Glossary Term: Yankee

Continuing on with definitions... today's term is yankee, which fortunately has nothing to do with yandere. And no, it's not a term for Americans either. Rather, in Japan, yankee refers to a delinquent or trouble-making youth. Stereotypical traits include bleaching their hair blond (or otherwise styling it in an odd fashion), wearing surgical masks,  carrying bats or pipes, and just acting aggressively in general.

 Sterotypes

These types of characters typically get into a lot of fights, don't care about school rules, and just generally cause trouble. That's not to say that they're always the "bad guys" per se; some of them simply want to be seen as "tough" or as "somebody you shouldn't mess with". Others may have changes of heart as the story progresses and reform their ways.

Some examples of such characters include Mitsuhasi and Ito of Kyou Kare Ore Wa!! (pictured above), Harima Kenji of School Rumble, and Hibino Hareluya of Harelyua II Boy.

Glossary Term: Tsundere

Alright, we're pretty much reaching the final stretch for our lessons now. At this point, I'll be defining certain terms that I feel that anybody who reads manga or watch anime should know.

Today's term is tsundere, which refers to a character (usually female) who tends to alternate between two moods with regards to another character (the love interest). These moods are "tsuntsun" (irritable/cold) and "deredere" (love-struck) respectively, hence the term. The ways in which a tsundere acts can vary wildly; for example, "tsuntsun" behavior can range from simply ignoring the love interest to beating the guy up.

Indifference -> Shy Embarrassment

Tsunderes are most commonly found in romantic comedies as the conflicting personalities can be easily utilized to progress the story. It can be nice to see a character progress from being "tsuntsun" most of the time to being "deredere", though most tsunderes will always have both aspects of their personality.

Some examples of tsundere characters are: Shana of Shakugan no Shana (pictured above), Aisaka Taiga of Toradora!, and Asuka Langley Soryu of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

It begins, it begins

Hi, welcome to Otaku Novice! This blog is intended to be a novice's guide to manga and anime (written by a novice). Basically, I'll be going over basic terminology and gradually move into reviews of some what I consider to be "beginner-friendly" series.

Lesson 1!
Anime: Basically just animation made by the Japanese. In Japan, the term actually refers to all animation regardless or origin though.

Manga: Basically just comics made by the Japanese. Comics influenced by manga and produced in other countries also exist, such as Manhwa (made by the Koreans).

Otaku: A Japanese term that refers to somebody who's "passionate" about anime and manga. Strictly speaking, the term can be used for *anything* really (music otaku, sports otaku, etc) but its strongly associated with manga and anime now. Its got a somewhat negative connotation; think "fanboy", "geek", or "nerd" as western equivalents.

That's all for now, see you next time!