There are more genres to anime and manga than there are stars in the sky. Each genre can usually be divided further into sub-genres, and some of those have sub-sub-genres... but as a rule of thumb, most anime and manga fall into one of the following broad categories:

Chibi: The closest (and most common) translation is "Super Deformed". Chibi refer to characters that are drawn with extremely small bodies and very large heads (the body and head are both about the same size), normally showing exaggerated emotions. Often children and small animals are drawn in this style to make them seem cuter.

Doujinshi: Fan-comics or fan-fictions ("Fan-fics"). Written by people who are not actually associated with a series, but rather want to show their own "take" on a popular work. In Japan, Doujinshi comics are widespread, but they're rare to find in Western areas. Keep in mind that Doujinshi normally feature situations that would *never* happen in the actual series (for example, the author of a Doujinshi may insert themselves as a major character, or two of the male protagonists may become romantically involved, or so on). Also, a word of warning; many Doujinshi are sexually explicit. There are dozens of Doujinshi for every popular manga, although finding them can be difficult (Tokyo has a convention specifically for Doujinshi called "Comic Market").

Ecchi: Literally translates as "Twisted", but often used as either "erotic" or "softcore". There are a variety of uses of the word, but the most common is to describe anime or manga with sexual content, normally of a "milder" variety than Hentai (see below). This may include nudity without gender specific details, very scantily clad women and men (such as the infamous "panty shot"), and the like. Some areas switch the terms "Ecchi" and "Hentai", though, so be cautious. Green Green, focused on a young school boy at an all-boy school in the mountains and a class of girls that attends there for one year is a typical ecchi anime.

Fansub: Anime or manga that is subtitled by viewers, rather than the company that produced the work. This is normally illegal, but is done with good intentions (fans of a particular anime that wish to see it faster than the Japanese company is capable of releasing it in North America). Many fansubbers will stop subtitling a work once it is released (or licensed) in North America and request that it immediately stop being distributed in the illegal formats. Anime companies have a love-hate relationship

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