Dictionary

I'm going to try to keep track of manga-related terms that the average American wouldn't know here. If you have any questions, comments, or extra money burning a hole in your pocket, comment and let me know.
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Anime: The TV version of manga, in that it shares its visual style, though it isn't limited to just adaptations, or to just TV series. The perfect example is the award-winning Miyazaki (Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke), who's basically Japan's version of Walt Disney (even better, in my humble opinion). You know a manga's really made it when they're making it into an anime.

Baka: I had the worst time figuring out a good definition for this word--the translator's notes were usually "stupid", "dumb", or "fool", and those just didn't fit all the ways the word is used. It's the perfect multiuse insult--it's a noun! It's an adjective! And "You stupid!" just didn't sound that smooth. Eventually, I met "dumbass", and we've been good friends ever since (as "you dumbass!" and "that was a dumbassed thing to do" each make perfect sense). (Though, technically, I believe that "baka" would really translate to stupid or foolish, and "bakayarou" or "bakayaroo" to dumbass, but in manga it's pretty much always kept as "baka", so my definition works all the time. Nyeh.)

Manga: Can this possibly be defined in a single sentence? I usually explain it to my friends by saying that it's a visual form of crack developed by the Japanese to control the world; to my mom, it's the Japanese version of Spiderman or Calvin and Hobbes.

Mangaka: The artist/author of manga. Usually, one person does both the script and the art, but it is occasionally split up between two people; Safe Again Today is a favorite manghwa of mine that was coproduced (or whatever you would call that).

Manghwa: Korean version of manga; the art is almost always unbeatable, and it positively drips tragedy and high drama. Interpret that as you will.

Meganekko: Girls with glasses, especially in Japan, and the preference thereof. Lit. "spectacle-child" Ex: That substitute teacher was one hot meganekko! (from urbandictionary.net)

Otaku: We all know them--the rabid fans that live to write the TamakixKyouya fanfics and for whom hygiene is a dirty word. *shakes head* While generally used to describe anime fanboys, it really means anyone who is obsessive about something to point where it's just not cool anymore. There could be dog otaku, model otaku, book otaku, even paperclip otaku, if you could find someone out there so obsessed with paperclips that it would be appropriate to bestow the infamous and slightly grimy title of "otaku" on him (or her).

Shoujo: Basically, "girly" manga--manga targeted towards girls in the 12-18 age group; usually centers around middle-aged and high school heroines (with an emphasis on the high schoolers), though there are occasional forays into elementary school (which are usually very sweet ^_^...or pervy >_>). While it is a bit of a "girl with the curl in the middle of her forhead" manga (it's either really bad or really really good), it's a favorite of The Meganekko, as I'm willing to wade through the slush to get the diamonds--and the art is unparallelled (except, perhaps, in josei, and we don't really get enough of that to compare). Heavy on the drama and romance.

Stuff you're not really going to get here (as I don't read it), but it's still a good idea to know what it is...

Shonen: The male version of shoujo with more action, male heroes, and girls in bikinis. As a general rule, much more popular--Naruto and Bleach are examples of this genre.

Ecchi/Hentai: Manga porn. Easily identified by the presence of girls with boobs the size of their heads on the cover.

Yaoi/Shonen ai: Boylove of all shapes and sorts--a great favorite of fangirls everywhere. Yaoi is generally includes more...mature...content.
Yeah.
Let's put it that way.

Yuri/Shoujo ai: Girly version of Yaoi/shounen ai.

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