Anime genres and themes

It is been stated that anime isnt a genre itself, but a medium. Inside anime you can find shows of a complete slew of distinct genres—and occasionally shows that themselves exist inside many genres at once.

That indicates when youre buying a certain anime, you want to spend certain attention to the way the shows classified and described by other people. Some of these descriptions are more common at times theyre in the slang of anime fans, explained beneath.

First off, most anime fall into one of a few simple categories:

Action/adventure: The bulk of shows fall somewhere in this category, which can incorporate martial-arts action, samurai-vs.-ninja, sword-and-sorcery adventures in other worlds, or battles anime download amongst giant robots. Examples: DragonBall / DragonBallZ, Darker Than Black, Black Lagoon.

Drama/Comedy/Slice-of-life: Shows that revolve around romance, coming of age, experiences at school (each excellent and negative), or the tribulations of daily life. Examples: Ouran High School Host Club, Princess Jellyfish, FLCL.

Historical: Several anime delve into Japans own past, whether or not as history or mythology—and sometimes both at when. Examples: Samurai Champloo, Samurai 7, Rurouni Kenshin.

Mystery/horror: This incorporates horror that has a supernatural theme, as properly as conventional suspense/thriller material. Examples: Monster, Hell Girl, Vampire Princess Miyu.

Sci-fi/space: Shows in this category can range from hard SF all the way to space opera, and overlap into other genres described here. Examples: Cowboy Bebop, Ergo Proxy.

Adaptation: Most anything derived from a video game, a comic or even a reside-action production. Getting familiar with the original is not usually required, but its entertaining for the sake of perspective. Examples: Devil Could Cry, Slayers, The Dirty Pair.

Hold in thoughts that these genres are not closed-ended. Some shows freely incorporate components from a lot more than a single genre:

Samurai Champloo mixes background and action tropes with comedy. The bulk of the show is played for laughs, but the action and even the dramatic components have real weight as well.

Naruto is nominally an action/adventure title, but has powerful character-centric drama that builds up more than time.

xxxHOLiC freely mixes horror, fantasy, drama, comedy, and even historical/mythological components.

Anime also incorporates a number of secondary “flavors” or sub-types—descriptions used by fans to give other people an additional concept of the general tilt of the show.

Ecchi: Derived from the word hentai (see beneath), this means a show with a common tone of lewdness—nudity, crass jokes—although actual sexual activity usually is not shown. Examples: Sekirei, Queens Blade, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt.

Harem: A show exactly where a single guy finds himself the object of affection from a lot of different girls. Occasionally its one girl and numerous guys (a “reverse harem”) (Fruits Basket, Ouran High School Host Club). In both cases, though, it is relatively clear who the one accurate guy/girl is.

Hentai: From the Japanese word for “pervert”, this is the catchall name for pornographic anime.

Josei: Anime aimed at adult ladies. Examples: NANA.

Mecha: A shorthand way to refer to any series with giant robots or autos. The concentrate of the show doesnt have to be the machines themselves, but they are normally a major component of it. Examples: the numerous Mobile Suit Gundam shows, Gurren Lagann, Evangelion.

Magical Girl: A show—typically a comedy—starring a girl with magical powers, as the title implies. Examples: Sailor Moon, Sasami.

Magical Girlfriend: Guy-meets-girl shows where the girl is a goddess an alien or monster, or so on. Examples: Ah! My Goddess, Shuffle!.

OVA/OAV: An abbreviation for “Original Video Animation” or “Original Animated Video” (the two terms are extremely interchangeable), this refers to an animated series produced especially for release on video or a satellite airing, rather than general Tv broadcast or theatrical release. It normally consists of a shorter quantity of episodes than most Tv series—sometimes as handful of as one particular or two—but with a normally greater per-episode animation price range than the typical Tv series. Those who are fans of animation as an art form will want to spend unique attention to these releases. Examples: Giant Robo, Hakkenden, Read Or Die.

Shojo: Anime for a teenaged female audience. Examples: Sailor Moon, Super GALS!, Peach Girl.

Shonen: Anime aimed at a young male audience, from boys to teens. link Examples: Naruto, Ruroni Kenshin, Bleach.

Seinen: Anime titles for adults, generally adult males. This can mean something from a storyline and characterization that adults might purchase manga download locate far more comprehensible, to graphic violence and sexuality. Examples: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Blade of the Immortal, Monster, Black Lagoon.

Yaoi/"Boy's Adore": A series that deals with male-male relationships, with varying degrees of explicitness. Example: Gravitation.

Yuri: Comparable to yaoi but dealing with female-female relationships. Instance: Maria Watches More than Us.

A final point to maintain in thoughts is that these genres and subcategories are just hints—they dont always give you the genuine flavor of a show, which frequently stands outside of any one particular of these descriptors. A wonderful show is a great show no matter what “genre” it is in, and is all the a lot more worthy of becoming sought out and put into your library.

That stated, the categories described above are a good place to begin if you are developing a library, or looking for a new sort of show to get interested in.