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It?s been said that anime is not a genre itself, but a medium. Within anime you can uncover shows of a whole slew of diverse genres?and often shows that themselves exist inside many genres at as soon as. That implies when you are getting a distinct anime, you want to pay certain focus to the way the show?s classified and described by other folks. Some of those descriptions are a lot more common at times they?re in the slang of anime fans, explained below. Very first off, most anime fall into 1 of a few standard categories:

Action/adventure: The bulk of shows fall someplace in this category, which can consist of martial-arts action, samurai-vs.-ninja, sword-and-sorcery adventures in other worlds, or battles among 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 very good and bad), or the tribulations of daily life. Examples: Ouran High School Host Club, Princess Jellyfish, FLCL.
Historical: Many anime delve into Japan?s own past, regardless of whether as history or mythology?and at times both at as soon as. Examples: Samurai Champloo, Samurai 7, Rurouni Kenshin.
Mystery/horror: This contains 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 at all derived from a video game, a comic or even a reside-action production. Becoming familiar with the original is not usually necessary, but it?s entertaining for the sake of point of view. Examples: Devil Might Cry, Slayers, The Dirty Pair.

Preserve in mind that these genres are not closed-ended. Some shows freely incorporate elements from far more than 1 genre:

Samurai Champloo mixes history and action tropes with comedy. The bulk of the show is played for laughs, but the action and even the dramatic elements have real weight as effectively.
Naruto is nominally an action/adventure title, but has sturdy character-centric drama that builds up over time.
xxxHOLiC freely mixes horror, fantasy, drama, comedy, and even historical/mythological elements.

Anime also includes a number of secondary ?flavors? or sub-types?descriptions utilised by fans to give other people an added thought of the general tilt of the show.

Ecchi: Derived from the word hentai (see below), this implies a show with a common tone of lewdness?nudity, crass jokes?although actual sexual activity normally isn?t shown. Examples: Sekirei, Queen?s Blade, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt.
Harem: A show exactly where a single guy finds himself the object of affection from many distinct girls. Occasionally it is a single girl and many guys (a ?reverse harem?) (Fruits Basket, Ouran High School Host Club). In both cases, although, it is fairly 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 females. Examples: NANA.
Mecha: A shorthand way to refer to any series with giant robots or automobiles. The focus of the show doesn?t have to be the machines themselves, but they are usually a main component of it. Examples: the different 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 exactly 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 made specifically for release on video or a satellite airing, rather than common Tv broadcast or theatrical release. It usually consists of a shorter quantity of episodes than most Tv series?sometimes as handful of as one particular or two?but with a typically larger per-episode animation budget than the average Television series. Those who are fans of animation as an art form will want to spend special focus 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. Examples: Naruto, Ruroni Kenshin, Bleach.
Seinen: Anime titles for adults, generally adult males. This can mean anything from a storyline and characterization that adults could discover far more comprehensible, to graphic violence and sexuality. Examples: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complicated, Blade of the Immortal, Monster, Black Lagoon.
Yaoi/"Boy's Love": A series that bargains with male-male relationships, with varying degrees of explicitness. Example: Gravitation.
Yuri: Equivalent to yaoi but dealing with female-female relationships. Example: Maria Watches Over Us.

A final factor to preserve in mind is that these genres and subcategories are just hints?they don?t usually give you the true flavor of a show, which usually stands outside of any one particular of these descriptors. A excellent show is a wonderful show no matter what ?genre? it?s in, and is all the more worthy of becoming sought out and put into your library. That stated, the categories described above are a excellent place to start if you are building a library, or hunting for a new type of show to get interested in. anime online