Anime Theme Song
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Unlike most American TV series, the theme music for most anime tend to be catchy songs deliberately written for release to the pop/rock music market.

One reason this is done is because most seiyuu (voice actors) are also singers, often quite successful ones. (At least one such performer, Megumi Hayashibara, is not only a formidable presence on Japanese pop charts and an internationally-known talent, but also the recipient of more star and featured anime roles than any one woman ought to have.) It's not unknown for production companies to organize some of their principal cast members into formal groups for recording CDs -- the "Goddess Family Club" (Ah My Goddess) and DoCo (Ranma 1/2) come to mind. Either way, it's usually to a seiyuu's advantage -- they perform theme songs (as well as additional "character" songs), receiving a double benefit from exposure in two different markets.

As a result, most anime theme songs have really very little to do with the subject matter of their shows. The vast majority of them are romantic songs of one flavor or another, ostensibly showing the point of view of one of the show's main characters. When they aren't, they tend to be reflective "personality" pieces, nonsense patter songs, or instrumentals. Whatever their style and content, though, they are usually outstanding works of music -- anime theme songs are generally written with the same attention and care that in the United States is reserved for potential Oscar-winning compositions.

Naturally, then, when an anime actually reaches the American broadcast market (as opposed to direct DVD sales), their theme songs are either discarded or gutted, usually in conjunction with throwing away the original opening credits. When a broadcaster even bothers with new credits (Toonami and other outlets are notorious for not bothering to do so), a vocal performance may be replaced with unimpressive instrumentals; a case in point would be Vision Of Escaflowne?, whose beautiful and stirring love song was unceremoniously dumped in favor of a bland, generic "adventure music" opening. Other times the original melody is kept (perhaps with a little modification), and new, insipid, English lyrics unrelated to the original are written for it; an example of this would be Sailor Moon, whose theme "Moonlight Legend" was turned into a bit of contentless fluff. (ed: for those who are curious, here's comparison between original and American Thunderbirds 2086 opening. beda jauh boo...)

On the other hand, some importers have tried to create English-language versions of theme songs faithful to the original Japanse lyrics, with mixed (but generally good) results. Viz Video was possibly the first to make the attempt with several of the songs from various seasons of Ranma 1/2. Pioneer/Geneon has done the same, starting in the early 1990s with Tenchi Muyo and Moldiver, and more recently with Love Hina; they have even gone so far as to release full English-language CDs for some of their imports. (This practice has mostly withered away, though, mainly because of legal pressures brought to bear on North American distributors by various Japanese parent corporations, but also because American voice actors are rarely trained singers -- as Viz's attempt to create "DoCo America" proved.)

One other thing of note concerning theme songs for anime: where in the United States a theme song is usually a vital part of the identity of a show, an anime that lasts more than one season may change both opening and closing theme songs on a regular basis. The best example of this would be (again) Ranma 1/2, which had a different set of theme songs for each of its seven seasons and for its OVA series.

The original lyrics to an anime theme song may be the occasion for Gratuitous English -- the number of examples where English words and phrases are used instead of Japanese equivalents is vast. In a few cases, the song is actually written mostly or entirely in English and performed at least in part by native English speakers -- "Duvet", the theme from Serial Experiments Lain, and "Obsession" from .hack//SIGN are good examples, and "Treat Or Goblins", the theme from Abenobashi Mahou Shoutengai, contrasts Megumi Hayashibara's attempt at half-English hiphop with an all-English rap by an obviously American performer. (One reason production companies may be doing this is to shortcut around the tendency, noted above, for American importers to ditch Japanese theme songs.)

See also Image Song.

Image Song
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A song specific in content and tone to a character from an anime, sung by the character's voice performer -- usually on a soundtrack CD.

The animation houses which produce anime are nothing if not masters of cross-marketing and cross-promotion. One means by which a series is promoted and supported in the Japanese media marketplace is (as is sometimes the case in the United States) the original soundtrack CD.

In the early days of this practice, such CDs usually contained nothing more than the program's opening and closing themes, as well as most or all of the incidental music heard in the show. Eventually, though, the producers of such discs began to take advantage of the fact that most Japanese voice performers are also professional singers, often of the "idol" variety which drives the Japanese pop music market. They began to write songs that typified -- and sometimes explored more deeply -- the characters.

Thus was born the "Image Song", a uniquely Japanese variety of All There In The Manual. While a viewer can enjoy and understand a series without ever hearing the soundtrack, those that do listen to the music often receive a "bonus" in the form of a deeper understanding of the nature of the characters.

Occasionally the Image Song makes its way back to the series, where it may appear as a character's theme music, or to punctuate a sequence which features them. As time goes on, this has become more frequent, to the point where in some shows the Image Songs almost (but not quite) supplant the traditional soundtrack entirely. And in some cases, the show's theme song is treated as an Image Song -- usually sung by the most important female member of the cast, but also remade any number of times by other voice performers from the show.

Non Indicative First Episode
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A first episode of an anime that is flashier than the rest of the series is an accepted practice, since it's supposed to wow you and pull you into the story. Even if much action doesn't occur, the timing and budget of the episode is noticeably good. These differences are accepted and even encouraged.

However, if the first episode sets a fanciful creative premise but the later bits of the story clearly show a shove back to the reliance on tired subplots (or even a Genre Shift), the audience can feel unfairly fooled or betrayed. This is often indicated in the Second Episode Morning.

Should hopefully not be coupled with a preceding Off Model episode.

Off Model
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When the production company decides the important episodes of a show get priority. Filler and the like will get drawn and inbetween as much as they need to, but especially long running shows suffering from budget issues will start resorting to thinly veiled camera tricks. The movement and even design of characters will start to slip (ed: yang ini gue dah buktiin sendiri...Candy2 versi anime gbrnya tambah lama tambah jelek). The prevalence of computer-inked animation in recent years merely assures that colors stay consistent.

Often indicated by the noticeable addition of many Koreans in the production credits.

Fans are typically not pleased, and it is very common for companies to announce they're fixing up things for the inevitable DVD release.

Official Couple
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Some shows are made to be deliberately enticing to shippers, but for the most part relationships in the story are merely heavily suggested. This could be seen as a bit of cowardice to the writers, but a sympathetic view is it allows them to please many potential fans without alienating anyone else. It's what keeps The Unwanted Haremafloat, assures plenty of fun Ho Yay, and allows for plotline flexibility.

On the other hand, these kinds of shows often have a pair of characters who are a little more overtly paired off, usually two people the other characters admire. They might never kiss on screen or even flirt with other characters, but it's understood by the cast that the two are an item.

Team Spirit
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On shows where the main characters are grouped together, goals (ranging from winning games to defeating monsters) are usually achieved by working together (or as some people like to call it, teamwork).

Audible Sharpness
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When weapons with sharp and cutting edges are brandished, a vaguely metallic sound effect will be inserted (along with a bit of Lens Flare) to signify just how lethally sharp the weapon is.

The tone of the sharpness, as with musical instruments, is dependent on size.

An unsheathed samurai sword makes a tiny, high-pitched sound; the stabbing metal arms of a Humongous Mecha are much deeper, but fundamentally the same sound.

This is an Anime Trope, as well as Animated Trope, as modern anime-influnced works like Dexters Laboratory and Megas XLR use it, too: sometimes as a trope, and sometimes as a humorous subversion.