The Top 10 Words You’ll Hear in Anime Posted Apr 1, 2022
Are you fluent in Anime? The art form’s Japanese origins means that much of the country’s language appears in our favorite Anime works – but how much of it do you actually know?
Here’s a list of ten popular Anime terms and a quick definition for each one. Hopefully you’ll be speaking a little like your favorite characters after reading it.
Baka
Unfortunately, it’s human nature for insults to be among our most common words. One that pops up a lot in Anime is baka, a flexible word that a character uses when something dumb or foolish happens.
Literally translated, it’s the Japanese term for ‘idiot’, so it’s probably best not to use it around any friends you might have from there, in case they get offended!
Oniisan
Older brothers appear a lot in Anime, to the point where fans choose lists of best big brother characters. Almost always used by the little sister, it’s used in a flexible way to denote different emotions depending on how she pronounces it.
A long, pleading ‘Oniisan’ shows sorrow, while a short, sharp ‘Oniisan’ conveys rage. In response, you may hear Onee-chan, or little sister, but the male alternative is by far the most used.
Otaku
The word otaku is very common in the Anime-sphere as it could describe many of its fans. It refers to someone who is an obsessive: not in a negative sense, like when someone displays problem gambling symptoms, but instead, a person who consumes everything related to their passion.
In English, the terms ‘nerd’ or ‘geek’ would be the closest translations, so if you love anime, then being an otaku is something to be proud of!
Daijōbu
The dramatic scenarios in the wide range of Anime drama films, there’s often a need for a calming or reassuring word between characters.
Daijōbu, then, is perfect for stressful situations as it literally means ‘okay’, as in ‘I’m okay, I’m not hurt’ or ‘it’s going to be okay’. The word’s versatility means it can be used when trying to cheer someone up or assure them that you’re safe, so perfect for anime!
Ureshii
Alongside stressful scenes are the many happy moments in Anime: the kind you see when characters jump in the air with emotion. They’ll often let out a joyful word or two at the same time and ‘ureshii!’ is perhaps the most likely.
Meaning ‘happy’ or ‘glad’, it expresses extreme happiness or even relief: that’s why you may hear it after a character escapes a bad situation – a bit like ‘phew’ in English.
Dattebayo
Sometimes words just have no direct translation, or even any real meaning; they just...exist. Dattebayo is a popular Anime term that the speaker often uses in childish moments when they want to tell someone they told them so.
This makes sense when you see the closest translation that linguists can get to, which is ‘believe it!‘ Even they, though, are not happy with this, and class it as a silly catchphrase: a bit like Bart Simpson’s ‘cowabunga!’ in some of the best Simpsons episodes.
Dattebayo is interesting, though, in that it’s a word that tells us something about the speaker: more specifically that they’re a little juvenile and uncultured – a bit like Bart!
Ahegao
Aheago comes from ‘aheago face’, the expression that (typically female) characters use during sex. Now an internet meme, it shows a face with rolled eyes, a hanging tongue and flushed cheeks.
It also has a wider meaning, though, where it can be used simply to say the character’s enjoying something, not just sex. That said, even if it is intended innocently, people might still link it to erotica, which features heavily in anime subgenres like manga and hentai.
Tsundere
You know those words that encapsulate complex feelings, experiences, or processes? Sonder, for example, is an English word for the realization that everyone around is living just as complex a life as you are.
Anime has its own contender. Tsundere means the character development process, but specifically when the person transforms from a cold, hostile character to someone who is warm and friendly over the course of the story.
It may not be the most useful Anime term, but it’s certainly one of the nicest.
Taigi no tameni
To finish, how about a whole phrase instead of just one word. Taigi no tameni sums up one of anime’s most common themes: that is, that the characters are working towards the greater good: that they want justice to be served.
You may hear the hero of the story declare it proudly, or it might even be the tag line to an episode: either way, you’re bound to come across this useful phrase at least once.
