History MediaNotes / AnimeAndManga

* {{Sentai}}: A team of fighters with matching uniforms and crazy poses and attack speeches. Think ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' and you'll know exactly what this genre, is but animated.

* MagicalGirl: A cute young girl, often a preteen, can use some form of magic, and she uses it to fight evil against great odds. There's more to it than that but you get the gist. Exemplified by ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' and ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura''.

* {{Harem|Genre}}: In which a guy, who may or may not be deserving, is saddled with a veritable harem of girls who are fighting for his love. He may be ObliviousToLove or just not like any of them. Again though, HilarityEnsues.

So remember, if you hear a character by the name of Akira being talked about, it's just as likely a male as a female. And likewise, a character named Tomoyo is going to be a girl a while Tomoya would be a boy. Also, there isn't a standard for Japanese-to-English romanization, so things can get a bit wonky when it crosses the sea. You'll want to see JapaneseRomanization for that. One big thing to know though it that the 'L' sound [[JapaneseRanguage doesn't exist in Japanese]], and will usually be replaced with an 'R' sound for non-Japanese names and words in original dialogue. It's how you get names like [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Rorand turning into Roland]] once it's translated.

So remember, if you hear a character by the name of Akira being talked about, it's just as likely a male as a female. And likewise, a character named Tomoyo is going to be a girl. Also, there isn't a standard for Japanese-to-English romanization, so things can get a bit wonky when it crosses the sea. You'll want to see JapaneseRomanization for that. One big thing to know though it that the 'L' sound [[JapaneseRanguage doesn't exist in Japanese]], and will usually be replaced with an 'R' sound for non-Japanese names and words in original dialogue. It's how you get names like [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Rorand turning into Roland]] once it's translated.

!Translation, [[Changes and Censoring outside of Japan

!Translation, Changes and Censoring outside of Japan

So, translation issues, the bane of anime and manga fans' existence. These days it's not nearly as much of an issue as it once was and anime is quite widely translated with considerable accuracy, but back in the day people seemed to think that Westerners wouldn't like the shows unless all of the culture was cut out as thoroughly as possible and replaced with an American equivalent. Names were changed, sometimes to something similar sounding but Western, other time to something that seemed more or less random. Dialogue was changed completely, or censored within an inch of the show's life, sometimes because of the mistaken thought that shows in higher demographics were only appealing to lower demographics in the West. Thus, you got shows for teenagers and adults being touted as kids shows, requiring significant rewriting. There's also the issue that the Japanese are less likely to censor television in general, such as shows for kids having mild cursing or innuendo, or showing or hinting at homosexual relationships. Homosexual characters in general were often either [[HideYourLesbians given different dialogue]], cutting out the most offensive episodes if necessary, in an attempt to write it out of the show, or if possible, they outright [[ShesAManInJapan changed the character's gender in the translation.]]

So given all of this, one can see how long time fans might have issues with dubs, if for no other reason than in the past, many were so far from what they were supposed to be. This is completely disregarding the fact that some early dubbing wasn't as well matched to the mouth-flaps as they are now. So while there are many dubbed anime which are excellent, especially recently as more dubbing companies are getting good at it and are listening to the fans cries for staying original to the source material, and some few jewels are even considered on par or ''better'' than the original, many fans swear by watching anime with subtitles. It's really up to you to decide which you like better, just keep your mind open.

Anime is somewhat of a different story. While there are Korean and Chinese anime, it's pretty much non-existent in the West, or even on the internet, so good luck with that. Anime's influence however has definitely been felt worldwide, and many animated works tend to be {{Animesque}}, or created with a similar style or in the spirit of Japanese animation (WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender, WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack, MegasXLR, etc.). While there isn't exactly anything Western that one could pin down and say ''is'' Western anime, WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} is the closest thing you can find.

Anime is somewhat of a different story. While there are Korean and Chinese anime, it's pretty much non-existent in the West, or even on the internet, so good luck with that. Anime's influence however has definitely been felt worldwide, and many animated works tend to be {{Animesque}}, or created with a similar style or in the spirit of Japanese animation (WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender, WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack, MegasXLR, etc.). While there isn't exactly anything Western that one could pin down and say ''is'' Western anime, it's possible that one day soon it might happen.

So your friend has just handed you a manga or anime on DVD, demanding you watch it. You're a bit new to all this foreign Japanese stuff, so after reading or watching it, and deciding it's something you might want to learn more about, you've come here to get the down and dirty info you need to further explore the world of Anime and Manga. Well, you've got a lot to learn. On this page we will briefly discuss all the things you need to know about Anime, Manga and everything in between as well as link you up with some useful pages on the site and TheOtherWiki for some more information.

Anime can be shown on television, or released only on DVD. DVD released anime is called an OVA (OriginalVideoAnimation). The closest analog to Western animation is "direct-to-video" or "direct-to-DVD", but without the negative connotation. Usually, [[OriginalVideoAnimation OVAs]] are of superior quality to TV produced anime, as many time and budget restrictions are lifted. There are also plenty of anime movies. Anime which are completely original and not based off of some other work often gain manga or light novels based on ''them'' if they prove to be popular.

Moving up to ages eleven to eighteen, we start to differentiate between genders, splitting into two huge demographic-based genres: {{Shojo}} for girls and {{Shonen}} for boys.
* '''Shojo''' emphasizes relationships, both romantic and otherwise, as well as personal growth. Shojo are much more likely to be SliceOfLife or School Stories, and tend to portray romance in a highly idealized or unrealistic fashion. They often have female leads, and while usually less action-based there are plenty which break the mold, including the MagicalGirl subsection. Episodic or Vignette-type stories are also common to shojo manga. Both the YuriGenre and BoysLove, also known as shojo-ai and shonen-ai respectively, also fall under the header of shojo, which one might guess as they are both focused on romance.
* '''Shonen''' emphasizes action, competition and comedy. Romance might be there, but it will be sort of a token romance, or at least not played much for drama unless there's a DistressedDamsel. But again, as with Shojo, there are exceptions, such as Harem manga and MagicalGirlfriend offshoots, which strongly feature love of part of the story. Otherwise, though, Shonen tends to have male leads and be about camaraderie, friendship or fighting, and martial arts or sports are common things that pop up. Recently many traditional shonens are including better romance sub-plots, more drama and {{bishonen}} characters for more appeal to girls.

And next we've got the wide world of adult manga, including {{Seinen}} and {{Josei}}, Shonen and Shojo's big brother and sister.

* '''Josei''' is a rather small area of manga compared to Shojo. It has the same basic themes as Shojo, but shown from a more adult viewpoint. Protagonists are usually working age, from 18 to 30, and shown in more realistic situations than in Shojo, with the love being much more realistic than idealized. There is also an added emphasis on family at times. The more explicit forms of BoysLove and the YuriGenre, Yaoi and Yuri respectively, are also considered Josei.

* ''(name)-sama'': Ppretty much the equivalent of 'lord', it's extremely respectful and used to address gods, nobility or just someone you revere above all others. More common in historical-based works, unless it's used jokingly.

This isn't the place for a huge lesson on Japanese language, check out [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language The Other Wiki]] for that, but there are some simple things to mention that will crop up in relation to Japanese language in Anime and Manga. For instance, Japanese has '''three''' writing systems, Kanji, Katakana and Hiragana, which have different purposes. Kanji in particular represent ideas which can be grouped together to form a word or concept. These Kanji don't always have a set pronunciation, or can be pronounced pretty much however someone wants to say they are despite established norms, so you can get people in Anime and Manga having to explain to others essentially how to [[SpellMyNameWithAnS spell]] or [[ItIsPronouncedTroPay pronounce]] their names a lot. Knowing Japanese is not at all necessary to enjoy anime, but knowing some (even just how to read hiragana and katakana) can be a benefit, since many anime works which are produced in Japan are never translated into English, and those that are often suffer from inferior quality to the original. This is the reason behind the ongoing SubbingVersusDubbing flamewar, which never seems to end.

* '''Holidays''': Most Japanese celebrate Christmas but as a secular holiday (and they don't get off work or school!). There are also two Valentines Days, Valentines day on Febuary 14th, where girls give boy chocolate, and White Day on March 14th, where boys give girls chocolate. Additional there is Golden Week, which kids get off of school for, and is essentially a festival for children.

* '''Folklore''': The Japanese have an extensive folklore tradition and many are what you might call superstitious. Even in completely mundane works, expect characters to believe in ghosts, kappas, shrine gods or spirits, and fortune-telling. In fact, in shojo manga, love horoscopes, charms or potions are pretty much omnipresent.

So, translation issues, the bane of anime and manga fans' existence. These days it's not nearly as much of an issue as it once was and anime is quite widely translated with considerable accuracy, but back in the day people seemed to think that Westerners wouldn't like the shows unless all of the culture was cut out as thoroughly as possible and replaced with an American equivalent. Names were changed, sometimes to something similar sounding but Western, other time to something that seemed more or less random. Dialogue was changed completely, or censored within an inch of the show's life, sometimes because of the mistaken thought that shows in higher demographics were only appealing to lower demographics in the West. Thus, you got shows for teenagers and adults being touted as kids shows, requiring significant rewriting. There's also the issue that the Japanese are less likely to censor television in general, such as shows for kids having mild cursing or innuendo, or showing or hinting at homosexual relationships. Homosexual characters in general were often either [[HideYourGays given different dialogue]], cutting out the most offensive episodes if necessary, in an attempt to write it out of the show, or if possible, they outright [[ShesAManInJapan changed the character's gender in the translation.]]

Anime is somewhat of a different story. While there are Korean and Chinese anime, it's pretty much non-existent in the West, or even on the internet, so good luck with that. Anime's influence however has definitely been felt worldwide, and many animated works tend to be {{Animesque}}, or created with a similar style or in the spirit of Japanese animation (WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirBender, SamuraiJack, MegasXLR, etc.). While there isn't exactly anything Western that one could pin down and say ''is'' Western anime, it's possible that one day soon it might happen.

* '''Seinen''', despite being the older counterpart to Shonen, is in many ways vastly different. While many works still involve action, psychology and personal drama start coming into play. Plot and character interaction are more important, and there is a strong sense of DarkerandEdgier. Conversely, there are those titles that are definitely holdovers from Shonen, just with sexier women, more romance, and explicit material with older protagonists. Hentai is also under the header of Seinen, and if you want yaoi that is actually written for and by gay men, as opposed to for and by women, then you'll want {{Bara}}, which is seinen.

* MagicalGirl: A cute young girl, often a preteen, can use some form of magic, and she uses it to fight evil against great odds. There's more to it than that but you get the gist. Exemplified by ''Manga/SailorMoon'' and ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura''.

If you're new to the anime and manga scene then you can be sure that speaking to an anime {{otaku}} (otaku meaning 'nerd') will both help you in your quest to delve more into this fandom and confuse the heck out of you. So many words, many taken directly from Japanese, are commonly used by hardcore fans in the west, and the only way to know them is to ask...or come here! TV Tropes happens to have a pretty good starter dictionary right here for you, titled AnimeFanspeak with links to more info. It is highly suggested that you check it out.

Well, you can't really talk about Anime without talking about Manga first. We won't go into [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_manga all that history]], but suffice to say, that Manga originated in response to the Japanese being introduced to American {{Comics}} and Cartoons (especially Disney) after WorldWarII. The Japanese applied their stylized artistic influence to the general medium and format and came up with the Manga, essentially a Japanese Graphic Novel. Manga are differentiated from Comics in that:

* '''Entertainment''': You can expect to see a lot of people going to [[KaraokeBox karaoke places]] and singing badly for fun in rooms one can rent with friends. Video games parlors are also popular in shonens where delinquents show up to skip school. If anyone has a day off or wants to go somewhere on a group trip, you can expect a HotSpringsEpisode or a BeachEpisode to pop up.

* '''Schools''': In Japan, many schools hold classes 6 days a week (Monday through Sunday), and CramSchool, or extra study sessions after school and weekends, are widespread. The school year also ends and begins in the spring, in April, meaning summer vacation splits up the school year, and kids usually have summer homework.

* They are generally serialized in weekly or monthly magazines, produced a chapter at a time and later combined into ''tankoubon'', or compilation books of a few chapters.

* '''Shojo''' emphasizes relationships, both romantic and otherwise, as well as personal growth. Shojo are much more likely to be SliceOfLife or School Stories, and tend to portray romance in a highly idealized or unrealistic fashion. They often have female leads, and while usually less action-based there are plenty which break the mold, including the MagicalGirl subsection. Episodic or Vignette-type stories are also common to shojo manga. Both the YuriGenre and the BoysLove, also known as shojo-ai and shonen-ai, also fall under the header of shojo, which one might guess as they are both focused on romance.
* '''Shonen''' emphasizes action, competition and comedy. Romance might be there, but it will be sort of a token romance, or at least not played much for drama unless there's a DistressedDamsel. But again, as with Shojo, there are exceptions, such as Harem manga and MagicalGirlfriend offshoots, which strongly feature love of part of the story. Otherwise, though, Shonen tends to have male leads and be about camaraderie, friendship or fighting, and martial arts or sports are common things that pop up. Recently many traditional shonens are including better romance sub-plots, more drama and, bishonen for more appeal to girls.

* '''Josei''' is a rather small area of manga compared to Shojo. It has the same basic themes as Shojo, but shown from a more adult viewpoint. Protagonists are usually working age, from 18 to 30, and shown in more realistic situations than in Shojo, with the love being much more realistic than idealized. There is also an added emphasis on family at times. The more explicit forms of the BoysLove and the YuriGenre, Yaoi and Yuri are also considered Josei.
* '''Seinen''', despite being the older counterpart to Shonen, is in many ways vastly different. While many works still involve action, psychology and personal drama start coming into play. Plot and character interaction are more important, and there is a strong sense of DarkerandEdgier. Conversely, there are those titles that are definitely holdovers from Shonen, just with sexier women, more romance, and explicit material with older protagonists. Hentai is also under the header of Seinen, and if you want yaoi that is actually written for and by gay men, as apposed to for and by women, then you'll want {{Bara}}, which is seinen.

* {{Sentai}}: A team of fighters with matching uniforms and crazy poses and attack speeches. Think PowerRangers and you'll know exactly what this genre, is but animated.
* MechaShow: people driving human shapes robots and fighting each other. It spawned a pair of sub-genres, SuperRobot and RealRobot.
* MagicalGirl: A cute young girl, often a preteen, can use some form of magic, and she uses it to fight evil against great odds. There's more to it than that but you get the gist. Exemplified by ''SailorMoon'' and ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura''.

* [[HaremGenre Harem]]: In which a guy, who may or may not be deserving is saddled with a veritable harem of girls who are fighting for his love. He may be ObliviousToLove or just not like any of them. Again though, HilarityEnsues.
* {{Mon}}: Short for monster, it basically involves owning/collecting often adorable little creatures with powers, which are used to fight. ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'' and ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' are often considered the poster children of this genre, a comparison of the two showing how diverse it can get.

If you're ''really'' bent on the evolution of anime and its many genres, we urge you to check out the EssentialAnime page, which certain to catch you up on all the genres and their origins. Not to mention everything on it is a classic that most fans will have passing knowledge of.

* ''(name)-san'': Pretty much the equivalent to Mr. or Mrs., or the equivalent of the Spanish ''Usted''. It's the default if a characters wants to be polite or respectful, or isn't particularly close to the addressee.
* ''(name)-kun'': used to address young boys, and very occasionally girls, if one wants to eliminate gender from the equation.
* ''(name)-chan'': used for young children, animals or very close friends and girlfriends or boyfriends. It shows affection and friendship or closeness.
* ''(name)-sensei'': used for professionals or people in authority, such as teachers, doctors and, yes, mangaka.
* ''(name)-sama'': pretty much the equivalent of 'lord', it's extremely respectful and used to address gods, nobility or just someone you revere above all others. More common in historical-based works, unless it's used jokingly.

So remember, if you hear a character by the name of Akira being talked about, it's just as likely a male as a female. And likewise, a character named Tomoyo is going to be a girl. Also, there isn't a standard for Japanese-to-English romanization, so things can get a bit wonky when it crosses the sea. You'll want to see JapaneseRomanization for that. One big thing to know though it that the 'L' sound [[JapaneseRanguage doesn't exist in Japanese]], and will usually be replaced with an 'R' sound for non non-Japanese names and words in original dialogue. It's how you get names like [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Rorand turning into Roland]] once it's translated.

This isn't the place for a huge lesson on Japanese language, check out [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language The Other Wiki]] for that, but there are some things simple things to mention that will crop up in relation to Japanese language in Anime and Manga. For instance, Japanese has '''three''' writing systems, Kanji, Katakana and Hiragana, which have different purposes. Kanji in particular represent ideas which can be grouped together to form a word or concept. These Kanji don't always have a set pronunciation, or can pronounced pretty much however someone wants to say they are despite established norms, so you can get people in Anime and Manga having to explain to others essentially how to [[SpellMyNameWithAnS spell]] or [[ItIsPronouncedTroPay pronounce]] their names a lot. Knowing Japanese is not at all necessary to enjoy anime, but knowing some (even just how to read hiragana and katakana) can be a benefit, since many anime works which are produced in Japan are never translated into English, and those that are often suffer from inferior quality to the original. This is the reason behind the ongoing SubbingVersusDubbing flamewar, which never seems to end.

So, translation issues, the bane of anime and manga fans' existence. These days it's not nearly as much of an issue as it once was and anime is quite widely translated with considerable accuracy, but back in the day people seemed to think that Westerners wouldn't like the shows unless all of the culture was cut out as thoroughly as possible and replaced with an American equivalent. Names were changed, sometimes to something similar sounding but Western, other time to something that seemed more or less random. Dialogue was changed completely, or censored within an inch of the show's life, sometimes because of the mistaken thought that shows in higher demographics were only appealing to lower demographics in the West so you got shows for teenagers and adults being touted as kids shows, requiring significant rewriting. And then there's the issue that the Japanese are less likely to censor television in general, such as shows for kids having mild cursing or innuendo, or showing or hinting at homosexual relationships. Homosexual characters in general were often either [[HideYourGays given different dialogue]], cutting out the most offensive episodes if necessary, in an attempt to write it out of the show, or if possible, they outright [[ShesAManInJapan changed the character's gender in the translation.]]

Okay, now you know most everything you need to know to get a good start on reading manga and watching anime! It's guaranteed that you'll learn more as you continue your journey through the world of anime and manga, but for now, you should be able to navigate through this vast body of media!

Well, anime and manga are made in Japan, so naturally they are jam-packed with Japanese culture. If you want to really delve into that then check out the page on {{Japan}}. A few random useful things to know though, right off the bat:

There's more of course, but these are some common things you'll run into. If you want to better inform yourself you can head on over to the {{Japan}} page, and stuff your brain to your hearts content.

* {{Harem}}: In which a guy, who may or may not be deserving is saddled with a veritable harem of girls who are fighting for his love. He may be ObliviousToLove or just not like any of them. Again though, HilarityEnsues.

* The vast majority of anime are based off of some other medium, usually manga or Japanese light novels, but more recently anime have been based off of Japanese TV dramas and even some Western media such as comic books (Wolverine and ComicBook/IronMan), or Western television shows (''Series/{{Supernatural}}''), and even books (''Film/HowlsMovingCastle'').

* The vast majority of anime are based off of some other medium, usually manga or Japanese light novels, but more recently anime have been based off of Japanese TV dramas and even some Western media such as comic books (Wolverine and IronMan), or Western television shows (''Series/{{Supernatural}}''), and even books (''Film/HowlsMovingCastle'').

Creators of manga are called ''mangaka''., and usually work with a team of artists to help produce their work, and may or may not have a writer on board, though it's less common than it is for Comics. There is also a lot of amateur manga out there, some original and others fan works, which are called {{Doujinshi}}. Popular manga often end up being made into...

Basically an animated show or movie done the Japanese way, with their iconic style of art. While the West seems to be in TheDarkAgeOfAnimation, Anime for a long time flourished in Japan and even outside it. The situation has changed somewhat, due in part to the East Asian economic crisis, changing Western tastes, Japan's aging demographics, and its unique TV situation (four network channels; satellite channels have about 10% penetration and cable isn't even a thing; shows that don't have strong appeal for the after-school crowd can't pull competitive ratings and [[OtakuOClock air in the red-eye time slots]]). Don't go thinking [[AnimationAgeGhetto all cartoons are for kids]], because Anime, like its originator Manga, is marketed across all demographics, from young children all the way up to senior citizens and middle-aged business men. Conversely,[[AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles not all anime consists of naughty tentacles]]: the majority is age appropriate for the demographic and hentai, essentially explicit or pornographic anime, while it exists, does not make up the majority of works in the genre. Anime is similarly differentiated from Western cartoons in similar ways as manga is to comics:

Basically an animated show or movie done the Japanese way, with their iconic style of art. While the West seems to be in TheDarkAgeOfAnimation, Anime is flourishing in Japan and even outside it. Don't go thinking [[AnimationAgeGhetto all cartoons are for kids]], because Anime, like its originator Manga, is marketed across all demographics, from young children all the way up to senior citizens and middle-aged business men. Conversely,[[AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles not all anime consists of naughty tentacles]]: the majority is age appropriate for the demographic and hentai, essentially explicit or pornographic anime, while it exists, does not make up the majority of works in the genre. Anime is similarly differentiated from Western cartoons in similar ways as manga is to comics:

* {{Mon}}: Short for monster, it basically involves owning/collecting often adorable little creatures with powers, which are used to fight. ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'' and ''{{Digimon}}'' are often considered the poster children of this genre, a comparison of the two showing how diverse it can get.

* MagicalGirl: A cute young girl, often a preteen, can use some form of magic, and she uses it to fight evil against great odds. There's more to it than that but you get the gist. Exemplified by ''SailorMoon'' and ''CardcaptorSakura''.

* {{Mon}}: Short for monster, it basically involves owning/collecting often adorable little creatures with powers, which are used to fight. ''{{Pokemon}}'' and ''{{Digimon}}'' are often considered the poster children of this genre, a comparison of the two showing how diverse it can get.

Basically an animated show or movie done the Japanese way, with their iconic style of art. While the West seems to be in TheDarkAgeOfAnimation, Anime is flourishing in Japan and even outside it. Don't go thinking [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids Cartoons Are For Kids]], because Anime, like it's originator Manga, is marketed across the demographic, from young children all the way up to senior citizens and middle-aged business men. Conversely,[[AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles All Anime is Not Naughty Tentacles]], the majority is age appropriate for the demographic and hentai, essentially explicit or pornographic anime, while it exists, does not make up the majority of works in the genre. Anime is similarly differentiated from Western Cartoons in similar ways as manga is to Comics:

* Anime, as opposed to many Western Animated works is generally not Episodic based, but has a clear beginning, middle and end. (Minus the occasional Filler)
* The vast majority of anime are based off of some other media, usually Manga or Japanese light novels, but more recently anime have been based off of Japanese TV Dramas and even some Western media such as Comic Books (Wolverine and IronMan), or western television shows (''Series/{{Supernatural}}''), and even books (''Film/HowlsMovingCastle'').
* Western Animation tends to have a higher frame rate then TV Anime works, as Anime is so prevalent that episodes need to be made quickly and on a budget, especially if they are trying to keep up with the manga. Meaning there's lot of Anime out there which is [[TheyJustDidntCare relatively low quality]], in terms of animation. Frequent use of panning over stills and blatantly recycling animation are ways you'll see it. There's plenty of great animation as well, though.
* Made in the iconic Anime style of art.
* Anime is for everyone, not just little kids! In fact lots of anime out there would receive a PG-13 or R rating in an American market.
* Another difference is while Western audiences might animate something which would be impossible or extremely expensive to created with live-Action, plenty of Anime are SliceOfLife and include no particular effects elements which would require animation. They animate because people just love anime.

Anime can be shown on television, or released only on DVD. DVD released anime is called an OVA (OriginalVideoAnimation). The closest analog to Western animation is "direct-to-video" or "direct-to-DVD", but without the negative connotation. Usually, [[OriginalVideoAnimation OVAs]] are of superior quality to TV produced anime, as many time and budget restrictions are lifted. There are also plenty of Anime movies. Anime which are completely original and not based off of some other work often gain manga or light novels based on ''them'' if they prove to be popular.

So now you know what Anime and Manga are and what makes them different from the media you might already know. Now we'll look at the ways you might go about choosing your Anime/Manga.

First off is {{Kodomomuke}}. Kodomomuke Manga are for Young Children, usually about six to ten years old. It's the Barney equivalent for manga. Usually more simplistic, fanciful story lines which are episodic in nature and teach life lessons and good behavior. They can be adorable but don't expect them to delve to deeply into anything philosophical.

Moving up to ages eleven to eighteen, we start to differentiate between genders, splitting into two huge demographic based genres: {{Shojo}} for girls and {{Shonen}} for boys.

* '''Josei''': is a rather small area of manga compared to Shojo. It basically has the same themes as Shojo just shown from a more adult viewpoint. Protagonists are usually working age, from 18 to 30, and shown in closer to real life situations than in Shojo, with the love being much more realistic than idealized. There is also an added emphasis on family at times. The more explicit forms of the BoysLove and the YuriGenre, Yaoi and Yuri are also considered Josei.
* '''Seinen''' though being the older counterpart to Shonen, is in many ways vastly different,. While many works still involve action, psychology and drama start coming into play. Plot and character interaction are more important, and there is a strong sense of DarkerandEdgier. Conversely, there are those titles that are definitely holdovers from Shonen, just with sexier women, more romance, and explicit material and older protagonists. Hentai is also under the header of Seinen, and if you want yaoi that is actually written for and by gay men, as apposed to for and by women, then you'll want {{Bara}}, which is seinen.

So there you go, you now know the most common way that people categorize manga. There are also some very specific genres, which you can find in the AnimeGenres index. Some genres which are iconic to, and more or less invented in the Anime and Manga media, are:

* MagicalGirl: A cute young girl, often a pre-teen, can use some form of magic, and she uses it to fight evil against great odds. There's more to it than that but you get the gist. Exemplified by ''SailorMoon'' and ''CardcaptorSakura''.

Where westerners use Mister, Missus, Miss and...well, that's about it...the Japanese have a pretty big list of honorifics attached to names. More and more translators are leaving these untranslated, both because of the Western Audiences growing familiarity with them, and the desire for authenticity and preservation of meaning. You can read more on the actual page but here are the big five. With this list you can figure most things out.

* ''(name)-san'': pretty much the equivalent to mister or missus, or the equivalent of the Spanish ''Usted''. It's the default if a characters wants to be polite or respectful, or isn't particularly close to the addressee.

* In the west we are used to names ending in 'o' being male while names ending in 'a' being female. This is a holdover from English's Latin roots, via French, in case anyone cares. This isn't very common in Japanese names though, and thinking that way can even be misleading.

This isn't the place for a huge lesson on Japanese language, check out [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language The Other Wiki]] for that, but there are some things simple things to mention that will crop up in relation to Japanese language in Anime and Manga. For instance, Japanese has '''three''' writing systems, Kanji, Katakana and Hiragana, which have different purposes. Kanji in particular represent ideas which can be grouped together to form a word or concept. These Kanji don't always have a set pronunciation, or can pronounced pretty much however someone wants to say they are despite established norms, so you can get people in Anime and Manga having to explain to others essentially how to [[SpellMyNameWithAnS spell]] or [[ItIsPronouncedTroPay pronounce]] their names a lot.

If you're new to the anime and manga scene then you can be sure that speaking to an anime otaku (otaku meaning a 'nerd') will both help you in your quest to delve more into this fandom and confuse the heck out of you. So many words, many taken directly from Japanese, are commonly used by hardcore fans in the west, and the only way to know them is to ask...or come here! TV Tropes happens to have a pretty good starter dictionary right here for you, titled AnimeFanspeak with links to more info. It is highly suggested that you check it out!

Anime is somewhat of a different story. While there are Korean and Chinese anime it's pretty much non-existent in the west, or even on the internet, so good luck with that. Anime's influence however has definitely been felt worldwide, and many animated works tend to be {{Animesque}}, or created with a similar style or in the spirit of Japanese animation (*cough* WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirBender, SamuraiJack, MegasXLR *cough*). While there isn't exactly anything western that one could pin down and say this ''is'' western anime, it's possible that one day soon it might happen.

* Western Animation tends to have a higher frame rate then TV Anime works, as Anime is so prevalent that episodes need to be made quickly and on a budget, especially if they are trying to keep up with the manga. Meaning there's lot of Anime out there which is [[TheyJustDidntCare relatively low quality]], in terms of animation. Frequent use of Panning over Stills and blatantly recycling animation are ways you'll see it. There's plenty of great animation as well, though.

* '''Shonen''' emphasizes action, competition and comedy. Romance might be there, but it will be sort of a token romance, or at least not played much for drama unless there's a DistressedDamsel. But again, as with Shojo, there are exceptions, such as Harem manga and Magicalgirlfriend offshoots, which strongly feature love of part of the story. Otherwise though Shonens tend to have male leads and be about camaraderie, friendship or fighting, and martial arts or sports are common things that pop up. Recently many traditional shonens are including better romance sub-plots, more drama and, bishonen for more appeal to girls.

There are also a number of other differences between the way westerners use names and the Japanese do, for instance:

* The Japanese list their names '''surname - personal name''', as opposed to the western '''first name - last name'''. So the name Okayama Shinji would be pronounced Shinji Okayama in the west.
* The Japanese don't use first names casually and almost always used honorifics unless they are close friends and/or have asked permission to do so. Many characters will be addressed by their last names or their first names with an honorofic, but not their first name alone.

So remember, if you hear a character by the name of Akira being talked about, it's just as likely a male, as a female. And likewise, a character named Tomoyo is going to be a girl. Also, there isn't a standard for Japanese-to-English romanization, so things can get a bit wonky when it crosses the sea. You'll want to see JapaneseRomanization for that. One big thing to know though it that the 'L' sound doesn't exist in Japanese, and will usually be replaced with an 'R' sound for non non-japanese names and words in original dialogue. It's how you get names like [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Rorand turning into Roland]] once it's translated.

This isn't the place for a huge lesson on Japanese language, check out [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language The Other Wiki]] for that, but there are some things simple things to mention that will crop up in relation to Japanese language in Anime and Manga. For instance, Japanese has '''three''' symbol systems, Kanji, Katakana and Hiragana, which have different purposes. Kanji in particular, represent ideas which can be grouped together to form a word or concept. These Kanji don't always have a set pronunciation, or can pronounced pretty much however someone wants to say they are despite established norms, so you can get people in Anime and Manga having to explain to others essentially how to spell or pronounce their names a lot.

* '''Religion''': The main religion in Japan is {{Shinto}}, which is the native folk-religion. Many Japanese might be {{Buddhist}}, and while Christianity is certainly known of in Japan (hence lots of Christianity symbolism), it's not particularly prevalent in terms of practitioners.

So, translation issues, the bane of anime and manga fans' existence. These days it's not nearly as much of an issue as it once was and anime is quite widely translated with considerable accuracy, but back in the day people seemed to think that Westerners wouldn't like the shows unless all of the culture was cut out as thoroughly as possible and replaced with an American equivalent. Names were changed, sometimes to something similar sounding but western, other time to something that seemed more or less random. Dialogue was changed completely, or censored within an inch of the show's life, sometimes because of the mistaken thought that shows in higher demographics were only appealing to lower demographics in the west so you got shows for teenagers and adults being touted as kids shows, requiring significant rewriting. And then there's the issue that the Japanese are less likely to censor television in general, such as shows for kids having mild cursing or innuendo, or showing or hinting at homosexual relationships. Homosexual characters in general were often either given different dialogue, cutting out the most offensive episodes if necessary, in an attempt to write it out of the show, or if possible, they outright changed the character's gender in the translation.

* The vast majority of anime are based off of some other media, usually Manga or Japanese light novels, but more recently anime have been based off of Japanese TV Dramas and even some Western media such as Comic Books (Wolverine and IronMan), or western television shows (''{{Supernatural}}''), and even books (''Film/HowlsMovingCastle'').

* ''(name)-san'': pretty much the equivalent to mister or missus, or the Spanish equivalent of ''Usted''. It's the default if a characters wants to be polite or respectful, or isn't particularly close to the addressee.

* The Japanese list their names '''surname-personal name''', as opposed to the western '''first name-last name'''. So the name Okayama Shinji would be pronounced Shinji Okayama in the west.

Anime is somewhat of a different story. While there are Korean and Chinese anime it's pretty much non-existent in the west, or even on the internet, so good luck with that. Anime's influence however has defenitely been felt worldwide, and many animated works tend to be {{Animesque}}, or created with a similar style or in the spirit of Japanese animation (*cough* AvatarTheLastAirBender, SamuraiJack, MegasXLR *cough*). While there isn't exactly anything western that one could pin down and say this ''is'' western anime, it's possible that one day soon it might happen.