Commonly used words in the manga culture explained. There are still just a few words but I'll add more soon.
Anime - Comes from the Western word animation. Used outside Japan to describe the Japanese animation distinguished from other nations animation.
BGM - Background music, the music from an anime soundtrack.
Japonisme - A term used to describe the influence of Japanese culture on the West.
Kawaii - Japanese for cute. Lots of anime and manga characters are very cute but people in the West also seem to be overusing it in all kinds of situations, maybe because it sounds "cool".
Mecha - Abbreviation for Mechanical. Could be any mechanism from a clock to a giant robot.
Manga - Loosely translatable as cartoon or caricature, or literally, involuntary pictures. But note that the word manga does not mean comic or comic books any more than karate (lit. empty hand) means boxing. When talking about manga and anime. Manga are the comics and anime are the movies.
Manga-ka - Anyone who creates manga; a manga artist. In Japan, many manga-kas have celebrity status comparable to popular novelists or film directors in the West.
OAV or OVA - Original Animation Video. An anime made for video release only, not for cinema or TV. Making an OAV is not as expensive as other anime and it makes it possible for the directors to try out new ideas. OST - Original Sound Track, the complete music from an anime.
Tamagotchi - An electronic pet/computer game, originally created by Bandai. People in Japan got so busy looking after their pets, to avoid getting them killed, that soon day-care centres for Tamagotchis were created (!) There are also reports of high business men missing important contracts because of their Tamagotchis
West - When talking about manga and anime, people put the origin Japan in centre. America and Europe are then refered to as "The West".
Yakuza - The Japanese equivalent of the Mafia ganster syndicate in the West. The word literally means "useless or worthless".
Manga is in Chinese and Korean, pronounced "manhwa".
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