television broadcasting, corresponding to one season of the year, and the standard unit anime series are scheduled in.

A dub is a version of an anime with the original voice track replaced by performances in another language, most often English.

The ED is an anime's ending sequence: the closing song and credit montage, usually about ninety seconds, that ends most episodes.

An eyecatch is the short bumper sequence shown at the midpoint of a television anime episode, around the commercial break, usually a still illustration or brief animation with the series' logo and music sting.

Filler is anime material that does not adapt the source work: original episodes, scenes, or whole arcs created so a weekly anime does not overtake the manga or novel it is adapting.

In anime listings, a film (or movie) is a theatrical feature: a single work made for cinema release rather than a broadcast episode or direct-to-video release.

A hiatus is an interruption in a work's publication or broadcast: a manga that stops appearing in its magazine for a period, or a series that pauses longer than its planned schedule.

An insert song is a vocal song played during an episode's scenes rather than in its opening or ending sequences: over a performance, a montage, a battle, or a key emotional beat.

Key animation is the drawing of the defining poses of a movement, the frames that establish position, expression, and timing, which in-between animators then connect.

Limited animation is the production technique of animating with fewer drawings: holding frames, moving only parts of a character, and reusing cycles, rather than redrawing every moment of motion.

A mangaka is a manga artist: the creator, or lead creator, who writes and draws a manga.

Media mix is the Japanese franchise strategy of developing one property across many media at once, manga, anime, games, music, merchandise, and events, with each format promoting the others.

An ONA (Original Net Animation) is an anime released first, and usually primarily, on the internet: a streaming platform or video site rather than television, cinema, or disc.

The OP is an anime's opening sequence: the title song and credit montage, usually about ninety seconds, that begins most episodes.

An OVA (Original Video Animation) is an anime episode or short series released directly to home video, or today to a disc bundle or platform, without a prior television broadcast or cinema run.

A recap episode is a broadcast episode assembled largely from footage of earlier episodes, summarizing the story so far.

Sakuga literally means "drawing" in Japanese, and in the industry it names animation work neutrally.

Season means two different things in anime.

Seiyuu is the Japanese term for a voice actor or actress.

Serialization is the publication of a work in instalments in a magazine or on a platform, chapter by chapter, before collection.

A simulcast is the streaming of an anime episode in international markets at the same time as, or within hours of, its Japanese broadcast.

A simuldub is an English (or other language) dub produced on a near-broadcast schedule, released a few weeks behind the Japanese airing of each episode rather than after the full series ends.

Source material is the original work an adaptation is made from: the manga, light novel, game, or other work that came first.

A studio is the animation production company responsible for making an anime: organizing staff, animators, directors, and subcontractors to deliver episodes or films.

A sub is a version of an anime that keeps the original voice track and presents translation as subtitles.

A tankobon is a collected volume of manga: a book that gathers chapters previously serialized in a magazine, usually five to ten chapters per volume.

An arc is a self-contained stretch of story within a longer series: a run of chapters or episodes with its own setting, conflict, and resolution, inside the larger narrative.

Found family is the trope in which a group of unrelated characters forms a family by choice and loyalty rather than blood: a crew, team, guild, or household that becomes its members' true home.

A mentor is the character who trains, guides, or equips the protagonist: a teacher, master, coach, or elder whose knowledge the hero inherits.

A power system is the set of rules governing abilities in a fictional world: where power comes from, its categories, costs, limits, and how users grow.

A power-up is a marked increase in a character's strength, ability, or form: a new transformation, a mastered technique, an awakening, or an upgrade that resets what they can do.

A rival is a peer character defined by sustained competition with the protagonist: similar in level, opposite in temperament, and bound to return.

A saga is a large division of a long story, bigger than an arc: a grouping of arcs forming one era or campaign of the narrative.

A timeskip is a deliberate jump forward in a story's internal timeline, skipping months or years so the narrative resumes with an older cast and a changed world.

A tournament arc is a story arc structured around a formal competition, usually single-elimination matches between fighters or teams.

A training arc is a stretch of story devoted to preparation: a character or team training under a mentor, regime, or camp to gain a skill, form, or level they will need.

A transformation sequence is the set-piece animation in which a character changes form: into a powered state, a costume, a mecha combination, or another body, usually with music, poses, and reusable stock footage.

Chibi is a drawing style that renders characters super-deformed: very short bodies, oversized heads, and simplified features, for a cute or comic effect.

A dandere is a character who is quiet, shy, and socially withdrawn, often barely speaking, but who opens up and shows an affectionate, lively side around people they trust.

Fanservice is material included to please fans rather than to serve the plot.

Genki, an everyday Japanese word for energetic and cheerful, is the fandom label for characters defined by boundless energy and optimism: loud, active, enthusiastic, and hard to discourage.

A kuudere is a character who stays outwardly cool, calm, and inexpressive, sometimes verging on emotionless, while harbouring quiet affection or feeling underneath.

Moe is the feeling of strong affection and fondness fans feel toward fictional characters, often triggered by particular traits or behaviours.

A tsundere is a character who is initially cold, prickly, or hostile toward someone they are drawn to, and gradually or intermittently reveals a warm, affectionate side.

A yandere is a character whose romantic devotion turns obsessive and unstable, expressed as possessiveness that can escalate to menace or violence in fiction.

Cosplay, short for "costume play," is the practice of dressing as a fictional character, usually with handmade or heavily modified costumes, wigs, and props, for conventions, photography, and performance.

A databook is an official companion book for a series, publishing reference information that the story itself does not contain: character profiles, statistics, birthdays, power system rules, timelines, and author commentary.

Doujinshi are self-published works, usually manga, made by fan circles or independent creators rather than commercial publishers.

A fansub is a fan-made subtitled version of an anime episode, translated and distributed by volunteers without authorization.

Honorifics are the suffixes and titles attached to names in Japanese, such as -san, -kun, -chan, and -sama, which encode respect, closeness, age, and status.

Husbando is fan slang for a fictional male character a fan holds in special affection, jokingly framed as a spouse.

A light novel is a Japanese novel aimed mainly at young adult readers, written in accessible prose, published in small-format volumes, and illustrated with manga-style art.

Otaku is a Japanese word for a person with an obsessive interest, in any field.

Scanlation is the fan practice of scanning manga chapters, translating them, and re-lettering the pages for distribution in another language, without authorization.

A ship is a romantic pairing of characters that a fan supports or enjoys imagining, and shipping is the activity of supporting one.

A visual novel is a form of interactive fiction, usually Japanese, in which a story is told through text, character art, backgrounds, and music, with the reader making choices that branch the narrative into multiple routes and endings.

Waifu is fan slang for a fictional female character a fan holds in special affection, jokingly framed as a spouse.