Manga Vocabulary

[Ribby]

I'm starting this topic to give people a glossary of terms dealing with manga that are usually left in Japanese (and are described as such.) If anyone has anything to contribute, along with a definition, feel free to do so. If I've written anything wrong, please correct me.

For those of you who'd like to contribute: say something along the lines of "I would like to add..." write your word in bold, followed by a short definition.

Last addition: 2/3/05

Ato-gaki: The "afterword" of a manga. While it includes actual afterwords from the author, it also includes notes or smaller comics that are (usually) published in the spaces in a magazine reserved for "story so far" explanation areas or advertisements.

Bangaihen: A bonus story. Usually published in conjunction with regular series, but sometimes not in the same magazine.

Bishoujo: Literally meaning "beautiful young lady." A term often applied to manga, anime and video games with pastel colored young girls in cute clothing.

Bishounen: Literally meaning "beautiful young man." A type of character common in manga, with androgynous good looks. Many bishounen are found in yaoi manga.

BL: Short for "boy's love," another term used to describe manga with male homosexual love affairs aimed at girls.

Bunkoban: A small tankoubon that sometimes holds more than one tankoubon worth of material. Many of them are published because the original tankoubon are out of print.

Doujinshi: Fan manga, done by amateurs (or even by some pros,) using characters from manga, anime, video games or even movies. They range in subject matter from tame to with explicit sex and/or violence. Many doujinshi artists, like CLAMP, have become professionals.

Ecchi/Etchi: Literally meaning the Japanese pronunciation of the letter H, a genre that is less tame than hentai but still has plenty of fanservice (imagine your own here.)

Ero: Japanese abbreviation of "erotic." Another term to describe sexually explicit manga.

Fanservice: A term used by American readers to describe innuendos like panty/cleavage shots, but can be applied to anything a manga-ka draws especially for his or her fans.

Gaiden: A side story. A term not limited to manga.

Hentai: Literally meaning "perverted," a genre that includes explicit sex.

Josei: A genre of manga aimed at women from college age up.

Lolikon: The Japanese abbreviation for "Lolita complex," which is a genre of stories dealing with older males loving younger girls.

Mae-gaki: The foreword of a manga. Rarely seen in published works; usually seen in fan-produced doujinshi.

Manga: The Japanese word for "comic" or "comic book."

Manga-ka: The artist of a series.

Manhwa: The Korean word for "comic" or "comic book." Korean manhwa is published in the same format as Western books.

Manhua: The Chinese word for "comic" or "comic book."

Oldschool: A slang term, which when used in conjunction with manga, refers to pre-1980's titles.

Phonebook manga: The nickname to Japanese manga magazines given by Western fans, as many Japanese manga magazines are very thick and are printed in black and white on newsprint (with a few color inserts for ads and color pages.)

Seinen: A genre of manga aimed at men from college age up.

Shounen: A genre of manga aimed at boys from elementary school age to high school.

Shounen-Ai: Meaning "young boys love," another term used to describe manga with male homosexual love affairs aimed at girls.

Shoujo: A genre of manga aimed at girls from elementary school age to high school.

Shoujo-ai: Meaning "young girls love," another term used to describe manga with female homesexual love affairs. Usually used by Westerners.

Shoutakon: The Japanese abbreviation of "Shoutaro complex" (Shoutaro being a typical male name.) The reverse of lolikon, shoutakon manga deals with older women loving younger boys.

Tankoubon: Japanese equivalent of a graphic novel. Collects a few chapters worth of material, plus a variety of things, such as notes from the author (see ato-gaki) and bonus material like sketches and bangaihen. Tankoubon are usually published a few months after the last chapter it contains is published, which leaves the author time to do any corrections or even insert alternate endings. Referred to as tanks by some people.

Tanks: Forum nickname for tankoubon. Not widely used as it leads to stale artillery jokes.

Wideban: A tankoubon that is a bit larger than standard paperback book size, usually B6 or A5.

Yaoi: A type of shoujo or josei manga depicting male homosexual relationships. Subject matter ranges from innocent puppy love to explicit sex.

Yuri: A type of manga depicting female homosexual relationships. Sometimes aimed at woman, although the term is usually applied to work aimed at males, too.

Please add to this as much as possible, as I have so much to learn from you.

[wanfu2k1]

Not just reserved to manga, but Gaiden is side story.

[Vertical_Ed]

[ QUOTE ]
Ribby said:
Tankoubon: Japanese equivalent of a graphic novel. Collects a few chapters worth of material, plus notes from the author and bonus material like sketches and bangaihen. Referred to as tanks by some people. Older works that have gone out of print in tankoubon form will often be re-published in wideban or bunkoban format, which hold more story material and have bonuses like color pages or stickers. Example: Classic manga like Dragonball, Sailor Moon and Urusei Yatsura have been published in wideban/bunkoban format.

Please add to this as much as possible, as I have so much to learn from you.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well I would not put all the rest of the info you added to graphic novel. Tankoubon does not have to have sketches, notes or ato-gaki or bangaihen... Moreover, wideban and bunkoban are tankoubon. The only difference is the size (my Matsumoto Leiji bunko's have no extras but they are in bunko size and hold more pages... my UY wide's only have an extra color page but they are wider and taller because they are B6s with more pages instead of shinshos)

... now that i used ato-gaki maybe i should define that: basically its an after word - notes/additional short manga/message from the mangaka - done for the tankoubon printed at the end of a tankoubon/gn

[Kira Cyana]

So what exactly is the difference beween wideban and bunkoban - the size? And is the "wide" in wideban the English word "wide," or is it a Japanese word?


Kira C. (AoD Manga Forum - it's educational! /images/graemlins/happy.gif )

[Vertical_Ed]

[ QUOTE ]
Kira Cyana said:
So what exactly is the difference beween wideban and bunkoban - the size? And is the "wide" in wideban the English word "wide," or is it a Japanese word?


Kira C. (AoD Manga Forum - it's educational! /images/graemlins/happy.gif )

[/ QUOTE ]

/images/graemlins/relief1.gif sorry about that sigh (dont take it personally) but this seems to come up quite a bit. we even had a whole thread on sizes before the latest purge of old threads. Hopefully we'll keep this thread for a while as a resource or something.

Anyway have you ever seen the Lone Wolf & Cub GNs from Dark Horse? Those tiny books are bunko sized. They may be small but publishers tend to put around 50% more pages than in normal tankoubon.
Wideban are just wide books. Wide here means more pages. Sometimes they are B6 size (Berserk, Trigun, Pilgrim Jager sized) other times they are A5 size (like Full Metal Panic! or Worst).

[lyndaf]

Is it worth mentioning that sometimes what's published in the magazine is different from what's published in the tankoubon? Not just added material like author free talks and bonus illustrations, but the story itself. Sometime the art work is changed or enhanced, sometimes the story is modified. I've even seen wholesale replacement of several pages which significantly change the character motivations or story. Also, many color pages in the magazines never show up in the tankoubon.

Lynda

[TougaNoMiko]

[ QUOTE ]
osaka said:

Anyway have you ever seen the Lone Wolf & Cub GNs from Dark Horse? Those tiny books are bunko sized. They may be small but publishers tend to put around 50% more pages than in normal tankoubon.
Wideban are just wide books. Wide here means more pages. Sometimes they are B6 size (Berserk, Trigun, Pilgrim Jager sized) other times they are A5 size (like Full Metal Panic! or Worst).

[/ QUOTE ]

Perhaps this information should be in the top post or something like in a list form?

[hana-chan]

[ QUOTE ]
niche_manga_reader said:
Is it worth mentioning that sometimes what's published in the magazine is different from what's published in the tankoubon? Not just added material like author free talks and bonus illustrations, but the story itself. Sometime the art work is changed or enhanced, sometimes the story is modified. I've even seen wholesale replacement of several pages which significantly change the character motivations or story. Also, many color pages in the magazines never show up in the tankoubon.

Lynda

[/ QUOTE ]
I know the final chapter for Hanakimi had pages that were never printed in that issue of Hana to Yume, but were later found in the tankouban. It made the ending quite different, actually. /images/graemlins/stunned0.gif

[wanfu2k1]

Well didn't I"s have a tottally redone ending in the tank version vs the magazine ending?

[Noodle]

In another post, d_feeback asked for help with manga terms:

[ QUOTE ]

Hey now! My name is Dennis Feeback and I am writing a new manga column for komikwerks.com that starts on 1/28. The column is called The Silent Invasion, and it is centered on how Manga might appeal to American comic readers. Ok, here is my problem. While I have been reading Manga for a year and a half (I know not very long, but hopefully that will help in getting new readers as I am one myself), I really have no clue as to what a lot of Manga ters mean. Stuff like "josei", "seinen" and so on. I thought this might make a good column as i learn myself! So anyone who helps, I will gleefully acknowlege your help in the column. So can anyone help me?

[/ QUOTE ]

[Noodle]

d_feeback:
What terms are you specifically looking for help with? Perhaps you can list everything you need help with and we can all add here. I'll start with your first post: You mentioned josei and seinen - which are basically genres.

Josei - aimed at women (not teens) - ie, 20-somethings, office ladies, etc. (older audience than "shoujo" manga)
Seinen - aimed at men (not teens) - ie, again, 20-somethings, post high school, etc. (older audience than "shounen" manga)

[Ribby]

Shonen - Literal meaning of "a few years," but applies to preteen boys. Example: Dragonball.
Shoujo - Literal meaning of "a small girl," but applies equally to all girls up to beyond high school and josei manga. Example: Sailor Moon.

[lyndaf]

In Japan, shounen, seinen, shoujo, ? (ladies) are also market category terms. Manga can be sorted by into those categories by the imprint or magazine they were published in. That's how you get things like shounen romance titles, something that doesn't exist in western publishing. Sometimes you might see something that you think is 'for girls' and people will be telling you it's shounen because it was published in a shounen magazine. Confusion gets made in the other direction too, but not as often.

There are lots of manga that don't necessarily fall into the shounen-seinen/shoujo-? groupings. For example, flower arranging manga, cooking manga, golf manga, gaming manga, etc. some of which are in seinen or josei publications, but much of which is independant of the seinen/josei classifications.

Other English term categories worth knowing include: hentai, erotic manga for men (known as ero manga in Japan); gay, gay manga for men; yaoi/boys love/shounen ai, male/male (gay) manga for women and girls (ranging from friendship only stories to hot sex).

Lynda

Doujinshi - Fan manga, done by amateurs, using characters from popular commercial manga titles. Not all doujinshi are based on manga; there are tons of Harry Potter doujinshi out there. The content can range from tame to very explicit. The quality of doujinshi can rival professionally printed works. Sometimes these amateur artists turn pro, like CLAMP. Sometimes pros do doujinshi themselves, like if they want to write out of canon. I don't think doujinshi are legal, but publishers tend to turn a blind eye, so they're very common in Japan.

[mandisaw]

[ QUOTE ]
osaka said:
[ QUOTE ]
Kira Cyana said:
So what exactly is the difference beween wideban and bunkoban - the size? And is the "wide" in wideban the English word "wide," or is it a Japanese word?

[/ QUOTE ]
Anyway have you ever seen the Lone Wolf & Cub GNs from Dark Horse? Those tiny books are bunko sized. They may be small but publishers tend to put around 50% more pages than in normal tankoubon.
Wideban are just wide books. Wide here means more pages.

[/ QUOTE ]
Ah, I think the book term distinctions make more sense if you consider them as different publication formats (mass-market paperback vs. trade paperback) and/or different editions (regular compilation vs. deluxe reprint). We'd also avoid a lot of confusion if we just used "wide" for the page size and "thick" for the number of pages. *grin*

As for a manga glossary, it's an ambitious project that always crops up every once and again. Are people looking for publisher's classifications (e.g. shoujo, josei, shounen, seinen) or fan slang (e.g. shoujo-ai, yuri, shounen-ai, yaoi, bishoujo, bishounen)? For myself, I'd like to see a listing of series title abbreviations.

[d_feeback]

[ QUOTE ]
mandisaw said:
[ QUOTE ]
osaka said:
[ QUOTE ]
Kira Cyana said:
So what exactly is the difference beween wideban and bunkoban - the size? And is the "wide" in wideban the English word "wide," or is it a Japanese word?

[/ QUOTE ]
Anyway have you ever seen the Lone Wolf & Cub GNs from Dark Horse? Those tiny books are bunko sized. They may be small but publishers tend to put around 50% more pages than in normal tankoubon.
Wideban are just wide books. Wide here means more pages.

[/ QUOTE ]
Ah, I think the book term distinctions make more sense if you consider them as different publication formats (mass-market paperback vs. trade paperback) and/or different editions (regular compilation vs. deluxe reprint). We'd also avoid a lot of confusion if we just used "wide" for the page size and "thick" for the number of pages. *grin*

As for a manga glossary, it's an ambitious project that always crops up every once and again. Are people looking for publisher's classifications (e.g. shoujo, josei, shounen, seinen) or fan slang (e.g. shoujo-ai, yuri, shounen-ai, yaoi, bishoujo, bishounen)? For myself, I'd like to see a listing of series title abbreviations.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm mostly looking for publisher's classifications, but I think the fan slang would rerally help as weel. As I said my column is to bring (hopefully!) American comics readers over to Manga. I also plan on sending readers this way, so really anything would help them (and me!) to understand the conversations better!

[d_feeback]

Bump. Anyone wat to add anything before I send in the final draft of the article. THanks to all, you are creditied n the article!

[Noodle]

[ QUOTE ]
d_feeback said:
Bump. Anyone wat to add anything before I send in the final draft of the article. THanks to all, you are creditied n the article!

[/ QUOTE ]

The list could, in theory, continue on nearly indefinitely, once you start bringing fan classifications, etc into the mix. Perhaps the better question here is, are there any other terms you personally want clarified, beyond or in addition to those already posted? There's still many things left undefined, it just depends on how much detail your article plans to go into.

[Noodle]

Since Yaoi is on the list, perhaps Yuri should be as well.

Yuri: Manga (or anime) with homo-erotic themes involving women. Graphic lesbian sex, woo!

Also, we might want to include (just for clarification purposes), as an addendum to Yaoi: BL/Shounen-ai. Many fans use Yaoi and BL (or Shounen-ai) rather interchangeably, but others will say they technically aren't the same. This sometimes causes confusion for newbies. BL (short for Boys' Love) is tamer than the explicit relationships shown in Yaoi, focusing on the romance between males, rather than the sex. For example, some BL titles show nothing more physical than a kiss or two. Shounen-ai is an older term for BL--fans in the Western community still use this word, but as far as I know it's not really used in Japan anymore. (There it now implies an even less pure intention.. ie, shota, I believe..?)

Pretty much the same paragraph could be applied to Shoujo-ai and Yuri as well, am I right?


EDIT: P.S. - Props and thanks to Ribby, for the list and periodic updates. I hope this is a really helpful resource for people.

[d_feeback]

As I have said before Im knda clueless about all this, so I really cant think of anything else. I just wanted to make sure, no one else thought of anything I didnt. The column will go in today or tomorrow and it will be up 2/7/05 at komikwerks. Thanks again Ribby, Noodle, and every one else that helped me out!

[BrianF]

[ QUOTE ]
Ribby said:
Ecchi/Etchi: Literally meaning the Japanese pronunciation of the letter H, a genre that is less tame than hentai but still has plenty of fanservice (imagine your own here.)


[/ QUOTE ]

Shouldn't that read "more tame" or perhaps "less explicit".

[keksimonsteri]

[ QUOTE ]
Noodle said:
BL/Shounen-ai. Many fans use Yaoi and BL (or Shounen-ai) rather interchangeably, but others will say they technically aren't the same. This sometimes causes confusion for newbies. BL (short for Boys' Love) is tamer than the explicit relationships shown in Yaoi, focusing on the romance between males, rather than the sex. For example, some BL titles show nothing more physical than a kiss or two. Shounen-ai is an older term for BL--fans in the Western community still use this word, but as far as I know it's not really used in Japan anymore.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've been under the impression that even if the shounen ai and yaoi terms are still used in the Western fan community, in Japan it's all BL now, whether the manga is explicit or not.

[Noodle]

[ QUOTE ]
keksimonsteri said:
I've been under the impression that even if the shounen ai and yaoi terms are still used in the Western fan community, in Japan it's all BL now, whether the manga is explicit or not.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm, you may be right -- now that you say it, it seems to me I've heard that, too. Maybe someone with more of their finger on the pulse of BL in Japan could verify. Although the distinction would probably still be helpful for the Western fans/people not-so-in-the-know.

[lyndaf]

[ QUOTE ]
Noodle said:
Also, we might want to include (just for clarification purposes), as an addendum to Yaoi: BL/Shounen-ai. Many fans use Yaoi and BL (or Shounen-ai) rather interchangeably, but others will say they technically aren't the same. This sometimes causes confusion for newbies. BL (short for Boys' Love) is tamer than the explicit relationships shown in Yaoi, focusing on the romance between males, rather than the sex. For example, some BL titles show nothing more physical than a kiss or two. Shounen-ai is an older term for BL--fans in the Western community still use this word, but as far as I know it's not really used in Japan anymore. (There it now implies an even less pure intention.. ie, shota, I believe..?)

[/ QUOTE ]

Tons of confusion.

"Boys' love" is a Japanese marketing classification. It has absolutely nothing to do with explicitness or age of characters and refers to commercially published works only.

"shounen-ai" in Japan refers to a group of shoujo comics from the 80's about characters ranging from 10-16 and is now an obsolete term. It currently can be used to refer to shota. "shounen-ai" and "boys love" are not interchangeable terms.

"yaoi" in Japan, refers to djs and sex scenes in commercial works

In western fan usage, all three terms are interchangeable with each other. yaoi appears to be the umbrella term but typically implies more explicitness. shounen-ai typically implies less explicitness. You can not assume that the term BL equates to shounen-ai in western fan usage. BL is being treated as an umbrella term but without any explicitness implications.

Lynda

[Noodle]

[ QUOTE ]
niche_manga_reader said:
In western fan usage, all three terms are interchangeable with each other. yaoi appears to be the umbrella term but typically implies more explicitness. shounen-ai typically implies less explicitness. You can not assume that the term BL equates to shounen-ai in western fan usage. BL is being treated as an umbrella term but without any explicitness implications.

Lynda

[/ QUOTE ]

Cool - thanks for the clarifications. (Knew I should have just let you explain it all..) But, exactly why I suggested the addendum -- too much confusion! *lol* I wasn't really sure if BL was a blanket term myself, because I'd seen it mostly used in regards to yaoi - but then American fans use it for shounen-ai.. /images/graemlins/stunned0.gif So, yeah. Exactly. /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif

[Ribby]

I've also wondered, too, whether "seme" and "uke" are actual terms to describe the two halves of a same-sex relationship, or the names given to the dominant/subservient by Western fans.

[Greenlily]

[ QUOTE ]
Ribby said:
I've also wondered, too, whether "seme" and "uke" are actual terms to describe the two halves of a same-sex relationship, or the names given to the dominant/subservient by Western fans.

[/ QUOTE ]

I suspect that the terms come from the Japanese fan community, if not from general society. The terms are used in at least sort of a similar manner in certain contexts- I almost had a heart attack during my first aikido class when the "attacker" and "receiver" positions were described as "seme" & "uke." /images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif

[ayumu]

[ QUOTE ]
Ribby said:
I've also wondered, too, whether "seme" and "uke" are actual terms to describe the two halves of a same-sex relationship, or the names given to the dominant/subservient by Western fans.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, the terms are used in Japan. Only by BL fans/authors talking about characters; they're not terms known by the general public. Recently, I've seen the terms "tachi" and "neko," quite often, which I assume from the way they're used in manga are the slang terms actual gay people use. (Assume, as in I really have no idea, and I don't know where the terms come from, either.)

[Ribby]

I came out of one of my Japanese youth culture classes with a few pieces of Japanese slang dealing with same-sex relationships: okama (derogatory term for a gay male,) onabe and koneko (two halves of a lesbian relationship; "onabe" meaning "pot" as a counterpart of "okama" and "koneko" meaning "kitten.")

Before any of the mods bop me for this, I'm going to post an update. So we're not going off topic.

To Greenlily: ROTFLMAO.

[d_feeback]

One last def please. Fan service.

[witega]

[ QUOTE ]
d_feeback said:
One last def please. Fan service.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's what it literally says, 'service for the fans'. Specifically, it's additional, usually gratuitous, material or details which are unnecessary to the actual story but are there just to please the readers. In English-speaking fandom, the term is particularly used for 'sexy' fan service (panty shots, hot springs episodes, bishounen lolling bare-chested in bed) but it can also apply to things like the lovingly detailed autos in Initial D or guns in Gunsmith Cats or whole panels devoted to the mechanical joints of mecha.

[shuironeko]

[ QUOTE ]
Greenlily said:
[ QUOTE ]
Ribby said:
I've also wondered, too, whether "seme" and "uke" are actual terms to describe the two halves of a same-sex relationship, or the names given to the dominant/subservient by Western fans.

[/ QUOTE ]

I suspect that the terms come from the Japanese fan community, if not from general society. The terms are used in at least sort of a similar manner in certain contexts- I almost had a heart attack during my first aikido class when the "attacker" and "receiver" positions were described as "seme" & "uke." /images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

ROFL. Snicker. Oh, thank you for that wake-up. And am I glad that I'd no exposure to yaoi culture when I was in martial arts class. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

[populuxe]

[ QUOTE ]
Noodle said:
Since Yaoi is on the list, perhaps Yuri should be as well.

Yuri: Manga (or anime) with homo-erotic themes involving women. Graphic lesbian sex, woo!

Pretty much the same paragraph could be applied to Shoujo-ai and Yuri as well, am I right?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, let's have equal time for Yuri/shoujo-ai fans.

[witega]

[ QUOTE ]
martialstax said:
[ QUOTE ]
Noodle said:
Since Yaoi is on the list, perhaps Yuri should be as well.

Yuri: Manga (or anime) with homo-erotic themes involving women. Graphic lesbian sex, woo!

Pretty much the same paragraph could be applied to Shoujo-ai and Yuri as well, am I right?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, let's have equal time for Yuri/shoujo-ai fans.

[/ QUOTE ]

Its worth noting that like Yaoi, Yuri in origin refers to material involving same-sex relationships specifically aimed at female readers. That is, both are sub-categories of shoujo/josei/OL manga. Manga about gay men aimed at gay men or about female-femaile relationships aimed at male readers don't fit into the category (though many American fans do use Yuri for anything with a hint of lesbianism or female bisexuality). Erica Sakurazawa and the Adolescence of Utena are pretty much the only real yuri available in English.

[Ribby]

Updated. I added on "ero" too.

[Shsway]

[ QUOTE ]
witega said:
Erica Sakurazawa and the Adolescence of Utena are pretty much the only real yuri available in English.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not that Saito Chiho (the manga artist for Utena), really wanted to have anything to do with that particular element in the story. /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif /images/graemlins/stunned0.gif

Erica Sakurazawa's stuff is just bad yuri, plain and simple.

[Pfil]

Ribby said:
Bunkoban: A small tankoubon that sometimes holds more than one tankoubon worth of material. Many of them are published because the original tankoubon are out of print.

Wideban: A tankoubon that is a bit larger than standard paperback book size, usually B6 or A5.


Shouldn't these be bunkobon (文庫本, meaning something like 'collection book') and widebon (ワイド本, 'wide book' - actually I think I've usually seen it written in roumaji, WIDE)? I'm not sure what �行本/tankoubon means exactly, but I'd like to know. (Using rikai.com, the literal translation seems to be 'single journey book' or 'one go book', which doesn't seem to make much sense.)

[witega]

[ QUOTE ]
Shsway said:
Not that Saito Chiho (the manga artist for Utena), really wanted to have anything to do with that particular element in the story. /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif /images/graemlins/stunned0.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

And pretty much successfully avoided it in the main series. I was kind of surprised to find it so clear in the one-volume 'movie' version because of that.

[ayumu]

A quick google reveals that while 文庫本 is used, 文庫版 is more common. Same for "wide." （ワイド版＞ワイド本）

As for �行本, maybe it's that the story is published alone, rather than with a bunch of other stories in a magazine? I never really thought about it. /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif

[Pfil]

ayumu-chan said:
A quick google reveals that while 文庫本 is used, 文庫版 is more common. Same for "wide." （ワイド版＞ワイド本）

Thanks. I've never seen it written 'bunkoban' before, so I assumed it was a typo. On the upside I learned a new kanji. /images/graemlins/happy.gif

As for �行本, maybe it's that the story is published alone, rather than with a bunch of other stories in a magazine? I never really thought about it. /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif

I guess that makes sense...

[Natsume_Maya]

[ QUOTE ]
Ribby said:
Ato-gaki: The "afterword" of a manga. While it includes actual afterwords from the author, it also includes notes or smaller comics that are (usually) published in the spaces in a magazine reserved for "story so far" explanation areas or advertisements.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you're putting in atogaki, there's also maegaki. Just as "ato" means "after", "mae" means "(be)fore". Rare to see maegaki in commercially published manga, but I see maegaki in doujinshi from time to time.

[ QUOTE ]
BL: Short for "boy's love," another term used to describe manga with homosexual love affairs aimed at girls.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nitpick: should that be male homosexual love affairs? /images/graemlins/happy.gif
Same thing with the definition of shounen-ai.

[ QUOTE ]
Fanservice: A term used by American readers to describe innuendos like panty/cleavage shots, but can be applied to anything a manga-ka draws especially for his or her fans.

[/ QUOTE ]

You've used the word "manga-ka" in your definition but haven't defined mangaka /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[ QUOTE ]
Manga: The Japanese word for "comic" or "comic book."

[/ QUOTE ]

Is it worth pointing out that in Japanese, the English loanword "comics" generally refers to graphic novel versions of manga rather than serialised versions?

[ QUOTE ]
Shoujo-ai: Meaning "young girls love," another term used to describe manga with homesexual love affairs.

[/ QUOTE ]

This seems to be a term used in the West. As I understand it, "shoujo-ai" in Japanese generally refers not to "young girls loving (each other)", but to "(men) loving young girls", ie loli-con. Hmm, should there be a definition for loli-con? /images/graemlins/tongue.gif (BTW, I don't believe the term "shoujo-ai" is used as a particular term in relation to manga in Japan).

Edit: I believe the term "yuri" in Japan encompasses the Western concepts of "shoujo-ai" and "yuri", except to the extent that the Western concepts include male-oriented works. (Hope that makes sense.)

[Andrew Cunningham]

Wideban (corrected) A tankouban that is a size larger than the original, always B6, and about twice as thick, for a cheaper price.
Aizouban: Treasury edition. B6 size (usually) and three to four times as thick as the original.
Kanzenban: Perfect Edition. A5 size, ultra nice paper and binding, newly drawn covers, all color pages, 1000 yen, purty.

[Legacy]

[ QUOTE ]
Andrew Cunningham said:
Kanzenban: Perfect Edition. A5 size, ultra nice paper and binding, newly drawn covers, all color pages, 1000 yen, purty.

[/ QUOTE ]

what? are you serious? the "Perfect Editions" cost less than $10US?? That's just not right. /images/graemlins/sad.gif

Incidentally, for a beginniner course/column in manga, are all these nitpicky terms for different GN sizes really necessary? I've gotten by fine never even referring to the book sizes, just a bit irritated that my books in alphabetical order dont line up at the same sizes sometimes.

Given limited space, I'd think the priority would be to clarify the biggies, "shoujo" "shonen" "fan service" and the like, as has already been mentioned.

I was actually always bothered that while shonen/shoujo refers to a target demographic, adding the prefix "bi" turns it into something about the subjects.

since this is for beginners, shouldnt really common sound effects ("pin-pon", "chu", etc) and peripheral words be included, like "cosplay"?

[Kiril]

[ QUOTE ]
Legacy said:
[ QUOTE ]
Andrew Cunningham said:
Kanzenban: Perfect Edition. A5 size, ultra nice paper and binding, newly drawn covers, all color pages, 1000 yen, purty.

[/ QUOTE ]

what? are you serious? the "Perfect Editions" cost less than $10US?? That's just not right. /images/graemlins/sad.gif

Incidentally, for a beginniner course/column in manga, are all these nitpicky terms for different GN sizes really necessary? I've gotten by fine never even referring to the book sizes, just a bit irritated that my books in alphabetical order dont line up at the same sizes sometimes.

Given limited space, I'd think the priority would be to clarify the biggies, "shoujo" "shonen" "fan service" and the like, as has already been mentioned.

I was actually always bothered that while shonen/shoujo refers to a target demographic, adding the prefix "bi" turns it into something about the subjects.

since this is for beginners, shouldnt really common sound effects ("pin-pon", "chu", etc) and peripheral words be included, like "cosplay"?

[/ QUOTE ]

I just glanced back through the thread, and I think there's some confusion.

I believe the thread just started off as a general "we'll take whatever vocabulary you got" sort of thing, and around Jan 13 d_feeback was also using it to write an article. (If I recall correctly, he originally had another thread but was pointed to this one as the threads were similar and this one had been up a bit earlier.)

However, that article seemed to have finished about Feb 7 (you can read his article here (http://komikwerks.com/silent_invasion.php?ar=131), btw), and Bucket appears to have last edited the parent post of the thread at Feb 3.

I'm not entirely sure the thread was/is meant only for beginners, although that's who d_feeback was writing his article for, and would obviously most benefit from such a thing. However, I think the thread is also just a general vocabulary lesson for anyone. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

As for the "does the GN size terms" question, not so much when you're only buying licensed translations, but if you start buying original Japanese books those terms can be useful. As for sound effects, I guess people weren't bringing those up as people seemed to be focusing more on terms people might mention in forums or talking about manga in general rather than words used in manga per se, but that's just a guess.

[bctaris]

[ QUOTE ]
Kiril said:
As for the "does the GN size terms" question, not so much when you're only buying licensed translations, but if you start buying original Japanese books those terms can be useful.

[/ QUOTE ]

To dredge this back up some, I have a feeling that a number of people reading reviews around here might be in the dark about what B5, A6, etc. actually mean, and how maybe they can figure them out for themselves. That old book size thread osaka mentions in this thread went over it but that was well over a year ago and long gone, I think.

This (http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/iso-paper.html) page should give the whole story. The main purpose of that page has to do with business and governmental paper, what we crazy North Americans have long referred to as "Letter Sized" and what the rest of the world, for trade and convenience calls A4. But there's a table on that page that gives a run down of paper formats. I'll only quote the four sizes that apply to books. Sizes in millimeters:

A Series Formats:

A5 148 × 210
A6 105 × 148

B Series Formats

B5 176 × 250
B6 125 × 176

Quick and dirty, it's all based on the metric system and the square root of 2 (put two A4's side by side and it's the equivalent of an A3. Cut an A4 in half horizontally and you have two A5's.)

We use the above four classifications to refer to US manga editions, but I honestly don't know which publishers, if any, actually follow the ISO sizes, as a number of publications are more than a few millimeters off (in reviews, you'll for instance see osaka refer to something as a "tall B6".) It should also be noted, as that above page details, that Japan actually uses a slightly different system than the ISO for B sizes, so even then, the sizes above are not perfect for defining many Japanese books.

But like Kiril said, it's useful enough to know how to describe international books and to give a rough idea of American editions.

[warabe asobiba]

I was wondering if any one can clear up the meaning for
-sama, -dono, -san,-maru, -chan, -kun. and doesn't yuri have another meaning? isn't also how you say lily in japanese. my only source of kinda knowledge is from the freelang dictionary online, its cheap-its free. but on the -sama, -dono, -san,-maru, -chan, -kun, i also wanted to know whats the correct manga used of the term. you see the -maru as a root to many boys name -like SHIKAmaru, AKAmaru (yes im using Naruto here). whats the counter part to -maru. If you dont mind.