Otaku's Glossarium

Otaku

Otaku (おたく / オタク) is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga or video games.  it can relate to a fan of any particular theme, topic, hobby or any form of entertainment.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ahoge

A single strand of hair that sticks out of a character's head. It literally means "stupid hair" and indicates that the character is usually stupid in some way. However, there are exceptions to this, so it is not a rule. It differs from antenna hair, in which there are two or more locks of hair sticking up as opposed to one. 

Bishoujo

Bishōjo (美少女, "beautiful young girl") is a Japanese term used to refer to young and pretty girls, usually below university age. A variant named biyōjo (美幼女) refers to a girl before the age of adolescence.

Bishounen

Bishōnen (美少年) is a Japanese term literally meaning "beautiful youth (boy)". The equivalent English concept is a "pretty boy". The term describes an aesthetic that can be found in disparate areas in East Asia: a young man whose beauty (and sexual appeal) transcends the boundary of gender or sexual orientation. Reasons for this social phenomenon may include the unique male and female social relationships found within the genre. Some have theorized that bishōnen provide a non-traditional outlet for gender relations. Moreover, it breaks down stereotypes surrounding feminine male characters. These are often depicted with very strong martial arts abilities, sports talent, high intelligence, or comedic flair, traits that are usually assigned to the hero/protagonist.

Chibi

Chibi (ちび or チビ) is a Japanese slang word meaning "short person" or "small child". The word has gained currency amongst fans of manga and anime. Its meaning is of someone or some animal that is small. It can be translated as "little", but is not used the same way as chiisana [小さな] (tiny, small, little in Japanese) but rather cute. In English-speaking anime and manga fandom (otaku), the term chibi has mostly been conflated with the 'super deformed' style of drawing characters with oversized heads or it can be used to describe child versions of characters. Chibi style is usually used in depicting scenes which are cute and/or humorous, and it is extremely rare for it to be used for an entire anime series.

Dandere

As opposed to the kuudere, a dandere character is shy and quiet with a caring and kind nature that is kept hidden inside the person. A passionate or affectionate behaviour is seldom .Dandere comes from the word danmari (sometimes spelled dammari) which as jisho.org defines, is "silence; without giving notice; taciturnity; refusing explanation; pantomime". Kuudere is just really putting "cool" together with "dere", where the person is kind of impartial or a little hard to deal with, but itsn't exactly rude or harsh like a tsundere. Basically, Dandere is more on the quiet side, and Kuudere is more on the cool side, but they do definitely have the qualities of both in them.

Ecchi

Ecchi (エッチ) is an often used slang term in the Japanese language for erotic fantasy and sexual innuendoes. As an adjective it is used with the meaning of "dirty", "naughty", "frivolous"; as a verb (ecchi suru), with the meaning to do something dirty, naughty, frivolous or to sleep together; or as a noun, to describe someone that is seen as ecchi. It's a synonym for ero (from Eros) and does not have such a harsh meaning as hentai. It used to describe sexual themes or undertones. While the word ecchi could mean anything from mild to insulting in Japanese language, it is used in Western culture to divide between pornography (hentai) and playful usage of sexualized imagery (ecchi). Works considered as ecchi don't show any sexual intercourse or primary sexual characteristics. Inside such media it often goes along with fan service in a humorous way. This kind of sexual themes or undertones can usually be found in comedic Shōnen/Seinen manga and harem anime.

Eroge

An eroge (エロゲー or エロゲ) a.k.a. hentai-games, a portmanteau of erotic game: (エロチックゲーム) or Ero-ga is a Japanese video or computer game that features erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork. Eroge originated from galge, but unlike galge, they feature erotic/pornographic content.

Fudanshi

Men who, like fujoshi, enjoy imagining relationships between characters in fictional works when that relationship is not part of the author's intent may be called fudanshi (腐男子, "rotten man") or fukei (腐兄, "rotten older brother"), both of which are puns of similar construction to fujoshi. Be warned that fudanshi and fukei are not necessarily fans of BL, although the terms are most often used in that sense, and if a male himself claims to be a fudanshi or fukei, it's almost certainly the case.

Fujoshi

Fujoshi (腐女子, "rotten girl") is a pejorative Japanese term for female fans of manga and novels that feature romantic relationships between men. Fujoshi enjoy imagining what it would be like if male characters from manga and anime, and occasionally real-life male performers as well, loved each other. The label encompasses fans of the boys love genre itself, as well as the related manga, anime, and video game properties that have appeared as the market for such works has developed. The term "fujoshi" is a homophonous pun on fujoshi, a term for respectable women, created by replacing the character 婦 (pronounced fu), meaning married woman or lady, with the character 腐 (also pronounced fu), meaning fermented or rotten. The name was coined by mass media, but was reclaimed by yaoi fans. Fans self-deprecatingly refer to their way of thinking, which perceives homosexual $3C/span>relationships between male characters in stories that do not include homosexual themes, as being "rotten". "Fujoshi" carries a connotation of being a "fallen woman". Older fujoshi use various terms to refer to themselves, including as kifujin (貴腐人, "noble rotten woman"), a pun on a homophonous word meaning "fine lady", and ochōfujin (汚超腐人), which sounds similar to a phrase meaning "Madame Butterfly"

Gothic Lolita (Gothloli)

Gothic lolita, sometimes shortened to GothLoli (ゴスロリ), is a combination of the Gothic and Lolita fashion. Gothic Lolita fashion is characterized by darker make-up and clothing. Red lipstick and smokey or neatly defined eyes, created using black eyeliner, are typical styles, although as with all Lolita sub-styles the look remains fairly natural. Though Gothic make-up is associated with a white powdered face, this is usually considered bad taste within the Lolita fashion. Some Lolita uses dark color schemes including black, dark blues and purples, although black and white remains popular. As with some Western Gothic styles, cross jewelry, religious symbols, bags and purses in shapes like bats, coffins, and crucifixes are also used to accessorize the Gothic Lolita look.

Hentai

Hentai (変態 or へんたい) is a Japanese word that, in the West, is used when referring to sexually explicit or pornographic comics and animation, particularly those of Japanese origin such as anime, manga, and computer games. The word hentai is a kanji compound of 変 (hen; "change", "weird", or "strange") and 態 (tai; "attitude" or "appearance"). The term is used as a shortened form of the phrase 変態性欲 (hentai seiyoku) meaning "sexual perversion". In Japanese slang, hentai is used as an insult meaning roughly "pervert" or "weirdo". The English use of hentai is more similar to the way the Japanese use the slang term エッチ (H or ecchi), which refers to any sexually explicit content or behaviour. The Japanese seldom use the term hentai to refer to pornography in Japan. Instead, terms such as 18-kin (18禁, "18-prohibited"), meaning "prohibited to those not yet 18 years old", and seijin manga (成人漫画, "adult manga") are used. Less official terms also in use include ero anime (エロアニメ), ero manga (エロ漫画), and the English acronym AV (for "adult video").

Hikikomori

Hikikomori (ひきこもり or 引き籠もり, "pulling away, being confined", i.e., "acute social withdrawal") is a Japanese term to refer to the phenomenon of reclusive people who have chosen to withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement because of various personal and social factors in their lives. The term hikikomori refers to both the sociological phenomenon in general as well as to people belonging to this societal group.

Kudere

An anime/manga slang term for a character that is cold, blunt, cynical, and petty much doesn't care if her beloved dies. That's what she is on the outside but she is actually caring and nice on the inside. Kuudere is when the character only occasionally shows her caring side.

Lolita Complex (Lolicon)

Lolicon (ロリコン), also romanised as lolikon or rorikon, is a Japanese portmanteau of the phrase "Lolita complex". In Japan, the term describes an attraction to underage girls (whether prepubescent, pubescent, or post-pubescent) or an individual with such an attraction. It is also commonly used when referring to lolicon manga or lolicon anime, a genre of manga and anime where in child like female characters are often depicted in an erotic manner, in an art style reminiscent of the shōjo manga (girls' comics) style. Outside Japan, "lolicon" is in less common usage and usually refers to the genre.

Moe

Moe (萌え) is a Japanese slang word. It means "a rarefied pseudo-love for certain fictional characters (in anime, manga, and the like) and their related embodiments. The word has come to be used to mean one particular kind of "adorable", one specific type of "cute", mainly as applied to fictional characters. The word is occasionally spelled Moé, and was originally related to a strong interest in a particular type or style of character in video games,anime or manga. "Moe!" is also used within anime fandom as an interjection. Girls who are moe are called moekko (萌えっ娘) from the honorific "娘" meaning "female child".

Nijikon

Nijikon (二 次 コン) Is Japanese slang term used to refer to people who are just interested in or obsessed with the form of two-dimensional characters of the anime,manga, and video games, which incidentally is depiksi two dimensions on paper or screen, as well as figure dolls of the characters. This term is an abbreviation of the term Nijigen kompurekkusu (二 次元 コンプレックス). 

Otaku-obsessed to one or more characters in anime, manga, or video game Nijigenrefer to themselves as otaku (Niji Ota) or 2-dimensional otaku fans. Instead, otaku's himself never claimed he was suffering from Nijikon.

In serious cases, the male patients Nijikon just have a love for female characters in anime, manga, or video games. In men and women with Nijikon, sexual interest to humans of the opposite sex or the real life isn't there anymore.

Shōnen-ai

The Japanese words "shōnen" and "ai" individually mean "boy" and "love," which is exactly what shōnen-ai means, boy-love. It refers to anime and manga that focus on love and romance (as opposed to sex) between boys or men (typically bishōnen). The euphemistic Japanese borrowing of the English translation of this phrase, "boys love". Some boys-love is pornographic but much of it is not.  Shōnen-ai originally connoted ephebophilia or pederasty in Japan

Tsundere

Tsundere (ツンデレ) is a Japanese character development process that describes a person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing their warm side over time. The word is derived from the terms Tsun Tsun (ツンツン), meaning to turn away in disgust, and Dere Dere (デレデレ) meaning to become 'lovey dovey'. 

Yakuza

Yakuza (ヤクザ or やくざ), a.k.a gokudō (極道), are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan (暴力団), literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" (任侠団体 or 仁侠団体), "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously known for their strict codes of conduct and very organized nature. They are very prevalent in the Japanese media and operate internationally with an estimated 80,900 members.

Yandere

Yandere (ヤンデレ), is a portmanteau of two Japanese words yanderu (病んでる), meaning to be sick, and deredere (デレデレ), which is defined as exhausted or lovestruck, but in this case used for "lovestruck." The word was development from tsundere which describes a character who is both hard-nosed or moody tsuntsun (ツンツン) and the aforementioned lovestruck. The sick portion was added when a new layer of romantic obsession came about beyond normal tsundere (where cool emotions were warmed and nurtured towards awkward and sexualized tension) where seemingly normal displays of affection become mentally dilapidated.

Yaoi

Yaoi (やおい) also known as Boys' Love, is a Japanese popular term for female-oriented fictional media that focus on homoerotic orhomoromantic male relationships. As these depict males, there is an androphilic male audience as well, however manga aimed at a gay male audience is considered a separate genre. The main characters in yaoi usually conform to the formula of theseme (攻め "attacker") who pursues the uke (受け "receiver"). In Japan, the term has largely been replaced by the rubric Boys' Love(ボーイズラブ). Came from Yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi (ヤマなし、オチなし、意味なし) "No climax, no point, no meaning".

Yuri

Yuri (百合), also known by the wasei-eigo construction Girls' Love (ガールズラブ), is a Japanese jargon term for content and a genre involving love between women in manga, anime, and related Japanese media. Yuri can focus either on the sexual, the spiritual, or the emotional aspects of the relationship, the latter two sometimes being called shōjo-ai by western fans. Although yuri originated in female-targeted (shōjo, josei) works, today it is featured in male-targeted (shōnen, seinen) ones as well.