Anime on American TV

You might have seen anime on TV and else where! Over the years it has been molded to fit American audiences (or at least what TV producers think American audiences are). If you've lived in...

the 1960's...

you might have seen Speed Racer, Kimba the Lion or Astro Boy.

the 1970's to the early 1980's...

you might have seen Battle of the Planets and Star Blazers.

the mid-1980's...

you might have watched Robotech and Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years on TV or played Cliffhanger and Cobra Commandin the arcades.

the 1990's...

You might have seen The Ronin Warriors, Sailor Moon, Technoman or a multitude of anime actually being referred to as anime on TV, in stores and in the theaters.

Vital Vocabulary

You already know anime and manga from above. Here are some other, re-occuring words and phrases you'll come across while watching anime or talking about it with friends.

Baka!

"You're stupid!"

chara

character

chibi

Short, tiny. A chibi character may naturally resemble a super-deformed character, where the entire body has a smaller, squashed, cuter appearance. If you need to get a feel of what this means, try The Chibi & Super-deformed Image Archive.

dojinshi

Generally fan stories pertaining to a specific series. Could also be any series specific fan art.

hentai

Abnormality. Sexual perversion. Used also to describe a certain class of anime, manga or otaku (as in "H-Anime").

 

idol

(a) Certain people and characters transcend being something that you're a fan of. When you start worshipping them, adorning yourself in their image, collecting dolls, images or cards of the character, they've become your idol. (b) Singers with a major role in a series (Minmei from Macross for example).

Japanimation

American slang for for Japanese animation. Similar to other less than ideal contractions like "blaxsploitation" and "teensploitation." It's best to either to use the full "Japanese animation" or shorter "anime." Don't talk about "Japanimation" to an otaku.

kawaii

cute

henshin

Transformation. Used to describe the sub-genre of special-effects shows featuring super-hero transformations (Kamen Rider or Metal Heroes). Also used to describe transforming mecha (Henshin Robo).

mecha

Just about anything mechanical: weapons, vehicles, robots, but usually not items like pencil sharpeners or ceiling fans.

Nani?

"What?"

Nihon

Japan.

otaku

Anime fanboy or fangirl. Generally a good thing in America, aparently closer to being a geek in Japan. If you're wondering if you've become an otaku take Axcess magazine's Are You An Otaku? test.

OAV/OVA

Original Video Animation: an anime direct to video release, anime made only for the video market. Direct to video releases are common in Japan, while still a rarity in America. Unlike the US, where Direct to video movies are still often seen as a reprieve from what would've been a disasterous theatrical release, OVA's in Japan can be big events unto themselves.

seiyuu

Anime voice actor or actress. Hitoshi Doi's Seiyuu Database is the best place to go for more information.

sentai

Task-force. Used to describe the task-force genre of live action TV series, including Zyuranger/MMPowerRangers and DaiRanger. Some American fans have been known to use this as a synonym for special-effects shows when they really mean to use tokusatsu.

shojo

Type of anime or manga targeted to the "young girl" market.

shonen

Type of anime or manga targeted to the "young boy" market.

tokusatsu

Special-effects. As one might use it in English, tokusatsu is used to describe a super-categeory of live action super-hero shows (Kamen Rider/Masked Rider or Zyuranger/MMPowerRangers) and giant monster movies (Godzilla or Mothra).