Nova Duvet

soldats knight · Subject: Nova Duvet Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:12 pm

Introducing to you, Nova Duvet, the member run japanese cultural topic!

Nova Duvet unveils the meaning behind phrases in Japan so you can use and understand the words. Scroll down to view the Japanese to English member-made dictionary, listed alphabetically for easy use

Feel free to add meanings to words that are not listed already

Extracts from Madman's SFX Anime magazine, March 2007 issue.

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soldats knight · Subject: Re: Nova Duvet Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:27 pm

A

Ai: The Japanese word for "love".

Arigato:Japanese word for "thank you".

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soldats knight · Subject: Re: Nova Duvet Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:35 pm

B

Baka: An insult, roughly equivalent to "idiot" or "moron". However, it can also be used affectionately.

Big eyes: No one agrees on this one. Some poeple say the notorious "big-eyed" look in anime and manga is down to the influence of Osamu Tezuka, a fan of Western toons like doe-eyed Bambi. Others says it's because of national psychological identity crisis that makes Japan project a Western, Caucasian image on themselves. This might date from Japan's post-war years of defeat and UD Occupation, when the modern anime and manga industries began. Or maybes it dates back further, back to when Japan opened up to the West in the 19th Century (an era seen in the film The Last Samurai. Or maybe those oversized peepers reflect a healthily flexible selt-image on Japan's part, or the country's fetishisation of cuteness (see Kawaii).

Bishonen: Japanese expression for "pretty boy". Think Cloud in Final Fantasy 7, or the early film appearances of Elijah Wood and Leonardo DiCaprio. Bishonen is often abbreviated to "bishie", while the more mature of the pretty guys are often "Biseinen". (see image)

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soldats knight · Subject: Re: Nova Duvet Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:41 pm

C

Cosplay: Japanese contraction of "costume play". It's been widely adopted by Westerners to refer to the fan practice of dressing up in a costume, often modelled on a fantasy character (a pokemon, a Klingon etc.). "Cosplayers", as the practitioners are called, are a familiar sight in a fan convention.

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soldats knight · Subject: Re: Nova Duvet Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:45 pm

F

Fan service: A gratuitous element included to please the fans. Often something good looking. But "fan service" also refers to the loving presentation of hardware (see Mecha), such as spaceships and giant robots, which seems to be targeted at "techie" fans. Knowing in-jokes and cameos are another kind of fan service: for example, the show-in-a-show Gekiganger III (a spoof of old anime Robot shows) which runs through Nadesico

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soldats knight · Subject: Re: Nova Duvet Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:48 pm

H

Harem show: A popular anime/manga wishfulfilment sub-genre where a boy protagonist is surrounded by numerous nubile females. Tenchi Muyo is one example, another is the non-SF comedy Love Hina

Hentai: "Weird" or "perverted", it can refer to a pervy person. Anime fans sometimes also use the word "lemon" to refer to such content.

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soldats knight · Subject: Re: Nova Duvet Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:53 pm

K

Kaiju: A monster, particularly a classic monstar star like Godzilla, Rodan or Gamera.

Kawaii: The japanese word for "pretty" or "cute", and the basis of a huge, sometimes scary industry. Typical kawaii characteristics are a pair of huge, soulful eyes, squeaky voices, frilly costumes. These characteristics are shared by innumerable manga/anime females and real-life pop-singers. Cuteness finds its ultimate expression in non-human characters such as Pikachu and the mascot Hello Kitty, and is brilliantly satirised in hte anime series Paranoia Agent, which revolves around a cute but sinister kawaii dog character.

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soldats knight · Subject: Re: Nova Duvet Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:58 pm

M

Magical girl: A magical girl (maho shojo) series features a girl or girls with potent magical powers, often concealed in a secret identity. Magical Girls may use their powers just to help out "normal" neighbours, or to defend the world against evil. Inspired by the US sitcom Bewitched, the first magic girl was Little Witch Sally in 1966. Other examples include Sailor Moon and CardCaptors. Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service is a reaction against the genre, featuring a witch heroine who has to earn a living by hard work.

Mecha: High-tech hardware (the word comes from "Mechanical"). Typically used as a shorthand for giant robot.

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soldats knight · Subject: Re: Nova Duvet Sat Apr 19, 2008 3:00 pm

N

Neko: Cat. Feline firls (cat girls) are called "nekomusume" or "nekomimi". Anime has dozens, ranging from the criminal Puma twins in Dominion Tank Police to the title heroine of CatGirl NukuNuku.

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soldats knight · Subject: Re: Nova Duvet Sat Apr 19, 2008 3:07 pm

O

OVA: Abbreviation of "Original Video Animation" and referring to any anime produced exclusively for the sell-through market. These are often spin-off series or continuations of feature films or televised shows and rarely suffer the drop in quality associated with Western "straight to video" productions, hence the need to dissociate OVAs and STVs.

Otaku: A word with a chequered history. "Otaku" was originally derived from an over-formal manner of Japanese address, popular among withdrawn youngsters and coming to refer to people with "nerdish" interests. the word gained dark connotations in 1989 folliwing the arrest of a hideous child murderer (Tsunomu Miyazaki), supposedly an "otaku"; and darker still with the lunatic Aum Shinrikyo cult, which used manga-style fantasies in its apocalyptic teachings and launched a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo Underground in 1995. Perfect Blue portrays an especially scary "otaku" bogeyman, but the otaku is now showing signs of rehab. Last year's Train Man was a Hugely popular book, film and TV drama in Japan (nothing to do with trainspotting0, telling the story of an awkward romance between a male otaku and a "normal" woman.

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soldats knight · Subject: Re: Nova Duvet Sat Apr 19, 2008 3:18 pm

S

Sailor Fuku: The "sailor suit" is a common style of school uniform worn by Japanese high-school girls. Characterised by its sailor-style collar and based on European naval uniforms, it was introduced to Japan in the '20s. Referenced in anime titles such as Sailor Moon. (Schoolboys wear a "gakuran". consisting of a dark buttoned jacket and trousers, based on 19th-century Prussian army uniforms.)

Seiyu: Voice actor.

Senpai and Sensei: Two froms of address you'll frequently hear in anime. "Senpai" is a respectful form of address to a senior in a school, college or club (especially a sports club). "Sensei" is a similarly respectful way to address a teacher, instructor or other authority figure.

Sentai: Sentai means "battle team".

Shonen and Shojo: Boy and girl.

Shonen jump: Japan's best silling manga anthology magazine. Established in 1968, it was originally aimed at youn boys (shonen means boy), but has since fone on to enjoy huge popularity with middle-aged businessmen. Its most famous strip is fighting saga Dragonball. Its other strips (many of which have been animated) range from sports to SF. The Japanese version is weekly but a US edition began in 2003, reformatting the comic strip layouts to read left to right and coming out monthly.

Super deformation or Chibi: A style of caricature in which characters are drawn in a cute, sometimes crude and disproportionate way (the head is usually oversized). An anime series will often turn characters into "super deformed" caricatures for the purposes of a comic interlude. These brief scenes can break disconcertingly into what had been a serious, dramatic moment just before.

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soldats knight · Subject: Re: Nova Duvet Sat Apr 19, 2008 3:21 pm

Y

Yaoi and Shonen AiTerms referring to stories about homoertoic male relationships, often onvolving Bishonen characters, and aimed mostly at female audiences. They can be non-explicit or highly graphic, and are usually presented in manga rather than anime form. However, slash fiction strips featuring amateur, fan-made comics known as "dojinshi".

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