One niche that really has picked up steam as the Internet has grown is the anime niche, which can include both adult and non-adult entertainment. If you have thoughts on adding anime content to your adult Web site then there are some basic terms that you will want to learn – proper use of these phrases can help you keep non-adult anime fans away while attracting the right audience to your site. Reverend Sassy offers some important insight into the anime niche.One niche that really has picked up steam as the Internet has grown is the anime niche, which can include both adult and non-adult entertainment. If you have thoughts on adding anime content to your adult Web site then there are some basic terms that you will want to learn – proper use of these phrases can help you keep non-adult anime fans away while attracting the right audience to your site. Reverend Sassy offers some important insight into the anime niche.

Anime, an animation style that originated in Japan, is one of the hottest niches on the Net. It is also experiencing huge growth, with many larger adult companies launching sites dedicated to this genre. While those who are unfamiliar with anime often think of Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon or Speed Racer, most anime is NOT for young children. This is one of the many things that you must understand before diving headfirst into this niche to avoid making any big mistakes. As with any other niche that you might choose to target and market, you need to know your material. Taking the necessary time to learn about your subject matter will make a notable difference in your profit margin. While you’re still selling sex, this is more fantasy-based sex. Anime characters can perform in any manner and do anything that the surfer wants, even if that action would be humanly impossible for real models. For this reason, you will need to use much more creative text links and graphics to create the “right” feel for the surfer and lure him or her in.

One thing that you do not want to do is treat the art as if it were mere cartoons. You will have surfers at your site who enjoy anime because of its sexual aspects and you will also have surfers who simply love the art form itself. If you make light of the art or fail to create the fantasy for them, you will lose surfers. On the other hand, if you treat anime as an art form, seeing the unique beauty in each picture, then you will retain surfers. You also need to realize that each artist is rendering a vision of his or her own. Thus the variety is as wide and varied as one’s own imagination. Herein lies the appeal of anime – not to discount the fact that in anime a surfer can also have a character created to fulfill his fantasy, regardless of how outrageous it may be.

Whenever you are building, targeting, and linking your anime site, you must keep in mind that this specific genre covers all age groups and appeals almost equally to woman as well as to men. It is also a niche that will attract surfers from a wide variety of countries. While it is extremely popular with North American surfers, you will soon discover that a lot more of your traffic will come from such countries as Australia, Europe and Japan. For this reason, you need to expand the scope of the search engines that you usually submit to. If you are not already submitting to Japanese, Australian, and other foreign search engines then you will need to begin doing so. A great place to find a list of these search engines is at http://www.beaucoup.com/1geoasia.html. You will also want to look through alternative link lists as well. While it is true that many of the “big” link lists have anime and toon sections, you will also need to get listed on targeted lists which have been built specifically for this niche.

CHOOSE YOUR WORDS CAREFULLY

Once you have built your anime gallery you will need to write sales text to accompany your images. You will want to understand this niche’s terminology before you proceed to write this text since the use of these terms can have a dramatic impact upon your surfers’ experience (and your bank account). If you use the wrong term in your sales pitch the surfer is simply going to tune out your ads and burn up your bandwidth – as such, you may as well have built a page without any sales text at all. However, if you take the time to grab his attention and use the right terminology, you might just be able to make that sale.

The first thing that you need to do is forget the word “toon.” Don’t use it in your sales pitch! While it is fine for a sponsor’s name, since they usually have all types of content, you will soon learn that your anime surfers do not like that word. As such, you also do not want to sell “toons” to your anime surfers. This is like cross-marketing lesbians on a straight hardcore site.

Here are some common anime terms and their descriptions that you will want to use:

Anime. In many Western nations the term anime is limited to meaning Japanese animation (a.k.a. Japanimation). Characteristic features include large eyes, funky hair colors, and (oftentimes) accentuated physiology. Since Japanese law formerly banned the depiction of genitalia or pubic hair, most of the true Japanese images that you will find have either been censored by the Japanese government prior to their distribution or auto-censored by the artists themselves in compliance with the law. However, there are some underground artists who have been known to produce fully uncensored anime, and, of course, not all anime comes from Japan. While the law has changed, people’s attitudes are oftentimes slow to change and thus there are numerous Japanese artists who continue the practice of censoring or avoiding depictions of genitalia or pubic hair.

Japanime, Japanimation. These two terms are synonymous. They were created by Americans combining the words Japan and anime/animation. This words are mainly used by fans who are new to the genre.

Hentai. Hentai is the word that is used to refer to pornographic anime and manga. The classical meaning of this term is “metamorphosis” or “transformation.” Later on it came to mean “abnormality.” Today, it is almost exclusively used by the Japanese to refer to a “pervert” or “perversion.” Whenever a woman insults a man in anime, she generally uses one of three terms: hentai, sukebe, and ecchi. Sukebe implies “oversexed” rather than “deviant.” Ecchi is comparable to the terms “lewd,” “fresh,” or “dirty.” There is also the term “lemon.” This refers to anything that is mildly sexually suggestive. Some anime fans are reluctant to use this word though, since it was adopted from another form of fan fiction.

Oftentimes these terms are used interchangeably. This is especially true whenever someone is stringing together insults. In adult anime, hentai normally would lend itself to what we consider hardcore images (i.e. the very popular bondage anime images). In the adult market, anime has come to signify the more softcore images and hentai the more hardcore images.

Urabon. This is a newer flavor of pornography that is produced by many Japanese companies. Urabon does not censor anything and thus it has been considered much more pornographic than any other style. This Urabon is mainly traded underground since it is considered hentai (perverted).

Manga. This is what comics are called in Japan. Usually this term is translated to mean “irresponsible pictures.” Traditionally these pictures were drawn in black and white, although blue inks were sometimes mixed in. Since this is “comic book anime,” it usually contains more special effects while taking on the form of comic book scans. Manga is easy to spot thanks to this panel type of layout.

Doujinshi. This is amateur/underground manga. Created by devout fans of various anime, doujinshi oftentimes parodies existing anime or manga. This form of anime is what is usually found on the Net. It is quite frequently the “proving ground” for aspiring “professional” Manga artists.

Yaoi or June. These two terms refer to male homosexual relationships or anime/manga stories about such relationships between “beautiful boys” (bishounen). Yaoi stems from “YA-ma-nashi O-chi-nashi I-mi-nashi” (No climax, no punch line, no meaning). June is mainly applied to professionally created gay works while Yaoi refers to works that are more sex driven, often created by fans. There are other subtle differences between these two forms of anime. The differences are based largely upon Japanese culture, but Yaoi is considered dirtier or more hardcore.

Shoujo. This form of anime was originally aimed at young girls. (“Shoujo” literally means “little girl.”) Shoujo includes such series as Sailor Moon and Magic Knights Rayearth. It is also referred to as Bishoujo, which means “beautiful girl.” A lot of the content that you encounter will feature images of female characters in a variety of poses.

Shounen. Shounen anime is anime that was originally aimed at young boys. (“Shounen” literally means “little boy.”) This form of anime includes such series as Pokemon, Speed Racer and DragonBall Z. It is also referred to as Bishonen, meaning “beautiful boy.” This form of anime simply features boys in attractive artwork.

Yuri. This is the term that applies to lesbian anime and manga. This is good to know since it is one of the most popular subjects of hentai. Many female characters are drawn with a penis or other phallic appendages (such as tentacles) just so that they can engage in some form of invasive sexual act with another female.

You may be asking yourself, “Are these terms really all that important to know?” The answer to this question is a resounding “Yes!” since using the erroneous phrases could attract children to your site. Plus, knowing your subject matter is essential regardless of what niche you are working with. Since this niche is growing more popular everyday, it is one that you will definitely want to cash in on. You can see its growth in the fact that many sponsors are adding it to their sites as well as building sites specifically for this traffic. There are also TGP’s and link lists that are dedicated solely to these sites, as well as legal content providers who only sell anime. Since the anime surfer is an extremely loyal breed, once they discover quality sources, you will want to know your material in order to make bank. Good luck!

Click here to comment on this article or to read what others have said.

Reverend Sassy is a member of The ADULTWEBMASTER Magazine’s writing staff. Her wide range of knowledge about topics of interest to adult Webmasters comes from her years of practice building and operating adult Web sites.