ツンドラ[tsundora]
I think this term has not been generalized enough among anime fans, but at least for the fans of the certain idol group which consists of five female seiyus, it got settled somehow…The certain idol group is, yes, Aice5 by Yui Horie, Akemi Kanda, Masumi Asano, Chiaki Takahashi, Madoka Kimura. A friend of mine is a crazy fan of the group, especially Yui Horie and Madoka Kimura. He then says, Chiaki(the left girl in above image) is what’s called, ツンドラ[tsundora] among the fans. When I heard of this term, I thought it is spin-off -ツンデレ[tsundere]…but actually no. This means the tundra…the large flat areas of land in the north of Russia, Canada etc., where it is very cold and there are no trees. At any rate, we Japanese say 寒い[samui "cold, freezing"] not only to mean it’s cold, but also to ridicule not very funny jokes. I have never seen Chiaki, but everytime she tries to be funny, it doesn’t go well so badly most of the time. But for fans of her, it is even a good 萌え[moe] point…Her jokes is extremely boring(as 寒いas the tundra), so this term, ツンドラ came up.
So, ツンドラ means to freeze the atmosphere with a boring joke, or a person who does something like this. Have you ever seen an icy gust of wind blowing just after someone failed to make it funny with a joke in manga or anime? That sort of thing.
Speaking of freezing the atmosphere, I thought it is a synonym for 電波系[dempakei; see my previous post about this, please]. Having said that, 電波系 does not seem to have the intention to make everybody else laugh though they freeze the atmosphere. Meanwhile, ツンドラ系 seems to try to make us laugh on purpose…and fails. So, it has nothing to do with 電波系.
There’s one synonym for this; サムカワ[samukawa]. Know this is an abbreviation of 寒くてかわいい[samukute kawaii,"cold and cute"]. Even though she is so cute, she is not funny at all…such a girl could be サムカワ. I think there is this type of person in the real world, but is there any in anime or manga?
The classification for 萌え[moe]
Needless to say, 萌え[moe] is something you are obssessed with, or something turns you on right away when you see it. So, I hereby mention some items of 萌え as far as I know.
1. メイド萌え[meido-moe]; There’s no need to explain this. A maid is generally known as a kind of 萌え even for non-otaku folks now. I have seen loads of salarymen lining up for the maid cafe after 5 o’clock.
2. 執事萌え[shitsuji-moe]; I think this is for 腐女子[fujoshi], not for アキバ系[akibakei]. If a maid cafe is so popular, there should be the exact opposite of it. Yes, what if butlers worked there? It should be a butler cafe. However, there’s not so many butler cafes yet. I know at least one, but of course they are girls who dress up as a butler, not real.
3. 巫女萌え[miko-moe]; 巫女[miko] means a priestess. Such a sacred girl can certainly turn them on…I guess the costume plays a big role the most. And any priestesses must be virgin and innocent.
4. スク水萌え[sukumizu-moe]; スク水 is an abbreviation of スクール水着[sukuuru mizugi"swimming suit for school students' use only]. Rather than any gorgeous bathing costumes, they are obssessed with midiocre スク水. I guess that’s because it could remind them of their schooldays somewhat…
5. アホ毛萌え[ahoge-moe]; See my previous post, please.
6. 委員長萌え[iinchou-moe]; 委員長 means a leader of the class(chairperson?). If you happen to have 委員長萌え, you would be obeident to him/her. Speaking of 委員長, I can think of Asakura-san in the Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi.
7. 生徒会長萌え[seitokaichou-moe]; 生徒会長 means a head of the student council. I think this is very rare.
8. ツンデレ萌え[tsundere-moe]; See my previous post, please.
9. 無口系萌え[mukuchikei-moe]; 無口[mukuchi] means not to speak at all. A person who doesn’t talk much…is 無口系. 系 means a type of person here. Needless to say, Rei Ayanami[Evangelion], Yuki Nagato[the Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi], Mai Kawasumi[Kanon], and Tabitha[Zero's Familiar] are this type. Some people might say 綾波系[ayanami-kei] since Rei Ayanami is the first 無口系. Having said that, 綾波系 also means such an eccentric girl.
10. 病弱萌え[byoujaku-moe]; 病弱 means unhealthy, or a person who is easy to be sick. If a girl is stuck at a ward everyday, you would pay a visit her as much as you can. And she gets out of her ward to see you…and faints. Ah! That’s too cliched! I think Sakurako Sugimoto[Doukyusei 2] and Shiori Misaka[Kanon] are this type. In other words, you could also say 薄幸萌え[hakkou-moe]. 薄幸 means unfortune.
11. お嬢様萌え[ojousama-moe]; If she is so well-bred and posh, she would be お嬢様. Yes, any bishoujo anime have at least one girl who is this type. But I have been wondering why such a posh girl goes to the same school as a midiocre protagonist?
12. 妹萌え[imouto-moe]; 妹[imouto] means a younger sister. If you have 妹萌え, you like to be called お兄ちゃん[oniichan"bro"] for sure. I know some 妹系メイド喫茶[imoutokei meido kissa"youger sister cafe"] where girls who act as a younger sister work in place of maids. Yes, they say お兄ちゃん to address you, not ご主人様[goshujinsama"master"].
13. お姉様萌え[oneesama-moe]; If she is elder than you, she is お姉様. Here, お姉様 does not mean an elder sister, but an elder woman who good takes care of you.
14. ドジっ子萌え[dojikko-moe]; If she is so clumsy at anything, she would be ドジっ子[dojikko]. ドジ[doji] means stupid, dull, and a mistake and so on. If she works at company, she would spill a cup of tea in front of you, or put your confidential document into a shredder, not a copier. I can definitely think of Mikuru[the Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi] and Miyuki[Lucky Star] for this type.
I think I should keep writing about this evrerytime I find out a new item. Stay tuned, please.
パセラ[pasela]
This is not terminology for anime fans, but they do know what it is. Yes, パセラ[pasela] is a chain of karaoke. The reason why this is so popular among anime fans is, that it has far more songs than any other chains of karaoke since it equips all types of karaoke such as Joysound, DAM, UGA, or U-kara. So I’m sure you can find any songs you want to sing no matter how minor it is. Also, what gets anime fans the most is its awesome video. Yes, some anime songs play with a certain video of the anime on the screen such as Evangelion, Gundam series, BLOOD＋, Saint Seiya, Cowboy Bebop, Idolmaster, and so on(I can’t even count!). The number of anime video allowed to show, is increasing more and more. I really want them to get a lisence to show Haruhi video because currently there’s no Haruhi songs with its anime video available. That’s a shame.(つД`) But I hope it will come to pass.
The sad thing is that those chains of the karaoke are in Tokyo only(of course there’s one in Akihabara)…so if you come to Tokyo, you should definitely give it a try.
The classification for 攻め[seme] and 受け[uke]
If you happen to be a BL[Boys' Love] fan, you would know what 攻め[seme] and 受け[uke] mean. Since I have a 腐女子[fujoshi "BL fangirl"] friend, I have learned some classification for 攻め and 受け from her. There’s too much to memorize! At any rate, I hereby introduce those I can think of.
Before I begin with that, I shall explain the meaning of 攻め and 受け briefly in case you are not sure of it. In any BL stories, two guys happen to love each other…in such a male-male pair, each has to function when they make love. One functions as male is 攻め, and the other functions as female is 受け though they two are boys.
Okay, so let’s start with the classification for 攻め first.
1. へたれ攻め[hetare-zeme]; へたれ[hetare] means a person who is so reluctant or hopeless. Or else, it simply means sucks. Normally, 攻め should be stronger than 受け, however, if the 攻め boy is less aggressive or positive than 受け, he would be へたれ攻め. Even though he functions as 攻め, he seems to be under the 受け’s control…he would be also entitled to be へたれ攻め. Mostly, if he is such へたれ攻め, the other would be either 誘い受け[sasoi-uke] or 襲い受け[osoi-uke](I’ll mention these later). I can think of Shinji[Evangelion] could be へたれ攻め if he takes 攻め’s place though someone like him would be definitely 受け.
2. 鬼畜攻め[kichiku-zeme]; 鬼畜[kichiku] means barbarity or a person who is cold-blooded. So if he is extremely so cold-blooded, and does brutal things to 受け, he would be 鬼畜攻め, or simply 鬼畜. I think the protagonist in the BL anime, お金がないっ！[No money!] must be 鬼畜攻め. Also, if you have played the BL game, 俺の下であがけ[ore no shita de agake "Struggle under me," you would be sure of 鬼畜.
3. ワンコ攻め[wanko-zeme]; Sounds cute, doesn’t it? Well, ワンコ[wanko] means a dog here(but it’s not correct) It derives from the fact that they howl ワンワン[wan wan "bow wow"]. At any rate, dogs are so obedient to their masters but they also fawn upon. Yes, no matter how cold 受け is, how many times 受け refuses to accept him, he never gives up, and eventually it comes to pass. It sounds like a relationship between 先輩受け[sempai-uke] and 後輩攻め[kouhai-zeme]. 先輩 means a senior at a company or school, and 後輩 means a junior as well. 先輩 is more superior to 後輩. In such a relationship, 後輩 becomes 攻め…the position is switched, isn’t it?
4. 総攻め[sou-zeme]; This term is used in doujin-circles mostly. In a certain manga, anime, or whatsover, whoever he dates, he ends up being 攻め. Such a boy should be 総攻め. 総[sou] means overall, general, and synthetic. For example, I think Tedsuka buchou in Prince of Tennis must be 総攻め. And of course, there’s other way around, 総受け[sou-uke]. I think Kira Yamato in Gundam Seed must be.
5. 下剋上攻め[gekokujou-zeme]; 下剋上[gekokujou] means that a person whose position is lower than the other, surpasses the other. So, at first he is such a wimpy 受け…but with so much going on, he could surpass 攻め so badly. Eventually he can take over 攻め’s place.
6. やんちゃ攻め[yancha-zeme]; やんちゃmeans merry, but sometimes it also means naughty or mischievous. Well, I think if he is such a merry boy, and extremely childish, he would be やんちゃ攻め. Having said that, I have never heard of やんちゃ受け, though…
So, below is all about 受け.
1. 誘い受け[sasoi-uke]; Normally, 攻め should have the initiative, shouldn’t he? But in this case, 受け does have it. 誘い[sasoi] means temptation. See what I mean? In this case, he must be stronger than 攻め so that he can control the other. So that’s why this pair could be possibly 誘い受け and へたれ攻め.
2. 襲い受け[osoi-uke]; If 受け is far stronger than 攻め, and he could even rape him. He should be 襲い受け. 襲い[osoi] means rape, and verb form is 襲う[osou]. But, he must function as 受け when they “do it” because he is 受け.
3. オレ様受け[ore-sama-uke]; オレ[ore] is a kind of the first person. And it’s the most casual. But why -sama? Sama is the most polite honorific than anything else. So オレ様 sounds quite arrogant and narcissistic because he addresses himself with -sama. So, if such a narcissist is 受け, he should be オレ様受け. Speaking of オレ様, I can definitely think of Keigo Atobe in Prince of Tennis. He says オレ様 when he uses the first person, doesn’t he?
4. オヤジ受け[oyaji-uke]; オヤジ(in kanji, it is 親父) means a father, and it’s casual. But when it doesn’t mean a father, it would mean a middle-aged man. It’s a slang, sort of. Anyway, if a middle-aged man is 受け, he should be オヤジ受け. I think オヤジ受け can be seen in リーマンもの[riiman-mono(I will mention it later)] series mostly.
Precisely, there are some genres in BL works, so I shall explain it as far as I know.
1. リーマンもの[riiman-mono]; If a story takes place in a office settings, or the two guys are salarymen, it should be classified as リーマンもの. リーマン means a salaryman, and it’s a slang. もの[mono] means a thing, stuff…a kind of thing. As mentioned before, オヤジ受け could be seen especially in リーマンもの because a boss might be a middle-aged man.
2. 学園もの[gakuen-mono]; It’s easy to guess. If a story takes place at school, it should be classified as 学園もの. Well, 学園ヘブン[gakuen heaven], 桜蘭高校ホスト部[Ouran High-School Host Club], and 金色のコルダ[Kin-iro no Corda] are this kind of thing.
3. ナマモノ[namamono]; It means raw stuff literally. But in BL circles, it does mean a BL thing(mostly fan-made manga) that real people are used. Mostly, actors, pop singers, sport players, or even seiyus.
4. イロモノ[iromono]; This is very rare. It means a BL thing by a pair of minor characters. If not very popular characters are used in such a fan-made manga, it should be classified イロモノ. Or else, イロモノ means a fan who has a minor taste away from the majority.
5. 兄弟もの[kyoudai-mono]; Easy to guess what. 兄弟[kyoudai] means brothers, so in this genre, a pair should be two brothers. Yes, in other words, we Japanese say 近親相姦[kinshinsoukan"incest"]. Mostly a story takes place between two half-brothers(sometimes real brothers!), and a younger one could be 受け and such a ロリショタ. Speaking of 兄弟もの, I can think of Night Head.
That’s all I can think of right now. If you know anything else, tell me please.
若い燕[wakai tsubame]
This is not well-known among young people, but most elderly people do know this term. Know this is a slang though it doesn’t have much insulting. 若い[wakai] means young, and 燕[tsubame] means a swallow. So literally, it means a young swallow. But actually this means a young man who has an elder mistress. Mostly he is taken care of by her so nicely that he doesn’t have to work There’s another similar term, ヒモ[himo] which simply means a thread. It derives from connotations that a man forces a woman to work so hard that she gets skinny like a thread. But this doesn’t even necessarily mean he is younger than her.
I guess it could be a gigolo in English if I translate 若い燕. The reason why this term is well-known among elderly people is, that this was born in the Meiji period when most women used to be forced to work as a mistress so badly. So a woman who was the advocator of the liberation for women, happend to fall in love with a young painter. The fact that such an advocator dated a young man shouldn’t be in public…but it came out to the light so badly. Most women got upset and furious when they knew about the two. So the painter left her with a letter saying like, “a young swallow has to fly away to calm down the troubled pond…” This is how this term was born, and at that time, it got very popular.
Speaking of younger, there’s another term though it has nothing to do with a young swallow; 青田買い[aotagai]. 青田[aota] means a blue field literally, but this makes no sense. To begin with this, I must explain the difference between the two colors, blue and green. We Japanese say occasionally 青い[aoi "blue"] to describe something green such as a signal[青信号"aoshingou"], an apple[青りんご"aoringo"]. And also, in order to describe something immature, we even say 青い. I think this is the same thing in English. So, 青田 means a field which is not ready for havest yet. Even too early. 買い means purchase, buying. So basically, 青田買い means to hire ungraduated students even before they get ready to start job hunting. I said, basically. Yes, inside otaku circles, there’s another use. I think you can guess! 青田買い means to keep an immature boy or girl before they get grown-up in order to make for their own only. I think this term has a connection with ロリコン[rorikon] or ショタコン[shotakon]. If you don’t know these two terms, please check my previous post about ロリショタ.
