Thursday, November 30, 2017

ww, www, wwww - Meaning in Japanese

In Japanese, a sequence of w's written at the end of a sentence in an internet comment (w, ww, www, wwww, and so on) is a slang like "lol," "lmao," or "rofl" in English. In manga and anime, it's particularly used by internet troll characters, and otaku, leaving snarky comments and starting flame wars.

Examples of w's being used at the end of sentences in Japanese internet speak.
Anime: Nyan Koi! にゃんこい! (Episode 2)
Anime: Uncle from Another World, Isekai Ojisan 異世界おじさん (Episode 1)
Anime: Inuyashiki いぬやしき (Episode 6)
Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Japanese Christmas Words

Since it's almost Christmas, I figured I should make a list of Japanese words related to the holidays, including some assorted vocabulary and phrases, too.

Anime Jesus Christ in Christmas, his birthday, eating a Christmas cake as a birthday cake, from the anime movie Saint Oniisan  聖☆おにいさん
Saturday, November 25, 2017

chuuni 中二, 厨ニ

What is the meaning of chuuni in Japanese?

For starters, chuuni 中二 is the abbreviation of the school year chuugaku ni-nen 中学二年, meaning "middle-school, second-year," however, it's sometimes used to refer to a specific type of character or person.

What is a chuuni character in anime?

In this case, chuuni 厨ニ (spelled with different kanji) is an abbreviation of chuunibyou 中二病, "middle-school second-year syndrome," which refers to when someone acts and talks like they live in a fantasy game, in the manga world, with magic, evil organizations, and stuff like that.

Dark Flame Master, also known as Togashi Yuuta 富樫勇太, example of chuunibyou 中二病.
Character: Dark Flame Master, Togashi Yuuta 富樫勇太
Anime: Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! 中二病でも恋がしたい! (Episode 1)

chuunibyou 中二病

What does chuunibyou mean in Japanese?

Literally, chuunibyou 中二病 translates to "middle school second-year syndrome," as in a disease someone around 13–14 years old would get. It's also romanized chūnibyō.

Sometimes, an anime character is said to have chuunibyou, to be a chuuni 厨ニ, but what is chuunibyou? Is it even a real disease?

Not really. The term chuunibyou 中二病 refers to thinking, acting, or talking like you live in a fantasy game, or in the world of a manga, with magic, secret organizations, super powers, and so on. Something which is extremely embarrassing and cringe for anyone older than 13 years old, and that you'll absolutely regret doing in front of others later in your life.

Dark Flame Master, also known as Togashi Yuuta 富樫勇太, example of chuunibyou 中二病.
Character: Dark Flame Master
Anime: Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! 中二病でも恋がしたい! (Episode 1)

学生, Gakusei & Words for "Student" - Vocabulary

In anime set in school it's normal to hear a bunch of words containing sei 生 that mean "student, " be it gakusei, shougakusei, chuugakusei, koukousei, seito, ichinensei, tenkousei, rettousei, danshikousei, joshikousei, and so on. But what's the meaning of these words? And the differences between them?

School Years in Japanese

For reference, a list Japanese school years, grades, and the ages characters attend school in anime. Including terms like shougakkou ichinen 小学校一年,.chuugakkou sannen 中学校三年, koukou ichinen 高校一年 and so on.

学校, Gakkou & Words for "School" - Vocabulary

Most anime is in a school, and everybody knows "school" in Japanese is a gakkou 学校. But is it a shougakkou 小学校 or a chuugakkou 中学校? Wait. What's the difference between shougakkou and chuugakkou, again? What about koukou??? What are the meanings of all these words?!
Wednesday, November 22, 2017

NG

In Japanese, "NG" means something "is not permitted," that it "is not okay," that it is "censored," or that someone "can't handle" something.

It's pronounced enu-jii エヌジー.

See also: Alphabet Letters in Katakana.

法律違反すると止められるんだ マネしちゃうからって NG
Manga: Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun 月刊少女野崎くん (Volume 1, Chapter 2, Page 20, 言ったもん勝ち)
Monday, November 20, 2017

baka gaijin 馬鹿外人

In Japanese, baka gaijin 馬鹿外人 means "stupid foreigner." It's also spelled baka gaijin バカ外人.

In English, baka gaijin is a meme, a self-deprecating phrase used sarcastically by weebs and people learning Japanese.

Note that the word gaijin, "outsider," is considered to be rude by some, and gaikokujin 外国人, "person from another country," would be the less offensive term. However, since the point of the meme is being self-deprecating, it's baka gaijin, not baka gaikokujin.

すいませーん おわ! 外国人! ハハッOK OK
Manga: Giant Killing
  • Context: a kid sees a foreigner.
  • suimaseen...
    すいませーん
    (a contraction of...)
    • sumimasen
      すみません
      Excuse me.
      Sorry.
  • owa!
    おわ!
    Whoa!
  • gaikokujin!
    外国人
    A foreigner!
  • haha' ok ok
    ハハッOK OK
    Hahah. Ok. Ok.
Sunday, November 19, 2017

betsuni 別に

The word betsuni is one of those words you're sort of forced to hear in anime. Every tsundere must be fluent in betsuni before getting their license, and every bored character must be able to say betsuni in answer to practically every question in order to show how much he doesn't care about things. But wait... are these two betsuni the same betsuni? What does betsuni mean in Japanese?

勘違いしないでよね!! 別にあんたのためじゃにんだからね!!!
Manga: Nichijou 日常 (Chapter 44)
Saturday, November 18, 2017

Juuni Taisen: Warrior Taglines Explanation

This season we have Juuni Taisen 十二大戦, "the great battle of twelve [warriors]," and one cool thing about this anime is that every warrior has a different way of killing, and that way of killing gets an immense tagline on screen.

Each tagline tells what a character is about, but some subtitles' translations have taken some huge liberties in translating the taglines from Japanese, so watchers end up associating phrases to characters that the original author didn't intend for people to associate.

In this post, I'll write the original Japanese taglines and some very literal translations, and explain how the Japanese works and their actual meanings in English like chewing and putting in mouth in a way easy to understand.

Rat - Ox - Tiger - Rabbit
Dragon - Snake - Horse - Sheep
Monkey - Chicken - Dog - Boar
And an image chart at the end.
Friday, November 17, 2017

masaka まさか

The word masaka means "it can't be," right? Or "could it be," right? That's its meaning, right? That what masaka means in Japanese, right? I mean, bakana! doesn't actually mean "impossible!" So... could it be that... masaka...?!
Thursday, November 16, 2017

bakana! バカな!

In Japanese, baka na バカな means something is "stupid."

But, often, b-b-b-bakana!!! translates to English as "impossible!!!" or "it can't be!!!" and it's typically used by villains when the protagonist does something extremely absurd that ruins all their plans.

Bakana! How can this be?! From the translation, the word bakana has literally nothing to do with "stupid." It means "impossible," for kamisama's sake! So what's going on here?

なにィ!!そんなバカな!
Manga: Yotsuba to! よつばと! (Chapter 66, よつばとでんきや)

moe zokusei 萌え属性

In anime, a "moe attribute," or moe zokusei 萌え属性 in Japanese, refers to something which someone thinks is cute in a character or situation, or, more broadly, feels moe 萌え towards. See types of moe for a list of examples.

Basically, it refers to a fetish, but the term "fetish" carries a sexual connotation, which isn't necessarily the case with moe attributes.

For example, if you like characters that wear "glasses," megane 眼鏡, then you're "glasses-attribute," megane-zokusei 眼鏡属性. Conversely, a character that's designed specifically to appeal the glasses-loving folks is also said to be megane-zokusei.

Types of Moe

WIP
For reference, a list of a Japanese words, tags, labels, etc. associated with moe 萌え and moe attributes.

moe buta 萌え豚

In Japanese, moe buta 萌え豚, "moe pig," is a derogatory and often self-depreciating slang referring to a type of otaku that likes manga and anime focused on moe 萌え.

In other words, it refers to anime fans that like anime with lots of cute girls and bishoujo 美少女 characters. It's derogatorily because they're admitting they'll watch anything if the author puts a cute girl in it. They're easily bought with cuteness.

If you give them moe, they'll flock to you like pigs.

虫に囲まれるのは嫌だぁ! 豚が・・・っ萌え豚がいいーーーー!!
Manga: Blend S, ブレンド・S (Volume 3, Page 16)

gap moe ギャップ萌え

In anime, gap moe, or gyappu moe ギャップ萌え, is a type of moe where a single character or scene features two vastly different and perhaps opposing characteristics, unlikely to occur with each other. Specifically, the term refers to moe 萌え derived from this "gap" between the characteristics.

A classic example is a heartless school delinquent who finds a stray cat in the rain and decides to keep it. The gap between his usual uncaring self and his pet-caring self is considered gap moe.