Japanese Hobby

Dakimakura 抱き枕

<div>dakimakura is? Those things anime fans talk about, but don't really own, and if they do own, they own it as a joke, and if they don't own it as a joke, they won't go around saying they own it and showing to everybody? Well, in this post I'll explain what is a dakimakura, and the meaning of dakimakura in Japanese. 
 
<a name="more"></a><h2 id="english-definition">
English Definition</h2>
In English, the term dakimakura refers mostly to cylinder-shaped, body-sized pillows featuring images of anime characters. They're often associated with who want to sleep with their and so end up buying a pillow featuring her image to sleep with. 
<h3>
Erotic vs. Tame</h3>

Often, a dakimakura will feature some sort of sensuality, by the character doing a sexy pose, or being naked, or wearing pajamas or lingerie, etc. I mean, ultimately, the character is going to bed (with you) so it'd be weird for them to be wearing anything other than sleepwear.

 

Note, however, that not all dakimakura designs are erotic. There are also tame designs. And joke designs, too.
<h3>
Female vs. Male</h3>

The idea of dakimakura is normally associated with female characters because male otaku like female characters, and it's true they're (probably) the majority. However, you'd be wrong to think male dakimakura do not exist. They exist. They may be fewer, there's an audience of female otaku and they do sell and buy this stuff, too.
<h3>
Other Names</h3>

Other names for a dakimakura include:
<ul>
<li>Love pillow.</li>
<li>Anime pillow.</li>
<li>Hugging pillow.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="dakimakura-sides">
The Two Sides of a Dakimakura</h2>

Normally, the image of the character on the dakimakura is actually two images: one on each side of the pillow. Needless to say, both sides are not the same, and you can just turn the pillow around to see the side you want.

 

The images on each side usually follow one of the following patterns:
<ol>
<li>Each side has a different angle. 
The front is the front of the character. (boobs side!) 
The back is the back of the character. (ass side!)</li>
<li>Each side has a different outfit. 
Sometimes one side is clothed and the other side in underwear. 
Sometimes one side is naked.</li>
<li>Each side has a different character.</li>
</ol>

 

Of course there are other cases, like having two or more characters in one side, etc. Fortunately, if you're going to buy a dakimakura online there's usually an image showing what each side looks like.
<h2 id="how-to-use-dakimakura">
How Do You Use a Dakimakura?</h2>
It's... it's a pillow. How the fuck do you think you use a goddamn pillow?!?!?!? You just... are... are you serious? Have you ever... like... slept? Like, on a bed? With... with pillows? 
 
It' a pillow. 
<h2 id="dakimakura-are-covers">
Dakimakura Are Not Pillows</h2>

Actually, dakimakura are not pillows.

 

They're pillow covers.

 
dakimakura you buy is simply a piece of fabric with the character printed on it. Or, more likely, you bought your first dakimakura, got it delivered, and only then you realized it was just the pillow case, then you bought the "pillow inner." 
 
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjiKKqkkarf9kV1jMq9wY0Xt7vTYxtvaQ_flza-iBZgNzsuQ5IRllcVaHP_cUS2qMQTQty5dSEo7NeNoiSb7cz4xj7MVBYhs4lM3sYEBpIgaNDvRGzHKzkxKl-FSPr3nTS7P2lxVw5kt0/s1600/dakimakura-cover-baka-to-test-to-shoukanjuu.png"><img alt="A dakimakura cover of Yoshii Akihisa 吉井 明久 in the manga Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu バカとテストと召喚獣." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjiKKqkkarf9kV1jMq9wY0Xt7vTYxtvaQ_flza-iBZgNzsuQ5IRllcVaHP_cUS2qMQTQty5dSEo7NeNoiSb7cz4xj7MVBYhs4lM3sYEBpIgaNDvRGzHKzkxKl-FSPr3nTS7P2lxVw5kt0/s1600/dakimakura-cover-baka-to-test-to-shoukanjuu.png" title="Not to scale, apparently."></a> 

Fortunately, and unbelievably, the cover normally costs more than the pillow, so you're probably not gonna waste more money on the pillow inner than you invested on the pillow case.
<h3>
Space Savings</h3>
That is, you already have a body pillow, and the so-calledyou buy is simply a piece of fabric with the character printed on it. Or, more likely, you bought your first, got it delivered, and only then you realized it was just the pillow case, then you bought the "pillow inner."
I mean, seriously, it doesn't make any sense for it to be otherwise. You don't need to buy a whole pillow for every character you want to sleep with. Then you'd have, like, a collection of body-sized pillows in your closet, or in your basement, or something. It'd occupy too much space.

 

What you're even gonna do with all those pillows, anyway? You wouldn't even need a bed at that point, you could sleep over a pile of waifus. 
<h3>
Switching Covers</h3>

 
 
For example, say you got Ichigo on there, you can remove Ichigo and put Zero-Two in place. Or you can remove Rem and put Emilia in place. And if it tears or stains beyond repair you can just throw it in the trash and buy another, like you'd do with socks. 
<h2 id="dakimakura-size">
Dakimakura Size</h2>

Generally speaking, a dakimakura is about 150cm or 160cm long by 50cm of width (4'11 or 5'3 by 1'8.). This is regardless of the canonical height of the character and standardized purely out of commercial convenience.

 

The 150cm dakimakura is naturally cheaper, but beyond that, some people feel the 160cm size makes for a better dakimakura. Of course, your mileage may vary.

 

(there's a story I've seen spread around that the 150cm version became popular because of its weight. The 160cm exceeds 2kg, which adds over 30 dollars in international shipping fees, but the 150cm is just under 2kg, so it doesn't have the same problem. I haven't been able to find this story in a Japanese website. By the way, the 2kg refers to the pillow weight, not the cover weight.)
<h3>
Vs. Real People's Size</h3>

By the way, 160cm seems to be just about the average adult (20-49 years old) woman's height in Japan. In a dakimakura the corners and edges are, well, blank, so you'd think the character is scaled down, but on the other side the character is usually not standing still, in a completely straight position, so I guess the two things cancel each other out.

 

By the other way, 170cm is about the average male adult height. So unless your husbando is vertically challenged, you'd better steer away from the 150cm size. There are 170cm long dakimakura, which, coincidentally, feature mostly for male characters, but this size is less common.

 

A reminder: while you can switch one cover (dakimakura) by the another, that'd be a bit problematic if the pillow cover and the pillow inner don't match in size. So if you buy the elusive 170cm cover, it's going to be too big for a 150cm pillow inner, likewise, a 170cm pillow inner won't fit in a 150cm cover. 
<h3>
Real-Life Sized</h3>


When the size of the drawing matches the canonical size of the character, you'd say it's a "real-life sized," or, in Japanese, toushindai 等身大.

 

Of course, there's no guarantee that every character will end up having a real-life size dakimakura. Some characters are inhumanly enormous. For example, Miia ミーア from Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou モンスター娘のいる日常 is some goddamn 7 meters tall, I mean, long, so there's just no way anybody would be stupid enough to try making a dakimakura this b... oh, wait, shit, they made one?

 



 

And it costs 100 thousand yen, or 800 dollars.

 

Anyway, that was an exception to the rule. In some cases there's just no real-life sized dakimakura of a character and that's it.
<h2 id="dakimakura-kanji">
Dakimakura in Kanji</h2>
<a></a>dakimakura 抱き枕.When <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/words-written-with-kanji.html">written with kanji</a> , the word is抱き枕.<h2 id="dakimakura-in-japanese">
Dakimakura in Japanese</h2>

In Japanese, dakimakura 抱き枕 means "hugging pillow." The word makura 枕 means "pillow," and the word daki 抱き, "hugging," a noun, comes from the verb daku 抱く, which means "to hug, " or "to embrace," or, in some cases, "to have sex with," which is totally irrelevant to what we're talking about here, of course.
<h2 id="dakimakura-are-pillows">
Dakimakura Are Pillows</h2>

Wait a fucking second. So a dakimakura is a pillow, after all?! What's going on here?!

 

Well, what happens is that, in Japanese, Japanese words mean a thing, and in English, Japanese words mean another thing, sometimes.

 

The term dakimakura only gets loaned from Japanese because of anime, so it's no wonder that fans of anime, when using the term dakimakura, refer only to dakimakura in the context of anime, which in case would refer to the pillow covers featuring anime characters.

 

In Japan, where not everything is anime (unfortunately), a dakimakura isn't a pillow cover, it's not even an anime pillow either, it's just... the pillow. Like, literally, the pillow. The cylinder-shaped, body-sized pillow. That pillow. The body pillow. The "pillow" so big you can "hug," the "hugging pillow." Kuzco's pillow.
 
Literally the only requirement for a dakimakura is that it's a pillow so big you can hug. If you were to search in online stores for a 抱き枕, you'd find, for example, pillows in the shape of bananas, dogs, sharks, and muscular male arms, all of which are technically huggable. 
 
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JRZH8KS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B01JRZH8KS&linkCode=as2&tag=monl08-20&linkId=3ee3362e83d03850ffb65420a0a45784" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&MarketPlace=US&ASIN=B01JRZH8KS&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&tag=monl08-20"></a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074N2R28P/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B074N2R28P&linkCode=as2&tag=monl08-20&linkId=98881b0056d7f524e3e3c2a25c37fc39" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&MarketPlace=US&ASIN=B074N2R28P&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&tag=monl08-20"></a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079317VT3/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B079317VT3&linkCode=as2&tag=monl08-20&linkId=b54915690e7b5863335294314630a2dc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&MarketPlace=US&ASIN=B079317VT3&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&tag=monl08-20"></a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QNOIYT6/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00QNOIYT6&linkCode=as2&tag=monl08-20&linkId=b08aace55c42332b77afcf2db82012f7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?%0A_encoding=UTF8&MarketPlace=US&ASIN=B00QNOIYT6&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&tag=monl08-20"></a> Literally the only requirement for ais that it's a pillow so big you can hug. If you were to search in online stores for a 抱き枕, you'd find, for example, pillows in the shape of bananas, dogs, sharks, and muscular male arms, all of which are technically huggable.
But if dakimakura aren't anime pillows, or anime pillow covers in Japanese, then how do you say dakimakura in Japanese? What's the equivalent word?
<h2 id="anime-pillow-in-japanese">
Anime Pillow in Japanese</h2>
 
 
I mean, think about it, a dakimakura is a body-sized pillow you're supposed to hug in bed. What the hell are you going to use as a cover for it if not half-naked anime girls in sexually suggestive poses???! Is it... flowers? You want a pillow cover decorated with flowers? Or... stars? Or something like that? 
 
The reason precisely I don't know, but the truth is a "dakimakura cover," dakimakura kabaa 抱き枕カバー, normally refers to a cover featuring an anime character, because this is basically the only kind of cover that exists at all. 
 
(I'm serious.) 
<h3>
Non-Anime Covers</h3>
You'd have a lot of trouble finding any other type of cover to buy on the internet. It's easier to just buy the pillow itself with the color and style you want than to try finding a cover for it. The hugging pillow cover industry is supported pretty much entirely by anime fans. Weird, huh? 
 
To be honest, there is another kind of dakimakura cover, one that's not an anime cover, however, it's as bad, no, nevermind that, it's objectively worse than your garden-variety 2D girl cover: it's the 3D girl cover. 
<h3>
Real Person Dakimakura</h3>

Now you might be thinking: what the fuck? And indeed, what the fuck?! But it exists.

 

Essentially, it's pin-up photos of real-life idols, etc. sometimes in swimsuits, lingerie, naked, etc. basically the same thing as the anime dakimakura, but a 3D person instead of a 2D character. Furthermore, there rare also case of adult-video, "AV," porn stars being featured in said covers.
<h2 id="dakimakura-japanese-terms">
Japanese Terms for Dakimakura</h2>

For reference:
To say "anime pillow cover" in Japanese, you just literally say "anime pillow cover" in Japanese. Actually, you don't even need the "anime" part.I mean, think about it, ais a body-sized pillow you're supposed to hug in bed. What the hell are you going to use as a cover for it if not half-naked anime girls in sexually suggestive poses???! Is it... flowers? You want a pillow cover decorated with flowers? Or... stars? Or something like that?The reason precisely I don't know, but the truth is a "cover,"抱き枕カバー, normally refers to a cover featuring an anime character, because this is basically the only kind of cover that exists at all.(I'm serious.)You'd have a lot of trouble finding any other type of cover to buy on the internet. It's easier to just buy the pillow itself with the color and style you want than to try finding a cover for it. The hugging pillow cover industry is supported pretty much entirely by anime fans. Weird, huh?To be honest, thereanother kind ofcover, one that's not an anime cover, however, it's as bad, no, nevermind that, it's objectively worse than your garden-variety 2D girl cover: it's the 3D girl cover.<ul>
<li>dakimakura 抱き枕 
Hugging pillow.</li>
<li>dakimakura kabaa 抱き枕カバー 
Hugging pillow cover.</li>
<li>dakimakura hontai 抱き枕本体 
Hugging pillow's REAL FORM!!! 
Hugging pillow itself. The pillow's "real body." 
The pillow inner.</li>
<li>piroo keesu ピローケース 
Pillow case. (not necessarily a dakimakura.)</li>
<li>saizu サイズ 
Size. (150x50, 160x150, etc.)</li>
<li>toushindai 等身大 Life-sized. (150cm, 160cm, 170cm, as opposed to something smaller.)</li>
<li>sanjigen 3次元 (三次元) 
Three-dimensional. (the real-person kind.)</li>
</ul>
It's the cover you buy. So if you want, you can replace the character on the pillow by changing covers like you'd change socks.For example, say you goton there, you can removeand put Zero-Two in place. Or you can remove Rem and put Emilia in place. And if it tears or stains beyond repair you can just throw it in the trash and buy another, like you'd do with socks.<ul></ul>
<h2 id="dutch-wife-vs-dakimakura">
Dutch Wife vs. Dakimakura</h2>
In Japanese, a dakimakura is not the same thing as a "dutch wife," or dacchi waifu ダッチワイフ, despite comparisons found in a number of websites. 
 
A "dutch wife," in Japanese, refers to a sex doll. Maybe "dutch wife" means pillow in English, but that's not what it means in Japanese.In Japanese, ais not the same thing as a "dutch wife," orダッチワイフ, despite comparisons found in a number of websites.A "dutch wife,", refers to a sex doll. Maybe "dutch wife" means pillow in English, but that's not what it means in Japanese. 
The term "dutch wife" also refers to a pillow-like bamboo thingy you'd hug under the heat of summer because it stays colder than the bed sheets through the sheer power of thermodynamics. In Japanese, this would be called a chikufujin 竹夫人, "bamboo wife," not a dacchi waifu ダッチワイフ. 
 
Furthermore, in Japan, a "dutch wife," the sex doll kind, isn't that cheap-ass stupid-looking blow-up doll as made in burger-eating 'Murica as a tool to satisfy one's sexual desire. It's a fine-derrière fancy-looking work-of-art ningyou made in the glorious sun-raising Nippon as a very refined kind of love. 
 
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYrIR_JI2QcoyCMa7xu4l-KnWIZKU-lsE-Ur0cyj_1stV6jutd9GtbYCUzj383NNuXm4jwxZtR1v0WlYhiBj5uvLn13oaKvi2kXUnWO10Td_pD7GDPDfsKEtMFXkZ9HygwqkSpyrcLNk/s1600/dutch-wife-tatami-galaxy.png"><img alt="Dutch wife Kaori 香織 from anime Tatami Galaxy / Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei 四畳半神話大系." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYrIR_JI2QcoyCMa7xu4l-KnWIZKU-lsE-Ur0cyj_1stV6jutd9GtbYCUzj383NNuXm4jwxZtR1v0WlYhiBj5uvLn13oaKvi2kXUnWO10Td_pD7GDPDfsKEtMFXkZ9HygwqkSpyrcLNk/s1600/dutch-wife-tatami-galaxy.png" title="Best girl, no contest."></a> 
Jokes aside, they're seriously, disturbingly, well-made. It's a bit creepy, honestly. There are even cases these "dutch wives" have been mistaken for dead bodies of doll-like women and the police was called, or so I've read. It's like, you know how everyone says Violet Evergarden is as beautiful as a doll? It's like that. 
<h2 id="sex-toy-dakimakura">
Sex-Toy Dakimakura</h2>

Obviously, just because a dakimakura is not a sex doll, and tame designs for dakimakura exist, that doesn't mean some people won't, uh, find a way to pervert those pure, innocent anime pillows into some sort of sexual deviancy.

 

The most obvious way is just to open a hole somewhere in the dakimakura and fit an onahole in there, but there are, seriously, dakimakura covers designed with "solids," rittai 立体, placed on boobs and ass for that 3D feeling. 
 
There are also dakimakura designed with the lower part split in two, the pillow inner, I mean, with covers designed likewise, so you can move the legs around. And there are versions with arms that move too. 
 
Of course, some of these variations don't really count as "sex toys," maybe somebody just wants a pillow with arms and legs, but it's clearly trying to turn cylindrical pillows into doll-shaped pillows, and that's just one step before sex-doll-shaped pillows.
<h2 id="hizamakura-meaning">
Hizamakura 膝枕</h2>
The term "dutch wife" also refers to a pillow-like bamboo thingy you'd hug under the heat of summer because it stays colder than the bed sheets through the sheer power of thermodynamics. In Japanese, this would be called a竹夫人, "bamboo wife," not aダッチワイフ.Furthermore, in Japan, a "dutch wife," the sex doll kind, isn't that cheap-ass stupid-looking blow-up doll as made in burger-eating 'Murica as a tool to satisfy one's sexual desire. It's a fine-derrière fancy-looking work-of-artmade in the glorious sun-raisingas a very refined kind of love.Jokes aside, they're seriously, disturbingly, well-made. It's a bit creepy, honestly. There are even cases these "dutch wives" have been mistaken for dead bodies of doll-like women and the police was called, or so I've read. It's like, you know how everyone says Violet Evergarden is as beautiful as a doll? It's like that.
A hizamakura 膝枕 means, literally, "knee pillow," but a better translation would be "lap pillow." You know when someone has knees, no, wait... you know when someone puts their head on someone else's lap as if it were a pillow? That's called a "lap pillow," or hizamakura in Japanese.

 

And yeah, they sell those. There's... pillows... shaped like lap pillows. Lap pillow pillows.

 

In the case of hizamakura products, they're usually shaped like a lower body, only hips, legs and feet. Which is mostly everything you need for a lap pillow anyway. I haven't looked up, but someone probably already invented an mechatronic head-patter to complete the experience, and if nobody did, someone probably will, one day, I'm sure.

You know what ais? Those things anime fans talk about, but don't really own, and if they do own, they own it as a joke, and if they don't own it as a joke, they won't go around saying they own it and showing to everybody? Well, in this post I'll explain what is a, and the meaning ofin Japanese.In English, the termrefers mostly to cylinder-shaped, body-sized pillows featuring images of anime characters. They're often associated withwho want to sleep with theirand so end up buying a pillow featuring her image to sleep with.It's... it's a pillow. How the fuck do you think you use a goddamn pillow?!?!?!? You just... are... are you serious? Have you ever... like... slept? Like, on a bed? With... with pillows?It' a pillow.</div>

Dakimakura 抱き枕

dakimakura is? Those things anime fans talk about, but don't really own, and if they do own, they own it as a joke, and if they don...

正 - Japanese Tally Mark

<div> eventually: 正. At first glance there's nothing special about it. It's used in words like tadashii 正しい, "correct," "right," "just," as in, "justice," seigi 正義. But then you come across a bunch of 正 side by side like this 正正正正正 and you're left wondering what the hell is going on. 
 
 
Is this like when you have a stalker psychopath and they start writing the same name on the walls over and over and over again but this time they're stalking a kanji or something? Maybe. But it's more likely it's being used as the Japanese tally mark. 
<a name="more"></a><h2>
How to Count</h2>
If you don't know what a tally mark is, it's a mark, symbol, used to keep a tally, counting a number of something, specially scores and stuff. (like how many points or goals a team has, etc.) 

 
 
<h3>
Stroke Order</h3>
Here's how you write the tally mark: 
 
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0jpjWDx0RvQ/WpXa2lDpAmI/AAAAAAAACg0/OE5k2Y_nUOkU034U5eLpcake5HrbCOpCwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/japanese-tally-mark.png"><img alt="How to write 正, tally mark stroke order." border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0jpjWDx0RvQ/WpXa2lDpAmI/AAAAAAAACg0/OE5k2Y_nUOkU034U5eLpcake5HrbCOpCwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/japanese-tally-mark.png" title="Is it up to five because we have five fingers?"></a><h3>
Vertical or Horizontal?</h3>
When counting, after five comes six, so you gotta start a new 正 character. The question is, in Japanese, do you put them side by side horizontally or vertically? 
 
Disregarding the fact that <a></a>kamisama's sake! You could write them diagonally if you wanted. The only important thing is finishing one 正 before moving on to the next one. 
<h2>
Saying "Tally Mark" in Japanese</h2>
To refer to the tally mark itself you could say: 
<ul>
<li>sei no ji 正の字 
The 'sei' character. 
(because sei is one of the <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/kanji-readings.html">readings of the kanji</a>)</li>
<li>sei no kanji 正の漢字 
The 'sei' Chinese character.</li>
<li>sei no moji 正の文字 
The 'sei' letter.</li>
</ul>

 

To refer to the method of counting with a tally mark:
<ul>
<li>kakusenhou 画線法 
"Stroke lines method." 
(technical term literally nobody uses.)</li>
<li>sei no moji de kazoeru 正の文字で数える 
To count with the 正 letter. 
(descriptive phrase even a <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/baka-meaning.html">baka</a> would understand.)</li>
</ul>
There are a bunch of tally marks across the world. One used in the west is drawing four sticks vertically then crossing them diagonally to count five. Another one is drawing a square with four sides and then a diagonal to count five. Anyway, human beings love to count from five to five, so it's no wonder the Japanese tally mark has five strokes, too.Here's how you write the tally mark:When counting, after five comes six, so you gotta start a new 正 character. The question is, in Japanese, do you put them side by side horizontally or vertically?Disregarding the fact that <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/04/japanese-writing-horizontal-or-vertical.html">Japanese can be written top-to-bottom, left-to-right, and even right-to-left</a> , it's a tally mark, for's sake! You could write them diagonally if you wanted. The only important thing is finishing one 正 before moving on to the next one.To refer to the tally mark itself you could say:
If you watch too much anime, you're bound to come across thiseventually: 正. At first glance there's nothing special about it. It's used in words like正しい, "correct," "right," "just," as in, "justice,"正義. But then you come across a bunch of 正 side by side like this 正正正正正 and you're left wondering what the hell is going on.Is this like when you have a stalker psychopath and they start writing the same name on the walls over and over and over again but this time they're stalking aor something? Maybe. But it's more likely it's being used as the Japanese tally mark.If you don't know what a tally mark is, it's a mark, symbol, used to keep a tally, counting a number of something, specially scores and stuff. (like how many points or goals a team has, etc.)</div>

正 - Japanese Tally Mark

eventually: 正. At first glance there's nothing special about it. It's used in words like tadashii 正しい, "correct," ...

FranXX Numbers to Names Explained

<div>darifura ダリフラ), where the main characters are children product of some nefarious sci-fi utopia thingy. Such children are nameless, referred normally by codenames, which are just a few digits. Except that one of these characters, Hiro, used the numbers to come up nicknames for his . The question is: <a></a> 
 
Why is <a></a><a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/franxx-code-number-names.html#code-016-hiro">016 Hiro</a>, <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/franxx-code-number-names.html#code-056-goro">056 Gorō</a>, <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/franxx-code-number-names.html#code-196-ikuno">196 Ikuno</a>, <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/franxx-code-number-names.html#code-214-futoshi">214 Futoshi</a>, <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/franxx-code-number-names.html#code-326-mitsuru">326 Mitsuru</a>, <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/franxx-code-number-names.html#code-390-miku">390 Miku</a>, <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/franxx-code-number-names.html#code-556-kokoro">556 Kokoro</a>, <a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a> 
 
(there's a <a></a> 
<a name="more"></a><h2 id="how-it-works">
How It Works</h2>
<a></a>For the most part, the names of the characters come a very, very old practice of <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/numbers-spelling-japanese-words.html">spelling Japanese words with numbers</a> , from the era of pagers that could send and receive digits but couldn't transmit the Japanese alphabet. So high school girls (yes, really) popularized the custom which can still be found in manga, anime, fiction and other media even to this day.
 
<h2 id="code-015-ichigo">
015 Ichigo</h2>

For code 015, only the digits 15 matter:
<ul>
<li>1 = Ichi 一 (number)</li>
<li>5 = Go 五 (number)</li>
</ul>

 

Joined together: Ichigo イチゴ.

 
ichigo 苺 also means "strawberry" in Japanese. (that's not a <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/jouyou-kanji.html">jouyou kanji</a>, so it's normally <a></a>The word苺 also means "strawberry" in Japanese. (that's not a, so it's normally <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/words-written-without-kanji.html">written without kanji</a> .)<h2 id="code-016-hiro">
016 Hiro</h2>

For code 016, only the digits 16 matter:
<ul>
<li>1 = Hitotsu 一つ (counter)</li>
<li>6 = Roku 六 (number)</li>
</ul>

 
Joined together: Hiro ヒロ.
<h2 id="code-056-goro">
056 Gorō</h2>

For code 056, only the digits 56 matter:
<ul>
<li>5 = go 五 (number)</li>
<li>6 = roku 六 (number)</li>
</ul>

 
Joined together: Gorō ゴロー.
<h2 id="code-196-ikuno">
196 Ikuno</h2>

For code 196, it's a bit complicated:
<ul>
<li>1 = ichi 一 (number)</li>
<li>9 = ku 九 (number)</li>
<li>6 
Turn 6 sideways. 
You get no の in <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/hiragana-meaning.html">hiragana</a>.</li>
</ul>

 
Joined together: Ikuno イクノ.
<h2 id="code-214-futoshi">
214 Futoshi</h2>

For code 214, it's a bit complicated:
<ul>
<li>2 = futatsu 二つ (counter)</li>
<li>1... or, rather, 14 
Normally 14 = juu-yon 十四, (ten, four) 
And 10 alone is juu 十. 
But in counters, it's read too 十. 
For example, tooka 十日, "10 days."</li>
<li>4 = shi 四 (number) 
(so juu-yon 十四, 14, became too-shi 十四 here somehow.)</li>
</ul>

 
Joined together: Futoshi フトシ.

 

The word futoi 太い also means "fat" in Japanese. (wtf Hiro?!)
<h2 id="code-326-mitsuru">
326 Mitsuru</h2>

For code 326:
<ul>
<li>3 = mittsu 三つ (counter)</li>
<li>2 = tsuu ツー (English "two" katakanized)</li>
<li>6 = roku 六 (number, said fast)</li>
</ul>

 
Joined together: Mitsuru ミツル.
<h2 id="code-390-miku">
390 Miku</h2>

For code 390, only the digits 39 matter:
<ul>
<li>3 = mittsu 三つ (counter)</li>
<li>9 = ku 九 (number)</li>
</ul>

 
Joined together: Miku ミク.
<h2 id="code-556-kokoro">
556 Kokoro</h2>

For code 556, it's a bit complicated:
<ul>
<li>5 = go 五 (number) 
In <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/kana-meaning.html">kana</a>, go ご. 
Which is ko こ with a <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/dakuten-tenten.html">dakuten</a>.</li>
<li>5 = (same as above)</li>
<li>6 = roku 六 (number)</li>
</ul>

 
Joined together: Kokoro ココロ.

 

The word kokoro 心 also means "heart" in Japanese. (seriously, Hiro? You're giving the girls cute names like "strawberry" and "heart" while calling Futoshi fat?)
<h2 id="code-666-zorome">
666 Zorome</h2>

For 666, it's very simple.

 

The word zorome ゾロ目, from soroeru 揃える, "to match (uniformly)," and me 目, which means "eye," but in this case it means the number in a die, refers to what happens when two (or more) dice have the exact same number. (for example, you roll two dice and get 1 and 1, that's a zorome.)

 

In this case, zorome refers to the fact code 666 has 6 three times. (you know how those slot machines in casino have 777? Same thing.)

 

(honestly, wtf Hiro, Zorome's name is literally a pun.)
<h2 id="code-703-naomi">
703 Naomi</h2>

For 703, it's a bit complicated:
<ul>
<li>7 = nana 七 (number)</li>
<li>0 
It looks like the letter "o." 
So o お.</li>
<li>3 = mittsu 三つ (counter)</li>
</ul>

 
Joined together: Naomi ナオミ.
<h2 id="zero-two-nickname">
Zero-Two's Nickname</h2>

If Hiro were to give Zero-Two a nickname, that nickname would probably be:
<ul>
<li>0 
Looks like an "o." 
So o お.</li>
<li>2 = ni 二 (number).</li>
</ul>

 
Joined together: Oni オニ.

 

The word oni 鬼 is also a kind of demon in Japanese lore. In anime and manga, an oni character is a character with horns.

 
osananajimi 幼なじみ, who appears to be in love with him and so she keeps calling him "darling" in some sort of extremely awkward <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/01/netorare-meaning.html">netorare</a> scenario? You know, the one with horns? Yeah, Lum from Urusei Yatsura would be an oni character, yes.For example, you know that sexually aggressive female character that came out of nowhere and has decided the main character is her partner and became uncontrollably attracted to him and keeps forcing some sort of physical contact and is jealous as fuck because he has a "childhood friend,"幼なじみ, who appears to be in love with him and so she keeps calling him "darling" in some sort of extremely awkwardscenario? You know, the one with horns? Yeah, Lum fromwould be ancharacter, yes.
 
Zero-Tsuu ゼロツー, the <a></a>By the way, Zero-Two's name written in Japanese isゼロツー, the <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/katakanization-meaning.html">katakanization</a> of the English numbers of her code.<h2 id="nana-and-hachi">
Nana and Hachi</h2>

Lastly, the characters Nana and Hachi which act as supervisors or something probably have their names coming from the numbers 7 and 8, which are nana 七 and hachi 八 in Japanese. 
<h2 id="chart">
Chart</h2>


For reference, here's a chart.

 

So, this season there's an anime called Darling in the FranXX (ダリフラ), where the main characters are children product of some nefarious sci-fi utopia thingy. Such children are nameless, referred normally by codenames, which are just a few digits. Except that one of these characters,, used the numbers to come up nicknames for his. The question is: <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/franxx-code-number-names.html#how-it-works">how it works?</a> Why is <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/franxx-code-number-names.html#code-015-ichigo">015 Ichigo</a> <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/franxx-code-number-names.html#code-666-zorome">666 Zorome</a> , and <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/franxx-code-number-names.html#code-703-naomi">703 Naomi</a> ? What would be <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/franxx-code-number-names.html#zero-two-nickname">zero-two's nickname</a> ? And is there a meaning behind the names of the adult characters <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/franxx-code-number-names.html#nana-and-hachi">Nana and Hachi</a> (there's a <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/franxx-code-number-names.html#chart">chart</a> at the bottom if you wanna skip.)</div>

FranXX Numbers to Names Explained

darifura ダリフラ), where the main characters are children product of some nefarious sci-fi utopia thingy. Such children are nameless, referred...

Numbers Spelling Japanese Words - Pocket Bell Legacy

<div> 
 
For example, 4649 means yoroshiku よろしく in this Japanese l33t. And 084 means ohayo お はよ. And 0833 means oyasumi おやすみ. And 3470 means sayonara さよなら. 
 
Anyway, because sometimes you can still see its lingering existence in media, just like l33t in English, here's how spelling Japanese words with numbers work, and how did this happen to begin with. 
 
<a name="more"></a><h2 id="pocket-bell">
Pocket Bell</h2>

In 1990 A.C., there existed this tool called a "pager." It was a primitive method of communication used by cavemen, akin to using rocks and sticks to make a fire. (seriously, though, that was too long ago, it's history.)

 

Anyway, in Japan, there were pagers called poketto beru ポケットベル, "pocket bell," not to be confused with "pocket monsters," poketto monstaa ポケットモンスター, which are something else. The term was sometimes abbreviated to pokeberu ポケベル, not to be confused with pokemon ポケモン, which is something else.

 

In these Pocket Bell™'s people sent short messages to each other. Which is like you'd do in Twitter... 
 
...I... I... think? 
 
No. That... that can't be right...

 

(...)
<h3>
History of Pocket Bell</h3>

Alright, so back in a time and society I can't really imagine, without cellphones and internet, and without anime streaming! Oh, the horror! Pagers were capable of one thing: beep. That's it.
<h4>
You've Got Beep.</h4>

The first version of a pager that had a tangible function for a 21th century person was the kind that had multiple different tones. Someone wouldn't send a "message" or "code" to your pager, they'd just make it beep in a way or another. So, for example, a doctor could know from different tones if they were supposed to go to the ICU or someone was calling him on the telephone, etc.

 
<a></a>I want to reiterate this: you had a pager to know someone called you on the phone so you'd walk to the phone talk on the phone to that person. You couldn't talk to them, on the fucking pager! Those were different times. (source: <a href="http://www.spok.com/blog/throwback-thursday-history-pagers">http://www.spok.com/blog/throwback-thursday-history-pagers</a> <h4>
No Text, Just Numbers</h4>

Obviously, eventually, pagers evolved from beeping to sending numbers and text in short messages. And people who spoke English were able to send messages to each other. And so were Japanese people.

 

However, at the time of the Pocket Bell boom, which was by 1990's, it could not send Japanese text, no kana nor kanji, only about 10 digits per message. If you consider that pagers once could only send different TONES (not even text) then, yeah, 10 digits is progress, I guess.

 
kana and some kanji. (<a></a>Later, it became able to sendand some. ( <a href="http://www.kogures.com/hitoshi/history/keitai-pocket-bell/index.html">http://www.kogures.com/hitoshi/history/keitai-pocket-bell/index.html</a> 
 

It was originally meant to be used by Japanese businessmen. You'd, for example, send to someone's pager what phone number they're supposed to call. Then that person would go to a phone, which naturally were not mobile at the time but I think that's worth mentioning, and then call the phone number.

 

So, again: you sent a number to a pager, then you'd be waiting beside your phone, for the guy whom you sent the number to get to their phone, and THEN call YOU. (madness!)
<h4>
Japanese High School Girls Are So Powerful It's Scary</h4>
reportedly delighted by the advent of the Pocket Bell because they could communicate with their friends without having to talk out loud on the phone where they could be heard by everyone in the family without an atom of privacy. (<a></a>Unexpectedly, Japanese high school girls weredelighted by the advent of the Pocket Bell because they could communicate with their friends without having to talk out loud on the phone where they could be heard by everyone in the family without an atom of privacy. ( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/10/news/10iht-bellcon.ttt.html">http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/10/news/10iht-bellcon.ttt.html</a> 
 

It was probably legit unexpectedly because seriously this shit only sends numbers, how the fuck did they even manage to talk with each other?! Is this that "love knows no barriers" kinda thing? Is the power of friendship that much strong? Just... how the hell did these Japanese high school girls managed to morse-code each other?!?!?!?!? WTF.

 

Anyway. Because this, somehow, did actually happen, today, the crypt messages those "e-mail friends," meeru-tomo メール友, or rather, "bell friends," beru-tomo ベル友, sent to each other remain a part of the Japanese culture, and consequently of the anime culture.

 

And so, even now, even though we have Twitter now, you can still find numbers representing Japanese words in Japanese media, referencing something that someone invented nearly 30 years ago.
<h2 id="conversion-rules">
Conversion Rules</h2>

The conversion is basically just changing numbers to characters, just like l33t in English, however, unlike l33t in English, the Japanese method associates numbers to kana, not to Latin alphabet letters, so they look like syllables instead.

 

 

0

zero ゼロ

rei 零 ("nada.") 
nai ない (means "not," mean 0 is nothing.)

o お (because the letter "o" looks like 0.)

maru 円 ("circle") 
wa わ (from the shape.)

 

1

ichi 一

hitotsu 一つ

wan ワン
ai アイ (<a></a>アイ ( <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/katakanized-alphabet-letters.html">katakanization of the English letter</a> "I," because "I" looks like 1.)
bou 棒 (a "stick," because it looks like a stick.)

 

2

ni 二

futatsu 二つ

tsuu ツー, touu トゥー

ji 次 (from "second son," jinan 次男, etc.) 

 

3.

san 三

m-ttsu 三つ

surii スリー

 

4

yon 四, shi 四

yottsu 四つ

foo フォー 
ho ホ

 

5
go 五 
ko こ (go ご without <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/dakuten-tenten.html">dakuten</a>.)こ (ご without.)
itsu-tsu 五つ

faibu ファイブ

 

6

roku 六

ru る (from saying roku fast.)

muttsu 六つ

shikkusu シックス

 

7

nana 七, shichi 七

nanatsu 七つ

sebun セブン

 

8

hachi 八 
ba ば (this is ha は with dakuten.)

yattsu 八つ

eito エイト

 

9

kyuu 九, ku 九

kokonotsu 九つ

nain ナイン

 

. (a dot)

ten 点

 

10 
too 十 (the number 10 is normally juu 十, but in counters like tooka 十日, "ten days," it's too.)

(sometimes te て, tai たい, dai だい, not sure why.)
<h2 id="examples">
Examples</h2>

For reference.

 

4649

yottsu-roku-shi-ku

yoroshiku よろしく

(greeting.) Please take care of me. Let's work together. Please welcome me. Etc. 
 
5963 
go-ku-roku-san 
gokurousan ご苦労さん 
Thank you for your work.

 

39

san-kyuu

sankyuu サンキュー

Thank you. (katakanization.)

 

49

shi-kyuu

shikyuu 至急

Urgent.

 

86

hachi-roku

haroo ハロー

Hello. (katakanization.)

 

084

o-hachi-yottsu

ohayo おはよ (ohayou お早う)

Good morning.

 

0833

o-yattsu-surii-mittsu

oyasumi おやすみ

Good night.

 

3470

san-yottsu-nana-rei

sayonara さよなら 
Goodbye.

 

101010

ta-da-ichi-maru

tadaima ただいま

I'm back.

 

889

hachi-yattsu-ku

hayaku 早く

Quick. Come quickly.

 

0906

o-ku-rei-roku

okureru 遅れる

To be late. [I'll] be late.

 
8110 
hachi-ichi-too 
baito バイト Part-time job. 
 
4510 
shi-go-too 
shigoto 仕事 
Job. Work. 
 

14106

ai-shi-te-ru

aishiteru 愛してる

[I] love [you].

 

724106

nana-ni-shi-te-roku

nanishiteru 何してる

What [are you] doing?

 

10139

da-ichi-surii-kyuu

daisuki 大好き 
I love you <3

 

15

ichi-go

ichigo イチゴ

Strawberry. (also a person's name.)

 

893

yattsu-ku-san

yakuza ヤクザ

Huh?! You don't know who's the Yakuza??! 

 

801

yattsu-o-ichi

 

.59

ten-go-ku

tengoku 天国 
Heaven.

 

1564

hitotsu-go-roku-shi

hitogoroshi 人殺し

Murderer. (or murdering, as in, murder that takes place)

 

18782

ichi-yattsu-nana-yattsu-tsuu

iyana yatsu いやなやつ

Unpleasant guy.

 

(18782 + 18782 = ...)

37564 

mittsu-nana-go-roku-shi
minagoroshi 皆殺し 
Massacre. Killing everybody. 
 
See also: <a></a>皆殺しMassacre. Killing everybody.See also: <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/franxx-code-number-names.html">Darling in the FranXX: Code Numbers to Names Explained</a> , because the names of the characters in the FranXX anime come from this sort of wordplay.
In Japan, there's a practice of a spelling words with numbers, just like l33t in English, which cool kids use to say random stuff on internet text forums, e-mails, and cellphone messages, just like l33t in English, and that nowadays it's not that popular anymore because people got sick and tired of it, just like l33t in English.For example, 4649 meansよろしく in this Japanese l33t. And 084 meansお はよ. And 0833 meansおやすみ. And 3470 meansさよなら.Anyway, because sometimes you can still see its lingering existence in media, just like l33t in English, here's how spelling Japanese words with numbers work, and how did this happen to begin with.</div>

Numbers Spelling Japanese Words - Pocket Bell Legacy

For example, 4649 means yoroshiku よろしく in this Japanese l33t. And 084 means ohayo おはよ. And 0833 means oyasumi おやすみ. And 3470 means say...

Oni 鬼

<div>oni 鬼 is a kind of "supernatural being," youkai 妖怪 often translated to English as "ogre" or "troll." Generally speaking, an oni in anime is a big, strong, scary, evil, rugged, powerful humanoid monster, who has one or two horns on its head, fangs, and the like, but designs may vary. 
 
 
Nowadays, oni are normally portrayed featuring colored skin, specially red and blue, just like the modern day ogre is usually green. In anime, oni characters can usually talk and have some sort of connection with the demon world, afterlife, hell, or something supernatural like that. 
 
Apparently, the word oni would mean it's an invisible spirit, originally, but that's rarely the case in modern fiction. 
<a name="more"></a><h2>
Human-like Oni</h2>

Although oni originally refers to a monster-like creature, in anime it's often the case a more human-like character is classified as an oni. When this happen, the only consistent feature they get is one or two horns on top of their head and nothing else.

 

Backstory, alignment, etc. does not matter. Just the oni horns is enough to call a character an oni.

 
<h2>
Oni Girls</h2>
Those big, evil, scary, oni have been <a></a>oni girls are legitimately one of the countless types of girls you can find in anime. 

 

In English, sometimes the word "oni" alone refers to such oni girls. Like this: she's an "oni." In Japanese, the following terms are used to refer to them:
<ul>
<li>onimusume 鬼娘</li>
<li>onikko 鬼っ娘</li>
</ul>

 

I haven't been able to find the male equivalent for some reason, but there's a child equivalent:
<ul>
<li>onikko 鬼っ子 
Oni child. A kid character who's an oni. 
(for example, the fire-breathing little brother of the oni girl.)</li>
</ul>

 

Such oni girls count as "monster girls," by the way, jingai-musume 人外娘.

 

Although oni girls usually do have horns, it'd be wrong to say a girl with horns is automatically an oni girl. That'd be like judging someone by their appearance. You can't say someone is American just because they're obese, in the same way, you can't say a character is an oni just because they have horns.

 

But since the fact they do have horns don't change, the following terms also exist:
<ul>
<li>tsuno 角 
Horn. 
(note: the word kaku 角, <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/same-kanji-different-word.html">written with the same kanji</a>, means "angle," and there's also kado 角, which means "corner," and is part of the name of an ultra shit anime you really don't want to ever watch in your life, because if you do, you'll regret wasting hours of your time in such an immense, never-stopping disaster.)</li>
<li>hayasu 生やす 
To make sprout. (plant, beard, but may be a horn too. Think FLCL.)</li>
<li>tsuno-musume 角娘 
tsunokko 角っ娘 
Horn-y girl. Girl with horns.</li>
</ul>

 
oni girl. For example, you could say Zero-Two from FranXX is just a girl with horns, and not an oni, since she's not a spirit in connection with the other side or something occult like that. But <a></a>oni. 
 
Another hint is that oni character are usually associated with brutes, like cavemen, living the caves, of mountains. Which is why so many of the oni carry bludgeoning weapons and wear pelts. 
<h2>
Examples</h2>

For reference, some oni illustrations.
 
<a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=61218997" target="_blank">鬼ヶ島</a>That said, a girl with horns is usually also angirl. For example, you could say Zero-Two from FranXX is just a girl with horns, and not an, since she's not a spirit in connection with the other side or something occult like that. But <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/franxx-code-number-names.html">her code, 02, practically spells oni</a> , so yeah, maybe she's anAnother hint is thatcharacter are usually associated with brutes, like cavemen, living the caves, of mountains. Which is why so many of thecarry bludgeoning weapons and wear pelts.<h3>
Triangle Horns</h3>
<a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=15468983" target="_blank">もみじひらり</a><a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=57457337" target="_blank">チューイングゴム</a><h3>
Skin Horns</h3>
<a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=63247755" target="_blank">おいでやす</a><a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=53270650" target="_blank">黒い雨赤い傘</a><h3>
Uni-horn</h3>
<a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=48466151" target="_blank">セーラー鬼</a><a href="https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=46706588" target="_blank">鬼の子</a><h2>
Red Oni, Blue Oni</h2>
Despite the fact you could make an oni any color if you wanted, the colors red and blue are specially common. 
 
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8vglwjssOEnoxICGId1ItzENvguz7m12X9pjMLuyLECjqu-Ge0OIx8ySYER7m-sapx7OiRxMVrX-bYhKKFW3k90BbIfY10FsGBfEozzNaJTnsQHZyBL-8i7py_ivdsv702fagw0xmVUI/s1600/red-oni-blue-oni-dragon-ball-z.png"><img alt="Blue oni and red oni from hell talking to Goku in the anime Dragon Ball Z." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8vglwjssOEnoxICGId1ItzENvguz7m12X9pjMLuyLECjqu-Ge0OIx8ySYER7m-sapx7OiRxMVrX-bYhKKFW3k90BbIfY10FsGBfEozzNaJTnsQHZyBL-8i7py_ivdsv702fagw0xmVUI/s1600/red-oni-blue-oni-dragon-ball-z.png" title=""HELL.""></a> 
There probably isn't any deeper meaning to this, but in some cases it's a reference to a certain tale told to children about friendship. 
 
The Wikipedia has story in Japanese (<a></a> 
 
In the story, a red oni tries to become friends with humans, but oni, being scary, scare humans away, so not a single human comes by to play with him. He then asks his friend, the blue oni, for help. The blue oni comes up with a plan: he'd attack the human village, play the evil oni, and then red oni would fend him off, saving the humans, and becoming acknowledged as a hero oni. Doing this, the red oni becomes friends with humans, and plays with them every day. But for some reason his old friend, the blue oni, doesn't show up to play with him any more. Later he gets a letter from the blue oni, which tells if he came to play the humans would think they're friends, and then the whole plan would fall apart, so he wouldn't come play anymore. The story ends with the red oni crying for having lost his old friend. 
 
If I had to guess the moral, I'd say it is: do not lose your current friends to get new friends. Which is a common theme in fiction, and in anime, where you have characters who cut ties with their old friends of infancy in order to start hanging with the cool kids group, often regrettably. 
<h2>
Figurative Usage</h2>

Sometimes the word oni is used figuratively, or idiomatically, or in some way that doesn't literally refer to an actual oni. Here are some examples:
<h3>
Merciless Person</h3>
Someone may get called an oni 鬼 for being "merciless," kichiku 鬼畜. For example, if they give too much work to someone, or give too many orders, or, well, really seem to have no mercy, they may be get called oni as you'd call someone a "fiend" or something of the sort. 
<h3>
"It"</h3>
In games of tag and hide-and-seek, the "it" may be called the oni in Japanese. 
 
The term oni-gokko 鬼ごっこ even means "game of tag." 
<h3>
Weird Children</h3>
Sometimes, the term onigo 鬼子, or onikko 鬼っ子, may be used toward children. Here there's two different meanings. 
 
First a child that's a "demon," that is, a child that's too misbehaved. 
 
Second a child that doesn't resemble the parents. This has the implication that the child isn't actually a human child but some sort of spirit that took the shape of a baby or something. In the same vein, the term also applies to children born with teeth. 
<h3>
What's Gonna Happen?!?!</h3>
There's a Japanese idiom that contains the word oni 鬼 which's worth knowing about. It comes in two versions: 
<ol>
<li>oni ga deru ka ja ga deku ka 鬼が出るか蛇が出るか</li>
<li>oni ga deru ka hotoke ga deru ka 鬼が出るか仏が出るか</li>
</ol>
 

In both cases, what's being literally said is if "an oni will come out" or will something else. What this idiom means in practice is that you don't know what will come out. "You don't know what's going to happen." And it's used in a situation where the outcome of something is unforeseeable.
Despite the fact you could make anany color if you wanted, the colors red and blue are specially common.There probably isn't any deeper meaning to this, but in some cases it's a reference to a certain tale told to children about friendship.The Wikipedia has story in Japanese ( <a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%E6%B3%A3%E3%81%84%E3%81%9F%E8%B5%A4%E9%AC%BC&oldid=66947059">泣いた赤鬼</a> ) if you want to read it. I'll summarize it.In the story, a redtries to become friends with humans, but, being scary, scare humans away, so not a single human comes by to play with him. He then asks his friend, the blue, for help. The bluecomes up with a plan: he'd attack the human village, play the evil, and then redwould fend him off, saving the humans, and becoming acknowledged as a hero. Doing this, the redbecomes friends with humans, and plays with them every day. But for some reason his old friend, the blue, doesn't show up to play with him any more. Later he gets a letter from the blue, which tells if he came to play the humans would think they're friends, and then the whole plan would fall apart, so he wouldn't come play anymore. The story ends with the redcrying for having lost his old friend.If I had to guess the moral, I'd say it is: do not lose your current friends to get new friends. Which is a common theme in fiction, and in anime, where you have characters who cut ties with their old friends of infancy in order to start hanging with the cool kids group, often regrettably.Someone may get called an鬼 for being "merciless,"鬼畜. For example, if they give too much work to someone, or give too many orders, or, well, really seem to have no mercy, they may be get calledas you'd call someone a "fiend" or something of the sort.In games of tag and hide-and-seek, the "it" may be called thein Japanese.The term鬼ごっこ even means "game of tag."Sometimes, the term鬼子, or鬼っ子, may be used toward children. Here there's two different meanings.First a child that's a "demon," that is, a child that's too misbehaved.Second a child that doesn't resemble the parents. This has the implication that the child isn't actually a human child but some sort of spirit that took the shape of a baby or something. In the same vein, the term also applies to children born with teeth.There's a Japanese idiom that contains the word鬼 which's worth knowing about. It comes in two versions:
In Japanese, or, rather, in Japan's culture, an鬼 is a kind of "supernatural being,"妖怪 often translated to English as "ogre" or "troll." Generally speaking, anin anime is a big, strong, scary, evil, rugged, powerful humanoid monster, who has one or two horns on its head, fangs, and the like, but designs may vary.Nowadays,are normally portrayed featuring colored skin, specially red and blue, just like the modern day ogre is usually green. In anime,characters can usually talk and have some sort of connection with the demon world, afterlife, hell, or something supernatural like that.Apparently, the wordwould mean it's an invisible spirit, originally, but that's rarely the case in modern fiction.Those big, evil, scary,have been <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/11/moe-meaning.html#moe-anthropomorphism">moefied</a> into cute girls in anime, as one would expect. So it's no wonder there are terms to refer to them, too, as thegirls are legitimately one of the countless types of girls you can find in anime.</div>

Oni 鬼

oni 鬼 is a kind of "supernatural being," youkai 妖怪 often translated to English as "ogre" or "troll." General...

Words With Alphabet Letters

<div> 
 
Some of these are <a></a> 
 
Note that since these terms are used in Japanese, the letters are pronounced in Japanese too. See <a></a> 
 
<a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/03/ova-ona-meaning.html">OVA, ONA</a> 
Original Video Animation. (wasei-eigo.) 
Original Net Animation. (wasei-eigo.) 
 
<a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/10/neet-meaning.html">NEET</a> (niito ニート) 
Not in Employment, Education or Training. 
(not wasei-eigo, but used mostly in Japan, originally from UK, it seems.) 
 
<a></a>enujii エヌジー) 
Not Good. (wasei-eigo.) 
(can't air on TV, "triggers me," etc.) 
<a name="more"></a> 
<a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/11/jk-meaning-japanese.html">JK, JC, JS, JD, DK</a> 
joshikousei 女子高生, "high school girl," and related terms. 
 
P (pii ピー) 
Producer. (in anime, often the kind that produces idols.) 
Police officer. (probably only in the manga P to JK PとJK) 
 
<a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/H-japanese-meaning.html">H</a> (<a></a> 
"Sexy," "lewd," "sexual," 
 
orz. 
OTL in Japanese because Japanese people turn L's into R's. 
An emoji of a guy with his knees and hands on the floor, defeated. 
 
<a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/11/w-ww-meaning-japanese.html">w</a> 
<a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/11/w-ww-meaning-japanese.html">ww</a> 
<a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/11/w-ww-meaning-japanese.html">www</a> 
<a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/11/w-ww-meaning-japanese.html">wwww</a> 
Snarky laugh net slang. 
lol, lmao, rofl, etc. in Japanese. 
(read as kusa 草, "grass," or warawarawarawara) 
 
<a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/up-meaning.html">うｐ</a> 
Up. As in: upload. 
 
<a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/ok-meaning.html">おｋ</a> 
Ok. Okay. 
 
wktk 
wakuteka わくてか 
Abbreviation of wakuwaku tekateka わくわくてかてか (you know, just like is tsuntsun-deredere.) 
wakuwaku is "to be excited," nervous, anxious, etc. 
tekateka is "to be gleaming" shiny, specially due to sweating, etc. 
Translation: something epic is going to happen so you're sweating in excitement, or something along those lines. 
 
ktkr 
kitakore キタコレ 
When something (usually welcome) happens. 
From kitaa! キター！, "[it] came!" and <a></a> 
 
gkbr 
gakugaku buruburu ガクガクブルブル, to be trembling or shivering with fear, panic, etc. 
gakugaku means shaking knees, and buruburu means shivering. 
 
gkbr (the other one) 
gokiburi ゴキブリ, a "cockroach." 
 
ksk 
kasoku 加速, "acceleration." 
In forums, online boards, etc. the act of a thread "picking up speed" by getting more comments. 
 
<a></a>kyuukei キューケイ) 
kyuukei 休憩, a "break" or "pause" for rest. Intermission. 
 
KY (keewai ケーワイ) 
kuuki yome 空気読め, "read the air!" (imperative) 
kuuki yomenai 空気読めない, someone who "can't read the air." 
Reading the air in Japanese means to get social clues, that is, someone who doesn't read the air is someone who gets in the middle of a lovey-dovey couple and doesn't leave immediately, doesn't realize they're unwanted, says or does something they shouldn't because it's awkward or intruding, etc. 
 
AKY 
aete kuuki yomanai あえて空気読まない 
Doesn't read the air, on purpose. 
(someone who doesn't even try to read the air, whether they're capable of doing so or not.) 
 
MKY 
CKY 
maji kuuki yomanai まじ空気読まない 
chou kuuki yomenai 超空気読めない 
Seriously doesn't read the air. 
Super can't read the air. 
 
KYR 
kuuki yomeru 空気読める 
Can read the air. (finally!) 
 
PK (piikee ピーケー) 
pureyaa kiru プレヤー・キル, "player kill." 
pureyaa kiraa プレヤー・キラー, "player killer." 
In an online game, MMORPG, etc. players killing players, in PvP (player vs. player), instead of killing whatever else, PvE (player vs. environment.). 
 
PK (the other one) 
pantsu kuikomu パンツ食い込む 
Wedging underpants. (yes, seriously. I have no idea how it came to mean this. Or why. Or how the fuck you're supposed to use this in a conversation. But it exists, somehow. The internet is a weird place.) 
 
OL (ooeru オーエル) 
BG (biijii ビージー) 
Office Lady. 
Business Girl. 
(wasei-eigo, the elusive female salaryman.) 
(nowadays OL is preferred instead of BG.) 
 
SNS (esu-enu-esu エスエヌエス) 
Social Networking Service. Social media, websites, etc. 
 
<a></a>esu, emu エス・エム) 
Sadist and masochist. 
 
<a></a>do-esu, do-emu ドエス・ドエム) 
Super-sadist and super-masochist. 
Usually used in a sarcastic way. 
 
<a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/01/ntr-meaning.html">NTR, NTL, NTRR, NTRS</a>. 
<a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/01/netorare-meaning.html">netorare 寝取られ</a>, <a></a><a></a> 
Terms related to having affairs and taking other people's women (or men, etc.). 
(which abbreviation is which word may vary.) 
 
<a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/tg-ts-tv-tsf-meaning.html">TSF</a>. 
Transsexual Fiction. 
 
TG. TS. TV, CD. 
MtF. FtM. MtX, FtX 
GID, Aセクシャル 
See the <a></a><a></a> 
 
<a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/09/BL-meaning.html">BL, GL, ML, NL, TL.</a> (biieru ビーエル, etc.) 
Boys' Love. Girls' Love. Men's Love. Normal Love. Teens' Love. 
Romance fiction genres. 
(wasei-eigo, "Boys' Love" wasn't a genre, Japan made it up, then the west imported it.) 
 
RT. 
Retweet. You know, on Twitter. It's like a share on Facebook. Or a reblog on Tumblr. Which is basically a repost, but somehow different. Which is like when someone posts something, and you post it, again, but they've already posted it, so you haven't posted it for the first time, you've posted it, again, re, posted, get it? But it's with tweets. So someone tweets something and you tweet that tweet so you retweet because you tweeted the tweet, again.

Since I've posted a bunch of these already, here's a list of Japanese words containing English (Latin) alphabet letters, and the respective posts which talked about them. (in no particular order)Some of these are <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/wasei-eigo-meaning.html">wasei-eigo</a> , meaning they're made up in Japan but out of English words. Some of these are abbreviations used in English too which I included because why not.Note that since these terms are used in Japanese, the letters are pronounced in Japanese too. See <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/katakanized-alphabet-letters.html">katakanized English letters</a> for how to pronounce them.riginalideonimation. (.)riginaletnimation. (.)ニート)ot inmployment,ducation orraining.(not, but used mostly in Japan, originally from UK, it seems.) <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/11/NG-japanese-meaning.html">NG</a> . (エヌジー)otood. (.)(can't air on TV, "triggers me," etc.)女子高生, "high school girl," and related terms.P (ピー)Producer. (in anime, often the kind that produces idols.)Police officer. (probably only in the mangaPとJK) <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/08/ecchi-meaning.html">ecchi エッチ</a> .)"Sexy," "lewd," "sexual,"orz.Anof a guy with his knees and hands on the floor, defeated.Snarky laugh net slang.lol, lmao, rofl, etc. in Japanese.(read as草, "grass," orUp. As in:load.. Okay.wktkわくてかAbbreviation ofわくわくてかてか (you know, just likeis.)is "to be excited," nervous, anxious, etc.is "to be gleaming" shiny, specially due to sweating, etc.Translation: something epic is going to happen so you're sweating in excitement, or something along those lines.ktkrキタコレWhen something (usually welcome) happens.Fromキター！, "[it] came!" and <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/10/kore-sore-are-dore-meaning.html">kore これ</a> , "this."gkbrガクガクブルブル, to be trembling or shivering with fear, panic, etc.means shaking knees, andmeans shivering.gkbr (the other one)ゴキブリ, a "cockroach."ksk加速, "acceleration."In forums, online boards, etc. the act of a thread "picking up speed" by getting more comments. <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/QK-japanese-meaning.html">QK</a> . (キューケイ)休憩, a "break" or "pause" for rest. Intermission.KY (ケーワイ)空気読め, "read the air!" (imperative)空気読めない, someone who "can't read the air."Reading the air in Japanese means to get social clues, that is, someone who doesn't read the air is someone who gets in the middle of a lovey-dovey couple and doesn't leave immediately, doesn't realize they're unwanted, says or does something they shouldn't because it's awkward or intruding, etc.AKYあえて空気読まないDoesn't read the air, on purpose.(someone who doesn't even try to read the air, whether they're capable of doing so or not.)MKYCKYまじ空気読まない超空気読めないSeriously doesn't read the air.Super can't read the air.KYR空気読めるCan read the air. (finally!)PK (ピーケー)プレヤー・キル, "player kill."プレヤー・キラー, "player killer."In an online game, MMORPG, etc. players killing players, in PvP (player vs. player), instead of killing whatever else, PvE (player vs. environment.).PK (the other one)パンツ食い込むWedging underpants. (yes, seriously. I have no idea how it came to mean this. Or why. Or how the fuck you're supposed to use this in a conversation. But it exists, somehow. The internet is a weird place.)OL (オーエル)BG (ビージー)fficeady.usinessirl., the elusive female salaryman.)(nowadays OL is preferred instead of BG.)SNS (エスエヌエス)ocialetworkingervice. Social media, websites, etc. <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/01/do-s-meaning.html#s-and-m-letters">S, M</a> . (エス・エム)Sadist and masochist. <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/01/do-s-meaning.html">ドS, ドM</a> . (ドエス・ドエム)Super-sadist and super-masochist.Usually used in a sarcastic way. <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/01/netorare-meaning.html#netori-vs-netorare">netori 寝取り</a> and <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/01/netorare-meaning.html#netorase-meaning">netorase 寝取らせ</a> Terms related to having affairs and taking other people's women (or men, etc.).(which abbreviation is which word may vary.)ransexualiction.TG. TS. TV, CD.MtF. FtM. MtX, FtXGID, AセクシャルSee the <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/lgbt-terms.html">LGBT terms</a> post, <a href="http://www.japanesewithanime.com/2018/02/lgbt-terms.html#terms-containing-letters">terms containing letters</a> section.ビーエル, etc.)oys'ove.irls'ove.en'sove.ormalove.eens'ove.Romance fiction genres., "Boys' Love" wasn't a genre, Japan made it up, then the west imported it.)RT.weet. You know, on Twitter. It's like a share on Facebook. Or a reblog on Tumblr. Which is basically a repost, but somehow different. Which is like when someone posts something, and you post it, again, but they've already posted it, so you haven't posted it for the first time, you've posted it, again, re, posted, get it? But it's with tweets. So someone tweets something and you tweet that tweet so you retweet because you tweeted the tweet, again.</div>

Words With Alphabet Letters

Some of these are Note that since these terms are used in Japanese, the letters are pronounced in Japanese too. See OVA, ONA O rigina...