Back to Home
Back to Course Home
These words are just simply good to know.
Anime= An abreviation for Japanese animtaion.
Chan= In the japanese version, Serena always called Mamori "Mamori-Chan." Chan is kinda like showing respect and familarity, I may be corrected on this because when I looked it up in a dictionary it said "suffixe used for a familiar(female) person." This just confused me but I'm positive that Mamori (Darien in Englsih version) is NOT a girl so I had to go with what I remember from reading a dvd jacket.
Hentai= If you ever see this word run away because you DON'T want to see what it is. It's Japanese cartoon porn. Well, it can also be used to refer to someone, calling them a pervert. The literal meaning is "strange."
Ki,Chi= These words, from what I've seen so far, have been used in the same sense from what I've seen. I may be corrected in this, but in the case of Sailor Moon or Dargon Ball, it meant "energy" or "spirit energy."
Otaku= Japanese word for obsesive fan, meaning in a bad way. However, anime fans often call themselves this but take it a lot more lightly then its actual meaning intends.
Sakura= This is a name you might come across every so often when watching anime (Card Captor Sakura, Sakura from Rival Schools). It means cherry blossom. Keep in mind that cherry blossoms and cherry trees are a big thing in Japan, they even have a whole festival about it!
San= A suffixe for Mr. or Mrs.
Senpei= When I saw this used, it was a word used by a student to an older student, the older student being a girl. It's basicaly like calling a female "ma'am" out of respect, or in the the younger student's case, reluctant respect.
Sensei= If you ever hear or see this used in an anime, it will most likely mean "teacher" or "master." It does have other meanings though.
Shojó=Manga directed toward women.
Usagi= Japanese word for "rabbit." If you ever watch Sailor Moon, you'll notice she has a lot of stuff with a bunny on them or are shaped as. This is because in the Japanese version her name is Usagi, not Serena. Also, there is a Japanese story that there is a bunny on the moon that makes candy for good children. Sailor Moon happens to come from the moon.
Yatta= I can't remember the actual phrase, but yatta is a slang abreviation for "we did it," which is used joyously. You may hear this word a couple of times if you ever watch an anime in Japanese but with English subtitles.
Did I make any mistakes? I'm sure I did, and I am no Japanese expert so please correct me if you know I'm wrong on anything.