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Manga and Anime Glossary Terms are ones that describe various circumstances and instances common to this animation genre. This page is for those terms pertinent to Elfen Lied.



Terminology[]

Anime - The shorthand term for Japanese animation. In Japan, the term is more broad, applying to all animation regardless of country.

Bishonen - A beautiful child. Usually reserved for young males like the boy Kouta.

Dojikko - A character who is known by their innate clumsiness. Nana sometimes ends up in this position, but the primary example would be Kurama's tragic secretary, Kisaragi.

Ecchi - A catch-all for almost any sexual behavior in the genre; Usually reserved for strong but non-explicit, like most of Nyu's antics.

Fan Service - Technically referring to any 'in-joke' or some manner of a visual or verbal pun not integral to the plot of a story; in practice, nudity or sexual imagery used to draw in viewers/readers. For example, while Nyu climbing into Kouta's bath is fan service, by that same token, so was her comical effort to get him water while he was sick.

Glomp - A running hug performed with enough momentum to bowl over the recipient; Nyu does this to Kouta more than once.

Harem - Broadly used to describe situations in which a young man lives awkwardly with a group of interested women. Even though at least half of the female cast of Elfen Lied do not have a romantic interest in Kouta, some still regard it as such.

Kawaii - Cute, usually referring to a young female character. Young Lucy and Yuka are prominent examples, as are Nana and Mayu.

Manga - Japanese comics, or a piece using this style, usually marked by features such as large eyes, long limbs, speed lines and exclamatory typography. Often marked off by the distinctive personal style of the creator.

Mangaka - Usually, the sole author, writer and the illustrator of manga. Collaborations are not unknown but are rarer. Lynn Okamoto is this for Elfen Lied.

Meganekko - A female character whose glasses are often a defining feature of her personality, indicating someone a bit repressed on some front. Arakawa and Shirakawa are examples of this.

OVA - Original Video Animation, usually something that is not part of a series' broadcast but included in later home video compilations. Rainstorm ~ Regenschauer, set in between episodes 10 and 11, is an example of this.

Seinen - Manga/anime intended for older teen boys (around 15-16 years of age) and usually young men 18-30 although some for men in their 40s exist; Weekly Young Jump, which introduced Elfen Lied, is an example of a magazine that would carry this.

Seiyu - A Japanese voice actor, a profession took very seriously, although the English-speaking voice acting community is also moving up in estimation.

Tsundere - Most commonly, tsundere refers to a person who seems harsh towards others on the surface, but hides deeper feelings behind an uncaring facade, often switching between being harsh toward them and sweet. Classical tsundere refers to a character who is initially cold and aloof who gradually warms up to others, with their brusque side typically disappearing the longer they know that person. Yuka is an example of the former, more common type, and Lucy is a case of the traditional tsundere type (most evident before she suffered her mental breakdown) mixed with yandere traits.

Yandere - A person who is initially loving and gentle (or at least innocent) before their devotion becomes destructive in nature, often through violence and brutality. Yandere characters kill and attack others to prevent them from having their loved one taken, or kill and attack their loved one to stop others from having that Yandere's loved one. Yanderes are mentally unstable, and at the worst incredibly deranged and are not mentally sane, often using extreme violence and brutality to as an outlet for their emotions. Lucy is the best example of this in Elfen Lied, but even then she is not a pure example since she also possesses tsundere traits.

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