Are you frequently left confused by strange words employed in conversations relating to anime? Fret not for the Anime Academy and the Anime History department understand your needs and offer this glossary of anime idioms to help you never lose face again.

Ai (ah-ee): Love

Arigato (ah-ree-gah-to): "Thank you". Can be amplified by subsequently adding gozaimasu (go-zah-ee-mas)

Anime (ah-nee-meh): Japanese animation

Baka (bah-kah): An idiot, term most commonly used to make fun of someone’s lack of intelligence. It sometimes precedes a mean knock on the head

BGM (Background Music): Music featured in an anime soundtrack and played during the anime itself

Bishoujo (bee-sho-jo): A pretty girl

Bishounen (bee-sho-nehn): A pretty boy. Often having long hair and a feminine figure, it is sometimes hard to discern the gender of an anime bishounen. Be careful

Cel: Layer of an illustration. Instead of having to draw every frame of animation individually, animators superimpose transparent sheets allowing them to keep the same background while moving characters around. Authentic cels are often made available for purchase

CGI or CG (Computer Generated Imagery): Use of computers to produce different effects, backgrounds or entire sequences in anime

Chibi (chee-bee): Small. Chibi characters in anime are short and consequently cute. Often used as a prefix. Also see Super-Deformed

Con (Convention): A gathering of people sharing the same interests. There are many annual anime conventions everywhere in the world

Cosplay (Costume Play): A very popular activity during anime conventions, also referred to as masquerading. It consists of dressing up as an anime or video game character to participate in contests or simply for fun

Demo (deh-mo): But. Commonly the first word of a rebuttal

Doujinshi (doh-jeen-shee): Fan based art inspired by official anime or manga. Also referred to as fanzine

Dub (Dubbed Anime): As opposed to a subtitled anime, dubs have voice tracks in languages differing from the original Japanese voice actors

Ecchi (eh-chee): Indecent. Comes from the Japanese pronunciation of "H" which in turn is the first letter of hentai (pervert). In anime, ecchi can describe mild sexual scenes

Eye Catch: Prolonged frames of art used midway into an anime and often display its name along with a quick tune. It is used as a transition before and after commercials of anime series airing in Japan. Most distributors leave eye catches in VHS and DVD releases

Fandom: A group of individuals having the same obsession on a particular subject, anime for one

Fanfic (Fan Fiction): An unofficial writing (can be a short story, script or novel) using characters from an existing anime, manga or game

Fan Sub: Often done to allow non-Japanese viewers to watch and understand unlicensed anime, fan subs are made for fans by fans and making profits off them is expressly prohibited

Gaikoku-jin (gah-ee-ko-koo-jeen): Abbreviated gai-jin (gah-ee-jin), a foreigner. Gai-jin is used by Japanese as an impolite reference to outsiders lacking refinement while gaikoku-jin is the more respectful term

Gomen Nasai (go-men nah-sah-ee): "I'm sorry". Also see sumimasen

Hai (hah-ee): Yes. Also indicates paying attention to someone's oration

Hentai (hen-tah-ee): Its direct translation means "pervert" and refers to any scene or movie that explicitly presents nudity or sexual acts. Can also be used to describe a person who is strange or out of the ordinary

Hiragana (hee-rah-gah-nah): One of the three types of Japanese lettering consisting of 46 syllables. It is a basic script and can be used to name anything of Japanese origin. Can be identified by its smooth and curved characters

Honorific: Short status indicators place immediately after one's last name. Used frequently in Japan, these can be confusing since they make someone's name appear altered in specific occasions

• -chan (chahn): Small or baby. Used among very close friends and relatives, especially females
• -kohai (ko-hah-ee): One's junior. Usually substituted with –kun or -chan
• -kun (kun): Used among very close friends and relatives, especially males
• -sama (sah-mah): Lord. Used when addressing people of utmost respect or when referring to gods. Usually employed in concurrence with a title but can also be used with a name
• -san (sahn): A close equivalent to Mr. and Mrs. Used as a respectful method of addressing people of similar status
• -senpai (sen-pah-ee): Upperclassman. Used in relation to fellow classmates of higher level or age
• -sensei (sen-say): Teacher, master or doctor. Used either at school or while being involved in a discipline or art

Iie (ee-eh): No

Image Album: A CD regrouping music made to set the mood for a particular manga, novel or video game. Hundreds of image albums are released every year. In anime, image albums are collections of songs sang by its voice actors

Itadakimasu (ee-tah-dah-kee-mas): Roughly translates to "Let's eat!"

J-Pop (Japanese Pop Music): A current trend in Japanese music, often featured in anime. Some of the more notable J-Pop artists are Aiko, Morning Musume and Hitomi Yaida

J-Rock (Japanese Rock Music): Popular J-Rock bands include L'arc-en-ciel, Chage & Aska and The Kome Kome Club

Ja Ne (jah-neh): "See ya!"

Kanji (kahn-jee): Japanese characters borrowed from the Chinese alphabet forming the base of the written Japanese language. It includes well over 2000 pictograms. Meanings can vary enormously according to the context. By far the hardest aspect of the Japanese language to master

Katakana (kah-tah-kah-nah): A more angular form of Japanese writing used to translate words of foreign origins and scientific terms

Katana (kah-tah-nah): Traditional, slightly curved blade of about 3 feet in length. Used as a weapon in Japan by swordsman of numerous eras

Kawaii (kah-wah-ee): Cute. Often used on its own when observing a situation or character having any distinct level of cuteness. See Kei's lecture on Kawaii Judgment

Key Frame: Key frames are drawn by the best artist available among the production staff of an anime. They are blatantly more detailed and often consist of close-ups of main characters

Konnichi wa (ko-nee-chee wah): One of the many different ways of saying hello in Japanese. This one is commonly used in the afternoon

Mahou Shoujo (mah-ho sho-jo): Magical girl. A unique anime genre displaying girls with super powers. Sailor Moon is an example of mahou shoujo anime

Manga (mahng-gah): Japanese comics often possessing a linear storyline that extends to several volumes. The manga industry exploded in the early 1950s and was used as inspiration for many anime

Manga-ka (mahng-gah-kah): A professional Japanese comic writer

Masaka (mah-sah-kah): This expression of despair can be translated as "It can't be!"

Matte (mah-teh): "Wait!"

Mecha (meh-kah): Typically used when talking about giant, human-controlled robots but can also mean any type of destructive, mechanical weapon. Constitutes a genre featuring futuristic warfare

Mite (mee-teh): "Look!"

Mobile Suit: A giant machine hydraulically acting as an extension of the pilot’s body. Sometimes abbreviated as MS

Moshi Moshi (mo-shee mo-shee): Informal Japanese greeting used when answering the phone

Nani (nah-nee): What. Can be used out of surprise or confusion

Neko (neh-ko): A cat. Can be used in conjunction with a girl or boy to describe half-human, half-cat characters in anime

Nippon (nee-pon): Japan. Also Nihon

Nosebleed: According to Japanese belief, boys get nosebleeds when they are sexually aroused. This can happen quite often in shounen anime

Ohayou Gozaimasu (o-hah-yo go-chah-ee-mahs): "Good morning"

Omake (o-mah-keh): Bonus footage for interviews or comedic relief. Sometimes hidden in anime DVDs

Onegai Shimasu (o-neh-gah-ee shee-mahs): A polite way to say "please"

Oni (o-nee): A demon

OST (Original Sound Track): Compact disc release of songs played during an anime

Otaku (o-tah-ku): A fan on an extremely obsessive level. In Japan, a derogatory term. Used anywhere outside of Japan, otaku automatically refers to an anime obsession

OVA (Original Video Animation): A direct-to-video release often divided into a handful of 30-minute episodes. Also known as OAV (Original Animated Video)

Pocky (po-kee): Popular biscuit-like Japanese snack covered with a wide variety of flavors such as chocolate or strawberry. There are many Pocky references in anime, and some Pocky brands even sport anime characters on their boxes

Ramen (rah-men): Japanese noodles. Standard college meal of choice because it's cheap and easy to make

Romanji (ro-mahn-jee): Phonetic writing of Japanese words using the Roman alphabet as used in this glossary and in most Internet discussions pertaining to anime. It is not an official Japanese lettering

Ronin (ro-neen): A student who has failed a university's entrance exam. We encourage our students to help Anime Academy ronin by hiding their Dragonball Z collection

Sayonara (sah-yo-nah-rah): One way of saying "goodbye". Can be used at any time of the day

Sei-jin no Hi (seh-ee--jeen no hee): Coming of Age Day, a holiday celebrated by twenty-year-olds who can drink, smoke and vote

Seiyuu (seh-ee-yoo): A Japanese voice actor

Sentai (sehn-tah-ee): A group of superheroes typically wearing assorted outfits. More of a sub-genre, sentai are featured in many anime, notably Bubblegum Crisis and Gatchaman

Shimatta (shee-mah-tah): "Damn!"

Shinto (sheen-to): Japan's oldest and original religion. In Shintoism, every thing and being possesses its own spirit. Shinto is based upon the worship of, and coexistence with, the natural world

Shoujo (sho-jo): A girl or young woman. Shoujo anime is a genre marketed as entertainment for young girls but it is quite all right for boys to enjoy, too. Romance, love and cute guys are common themes in shoujo anime

Shounen (sho-nehn): A boy or young man. Shounen anime is a genre marketed as entertainment for young boys, often featuring a young man surrounded by attractive girls

Shounen Ai (sho-nehn ah-ee): A shoujo anime feature in which the plot concerns a romance between two males. Contains male-male relationships but not displayed as explicitly as in yaoi

Sub (Subtitled Anime): Subs consist of an anime including a written translation of the ongoing dialogue on the bottom of the screen

Sugoi (soo-goy): Incredible, awesome

Sumimasen (soo-mee-mah-sehn): "I'm sorry" Also see gomen nasai

Super Deformed: An anime art style in which characters have very small bodies shouldering large heads. Super Deformed often leads to exaggerated facial expressions and movement. Also see chibi

Sweatdrop: A comical facial expression in which someone is drawn with a giant sweat drop next to their head. Indicates personal embarrassment or a reaction to another character embarrassing him/herself

Urusai (oo-roo-sah-ee): "Be quiet!". Often seen written on the walls of the Anime Academy library

Wakatta (wah-kah-tah): Understood

Yaoi (yah-oh-ee): A male/male relationship, usually of a more sexual and explicit nature than shounen ai

Yuri (yoo-ree): A female/female relationship