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This is the manual of style for anime, manga, and related articles. It is written with a strong eye towards friendliness to new contributors, who make up the majority of edits to anime- and manga-related pages. This style guide establishes a standard form for articles about anime and manga series, franchises, and characters. It explains the agreed-on naming conventions for series, terminology, and characters in properties with and without official English translations. It offers guidance for the proper, top-down development of encyclopedic article sets on expansive Japanese media franchises. Finally, it gives links to other relevant policies and guidelines wherever helpful.
Scope
This manual of style applies to articles about anime, manga, and related topics, and is a topic-specific subset Manual of Style of the following Manuals of Style:
- Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Japan-related articles
- Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Writing about fiction
- Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Biographies (where applicable)
For more general guidance on editing conventions, see Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style. For standardized translations and romanizations of some Japanese terms, see:
- Misplaced Pages talk:Manual of Style/Japan-related articles/Translation note
- Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Japan/Film credits glossary
- Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Japan/Place names with unusual readings
For discussion, help, and editing collaboration on anime and manga articles, see also Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Anime and manga.
Editors should also keep in mind the guidelines suggested on WikiProject Television or WikiProject Films, as those seem to work well for episodic media, including manga.
Notability
The subject of an anime- or manga-related article must pass the notability guidelines to be included in Misplaced Pages. In particular, for an anime, follow the guidelines for a television show or film, as appropriate. For a manga, the series must meet the criteria listed at guidelines for books. For a person, follow the guidelines for real people. For a character or other fictional element, editorial discretion will be necessary. Consultation of the general guideline and possibly your fellow editors is advised. Follow the guidelines for organizations and companies for anime studios, manga publishers and foreign licensors and music for songs and albums related to anime.
When you create an article, be sure you at least state (if not verify) what makes the subject notable or it may be deleted.
Article names and disambiguation
Use the most commonly known English titles for article names and place the transliteration of the Japanese on the first line of the article. If that name includes special characters (such as ♥), do not include them in the article's title. If it is translated, this is usually the official English translation. If there are multiple official titles, use the one that is best known and that has contributed most to the work's becoming known in the broader English-speaking world. This applies to series, character articles, and fictional element articles. See also: WP:NAME: TV | Books | Films.
If several articles share the same title, use the Misplaced Pages page naming conventions:
- Anime article – title (anime)
- Manga article – title (manga)
- Light novel article - title (novel)
- Game article – title (game)
- Visual novel article – title (visual novel)
- Live action/drama/tokusatsu – title (TV series)
- Musical article – title (musical)
The preceding guidelines should address most instances relating to disambiguation, but please consult the WikiProject Anime and manga talk page if you have further questions.
Redirects
As per the Manual of Style (Japan-related articles), always make redirects for alternate names and titles, especially if the title uses macrons.
Content
- Articles should be self-contained, only referring to subpages for additional information or details if the main article or a section becomes too long. Follow guidelines at Misplaced Pages:Summary style when creating subarticles.
- Article introductions should be primarily about the original format of a work and not about the most popular format of that work. For example: "Bleach is a manga series, which was later adapted into an anime series", NOT "Bleach is an anime series, based on a manga of the same name" (if an article is established for another format of the work, the latter is suitable). In cases where title disambiguation is necessary, a similar guideline should be followed.
- Please follow Misplaced Pages guidelines when including spoilers.
- When adding categories to an article, use one or more of the subcategories from Category:Anime and manga by genre. Try to pick the most accurate categories, and avoid redundant genres. For example, action is a subcategory of drama, so if you include action as a genre it is not necessary to also include drama. In general, two or three genres should be sufficient for most articles.
- Please also use one of the subcategories from Category:Anime debuts by date and Category:Manga debuts by date (as applicable). There should be only one anime and one manga release year category for each article unless there are multiple releases (e.g., a TV series, an OVA series, and a film).
Page layout
All material in an article should be verifiable and (usually) cited (preferably to reliable, secondary sources). Article structure should be flexible and responsive to unique or exceptional aspects of individual subjects, but the following guidelines should suffice in most cases.
Layout for a series article
Lead
This should ideally be able to stand on its own as a short article, providing a brief summary of the topic and touching on all the main points of the whole article. At the very least, this should describe the anime or manga, its premise and plot, its author or director, and the English language licensors (if any). Avoid needless spoilers and trivia, and keep the recommendations of Misplaced Pages:Lead section in mind.
Infobox
Although this is not a section, the project infobox is a useful and attractive addition to an article. The infobox(es) should not impact other images in the article. For content which falls under the NFCC guidelines, only one image should be used to illustrate the work; please do not replace or change an existing image for regional or volume reasons. For visual novels and other video games, WP:VGBOX is applicable.
Plot
Main page: Writing about fictionThis should comprise a succinct description of the plot and major subplots, but please avoid excessive details of twists and turns in the story. Differences between the original versions and adaptations (whether Japanese or international) often fall within the scope of this section, usually warranting at most a distinct subsection. Also try to avoid specific terminology of anime and manga subculture, to assist readers unfamiliar with the subculture to understand the article.
Characters
The character section should consist of brief character outlines, as opposed to a simple list. The length of each entry and inclusion of characters will vary with the character's importance to the story. The character section should include voice actor credits (if applicable, see {{anime voices}}). There is no need to create a separate voice actor section.
For shorter or simpler series, it is often possible to avoid the need for a character section by crafting the plot description such that it introduces all significant characters. Where possible, this is the preferred method, as prose reads more professionally than lists.
- Character sections should not be divided into numerous sub-sections, as this makes the table of contents unnecessarily long.
- Minor characters may be included here, but article length should be considered.
- If the majority of characters' descriptions consist of one or two sentences, a bullet list is most appropriate; if the majority of characters descriptions consist of one or more paragraphs, then a definition list is preferred; if a separate List of (series) characters exists (see below), prose is preferred. See also: Misplaced Pages:Summary style.
- If the character section grows long, please reconsider the amount of detail or number of characters included. Beyond that, a separate page, named List of (series) characters, may be appropriate.
- Separate articles for each character should be avoided unless there is enough verifiable, citable material to warrant a separate article.
- Regarding names:
- Characters should be identified by the names used in the official English releases of the series. If there are multiple English releases, such as both a manga and anime, use the one that is best known and that has contributed most to the work's becoming known in the English-speaking world (usually the primary work).
- If there is no official title, Characters should be identified by their most commonly known name, as per Misplaced Pages's naming conventions.
- Character names should be given in western order and, in the case of a dictionary list, in boldface.
Production
This is a difficult section to define, and can, if appropriate, generate several sub-sections and even whole sections. Topics that can reasonably be included are: the origins or inspirations of the subject; homages to other works or artists; notable production staff (typically: directors, leading voice actors, and sometimes producers or other personnel); music; issues arising from the transition from one medium to another (e.g.: manga to anime, anime to film, etc.) or from one language to another (such as alterations to storylines, international voice actors, air dates or dates of publication). Although this is an amorphous section, avoid making it a list of trivia. If tidbits of information cannot be cited or worked into a coherent discussion of the subject, reconsider including them.
Media
This section can include, as appropriate, separate subsections for information on the original version of the work, as well as any related anime series/OVAs, manga, novels, films, video games, and other media (such as soundtracks and drama CDs). These sections should, in general, include the original release and broadcast information, and English license and release and broadcast information where applicable. For sections on anime series/OVAs, manga, and novels, include the appropriate list of episodes or volumes and chapters. If a given list is long compared to the rest of the article, consider splitting it out to a separate article titled List of (series) episodes, List of (series) chapters, List of (series) novels, or similar. When splitting an article, please follow the guidelines at Misplaced Pages:Copying within Misplaced Pages. It is preferable to spin out in this way only one format at a time, rather than grouping all media together in a single list. You may find the {{Graphic novel list}} and {{Japanese episode list}} templates useful for formatting these lists.
When writing plot summaries for anime episode lists, follow the same length guidelines as you would for television series episode lists. For manga lists, the length of a single tankōbon volume's summary should generally be between 150–350 words, with longer lengths reserved for a series or volume with more complex plots or multiple self-contained stories. Remember, it should summarize the main plot points, not every minor detail and scene.
Reception
This should concisely describe the opinions expressed about the subject by reviewers, critics, academics, and (if reliable, secondary sources exist) fan communities. Varying opinions, criticism kind and harsh, and controversies should be presented in a neutral tone. Although difficult to acquire, criticism and reactions from non-English sources (especially original Japanese responses!) are strongly desired.
The anime and manga wikiproject keeps various reference libraries of reliable sources which can be consulted to improve this section.
References
Although there are several ways to cite sources in the text, combining inline citations with a dedicated section at the end of the article will help with readability and organization. In rare cases it might be advisable to include a "See also" or "Further reading".
External links
This section should be placed at the foot of the article and should contain links to the official sites relating directly to the subject (both the Japanese- and English-language official sites are acceptable). Other notable and useful sites may be added, but please follow Misplaced Pages:External Links.
Layout for a character's article
Note that the heading titles are not set in stone—adapt them as appropriate for your character and context. This is a guideline for the sorts of information to include and the general order.
Lead
A one-to-three paragraph summary of context, including that this is a fictional character, who she or he was created by, what works he or she appears in, her or his role in these works, and why he or she is notable. This is the usual WP:SS/WP:LEAD material, and should ideally be able to stand on its own as a potted summary.
Infobox
Although this is not a section, the animanga character infobox is a useful and attractive addition to an article. See the template documentation for instructions.
Creation and conception/Development
Out-of-universe information about the creation process, including influences upon the creators. Differences between adaptations, both between media and during translation, and between sequels would also be discussed here. The best sources of information are interviews and critical analysis; be especially careful of original research here. Use a title appropriate for your section's actual contents.
Character outline
Information about the character revealed in the story goes in this section—note, however, it should maintain out-of-universe prose (see Writing about fiction for guidance) and should not be mistakable for a biography. This will generally not have subsections, unless the character differs significantly enough in their various media appearances that subsections can help distinguish them. Other aspects of the character can also be treated in a separate subsection if encyclopedic treatment suggests it is warranted, based on the amount of reliably sourced commentary.
In order to not place undue weight on any one element it is necessary to list only the important elements. Long lists like every named attack of the character gives more importance to less important attacks. Exhaustive background which chronicle blow-by-blow accounts of a character's history overwhelm the reader with trivial information.
Voice Actors or Actors/Actresses
This is an optional section that can be included as a subsection of "Development", particularly if information about how actors approached the role is available. Character songs can also be listed here in a subsection.
Reception
Out-of-universe information on responses to, popularity of, and influences upon others. Reviews, critical essays, and academic analysis are good sources; appearances in other works, poll results, merchandise (including, if possible, sales figures), statements by other creators that the character was an influence for them, etc. are also valid topics here. Per the guidelines for writing about fiction, you must have at least some of this material in hand before you create a character article—this is the meat of your notability.
References
The preferred method for sourcing information is inline citations with footnotes in this section. For instructions, see WP:FOOT and WP:CITE. In rare cases it might be advisable to include a "See also" or "Further reading".
External links
The last section, containing links to official sites relating directly to the subject (both Japanese- and English-language sites are acceptable). Other notable and useful sites may be added, but please follow Misplaced Pages:External links.
People
For articles on directors, mangaka, seiyū (voice actors), etc., follow Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Biography. Regarding the subject's name, use the English form used by the subject personally (e.g. Yoshitoshi ABe, not Abe Yoshitoshi or Yoshitoshi Abe), or if that is unknown, the form most commonly used in English. See also Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Japan-related articles#Names and Japanese name#Japanese names in English. Include as much as possible of the following:
- Name in Kanji and literal transliteration if different from the usual English name,
- Years of birth and death (if applicable),
- Notable works, and
- Styles, inspirations, students, and subsequent influence.
For lists of works and roles, follow Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Lists of works and order them chronologically from oldest to newest. The format for each entry should be: * '']'' (year), role
Companies and organizations
See Misplaced Pages:Companies, corporations and economic information for basic guidelines. Include years of founding and dissolution (if applicable) and notable works attributable to the organization. (In practice, notable works is often given as a comprehensive list.) Add Category:Anime companies, Category:Animation studios, or both, as appropriate. Articles on companies should include business information including information about the history, structure of the company including all operations containing dedicated sections for notable divisions and business dealings. A section should be created for fiscal reports including information on function on major stock, sales and trends within the company throughout its history. Notable products, typically anime and manga-related, should also be included and linked as applicable.
Conventions
The standard infobox for articles related to anime conventions is {{Infobox Convention}}. It provides a brief set of statistics related to the convention. For usage details, including detailed information on the numerous optional parameters, refer to Template:Infobox Convention. If you have any questions or problems with this infobox, you can discuss them on the template's talk page.
See also
| Manual of Style | |||||||||||||||||
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| Images | |||||||||||||||||
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| By topic area |
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