Anime Tropes from Anime WIkipedia

the most commonly used:

Against The Setting Sun
=================
A common usage in sports manga and anime, and occasionally parodied in other genres, the hero, team, or group in question will swear allegiance to fulfilling their dream while facing the setting sun (often while standing on a cliff or beach overlooking the ocean, but not always).

Quivering Eyes
===========
During times of emotional stress, a character's eyes, or just the reflected highlights in them, will shake perceptibly. This is not usually a comedy trope, and can in fact mean that things have turned very serious. It may presage a Sparkling Stream Of Tears, if the situation gets worse. It can also indicate extreme happiness or love.

Idiot Hair
=======
Ahoge refers to the noticable slim forelock of hair that sticks straight up from a character's head. Originally a hairdresser term for the "stupid hairs" that will not comb down, it later mutated into a literal reflection of intelligence. Someone with Idiot Hair who's not actually stupid is at least a bit naive at times.

Not to be confused with the two "antennae" strands of hair that frame the faces of characters in shows like Ah My Goddess and Love Hina.

Oddly Visible Eyebrows
=================
This is not strictly speaking wholly limited to anime and manga, but one of the most noticeable artistic conventions--after the big eyes and small mouth--is the fact that most characters' eyebrows are always visible, even when hair, a hat, or a bandage ought to cover them up. It's not quite as extreme as the American cartoon breakfast cereal spokesman Cap'n Crunch, whose eyebrows are on his hat, but sometimes it does approach that level.

The eyebrows are drawn that way, of course, to make it easier to convey nuances of facial expression.

Multinational Team
=============
This is a team consisting of a number of individuals of different (and explicit) nationalities. They are invariably the good guys. The team will include a Japanese member, who is often (but not always) the central character in the series and/or the team leader. Still related to....

Tokyo Is The Center Of The Universe
==========================
Are aliens landing in UFOs? They'll land in Tokyo.

Is there a neighborhood full of world-class martial artists with superhuman powers? It's in Tokyo.

Is there a magical gateway between worlds? It's in Tokyo.

Is a giant alien monster attacking? It's attacking Tokyo.

Is there a mysterious gigantic cavern hidden just beneath the Earth's surface, wherein aliens once upon a time created all life on Earth? It's underneath Tokyo.

Is there only one person with the special gifts needed to save a distant planet or alternate dimension? They live in Tokyo.

Is a prominent figure from a Western religion or myth manifest once more and living in the world of Men? They're in Tokyo.

This is not merely an Anime Trope but a cliche in anime and manga. The rest of Japan barely exists and the rest of the world might as well not be there at all.

Four Is Death
==========
"Four" and "Death", despite being spelled differently, sound exactly the same in Japanese (shi). As a cultural trope, it's often treated like the number 13 in the west.

A major example is how many villains' organizations in anime have four major characters, while you're more likely to see heroes in groups of three or five.

Transformation Sequence
==================
sentai-esque series such as Ronin Warriors? will often have them. Transformation Sequences are good for a show's budget because they provide a large amount of Stock Footage that can be (and often must be) reused each episode. They also provide nice filler for the writers. If a particular transformation sequence occurs multiple times in one episode, a shortened version will often be used after the first time.

Humongous Mecha that can transform often do so in this manner, especially in old-school mecha shows of the "giant metal super hero" vein.

Calling Your Attacks
==============
If you can do something more impressive than just throw a punch, your attack(s) must have an equally impressive name. More than that, you have to call it out as you launch the attack. It doesn't matter if it's a martial arts move or a magical spell, if you can't say its name, it just isn't nearly as cool or effective. A standard feature of practically every Magical Girls, high fantasy, or martial arts anime.

This is an Anime Trope.

The Single Stroke Battle
=================
Two enemies of nearly equal skill meet, about twenty yards apart. They may be ninja or samurai. They observe each other from a distance. The aspect ratio is widescreen, letterboxed if the show is shot in 4:3. They stand at opposite ends of a very wide, low-angle shot.

On cue -- sometimes triggered by an outside event, such as a slowly falling flower petal touching the ground -- they break into a sprint toward each other, leaning far forward, hands on weapons. Each character is shown in a frontal shot from the other's perspective.

Reaching critical distance, they leap. Each is shown leaping in a closeup, probably from the waist down, although the leap is simultaneous.

The characters move past each other in midair, weapons drawn, but no weapon strikes are shown. This happens in slow motion. They face forward and do not look back. Alternately there is the sound of steel on steel, but events pass too quickly for the audience to see what happened

Both characters land in a crouching position. They are shown in a shot from the front of one character, with the other in the background. This shot is usually shown for both characters.

A beat goes by.

One character falls to the ground, dead. Sometimes in pieces. The other stands.

dah dulu ah...

anime trivia dari http://sharingan.blog.com/94845/

Momotaro no Umiwashi (Momotaro, the Sea Eagle) dianggap sebagai Anime Movie pertama. (thanks to Hikari for the info)

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Hakujaden merupakan Anime Movie berwarna pertama yang dibuat, dirilis pada tanggal 22 Oktober 1958. Pembuatannya memakan waktu kurang lebih selama satu tahun (1956-1957). Anime ini merupakan hasil kerjasama antara Toei dengan perusahaan perfilman dari Hongkong yang diangkat berdasarkan cerita klasik Cina. (thanks to Hikari for the info)

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OVA pertama yang dirilis di Jepang adalah Dallos: Dallos Haikai Shirei (Dallos: Order to Destroy Dallos) pada 12 Desember 1983 yang diikuti oleh Dallos: Remember Partholemew pada tahun berikutnya. Dan sejak saat itu anime dikategorikan menjadi 3 jenis berdasarkan format media yang digunakan, yaitu TV Series, Movie, dan OVA. (thanks to Hikari for the info)

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Pangeran Heinell dalam Chodenji Mashin Voltes V, adalah karakter antagonis (musuh) pertama yang mendapat respon positif dari penggemar wanita, yang dibuktikan dengan banyaknya surat yang ditujukan kepada rumah produksi meminta agar tokoh Heinell dibiarkan hidup. Sebelumnya, belum pernah ada tokoh antagonis dalam anime yang mendapat respon serupa. (Anime Encyclopedia)

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Dalam Hyakujyu Ou Golion, tokoh Akira (Sven dalam versi Amerika) diceritakan mati dan digantikan oleh Putri Fara (Allura, versi Amerika), sementara dalam Lion Force Voltron, Sven diceritakan masih hidup dan berada di planet Garla (Doom). Pihak Jepang membuatkan episode lanjutan khusus (termasuk di mana "Sven" muncul kembali) untuk pasaran Amerika sehingga serial ini menjadi lebih panjang (total 125 episode). Sven "dihidupkan kembali" karena dalam perspektif Amerika, seorang tokoh pahlawan (animasi) tidak boleh mati. (Anime Encyclopedia)

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Kagaku Kyujou-tai TechnoVoyager di Amerika diubah namanya menjadi Thunderbirds 2086. Hal ini dilakukan tanpa kesulitan karena dalam pelafalan Jepang, Vo pada Voyager diucapkan sebagai Bo, sehingga singkatannya menjadi TB bukan TV. Oleh karena itu kode yang tampak pada kendaraannya adalah TB (TB-1, TB-2, sampai TB-17) yang dengan mudah diartikan sebagai singkatan dari ThunderBirds. (Anime Encyclopedia)

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Pada tahun-tahun awal 90-an, penggemar anime di Amerika membentuk sebuah gerakan yang mereka sebut S.O.S (Save Our Sailormoon) di mana pada saat itu, anime yang masuk masih mengalami perubahan nama (Amerikanisasi nama) dan juga perubahan alur cerita. Mereka menuntut agar nama-nama tokoh dibiarkan tetap seperti aslinya demikian pula dengan alur ceritanya. (Internet)

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Sekitar tahun 1998 - 1999, kembali terjadi gerakan dengan nama sama hanya berbeda kepanjangan. S.O.S yang baru adalah Save Our Sakura, di mana anime Card Captor Sakura yang masuk diubah menjadi CardCaptors dan nama-nama tokohnya pun berubah. Selain itu yang paling menjadi perhatian utama adalah alur cerita yang diubah sedemikian rupa sehingga justru nampaknya tokoh utama dalam cerita itu adalah Li Shaoran. (Internet)

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Cowboy Bebop sempat mengalami penundaan penayangan karena pada saat akan dipublikasikan, pemerintah Jepang sedang merumuskan peraturan yang di dalamnya menyangkut penayangan anime. Peraturan ini dibuat sebagai respon atas kejadian di mana seorang anak menikam gurunya akibat terpengaruh oleh anime (yang disebut-sebut adalah akibat pengaruh Shinseiki Evangelion di mana Unit Eva menggunakan progressive knife yang menyerupai cutter). (Internet)

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Dalam Cowboy Bebop baik versi serial televisi maupun movienya, banyak ditemukan istilah atau nama yang diambil dari bahasa selain Jepang. Misalnya: di Mars terdapat Morroccan Street (di mana lingkungannya digambarkan seperti layaknya pasar di Maroko/Morocco) atau istilah seperti "Insya Allah" yang diucapkan oleh penduduk di situ. Selain itu dalam Bebop juga bisa kita dengar kata-kata dalam bahasa Indonesia. (Anime)

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Kisah dalam Kiko Soseiki Mospeada adalah interpretasi penulis naskahnya (Tomita Sukehiro) terhadap "The Crusade War" tetapi dengan menggunakan setting luar angkasa dan futuristik. (Anime Encyclopedia)

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Nama Kouran dalam Sakura Taisen ternyata diambil dari nama belakang seorang artis drama Jepang pada masa 1920-an (setting masa Sakura Taisen) yang mempunyai spesialisasi memerankan tokoh dari Cina. (Anime Encyclopedia)

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Character designer original Sakura Taisen adalah Fujishima Kosuke (Aats! Megami-sama, Taiho Shichauzo) (Anime Encyclopedia, Internet)

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Chojiku Kidan Southern Cross dan Kiko Soseiki Mospeada di Amerika dikenal karena digabungkan dalam rentetan serial Robotech dan ceritanya dicampur dengan Chojiku Yosai Macross. Tokoh utama Southern Cross, Jeanne Francaix, diubah menjadi Dana, "anak" dari Max dan Miriya Sterling (Sterling adalah nama versi Amerika). Hal ini kemudian bertentangan dengan munculnya Macross 7 di mana tokoh utamanya adalah anak Max dan Miriya yang sesungguhnya, Mylene Jenius. (Anime Encyclopedia)

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Yoshiyuki Tomino yang banyak menyutradarai anime robot (seperti Gundam, Voltes V, dll) di Amerika mendapat julukan "Mr. Kill 'em All" setelah ia menyutradarai Zambot 3 karena dalam beberapa judul anime yang ditanganinya banyak tokoh yang tewas. (Anime Encyclopedia)

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Kosoku Denjin Albegas di Amerika ternyata juga berubah nama menjadi Voltron dan dimasukkan dalam rentetan serial Voltron. Namun ternyata anime yang satu ini tidak jadi ditayangkan, sementara perusahaan distribusi mainan di Amerika tetap bersikeras untuk menjual Albegas dengan nama Voltron. (Anime Encyclopedia)

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Tokoh Ephram Brown (diperankan oleh Gregory Smith) dalam serial drama Everwood, diceritakan sebagai seorang anak yang menyukai komik dan salah satu komik favoritnya adalah Ghost In The Shell. (Everwood)

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Anime Tokyo Mew Mew yang dirilis di Amerika Serikat, namanya diubah menjadi Hollywood Mew Mew.

mu99le menulis:
Multinational Team
=============
This is a team consisting of a number of individuals of different (and explicit) nationalities. They are invariably the good guys. The team will include a Japanese member, who is often (but not always) the central character in the series and/or the team leader.

Tokyo Is The Center Of The Universe
==========================
Are aliens landing in UFOs? They'll land in Tokyo.

Is there a neighborhood full of world-class martial artists with superhuman powers? It's in Tokyo.

Is there a magical gateway between worlds? It's in Tokyo.

Is a giant alien monster attacking? It's attacking Tokyo.

Is there a mysterious gigantic cavern hidden just beneath the Earth's surface, wherein aliens once upon a time created all life on Earth? It's underneath Tokyo.

Is there only one person with the special gifts needed to save a distant planet or alternate dimension? They live in Tokyo.

Is a prominent figure from a Western religion or myth manifest once more and living in the world of Men? They're in Tokyo.

mu99le menulis:
The Single Stroke Battle
=================
Two enemies of nearly equal skill meet, about twenty yards apart. They may be ninja or samurai. They observe each other from a distance. The aspect ratio is widescreen, letterboxed if the show is shot in 4:3. They stand at opposite ends of a very wide, low-angle shot.

On cue -- sometimes triggered by an outside event, such as a slowly falling flower petal touching the ground -- they break into a sprint toward each other, leaning far forward, hands on weapons. Each character is shown in a frontal shot from the other's perspective.

Reaching critical distance, they leap. Each is shown leaping in a closeup, probably from the waist down, although the leap is simultaneous.

The characters move past each other in midair, weapons drawn, but no weapon strikes are shown. This happens in slow motion. They face forward and do not look back. Alternately there is the sound of steel on steel, but events pass too quickly for the audience to see what happened

Both characters land in a crouching position. They are shown in a shot from the front of one character, with the other in the background. This shot is usually shown for both characters.

A beat goes by.

One character falls to the ground, dead. Sometimes in pieces. The other stands.

SoLiDsNaKe menulis:
Kalau yang ini, salahkan Gu Long!

mu99le menulis:
oh bukan dr Jepang toh aslinya?

Can Not Spit It Out
==============
There is a piece of vital information that would clear up a character's problems, whether it is a misunderstanding of romance or combat. If the character just spit it out, it would save entire episodes....entire seasons of trouble and tears.

....so, naturally, they don't.

Whether it's due to embarrassment, ego, or just plain stupidity, they rush into whatever situation is going on. Sometimes this leads to a moral about the benefits of clear-headed conversation over fighting needlessly. However, most of the time it's just to provide padding to the series.

Cant Catch Up
==========
Due to the Sorting Algorithm Of Evil, many anime have a habit of powering up their characters, season after season. However, this doesn't happen uniformly; the main characters are most often powered up, followed by whichever secondary characters are most popular with the audience, and then, sometimes, the rest of them. This can result in a situation where a character who was introduced as the hero's equal can slip further and further back in the power rankings, to a point where they can't even help out against the Monster Of The Week.

Dramatic Wind
==========
Before any fight begins or important truth is revealed, or if the character is simply standing and looking noble, a wind will invariably blow, ruffling his hair, the grass at his feet, and/or his cape if he's wearing one.

Even if he's indoors.

Hand Behind Head
=============
When nervous or uncertain -- or when lying -- a character will sometimes rub the back of his neck with one hand, often with a patently false grin or laugh accompanying the gesture.

Impossibly Cool Clothes
=================
Animated and anime characters can often be found wearing clothing that just looks too good to be real. This can be proven by the occasional attempt made to reproduce these clothes by the costume teams for live-action adaptations or by enthusiastic fans. Sometimes this is because of structural elements that flout or ignore real-world physical laws, or because the outfit in question requires an inhumanly perfect (or simply inhuman) body underneath it, or because real-world materials just don't look as good as ink and paint.

Clothing in animated series also shows near-indestructibility in terms of almost never ripping, fraying, staining or wrinkling, no matter what kind of stresses are placed on it or substances flung at it. Sometimes this is given an explaination (the material is some experimental or magically enhanced substance), but most times it isn't. And surprisingly, no one seems to question why Superman's suit never gets as much as a grass stain.

Any character with clothing showing signs of distress is truly in a world of pain, and possibly imminent death. Unless, of course, the character in question is a woman in Anime, as clothes-tearing near-misses are a hallmark of fanservice.

Note that despite the name given this trope, such outfits need not be cool, or even particularly good-looking.

Late For School
===========
Typical for shojo anime heroines. This is usually how their shows begin in the first episode.

Basically, they're never on time for school. While some are Heavy Sleepers, it would appear that they may have simply set their alarm clocks so as to give them insufficient time to get to class.

They will thus be in a frantic rush, which usually results in them taking short cuts, eating breakfast on the run, and bumping into important people in a manner that gets the plot of the series started.

Not So Fast
========
A fair bit of Anime is adapted from Manga, its print cousin. There are good things and bad about this.

The trouble is that the narrative style of Manga derives from literature, where the amount of space you spend on something is proportional to how important it is, while the narrative style of Anime, like all of television, derives (even after all the tricks of Time Compression? and such are considered) from how long things actually take.

So you start out with, say, a 30 page comic book, and you want to turn it into a 30 minute show. This can be a problem if there's a fight scene: a comic book might devote an entire issue to a single fight, which only takes up about five minutes on-screen. And translating a monthly publication to a weekly series makes matters even worse.

As a result, characters in Anime derived from Manga tend to talk a lot.

A whole lot.

At totally inapropriate times.

Often, you'll have heroes spend entire episodes taunting each other mid-battle, explaining their last move in excruciating detail, Calling Your Attacks, building up their Battle Aura, gathering their composure for the next attack, adopting a silly pose, or reflecting on all the things they stand to lose if they don't win this one.

Parental Abandonment
================
A stunningly large number of anime heroes and their coteries are lacking one or both parents, either through death or misadventure. Even if both parents are alive, they may well be emotionally or even physically distant.

This is a very convenient way for characters to be able to run off in the middle of the night to fight Evil, get sucked into another world, etc. without having anyone responsible for them making a fuss.

Pre Explosion Glow
==============
Everything emits light before it blows up, often in brilliant beams that work their way out of cracks in the surface of the doomed object. Often the object bulges like a balloon being squeezed before finally blowing to pieces.

Five Man Band
==========
The Five Man Band is a group of characters whose members fall into standard heroic archetypes which all complement one another.

The group traditionally includes:

The Hero - (lead singer) - the leader of the group; can be clean-cut and upstanding, bold and charismatic, serious and driven, or some combination of the three.
The Lancer - (lead guitarist) - the second-in-command, usually a contrast to The Hero. If the Hero is clean-cut, the Lancer is a grizzled anti-hero; if the Hero is the driven and straight-laced type, the Lancer is more relaxed and level-headed.
The Big Guy - (bassist or drummer) - the strongman of the team, often dumb. Or mute.
The Smart Guy - (keyboardist) - the weak, but intelligent or clever member, often annoying or for comic relief, a Trickster Archetype, a buddy of the Big Guy.
The Chick - (tambourine, vocal effects) - the token female who has been incorporated into the core group. Often of royal descent: Princess Allura (Voltron), Princess Leia Organa (Star Wars). The Chick will sometimes have special powers, presumably, to "even the field" a little. In all-female groups, The Chick will be the most "ditzy" member of the group.

Hi all,

Just found link to excellent anime website (my opinion - plmk if it isn't) for
anime/manga stuffs. Lots of stuff, you could easily spend hours here.
(correction: days)

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/

ps. Telepathic Wanderers (novel) looks good, anybody had read it?

pss. whoa... really comprehensive there, excellent encyclopedia, massive and detail.

Enjoy....
ar

Hi,

Another anime (database) link:

http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=main

Enjoy...
ar

.... da cape donlot Whisper of the Heart nya Studio Ghibli, guess what? teks brazil.... .... baka desu!!!!!!

ahahahaha emang ga ada info kalo itu sub brazil?

da tau itu sub brazil pas da 80% .... too late... pikir2 liat de selesai... mana tau salah info ... pas donlot ga dblgin itu brazil.. misleading banget. liat dia anidb br tau klu subber yg ini ngesub ke bahasa brazil (Spanish ta?) .. sebeeeellll ada yg punya soft sub nya ga yah?

yup brazil = spanish.

coba ke boxtorrent aja mungkin masih ada.

btw ini off-topic banget. bikin thread lain aja deh.

Anime Theme Song
==============
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
=========
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
====================
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
=======
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
==========
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
========
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
=============
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.

Big Budget Beef Up
=============
When characters suddenly seem much much stronger than before, as an issue of time and money. Noticeably common in movie adapations, but also in OVAs and important episodes given higher budgets. Almost never explained.

To fit a typical episode formula, the heroes may have to spend a certain amount of time fighting a single opponent. However, dramatic episodes may have the heroes fighting hordes of similar minions or critters. To make use of short time, they'll be cutting through them quickly enough you wonder why it wasn't so easy before.

Also very effective the first time, since it shows how cool the whole cast can be in its first real big fight.

Chinese Girl
=========
A cute ethnically-Chinese girl, usually foreign-born with a variable accent. Nearly guaranteed to appear in a cheongsam at some point. An inordinate amount of them (even for anime) will know martial arts.

Pretty Freeloaders
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Sometimes Unwanted Harems become so common that fans see them everywhere. While a bishoujo series can have one guy and a big female cast, sometimes it's just for the audience's sake. In romantic seinen series, the lead might just be interested in one girl from the outset. Unfortunately, the rest can cause non-romantic trouble rarely doing anything too useful, aside from fixing problems they caused themselves.

Pretty freeloaders typically gain audience sympathy over time, and usually have barely any sort of direct romantic attachment to the main character.

Big Ol Eyebrows
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An extremely old Japanese artistic convention is giving men bushy eyebrows. The manly oyaji usually has them, and it makes his expressions more imposing and tougher. A lot of older shonen manga uses this style to great effect. Unless it's specifically part of the art style, Big Ol Eyebrows are a common Art Shift gag when a character is being overdramatic.

Women tend to get very thin eyebrows. Thicker eyebrows are usually just a convention to make their faces more noticeable or make their facial expressions funnier.

Speed Stripes
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In anime, characters moving at high speed often appear in front of a set of moving colored lines -- usually blue background with yellow stripes, although depending on the impact, any color combination may be used. This is usually done because drawing a proper background moving behind the character would require drawing a large background from a camera angle which would only be seen for a split-second. The direction of the lines indicates the direction; if the lines seem to be coming from a central point, then it is because the character is moving toward or away from the screen.

A variation of this is the Moving Punchout, where two characters are fighting and obviously moving (usually in the same direction, although sometimes towards each other), with speed stripes as the background.

This is an effect from Manga, and is indicative of a stylistic difference between the west and Japan in the depiction of movement. While speed lines in the west are traditionally drawn on the character and leave the background in focus, the Japanese artist traditionally speed-lines the backgound, leaving the character in focus. In the western version, the observer is a stationary bystander being passed or approached by the character, but in the Japanese version the reader is moving with the character.

One Head Taller
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A character who could be considered 'dominant' (often more serious or reserved) in the relationship if often taller than their significant other, frequently One Head Taller. Being One Head Taller naturally allows you to tuck someone under your chin when surprising them with a hug. This rarely works the other way around, although the 'cutesy' partner being taller is usually a deliberate humorous device for the audience to notice. In that case, the grouchier counterpart is hugged the way one would a puppy.

A noticable exception are (arguably "dominant" ) Tsunderes, who are short. On the other hand, the act of cuddling is designed to show off their cute side.

This is an extremely pervasive trope in BL work, to the point shippers drawing doujinshi will occasionally modify the heights of characters to make the stereotype work.