Japanese Anime Vocabulary and Keigo: How to Study the Two Halves of Japanese in Context

The title Japanese in Context (deck code HN4107, 298 cards) doesn't tell you what's inside. There are two unrelated halves. Cards 1-148 are anime and manga vocabulary. Cards 149-298 are keigo, the honorific system you need at work, in shops and on the phone. Study them as two separate decks: one for fun, one for the office.

Half 1: anime vocabulary (cards 1-148)

You'll learn: 漫画家 mangaka, 声優 seiyū, 主人公 shujinkō, 悪役 akuyaku, 魔法少女, 日常系, ラブコメ, アニソン, 先輩/後輩, 部活, 幼馴染, 告白, ツンデレ, ヤンデレ, 萌え, 頑張って, 修行, 異世界, 転生, 召喚, 冒険者, ギルド, 獣人, ネタバレ, どんでん返し, 伏線, 回想, 続編, 最終回.

Three cards need a fix:

• 少年, 少女, 青年 and 女性 on their own mean boy, girl, young man, woman. As genres they need the suffix: 少年漫画, 女性向け.
• 変態 means "pervert". Japanese speakers say 成人向け for adult content.
• 守る is the dictionary form "to protect". The anime line is 守ってみせる or 君を守る.

Card 76 has a typo: write ダンデレ in katakana.

Half 2: keigo (cards 149-298)

Build a three-column table. Use one column for respectful (raises the other person), one for humble (lowers yourself) and one for plain polite. Then learn the forms that fill several slots:

• いらっしゃいます means be, come and go.
• 伺います means visit, ask and come (humble).
• 参ります means go and come, as in 電車が参ります.
• いただきます means eat and receive.

Eight entries cover about twenty cards.

Correct these cards before drilling:

• Card 167: "know" is 知っています, not 知ります.
• Card 152: ございます is polite or courteous speech, not respectful speech.
• Card 250: for your name, use 〜と申します. 申し上げます is for saying something to a superior.
• Card 267: お大事に means "get well soon".
• Cards 172/174 and 210/278 are duplicates. Delete one of each pair.

Next step

For everyday polite phrases outside the office, see our Practical Japanese phrasebook guide. Find deck HN4107 in the library at flip-it.app.