demi-magical school girl-
This is a spin-off of the normal “magical school girl” genre in that the girl possesses magical powers, but she isn’t a total airhead and she doesn’t have insane adventures (like in Fushigi Yuugi). Also unlike the typical magical school girl, not everyone falls in love with the main character.
dubbed-
This means that new voice actors speak the lines in a language other than Japanese.
ecchi-
Literally, it means, "h"-- it's the way that the Japanese pronounce the English letter "h," which is short for "hentai." Therefore, genre-wise, when something is called "ecchi," it's generally less smut-filled than full-blown hentai. It's pronounced pretty much just like it looks ("e" as in the first syllable of elephant, a tiny pause, then "chi" as in cheek minus the "k").
fanservice-
This is when characters from an anime/manga are drawn in positions not normal to their character-- e.g. if Motoko of Love Hina were to pose naked.
fansub(bed)-
If a series hasn't been licensed, then you can't get it in the U.S. either subbed, or dubbed. However, if you look around, you can get fansubbed stuff, which would be episodes that are subbed by fans (pretty simple, huh?).
filler episode(s)-
A filler episode is an episode in an anime that has nothing to do with the plot and could be skipped without missing anything important.
hentai-
Literally, it means, "pervert." However, genre-wise, it means that there is nudity and most likely some sexual innuendos. It's pronounced "hen tie."
high school girl-
Genre-wise, this just means that the series focuses on either just one, or a bunch of high school girls.
magical item infused with awesome powers-
Genre-wise, this means that there is a magical item that has been infused with some sort of power(s) in order to endow the owner with some sort of power. For example, Jubei’s lovely eyepatch allows otherwise normal Jiyu to become a bad-a** swordswoman.
magical (high) school girl-
As the phrase implies, this means that the series is about an average school girl who unwillingly and unwittingly becomes the heroine in some sort of crazy adventure. Not only that, but the girl becomes endowed with some sort of magical powers during the adventure, thus giving us the genre of "magical school girl." However, that's not the end either-- in this genre, everyone has to fall in love with the main character.
marketable medium/media-
This means that a certain product found within an anime/manga is particularly marketable and (of course) profitable. Genre-wise, this means that a certain series has a marketable medium/media in it. For example, Yugi’s Duel Monster card game is just such a marketable medium.
mech-
Genre-wise, this just means that there is a significant number of characters who are mechanical-- robots.
nosebleed-
This is a common occurence in the guys of anime-- when an anime guy sees a highly attractive girl (it usually helps if she's in a provocative pose, or if she's naked), his nose starts bleeding. This can manifest itself as a stream of blood, or a persistent drop of blood at the nostril, among other things. Why a nosebleed? It's because someone once did it as a replacement for the more obvious reaction to an attractive girl (you know what I mean-- don't pretend you don't) and it seems to have stuck ever since.
OST-
It's just an akronym for "original soundtrack."
OVA/OAV-
It's an akronym for "original video animation"/"original animation video." I'm not sure if there's a correct, or wrong way to akronymize it (I made up that phrase). I've seen it used both ways, but I'll try to be consistent-- I will try to always use "OVA" in order to avoid confusion.
seiyuu-
This is Japanese for "voice actor"-- those wonderful people who give their voices to the characters we love and hate. It's pronounced "say you" (but with vowels held a little longer than usual).
sports-
Genre-wise, this means exactly what it sounds like-- namely that the series focuses on a sport(s). For example, Prince of Tennis focuses on (duh) tennis.
subbed-
Definitely the series type of choice, subbed leaves the original Japanese intact and has subtitles ("subbed" is short for "subtitled") in a certain language.
transformation scene-
The transformation scene is the obligatory animation sequence that is reused every time a character transforms. It usually involves nudity (especially with females transforming), as most transformations require a new outfit.
-yo
When a Japanese word has the suffix “-yo” tacked onto the end, it just means that it has an extra emphasis on the phrase—it doesn’t really change the meaning. For example, “Yakusoku desu,” means, “It’s a promise.” “Yakusoku desuyo,” means, “It’s a promise!” As you can see, it’s really just there to add enthusiasm.
