Keywords Defined
While many of the keywords are easily defined, some may have special meanings. As such, here's a list to help you choose which keywords are appropriate for the anime title you are reviewing. Often, many keywords may be appropriate to a particular title.Acquired Taste: These are titles which may take a while to get used to. As such, you should watch several episodes before making up your mind. FLCL, Di Gi Charat, & Serial Experiments Lain are examples of such titles.
Action: Lots of shooting, explosions, and the like. Contains subcategories of more specific types such as Gun-Action, Martial Arts, and Swordplay; see also: Fighting.
Action Comedy: Much like above except it has comedy thrown in as well.
Action Drama:
Adventure: Titles where the characters are involved in an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks.
All Ages: Pretty self-explanatory. This title should be safe for people of any age to watch. Rated "G" stuff.
Angels: A sub-category of "Supernatural". Titles of this category should bei those where at least one of the lead characters is a being from heaven, regardless whether the show names this character as "angel", "goddess" or something else.
Animals:
Artificial Girls: Shows that involve one or more androids shaped like attractive girls. Good examples would be Chobits, Mahoromatic, and Koutetsu Tenshi Kurumi.
Arty: Titles which are showily or pretentiously artistic.
Bishoujo: [edit] (/Beautiful Girl/) Typically refers to shows based off of sexually explicit computer games.
Bishounen: [edit]
(/Beautiful Boy/) To qualify, the title has to be filled with beautiful, young boys (often with long, flowing hair) no older than high school aged. Inuyasha and Tenkuu no Escaflowne have both been marked as bishounen.
Children: Self-explanatory -- for the kids.
Classic: Older anime titles, from the 80's back. What the actual amount of time that has to expire must be is unknown to me, but as a rule of thumb, a title should at least be 10-years old. Rupan Sansei is an example of a classic title.
College: The nature of a story line are often defined by both the age and issues that the main character has to confront. A student in college would approach a situation very differently than someone in middle-school. This tag is intended suggest that the story is more mature (or perhaps less hormonally driven and spastic) in its nature. Aa! Megami-sama! OVA and Ai Yori Aoshi are both very good examples as to the fun adventures of a college-aged students.
Comedy: Self-explanatory -- a title that primarily makes you laugh.
Comedy Fantasy:
Coming of Age: A story in which the main character is confronted with issues related to their transition from adolescence (innocence) to adulthood (responsibility). Most typically found in a modern romance story in which the main character has to confront his/her feelings over their first love
Competition: : A story which uses incorporates a competitive event as a primary component of the story line, but which is not of a martial-arts or violent nature. While both being cooking based series, Yakitate!! Japan and Chuuka Ichiban are good examples of this genre.
Creepy: Self-explanatory -- if the title gives you the creeps, it is creepy. :-) Boogiepop wa Warawanai is a good example.
Cyberpunk: A sub-genre of science fiction dealing with future urban societies dominated by computer technology. Baburugamu Kuraishisu, Serial Experiments Lain and Koukaku Kidoutai are good examples.
Dark: Titles that are dismal or gloomy in nature qualify for the dark category. Blue Gender, Shin Seiki Evangelion, and Noir have all been called dark titles.
Dating Sim Spinoff
- Like Video Game Based below, usually an anime starts out it's life as a manga. A Dating sim can also become an anime. Dating sims follow a set choice or path and feature Bad,Good,and True Endings. An example of a Dating Sim gone anime is Tsukihime. Most of the dating sims though are Ero-based an usually involve the main character trying to 'date' each of the girls in the game. The anime usually picks one of the harem of girls available and plays her 'true ending' out. Other dating sims such as Fate/Stay Night are not usually Ero in nature but still follow the other rules.
- Example : In the game Tsukihime we have a choice of Arcueid, Akiha, Ciel, Kohaku, and Hisui (Note:Not Satsuki), but the producers pick the Arcuied path to show you.
Depression: Titles that contain characters who suffer from depression would fall into this category if this is of significant importance for the storyline. Alien Nine, Haibane Renmei and Kimi ga Nozomu Eien are examples for this category.
Drama: Titles that show a state, situation, or series of events involving interesting or intense conflict of forces.
Ecchi: (/the mild form for pervert or perverted/) This are non-pornographic anime titles which have a high amount of fanservice, nudity, or other sexual content. Po-Po-Tan and Onegai Twins are recent titles which fit perfectly into this category.
Elementary School: Self-explanatory. Elementary school (class 1 to 6 in Japan) should play a major role in the title. Alien Nine is an example of this category.
Epic: These would be titles which recount the deeds of a legendary or historical hero. Inuyasha is a good example of an epic title.
Erotic Comedy: Usually a hentai title with comedic elements in it.
Evang*lion Clone: Every popular series has its clones and Shin Seiki Evangelion is no exception. So, if the title looks like someone else attempting to do EVA, it qualifies. Some people have called Dual! Paralle Lunlun Monogatari an Evang*lion clone despite the fact that it is a parody; Rahxephon contains a lot of Evangelion elements but still tells its unique story.
Fan Service: This is a term coined to identify things like jiggling breasts, cleavage shots, panty shots, bra shots, closeup shots of women's breast, legs, butt, etc., and mild nudity all for the purposes of "servicing" the audience. The term has a second meaning covering things like massive action sequences, explosions, fights, etc., but it mostly refers to the first meaning.
Fantasy: Titles that deal in might and magic will fall into this category. Inuyasha and Tenkuu no Escaflowne are a couple of titles which fall into this genre.
Fighting: Self-explanatory. Series who's primary focus is fighting would fit into this segment. Yu Yu Hakusho and Ranma 1/2 are classified as fighting series. But if you can, then please select a more specific keyword instead, such as "Gun-Action" or "Swordplay"; maybe some day we'll completely split up this category into some more terms of this sort.
Friendship:
Gender-Bender: Titles of this category should contain at least one character who is able to occasionally change its gender, or contain several beings of different genders within the same body. Ranma 1/2 and Tetsuwan Birdy are examples of this category.
Genie: Considering that genies are a "magical spirit believed to take human form and serve the person who calls it", I would say that a title which has a character who fits this description would qualify. Some people have said that Aa! Megami-sama! OVA and Shinpi no Sekai El Hazard are genie titles.
Gun-Action: A subcategory of "Action". Entries with this keyword should contain the use of firearms (that are small enough to be handled by one or two persons). Gun Smith Cats and Iria Zeiram the Animation are examples of this category.
Harem: This is a sub-genre of the romantic-comedy genre. To qualify, you have to have a single, dateless, nice guy who suddenly finds himself surrounded by a bunch of hot girls/women who are interested or attracted to him to varying degrees. The male lead may also live with many of these girls. Tenchi Muyou! Ryououki is the father of the harem genre. Other good titles include (but not limited to) Love Hina, Ai Yori Aoshi, & Hand Maid May.
Hentai: (/the strong form for pervert or perverted/) All pornographic anime falls into the hentai category. Hentai titles all have strong sexual content (which may or may not have a censorship mask depending on if an uncensored version was released) but they can have surprisingly good stories (Gosenzo San-E), be very funny (Spaceship Agga Ruter), be cute (Elf no Waka Okusama), or a combination. Of course, they can be sick as well and there are tons of those titles out there.
- As a side note : Hentai is an exclusive Western term. In Japan Hentai means Perverted old man or creep. All 'Hentai' games and videos are called Ero (Erotic) nowadays. So Shuffle would be called an Ero-Sim instead of a Hentai-game.
High School: Self-explanatory. High school (grades 10-12) should play a major role in the title. Azumanga Daioh is an excellent example of this category. A typical High school series will include a Sports Festival, a Cultural Festival, and a school Trip.
Historical: Self-explanatory. This should be a title rooted in historical events. Hotaru no Haka is a great historical title.
Horror: Self-explanatory.
Incest: This is about sexual relations amongst close relatives, which tend to be a no-no in most societies. Koi Kaze is an example of this category.
Josei: This is a term that means "school girl." In terms of anime, it refers to older school girls (vs. "shoujo" which is for the younger school girls).
Kawaii: (/cute or adorable/) If you've watched anime in Japanese, you've heard characters use the term 'kawaii'. So if the title makes you want to say that, then it fits. Chibits & Aa! Megami-sama: Chichai tte Koto wa Benri da Ne are kawaii titles.
Kid at heart:
Lolicon: This the Japanese term for an attraction to underaged girls, usually 8-16 in age though I suppose all underage girls could quallify depending on how they are "built". This attraction is usually by older men, but can also involve older women as well. Koi Kaze is an example of this category.
Magic: Titles which don't fall into the fantasy category but still feature magic.
Mahou Shoujo: [edit] (/Magic Girl/) These are titles which feature young girls who are given magical powers by a powerful entity or come from a realm where magic is the norm. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon is a classic example of the genre and Ultra Maniac TV is a modern version of the genre.
Martial Arts: A subcategory of "Action".
Mecha: This is a genre of anime which features mechanical fighting machines. Often these take the form of giant robots but this isn't the only form mecha can take. There are tons of examples of mecha titles considering the popularity of the series. Blue Gender, Shin Seiki Evangelion, Tenkuu no Escaflowne, and Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 are all mecha titles.
Middle School: Self-explanatory. Middle School (grades 7-9) should play a major role in the title. Mimi wo Sumaseba is an example of this category.
Modern: These are titles which have a modern feel to them.
Moe: (pronounced moé or moe-eh as it is a Japanese word - meaning to Burn or Burning Feelings) Titles that have a character or characters who are generally young in age, have a naive or innocent view of life, and "some obvious sympathetic weakness they work hard to correct" would be considered moé. A character or personallity trait that "elicits a protective or loving response from the audience" would also quallify (quotes taken from Wikipedia). Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's would be considered a moe title because of the wheelchair-bound character of Hyatte-chan. In modern terms moe has been evolving to the point where moe may apply to objects and not just young girls. Unfortunately moe can be taken to the extreme. See:Lolicon
Movie: Self-explanatory. This should only apply to movies released in the theater.
Music: If a title deals with music as significant element of the story, and / or the lead characters are musicians and this is significant for their role in the story, then use this keyword. Idol Project is a story about the pop business, Aquarian Age is a story about a rock band, Rahxephon is about using music to 'retune the world' - they all belong into this category.
Music Oriented: If a title has to do with music but neither makes this the main storyline nor has a musician as lead character, then you might still use this keyword. Mimi wo Sumaseba would be a good example for this category.
Mystery: The old "who-done-it" type titles should go here. Just because a series asks questions and things are a mystery to you (ie: Shin Seiki Evangelion) doesn't mean it is a mystery title. CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan is a true mystery anime title.
Ninja: If the anime deals with Ninja (or Shinobi), then it goes here.
OVA: (Original Video Animation) These are the direct-to-video anime titles done in Japan. Often, OVAs can start a franchise (Tenchi Muyou! Ryououki), start a TV series (Mahou Tsukai Tai!), be a sequel to a TV series (Love Hina Again), or be a stand-alone title (Aa! Megami-sama! OVA). Sometimes, the OAVs are named the same as the TV series and thus will sometimes have the term OVA listed after the title's name to seperate it.
Occult: Titles involving the action or influence of supernatural agencies or some secret knowledge of them.
Otaku: A fan of anime. A rabid fan of anime. This is a group of people who are obsessed with animes and want to know everything from the color of Kaede's hair to her VA's bloodtype. In America, Otaku are seen as a group of people who like to watch cartoons and dress up in funny costumes. So Otaku in America almost means Geek. In Japan, Otaku are the 'untouchable' creepy people that you might avoid because they smell funny or are talking to themselves in a subway. Otaku in Japan are considered Stalkers.
Parody: This would be a title which closely imitates another title, genre, culture, etc. for comic effect or in ridicule. Heppoko Jiken Animation Excel Saga is an excellent example of a parody title.
Pantsu: Somewhere past FanService and before Pervert we have Pantsu. That's japanese for panty. This applies to those animes that just seem to show flashes of panty after panty for no good reason. See Agent Aika
Pervert: Anime titles which use the perverted behavior of one of their characters for (typically) comedic effects will be tagged with this keyword. While this will usually apply to a hormonally-driven teenaged-boy, who is also the main character (such as Kawahira Keita of Inukami or Satonaka Ikko of Amaenaideyo!!), there is always room for those few uncommon exceptions – such as Mutsuki, the teenaged daughter of a Shinto Priest from the series Haunted Junction, who has a serious loli-shoti fixation (a perverted fetish for boys under 12) or Shirase (from Battle Programmer Shirase) who is always finding himself in ‘difficult situations’ with his younger cousin.
Police: Any title with a primary focus on the police or a police-type organization would fall under this category. An obvious choice would be Taiho Shichauzo! (TV) because it is all about a police station and the police who work there. Another choice would be Witch Hunter Robin since the orginization there, while not official police, do deal with investigating crime involving witches. They in effect police the witch population, thus the title would be "Police." ^_^
Psychics:
Romance: Self-explanatory. If the title has a romance story to it, it would qualify.
Romantic Comedy: [edit] Self-explanatory. In addition to having a romance, there should be humor too, often directly tied to the romance story. Love Hina, Aa! Megami-sama! OVA, Chobits, and TONS more titles all fall under this genre.
Samurai: (/warrior/) Members of this warrior class of feudal Japan (zenith: 12th to 16th century A.D.) should play an important role in an anime of this type. Hakkenden is an example for this category.
Sci-Fi: Self-explanatory. Anime of this category should contain Science-Fiction elements.
Sci-fi Western:
School Comedy: (This keyword seems rather superfluous, since a reviewer can choose "Comedy" plus either "Elementary School", "Middle School", "High School" or "College".
Seinen: (Young Man) These are titles which are geared toward young men and are to adult for the shounen crowd. Chobits is a seinen title.
Sequel: This is a title which continues a series. It may have a different name but is canon material. Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~ is a sequel of Ai Yori Aoshi.
Shinigami: A sub-category of "Supernatural". A "shinigami" is a Japanese "god of death", similar to the Grim Reaper in western cultures. Animes of this category should contain a shinigami as acting character in the storyline. Risky Safety in an example of this category.
Short: This category contains titles whose playing time is unusually short as compared to the lenght of standard anime episodes (which are roughly 20 minutes plus intro & trailer). Aa! Megami-sama: Chichai tte Koto wa Benri da Ne would be an example for a series of very short episodes; Ai Yori Aoshi - Dream Story is a very short special for a series of much longer episodes.
Shoujo: A style of artwork and story created for girls. Characterized by plots that focus on emotion and relationships, and art that tends toward the florid, with lanky characters and rather effeminite (but always attractive) men. Mostly popular with teenagers in Japan, most shoujo-style work has not spread widely, but it does occasionally gain recognition outside Japan (some examples are Revolutionary Girl Utena and X). The most common uses are "shoujo manga", litterally meaning "girls' comics", and "shoujo anime" meaning "girls' animation." Also romanized as "shojo" (actually a different word in Japanese).
(pls credit - http://animeworld.co
Shounen: [edit] Not a genre but actually a demographic. Refers to anime based on manga that was originally serialized in a magazine targeting boys of any age.
Shounen Ai: (/Boy love/) These are titles in which two male characters are involved in a homosexual relationship or in which one is hinted at. Mainly you find these in shoujo manga but some anime titles have them as well.
Shouta: This is the Japanese term for an attraction to underaged boys (the reverse of lolicon). Usually, the attraction is between an adult woman and an underaged boy, but also includes the attraction between an adult male and and underaged boy as well.
Silly-funny: Shows that have a funny, happy, innocent tone and characters which display a distinct lack of common sense.
Softcore: Shows which while they might qualify as hentai, do not have to show everything that is going on. While ‘happenings’ openly occur, they are always just off screen, out of view and never with any measure of detail, and will not include sadism, misogyny, tentacle-sex or other potentially disturbing issues. Typically these shows are comedic in tone, with a focus of being a story with strong erotic elements. Both Buttobi CPU or Sprite: Between Two Worlds (OAV) would be a good examples this genre.
Soul Mates:
Spinoff: This is a title which has its roots in an original title but has nothing to do with the original story. It could be a re-telling of the original story or use the same characters but in a different way. These titles would be considered non-canon material. Shin Tenchi Muyou! is a spinoff of Tenchi Muyou! Ryououki as is Mahou Shoujo Pretty Sammy (TV).
Spinoff-Sequel: This is a title which continues a series but has new or different characters and a different focus than the original. The characters from the original may be seen in cameo or supporting roles. These titles would be considered canon material. Tenchi Muyou! GXP is a spinoff-sequel of Tenchi Muyou! Ryououki and Onegai Twins is a spinoff-sequel of Onegai Teacher.
Sports: Self-explanatory. These titles should deal with sports.
Stalking:
Supernatural: Titles of this category are relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe (especially God, or a god, demigod, spirit or devil), departing from what is usual or normal (especially so as to appear to transcend the laws of nature or attributed to an invisible agent, like a ghost or spirit). Contains subcategories of more specific types: Angels, Shinigami, and Vampires.
Surreal: An anime that has the "intense irrational reality of a dream" qualify for this category.
Suspense: An anime title that gives you a "pleasant excitement as to a decision or outcome" should be in this classification. Noir is considered a suspense series.
Swordplay: A subcategory of "Action". This is about the art or skill of wielding a sword, esp. in fencing. Entries in this category should contain the use of swords to a large extent in scenes. Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan would be a good example.
Tenchi Clone: Anything that apparently tries to look similar to Tenchi Muyou! Ryououki.
Thematic Elements: Titles with this keyword contain "other controversial content (excluding sex, violence, bad language)". This term is used in the RIAA's rating system; it is a very diffuse notion and we should rather not use it (but use more precise terms if possible, even if this means to introduce new keywords).
Time Travel: Pretty much what it says, this anime features people who can travel through time. An anime that features Time travel (Such as Negima!) does not qualify as it was a used as a plot device where Haruhi Suzamiya features a Time Traveller even though that person only shows their power once.
Tragedy: (can we reasonably use this category without spoiling the ending of a series? Remember the reviews ought to be spoiler-free!)
TV: All anime series done for TV should go into this slot.
TV Special: This is a special sub-category of TV. These are anime movies that were made for TV. Rupan Sansei often does a TV special every year since the TV series went off the air.
Underworld:
Vampires: Self-explanatory. (A sub-category of "Supernatural".) Hellsing is a classical Vampire title, but titles like Kyuuketsuki Miyu (TV) show that there can be more than one aspect of this issue.
Video-game inspired: (who decides about "inspiration"? Shouldn't this be "Video-game based" instead?)
- The usual way for an anime to make it to the small screen is from a manga. Sometimes though the anime comes from a video game instead. Gungrave is a classic example. Take a video game from Sega about a undead who fights with musical instruments and create an Anime about love, friendship, betrayal, and a few demons.
Violent:
Vulgar: Titles that feature offensive language and are lewdly or profanely indecent.
War: [edit] Titles of this category should cover the events of a war as significant element of the storyline (even if the actual conflict doesn't get that much airtime). The opponents should be nations at least (alien races, star systems, parallel universes etc. are fine as well); conflicts between smaller organisations would rather be categorized as "fighting".
An example for a real-world war would be Hotaru no Haka, a fantasy war would be Lodoss Tou Senki (OAV), a SF war would be Saishu Heiki Kanojo.
Weird: Self-explanatory. Heppoko Jiken Animation Excel Saga is a weird title (but a funny one).
Western:
Yaoi: (/male-male relationship/) These are titles which has male characters in a homosexual relationship. The term yaoi differs from shounen-ai in that it usually implies that there will be on-screen sex.
Yuri: [edit] Yuri can be used to describe any anime or manga series (or other thing, i.e., fan fiction, film, etc.) that shows intense emotional connection, romantic love or physical desire between women. Yuri is not a genre confined by the gender or age of the audience, but by the perception of the audience. In short, yuri is any story with women (or girls) in love (or lust) with other women (or girls). (This definition is an edited version of the one that Yuricon provides.)
Note: some word definitions obtained from http://www.m-w.com/h
