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Definitions
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- Boy's Love (BL)
- This is commonly used in Japanese language. It's a story of attraction between two males, not always sexual or explicit. Romantic attraction is also considered "boy's love." These stories are mainly geared toward women.
- Bunkoban (a.k.a. Bunko)
 - A Japanese comic (manga), a little bit taller and deeper than a tankouban, but about twice as thick. (An average size (in inches) is 5 x 7¼ x 1 deep.) Usually it will have new cover art, and often the quality of the paper inside is better than the tankouban release. (Note: The number of manga listed on this site are usually from the original release. Sometimes when the manga is re-released, the number of books change.)
- Dating sim
- A Japanese video game, not just for home use but also found in video game parlours. Unlike eroge, these are not usually considered "naughty." The purpose of the games is to date or find romance, not to have sex with the video girls or boys.
- Doujinshi / dojinshi
- Japanese self-published books. Although occasionally the well-known artists will do this, usually it's done by people without a publisher. The art and quality varies greatly — sometimes it's very good, but often not.
- Ecchi
- "H" also means "ecchi." Essentially, ecchi is slang for porn. It includes everything from general notions of lewdness to the actual sex act. This applies not just to anime, but to all media. (Note: These are the actual Japanese definitions. In general American usage, "hentai" and "ecchi" are almost interchangable and just mean porn.)
- Eroge
- "Erotic (video) game." A Japanese video game designed for seeing flesh & / or having video sex. Similar to the dating sims, but with more skin. These can be stripper / sex type games or fantasy role-playing games with a hentai element.
- Fanservice / fan service
- When the creators throw in some elements that have nothing to do with the story but will make the fans happy. This can be things like extra panty shots, having the characters dress up in costumes or having a homoerotic moment with a couple of straight characters.
- Film comic(s)
- A Japanese book that's usually a bit larger than manga size that, instead of having an artist draw the panels, just takes screen shots and puts them in a book with dialogue drawn in.
- Graphic novel(s)
- The American (or other non-Japanese) release of the Japanese manga.
- Hentai
- Technically, hentai means "metamorphosis," like what a caterpillar does when it becomes a butterfly. When used in a sexual sense, it's meaning is closer to scary, unbalanced and perverted. (Note: These are the actual Japanese definitions. In general American usage, "hentai" and "ecchi" are almost interchangable and just mean porn.)
- Kanzenban
- A special-release Japanese comic book. Is more complete than the general manga release, often with things like additional artwork or side stories.
- Karakuri
- The word "karakuri" itself means a mechanical device meant to surprise, like a robot, water clock or elaborate puppet. The earliest story in Japan is of a karakuri mechanical doll around 800 a.d. that looked like a boy and stood about 4 feet tall. The Japanese love of robots began early. There are 3 main kinds of karakuri:
- Dashi Karakuri: Used on wooden religious festival floats, these tell stories of Japanese myths or legends. Puppeteers are often hidden in the float under the puppets.
 - Butai Karakuri: Puppets used in the theater. In the anime Ayatsuri Sakon, Ukon is this kind of karakuri. These kind of puppets influenced Noh and Kabuki theater. (Many of the best plays were originally written for puppet performers, not human.) In the pictures here, you can see the puppeteers all in black.
 - Zashiki Karakuri: The most elaborate karakuri, these tend to be smaller and are used in the home. During the Edo period (1603-1867) these really hit a high mark. One of the most famous is the tea-serving boy. Around a foot tall, the host would put a cup of tea on the boy's tray for the guest. Nodding his head, the boy goes to the guest and waits while the guest drinks the tea. After the guest is finished and puts the cup back on the tray, the boy turns around and goes back to the host. The other picture is of a doll that writes a kanji letter after dipping his brush in the ink.
- Kemono
- Japanese genre using anthropormorphic characters (animals with human characteristics). The characters themselves are called "juujin." An anime example is Studio Ghibli movie Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko (a.k.a. Pom Poko). Similar to kemonomimi, except these appear more animal-ish.
- Kemonomimi
- Similar to kemono, except these characters are more human. Generally these characters have ears and a tail, but otherwise appear human. In some series the extra appendages are removable. Tokyo Mew Mew is a good example of kemonomimi.
- Light novel(s)
- A Japanese book intended for teens and young adults. Although the covers may look like a manga, the inside is primarily words with few pictures. Like manga, light novels can be serialized. The language inside is written more simply than adult novels.
- Manga
- A Japanese comic book. (Note: The number of manga listed on this site are usually from the original release. Sometimes when the manga is re-released, the number of books change. Also, the number of manga listed don't include film comics.)
- Mangaka
- Japanese comic artist or writer.
- OAV / OVA
- "Original Animation Video." These are anime episodes with (usually) better animation than the TV show and are released directly to video. Often the quality is similar to a movie. Sometimes they are used for side stories or to close the story of the TV series.
- Omake
- Extras. In anime, it could be a goofy little story at the end of the episode where the characters behave differently. Blue Seed has many omake. For manga, omake could be a toy that's included with certain books.
- Publishers
- In Japan, big manga publishing houses publish under many different sub-company names. For example, Hakusensha is the umbrella company for Hana to Yume, Young Animal, LaLa, Comi Comi, and Melody, among others. Another big publishing company is Kadokawa Shoten, which uses Asuka, Shonen Ace, Comp Ace, Newtype 100% Comics, and more. One of the larger companies is Shogakukan, where you can find manga by Betsucomi, Flower Comics, Young Sunday, Sho-Comi, Shonen Sunday, and Cheese! along with many more. Sometimes the manga listed on this site is listed as being published by the smaller company and sometimes by the larger company, depending on what information I have.
- Ronin
- An unattached person. In modern times in Japan, a ronin can mean a student that has failed his college entrance exams (and is therefore unattached to a college) or a laid-off businessman. Traditionally, it referred to samurai that had no master. The story of the 47 ronin is famous throughout Japan.
- Shikigami
- Similar to a witch's familiar, except that shikigami are a kind of spirit that's summoned and can take on a variety of forms.
- Shinigami
- A death god, like the Grim Reaper. Some anime with shinigami are Boogiepop Phantom, Full Moon o Sagashite and Yami no matsuei.
- Shounen-ai
- Although not used in Japanese language (see 'BL', above), this translates as "boy's love." It's a story of attraction between two males, not always sexual or explicit. Romantic attraction is also considered "shounen-ai." These stories are mainly geared toward women.
- Tankoubon / tankobon
- A Japanese comic book, sometimes a compilation of the teaser chapters that a publisher will release in a manga magazine, somtimes the books are released without the teaser chapters when the author is popular enough. The books usually measure about 4½ x 6¾ x ½ inches deep. If popular enough, these will often be re-released with new cover art. (Note: The number of manga listed on this site are usually from the original release. Sometimes when the manga is re-released, the number of books change. Also, the number of manga listed don't include film comics.)
- Yaoi
- Male homosexual stories, often sexually explicit. The word is a compilation of Japanese words: "YAma nashi, Ochi nashi, Imi nashi."
- Youkai / yokai
- Spirits or demons. Not good or bad, they generally have their own motivations that humans don't understand.
- Yuri
- Attraction between girls in manga, anime, etc., not always sexual or expilcit. A platonic romantic attraction between females is also called yuri. Real-life lesbians don't call themselves this. (Yuri is also a common Japanese girl's name.)
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