In Japanese, the word gattai 合体, written with the kanji for the words "join" and "body," means, literally, to combine two or more bodies into one. Although the term can be used in a number of ways, in anime it's pretty much always used to refer to one thing: combining mechas!!!
Meaning
The word gattai can be used for many kinds of merging, like when two companies merge, or two websites merge, and so on.
For reference, some basic gattai phrases:
- gattai
合体
Combination. (noun) - gattai suru
合体する
To combine. To merge. To unite. - gattai shita
合体した
To have combined. - gattai shiro
合体しろ
To combine. (imperative) - gattai dekiru
合体できる
To be able to combine. - gattai seikou
合体成功
Successful combination. (hurray!)
In Anime
In anime, gattai almost always refers to robots combining to form larger, more powerful robots.
This is said to be a "man's passion," otoko no rouman 漢の浪漫.
If you're a fan of the mecha genre then it's only natural you impatiently wait for that gattai scene sequence to show up in pretty much every mecha anime. People love that stuff. It's the robot equivalent of hand holding.
Besides robots combining, there are also cases of the word being used for other things combining.
For example, the series Shin Megami Tensei 真・女神転生 "True Goddess Reincarnation," features a system called akuma gattai 悪魔合体, "demon combination," which lets you fuse two or more demons into one. The demons, by the way, are not robots, they're living (?) flesh.
The Persona series also features a similar system.
Sometimes fusions in Dragon Ball are referred to as gattai, sometimes as the katakanization of "fusion," fyuujon フュージョン.
Sexual Slang
The word gattai 合体, "to merge [with something]," can also mean "to have sex [with someone]."
Now if you're wondering why in the world does it mean that, it's because there's a similar phrase in Japanese that means to make love with someone:
- hitotsu ni naru
一つになる
To become one. (literally)
To make love with. (figuratively) - X to hitotsu ni naru
Xと一つになる
To become one with X.
To make love with X.
Someone probably thought: two people "to become one" means "to make love," ergo "combination" means "love-making," and that's how the word gattai came to mean that.
- gattai
合体
Combination.- seiteki na imi de
性的な意味で
In the sexual meaning [of the word].
- seiteki na imi de
Usually you see these phrases in the -tai form instead.
- kimi to hitotsu ni naritai
君と一つになりたい
[I] want to become one with you. - anata to gattai shitai
あなたと合体したい
[I] want to combine with you.
But the wordplaying doesn't stop there.
The phrase anata to gattai shitai shows up in the anime Sousei no Aquarion 創聖のアクエリオン, which is a mecha anime
Now, usually gattai, in mecha, refers to the combining, of mechas, so the usage of this phrase is probably a joke making a reference to the genre while also making the wordplay on hitotsu ni naritai.
*wordplaying intensifies*
To make matters worse, in Aquarion, machines that gattai'd were three, normally two guys and one girl, so hetero-sex. And the anime had a lot to do with angels and stuff, so there was a thing called sousei gattai 創世合体, "Genesis gattai."
In a sequel, Aquarion Evol, you had gattai of characters of the same-sex, thus the term dousei-gattai 同性合体, "homosexual gattai" also came to be. [同性合体 - dic.nicovideo.jp, 2019-01-11]
To worsen the matters made further, of course the Japanese anime community wouldn't let this kind of high-level pun to go unnoticed, so people started using the phrase anata to gattai shitai as a meme.
To farther matter the worst making, to deal the final blow, comes, of course, as one would expect, the parody manga, containing the meme, that comes from the genre-referencing joke, that makes use of the wordplay, that's based on the idiom, that means "to make love."
- Mahiro-san wa
kono watashi ga saki ni tsuba
tsuketa-n-desu-kara ne
真尋さんは
この私が先にツバ
つけたんですからね
I called dibs on Mahiro-san first, you see.- tsuba wo tsukeru
ツバを付ける
To put spit on [something.] (literally.)
To call dibs on. (because other people won't eat something you already put your spit on.)
- tsuba wo tsukeru
- mashite kare wa
Bi-Eru-taipu janai-n-desu
まして彼は
ＢＬタイプじゃないんです
Plus he's not a BL-type. (i.e. gay.) - kare no go-rippa-na
samurai-soodo ni
tsuranukareru nowa
kono watashi nan-desuu
彼のご立派な
サムライソードに
貫かれるのはこの
私なんですぅ！！
The one to be pierced by his incredible samurai sword will be me.- I'm not even joking, this is literally what's written there.
- sonna no zurui
そんなのずるい
That's unfair. - hayai mono kachi toka
nai mon
はやいもの勝ちとか
ないもん
It's not something like the fastest one wins. - ren'ai ni ruuru nante
nai-n-da yo
恋愛にルールなんて
ないんだよ
There's no such thing as rules when it comes to romance. - bo boku datte
ma Mahiro-kun to
... sono... ga'...
gattai shitai-n-da
mon......!!
ぼ ぼくだって
ま まひろくんと
･･･その･･･がっ･･･
がったいしたいんだ
もん･･････！！
With M-Mahiro-kun
e-even I want to...
...erm... co...
combine......!!
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