What is Gunpla ガンプラ ?

Image: HG 00 Raiser ANA X Gundam Sky Project
More eyewatering images from Gunpla Master, "ZeroFour Gundam"

"Gundam Models" are plastic and non-plastic model kits depicting the mechas, vehicles and characters of the fictional Mobile Suit GUNDAM universe by Bandai, a Japanese toy making and video game company.

Gunpla?
GUNDAM Models are also called Gunpla ガンプラ Ganpura, a mashup of "Gundam plastic model". "Gunpla" more commonly refers to the practice of building Gundam models, rather than the models themselves.

"Mobile Suit Gundam", the Anime, debuted in 1979 and the first Gunpla kits were created in 1980.  The first Gunpla kit? The 1/144 Scale RX-78-2 GUNDAM

What are the best Anime Websites?

With such a wealth of excellent Anime sites online, I decided that going for a quality few rather than an exhaustive list was a much better choice. Here then my personal favourites, with enough content to keep you happy for months.

Anime News Network

Up to date, news, reviews, Top lists for anime and manga, trailers and previews.  Registration to get the most from a member's forum and a customisable My ANN feature.

Anime Planet

Updated News and reviews, a browse by tag option and members forum

AnimeNFO

Don't let the exterior fool you, AnimeNFA is quite simply the internet's database for anime and manga news and information and a busy members forum to browse or share your views

Watchonline

Dubbed
Pimpanime
Dubhappy
Justdubs

Subbed
Cruchyroll
Gogoanime
Onepieceofbleach

The above list is by no means exhaustive. So If you've got your own favourite I've left out, I'd be delighted if you'd leave a comment and a link. If the sites free from popups and annoying background page loaders then it'll end up here.

See all "Guide" posts

What does Neko 猫 mean?

Neko 猫 is the Japanese word for cat, or feline, and popularily used when referring to a character with cat ears and/or tail.

猫娘 Nekomusume (lit, daughter of a cat) or catgirl is a female character with physical characteristics such as cat ears, cat tail, etc. on an otherwise human body. Catgirls are found in various fiction genres, (eg. Catwoman from DC comcis) and in particular Japanese anime and manga where they are more commonly referred to as Neko or Nekomimi 猫耳 (lit.cat ear/s).
Catgirls invariably exhibit cat-like characteristics, which can include cat gestures or sounds in written or verbal communications

:( Just to confuse the issue, Neko can also refer to the uke (bottom) in yaoi manga, or the femme in a yuri manga

The catgirl research foundation
List of Catgirls from wikipedia
See all "Guide" posts

Image by hokuto saeki (no link avaiable), one of five principal artists for BaseSon's 2007 visual novel Koihime Musō.

What does Bishoujo mean?

Bishoujo, bishōjo, bishou
Simply a Japanese word for a "pretty girl", "beautiful girl"

Can also refer to young pretty girls, usually below university age. Oddly Bishōjo is not listed as a word in the authoritative Japanese dictionary Kōjien. A variant named biyōjo 美幼女 refers to a girl before the age of adolescence.

bishōjo game 美少女ゲーム bishōjo gēmu
 "pretty girl game", subgenres of bishōjo games are ren'ai games (often called "dating sims") and eroges or eroge (often called "hentai games").

Bishoujo Anime,
Covers anime of different genres, varying from Shōjoo or shojo, such as Sailor Moon to erotic anime such as MeiKing.

See "Cuteness in Japanese Culture"
See all "Guides"

What does Tokusatsu mean?

A popular form of Japanese entertainment, Tokusatsu translates as "special filming". Simply put, the genre features themes involving fantasy or science fiction characters, mecha, superheroes or beasts and the significant use of special effects. Film series are more recognisable to Western audiences as general Sci Fi.

The 1954 release of "Godzilla" inspired by the American film King Kong, formulated many of the techniques that would become staples of the genre.

TV series include "Metal Hero" 1982 onwards, Chouseishin Series 2003 onwards and Moonlight Mask 1961.
Films examples include "Warning From Space" 1956, "Green Slime" 1969, and "Virus" 1980

See all "Guides" posts

What is a Bishojo Game?

A bishōjo (bishoujo) game also known as game of beautiful girls is a genre of Japanese video game dealing with interactions with female game characters delivered in graphic style similar to manga or anime. Most bishōjo games involve some semblance of romance or seduction, leaning towards adult versions, which are destinctly not for the faint hearted.

A phenomenon in Japan, Bishoujo games comprise an important segment of the gaming industry there, with some games selling more than a million copies. The bishōjo game industry has little presence outside of Asia, only a few titles have been translated or commercialized for Western audiences. In the West, bishōjo remains one of the least-known genres in the video game industry.

Indepth Bishojo guide on Wikipedia
Jast USA (licensor and distributor of English bishōjo games)
Freetype Bishojo game site
Pete's Bishoujo Games Essential links
renaigames bishojo guide

see all Rendered Beauty "Guides"

tags bishoujo bishojo guide what is a bishoujo game links

What does Ecchi mean?

Ecchi or Etchi is often used in the context of manga and anime. The term ecchi is applied to anime or manga that has vague sexual content (such as skimpy clothing, partial or full nudity). In English ecchi can carry different connotations than allowed for by the original Japanese. The ecchi art style is loosely comparable to pin-up girl artwork, as well as to provocative fantasy and comic book art in the United States and other countries.

Wallpaper from Ecchi-haven

see all "Guides"

tags ecchi etchi meaning what is anime manga

What are Dojinshi?

Dojinshi (doujinshi, doujin) are self-published Japanese works, usually manga or novels, often the work of amateurs.

Avid fans of dōjinshi attend regular dōjinshi conventions, the largest of which is called Comiket (short for "Comic Market") held in the summer and winter in Tokyo's Big Sight. Here, over 20 acres of dōjinshi are bought, sold, and traded by attendees.

A major part of dōjinshi content contains sexually explicit material, due to both the large demand for such publications and absence of restrictions official publishing houses have to follow. Indeed, often the main point of a given dōjinshi is to present an explicit version of a popular show's characters.

More information on Wikipedia
sample cover from doujin moe

tags dojinshi doujinshi doujin manga Japanese

What are Visual Novels?

Visual Novels are interactive fiction games featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art. Resembling mixed-media novels, visual novels are classified as a sub-genre of adventure games, referred to as AVGs in Japanm where they make up nearly 70% of PC games released.

Player interaction is limited to clicking to keep the text, graphics and sound moving. The majority of visual novels feature multiple choice questions resulting in branching storylines and multiple endings.

Though Visual Novels are predominately only available in Japan, recent releases like Phoenix Wright for the Nintendo DS, may change all that.

Shi.org some free examples of fan-made or translated visual novels
Visual Novels.net featuring downloads and reviews on latest commercial releases

tags Visual Novel game games dating games guide

What are Eroge Games?

An eroge is a Japanese video or computer game that feature erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork. In English, eroge are often called hentai games in keeping with the English slang definition of hentai.

CG refers to anime-style artwork commonly used in these games, often distributed separately from the game, via the Internet, to people who just want to look at the artwork without playing the game itself.

See Wikipedia Article

tags eroge eroge games h games hentai games

What is Vector Wallpaper?

Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and polygons, to represent images in computer graphics. It is used in contrast to the term raster graphics, which is the representation of images as a collection of pixels (dots).

Unlike raster Wallpaper which degrades in quality on magnification, Vector wallpaper can be scaled indefinitely without degradation. One key aspect of vector art is key for printing. Since the art is made from a series of mathematical points it will print very crisply no matter how you resize the art.

The graphic above is an example and dosen't represent the quality available from the source Wallpaper from David Lanham

more information:Wikipedia

tags Vector Wallpaper Meaning what is

What does OVA mean?

Original Video Animation abbreviated to OVA is a term used in Japan for anime titles that are released directly to retail sale, bypassing broadcast, cable and theatrical releases. OVA titles were originally available on VHS, though they later became available on other media such as Laserdisc and DVD. OVA is sometimes used, to refer to any extremely short anime series or special regardless of its release format.

OAV or original animated video is sometimes used in place of OVA, and the meaning is generally accepted to be the same. The abbreviation OAV was too similar to AV ("Adult Video"), causing OAV to be misinterpreted as original adult video, resulting in a shift towards the OVA abbreviation.

Image from Ryu's Form Site

tags OVA meaning OAV Anime video

What are Garage Kits?

Garage kits are essentially pre-moulded model kits, which have to be assembled, glued and then painted. The term originated with dedicated hobbyists frustrated with having being unable to find model kits of subjects they wanted on the market and so started producing kits of their own. As the processes of sculpting, casting and painting produce dust and fumes, most of the sculptors used their garages as their workshops, hence the name.

Originally these kits were sold and traded between hobbyists at conventions, such as WonderFestival, but they have since gained popularity and now there are a large number of companies, who produce these kinds of kits professionally.

Kits are usually cast as separate parts and can be as simple as a two piece figure, or as complex as kits with well over one hundred parts. Due to the labor intensive nature of the manufacturing process and low market demand relative to traditional injection-molded plastic kits, garage kits are generally produced in very small quantities from the tens to a few hundred copies, as opposed to injection-molded plastic kits that are produced in many thousands.

tags garage kit garage kits resin kit resin kits figure model modeling