AN ANIME GLOSSARY

ADR: When you see this word in the cartoon’s credits, it means Automated Dialogue Recording. That’s a mouthful, so the people who make anime and cartoons, just took the first letter of each word and use that: ADR. Actors have to make the words from the script fit the way the mouths move on the screen. It’s a hard job. Many of the actors do different voices for different characters in the same show.

Anime: Perhaps a shortened version of the English word for animation. Anime refers to cartoons in the Japanese style. Anime is sometimes called Japanimation, combing two words: Japan and Animation.

DBZ: A shortened way of saying Dragonball Z, a popular anime both in the U.S. and Japan.

Flap: A slang word used by people who do the voices for English translation. The “flap” is the way the character’s mouth moves in time with the words.

Manga: A Japanese comic book. Just like anime, comic books in Japan are not just for kids. Adults read them, too. They are fantastically successful in Japan. Most anime stories were originally comic books before they became cartoons on TV or video.

Mangaka: A manga artist and writer. Someone who creates a manga is called a mangaka.

Mech: Often attached to words to mean “mechanical.” For instance, the series might be called, “Super-Duper Space Alien-Mech” and that would tip you off that there is a robot or machine of some kind involved in the story.

-Mon: This is also attached to words, and you probably already know that it is short for “monster.” Pokémon means “pocket monster” and Digimon means “digital monster.”

OAV: (sometimes called OVA): This mean Original Animation Video. This is an anime made to be sold just on a videotape. In the U.S. when a movie comes out on videotape and not a movie theater or TV first, it often means that the movie or show was really, really bad. This is not true in Japan, where a lot of really, really good movies and shows come out on tape first.

Dr. Osamu Tezuka: Sometimes called “Japan’s Walt Disney,” he made some of the best known Japanese cartoons. His father wanted him to be a doctor, and he went to school to become a doctor, but kept drawing cartoons. The cartoon he is best known for in the U.S. was called Mighty Atom in Japan and Astro Boy in the U.S.

Seiyuu: (pronounced “say you”) The Japanese word that means voice actors. Those actors who provide the voices for anime. In most cases, American actors provide the voices when the film or television episode is brought to the U.S. One notable exception is Pikachu. The voice American audiences hear for the Pokémon is the same one that Japanese audiences hear.

Senshi: A Japanese word that means “warrior.”

Sentai: It means that the show features a “team of heros,” but sometimes also means that the show is also “live action,” like Power Rangers.

Shoujo: (or sometimes spelled “Shojo”) means anime for young girls.

Subtitles: Okay, this is a word you may already know. A subtitle is when a movie comes from another country and the translation of what the actors are saying appears written at the bottom of the screen. A lot of kids’ anime is translated by English-speaking actors and not subtitled. Pokémon would be one example of this. However, some other anime shows—usually the ones on cable or for rent at the video store—have subtitles.

-Tech: When a manga or anime series ends with “tech” like in MonsterTech (a name I just made up) or BubblegumTech, it usually means it is about technology or machines. Machines and technology are very common themes or subjects in both manga and anime.

It looks different. The Japanese drawings are different. Their drawings are better, how they draw. Mostly American cartoons do a lot of live shows, there’s not many good drawers.

—Colin

I think the shows are just for fun. Frankly I don’t think they have any messages.

—Nina