Japanese Words and Phrases
Welcome!  I have put together a list of common words and phrases used when refering to anime and manga.
- Please note: I am not currently in, and have never taken, a class in Japanese.  All of these terms have been gathered from other websites, books, and my tomodachi Aaron helped me with correcting several, and gave me a ton more to add.  He is currently taking Japanese at school. I have also used my "Japanese Fundamentals" sheets that contain many useful items.  
- Also notice that if there is a oo or a ou those can be interchanged.  
- If you find ANY errors, please e-mail me with the correction.
  
   Basic Pronunciation
   Basic Anime and Manga terms
   People- what people are called (otaku, tomodachi, bishoujo, ect.)
   Name Endings- what does -chan mean on a name?
   Numbers- the numbers 1-10
   Descriptive Words- wanna describe that bishounen that just walked by?
   Conversational Words- greetings and goodbyes along with some random words
   Languages- what are kanji, hiranga and those other weird words people use when talking about writing Japanese?
   Relationships
   Question Words- single words that ask questions
   Short Sentences- introduce yourself and ask questions
   Sailor Moon Terms

Other sites:
   English "Sailor Moon" Name Translation- A basic translation of the inner senshi's names
   Shinigami's Glossary of Anime Terms- the best I've found
   English to Japanese Dictionaries
  
Basic Anime and Manga
English Japanese
Picture or Example
the word in Japanese for animation also known as Japanamation (TV version) Anime
Usagi animeNeo-Queen Serenity anime
Japanese comic books (Mixx manga is the translation of the Japanese to English)  The covers are in color but the inside pictures are in black and white. That's why you see both color and black and white manga images.


Manga


Usagi mangaNeo-Queen Serenity manga
Graphic Novels are the combined form of several mangas they are usu around 7" x 4 1/2" big and about 200 pages long Graphic Novel

Sailor Stars 1 Graphic Novel
comic strips/books) drawn by fans doujinshi
Dub- the cut episodes that are run in North America   
Some dubbing companies severely edit shows, while others leave most of it the same only editing small parts and translating
Subtitle- These are shows that still have the original voice actors, but have the translation that runs across the bottom
Fan Subs are subtitled movies that were translated by fans and not companies (sometimes with incorrect translations)
Acronym for Original Video Action, refers to anime (often for an established series) that is released directly to video as opposed to being a television series or a cinematic release; although OAVs exist in the US, they tend to be for lower-status titles that are not equated with motion picture or television releases. In Japan, however, OAVs are often better than the television series they are based on.
OVA /OAV
Favorite Japanese snack food that seems to be something of a long-standing tradition among anime otaku, they're thin cracker sticks that have been dipped in chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, and other flavors. pocky  
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People
I or me watashi
my watashi no (followed by a noun)
watashi no pocky >> my pocky
a voice actor - the person who reads the lines of a certain character seiyuu
a pretty girl bishoujo/ bishojo
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon >> Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon
a beautiful boy age 16 and under bishounen/ bishonen
handsome young man over 16 years old bisheinen
girl shojo/shoujo
boy shonen/shounen
young man over 16 sheinen
literal meaning is a polite form of "you", but the word took on the meaning of a (very) obsessed fan in Japanese, in other languages it's a popular way of calling yourself an anime fan otaku  
manga artist manga-ka
friend tomodachi  
Tobias is my tomodachi. >> Tobias is my friend.
upperclassman - in power or rank senpai
everyone minna  
Konnichiwa minna! >> Hi everyone!
Konnichiwa minna-san!
Talking about your family to others:
father chichi
mother haha
older brother ani
younger brother otooto
older sister ane
younger sister imooto
grandfather sohu
grandmother sobo
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Name Endings
ending put on a name of a best friend or relative - least formal -chan
Ami-chan, Mako-chan
ending used for anyone - normal politeness -san  
most polite ending on names - teachers, respected peers, adults -sama
Queen Beryl-sama
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Numbers
1 ichi
2 ne
3 san
4 shi (or yon)
5 go
6 roku
7 shichi (or nana)
8 hachi
9 kyuu (or ku)
10 juu
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Descriptive Words
small, a short person, kid, diminutive, a style of drawing where the characters are smaller than normal size, sometimes expressed as SD for super-deformed chibi
Chibi Scouts
nude pictures, sexually perverted, a pervert hentai
cute kawaii
Kawaii charm of chibi Sailor Mercury.
cool, amazing sugoi  
funny okashi
dirty kitanii
little chiisai
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Conversational Words
hello on telephone moshi moshi
informal good morning ohayo
formal good morning ohayo gazaimasu
hello, till the afternoon konnichiwa  
Konnichiwa minna-san >> Hello everyone
often used on websites to greet visitors
good evening konbanwa
informal good night oyasumi
formal good night oyasumi nasai
casual goodbye, even saying it to a class man one year older than you is horribly impolite ja mata ne
extremely casual goodbye, even saying it to a class man one year older than you is horribly impolite ja'ne/ja ne
more formal goodbye sayoonara
literally- sorry, I did something wrong, I'm sorry gomen nasai
sorry for a quick mess up (like being a klutz) sumimasen
very casual thank you domo
casual thank you arigatou
used on websites to thank visitors for help
thank you very much domo arigatou
thank you, used for groups of people arigatou gaziamasu
very polite thank you domo arigatou gaziamasu
yes hai
no iie
am, is, are desu (pronounced des)
used after a noun in the sentence to specify it wa
used to specify anything non-human as a noun wo
used to show possession of a noun no
Heero no onna >> Heero's woman/woman of Heero
when itsu
Yeeoowch! Itai!
whops/oh no (notice exclamation) wa!
phone number denwa bango
breakfast cho sho ku
lunch chu cho ku
dinner yu sho ku
meal shokuji
train kisha
theater gekijo
inn ryokan
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Languages
English Eigo/eego
The English alphabet, when used to transliterate (romanize) the original Japanese words (all of the Japanese terms here are written in Romaji) Romaji
Japanese >> Romanji
Japanese  >> Mizuno Ami
Japanese >> Sailor Mercury
Chinese characters as used in Japanese, with different meanings/pronunciations Kanji
One of the Japanese phonetic alphabets, mainly used for borrowed words, it was created by the government to use in teaching children - easier to write than Hirigana. Katakana
Japanese
One of the Japanese phonetic alphabets, used for native words, it's the more advanced form of katakana. Hiragana
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Relationships
love ai
boy love, guy on guy relationships, gay yaoi
more involved guy relationship shounen-ai
girl love, girl on girl relationships, lesbian yuri
more involved girl relationship shoujo-ai
I love you - very passionate, rarely used in animes, more often in fan fiction ai shiteru
I love you - affectionate rather than passionate koi shiteru
literally- I'm fond of you, you're my favorite (person), I love you
In anime, this phrase is usually used when one character makes a proclamation of love to another, especially when it's the first time he/she has said it
suki desu
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Question Words
  ka is how a question is expressed, instead of: nani?- it is: nani ka?
what? nani ka?
where? doko (ni) ka?
added to the end of a sentence to say "isn't it?" or "am I right?" ...ne ka?
Sailor Moon is sugoi, ne ka?
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Short Sentences
  ka is how a question is expressed, instead of: Ogenki desu?- it is: Ogenki desu ka?
literally- What is your name?, Are you (insert name)? Anata no namae wa (insert name) desu.
Your name please. Onamae wa.
My name is (insert name). Watashi no namae wa (insert name) desu.
Watashi no namae wa Ami desu. >> My name is Ami.
for first time meeting only- How do you do, my name is (insert name). Hajimemashite
watashi wa (insert name) desu.
Hajimemashite watashi wa Ami desu. >> How do you do, my name is Ami.
literally- Are you well?, How are you? Ogenki desu ka?
for first time meeting only- literally-please be kind to me, Pleased to meet you. Doozo yorashiku.
literally- What age are you?, How old are you? Nan sai desu ka?
to say where you're from, I am (insert name) from (insert place). Watashi wa (insert place) no (insert name) wa.
Watashi wa Amerika no Ami wa. >> I am Ami from America.
What grade are you in? Anata wa nan nensei desu ka?
Yes it is. Hai so desu.
No it isn't. Eii chigiamasu.
Wait a minute. Chottomate kudasai.
I don't know/understand. Wakarimasen.
I understand/know. Wakarimashita.
I have a question. Shitsumon garimasu.
How do you say it in English? Word wa eego de nandesu ka?
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Sailor Moon Terms
The enemies that the main enemy (such as Jedite) create in each episode to fight the senshi. youma
Sailor Pluto punches a youma
outfit, uniform
often referred to by otakus as "senshi fuku" or "sailor fuku"
fuku
Sailor Scout's fuku's
The Silver Crystal formed from the seven Rainbow Crystals.
(Sailor Moon's power comes from this)
ginzuishou
The Silver Crystal just formed from the Rainbow Crystals.Silver crystal on the Cresent Moon Wand
The Seven Rainbow Crystals that combine to make the Silver Crystal.  They were the Silver Crystal in which Queen Serenity locked the dark shadow that attacked the Moon Kingdom, she then sent it to Earth where the 7 Rainbow Crystals were born into humans (Ryo, Game Machine Joe, Hercules (cat), ect.) nijzuishou
transformation into their fuku that takes place when magical words are said (i.e. "Mercury Power, Make Up!"), using a crystal or source of power henshin
Mercury Power, Make Up!
Literally- soldier, scout in NA dub senshi  
The Sailor Senshi
For the three pure heart crystals that form the Purity Chalice there are two names used: In the NA dub they are called Treasures. For the Japanese Version they are called Talisman.
Uranus's saber.Neptune's mirror.Pluto's garnet orb.
(Tree of Evil) The Doom Tree makaiju
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