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Basically, this FAQ contains terms that can be found in mangas or animes, which makes learning much easier.


Mangaka - Manga Artist. The person who draws manga. The word is gender neutral and can refer to a male or female artist. In fact, many of Japan's most famous mangaka are women.

Manga - In 1814 the famous Japanese artist Hokusai created a book of black & white sketches that he called manga (involuntary sketches). In recent Japanese history the word has come to describe those small illustrated books of black & white ink drawings that tell a series of stories. Graphic novel would be the closest translation for "manga" though they are not at all like novels in the Western sense, nor are they comparable to Western comic books. Manga cover a wide range of topics, from fantasy & adventure, to sports & cooking... not to mention the usage of diverse drawing techniques.

Anime - The Japanese contraction and pronunciation of the English word "animation". Anime refers to traditional hand painted cel animation, but also applies to animation created in part or in whole by computers (Such as the 3D digital animation Final Fantasy.)

Bishounen - The literal translation is "Beautiful Boy". Bishounen are found in all types of manga and anime and can be quite masculine, they are not necessarily "effeminate" males but sometimes are. Bishounen are the focus in shounenai or Boy's love manga... see the definition of yaoi.

Doujinshi or Doujin - Doujinshi roughly translates into same stuff, different people. These are unofficial, amateur produced manga based upon successful, well established manga or anime series. Doujin range in quality from crude black & white pamphlets numbering a few pages, to beautifully produced volumes that dazzle the eye. You'll find incredibly talented artists creating doujin, and many successful mangaka got their start in doujin circles. Most doujinshi are parodies, or alternative takes on established titles, with some doujin venturing into explicit adult themes. Large Japanese publishing houses generally look the other way and ignore the small print runs of doujinshi publishers... which never amount to more that a few thousand copies.

Fansub - An unofficial video release of an anime that has been subtitled into another language by fans. While technically illegal because of copyright issues, fansubbing has been one of the major vehicles for getting translated shows into the hands of Western audiences. Hence, fansub projects are looked upon favorably by veteran anime viewers, provided the fansubbers make no profit off of their projects.

Fanfic - A work of fiction written by a fan and based on a popular anime or manga title.

Hentai - A Japanese slang word meaning perverted or perversion. In the world of manga and anime, hentai refers to the adult oriented titles that present extreme, graphic sexual imagery. A common Western stereotype concerning manga and anime is that these artforms are filled with graphic sex. While such imagery exists (and has always existed in Japan), hentai titles make up just a small niche market in Japan's massive manga and anime output.

Online Manga - Also known as web manga. mangas created by either amateur or professional mangakas that can be found on a web site.

Seiyuu - A professional voice actor or actress. In Japan, animation studios employ seiyuu to provide the many voices for characters. Some seiyuu have become big stars in their own right due to their voice acting abilities. A talented seiyuu can take on a wide variety of roles, for instance Ohtani Ikue does the voice of Pikachu from Pocket monsters as well as doing the voice of the cat girl named Meruru from Vision of Escaflowne.

Seinen - Seinen means "young Man". Manga and anime that specifically targets young adult males around the ages of 18 to 25 are seinen titles. The stories in seinen works appeal to university students and those in the working world. Typically, the story lines deal with the issues of adulthood. Men’s Manga that will often have more adult themes, with some containing graphic violence and sexually explicit material.

Shôjo – Girl’s Manga is often more lighthearted and involves romance.

Josei (or redikomi) – Women’s Manga is the kind of manga that often has adult themes, also containing graphic violence and sexually explicit material, but unlike Seinen mangas, it contains males.

Kodomo – Children’s Manga

Shounen - The Japanese word for boy. Shounen also defines the manga and anime titles that are specifically created for young boys. These works are often filled with lots of action, fantasy adventure, and giant robots. It's usually action packed and humorous.

Yaoi - Also known as shounenai or boy's love. Yaoi manga features romantic love between male characters. These homo-erotic titles which can sometimes be quite explicit are enjoyed by a great number of women in Japan, in fact, there are many more female readers of yaoi manga than there are male readers. There is no equivalent to shounenai in the world of Western comic books.

- posted by InouKai, March 9th 2008.