4/15/2005

Of course, there’s more to anime than just watching it – beyond your 26 to 52 episodes and accompanying manga, you probably already know that your show of choice comes with its own toys, trinkets, websites and most importantly, fanbase. These other fans from all around the world share a common interest, and many go beyond receiving and give back to the fanbase with their own art, music, stories and websites based on their fandom of choice.

Fanfiction is without a doubt one of the most popular routes taken by such fans. You may have read fanfiction or even written some – if not, give it a try! Fanfics are limited only by the imagination of their authors (and for some, the canon, of course!) and can be a great way to renew interest in a series you no longer keep up with or explore new horizons, through alternate universes and strange and interesting couplings.

There are some recurring motifs found in anime fanfiction that may be of interest to know:

Mary Sue – An original character (sometimes known as an OC) that is either a self-inserted version of the author, or simply too perfect to exist. Mary Sues tend to be angsty, have a romance with the leading male, and often end up dying in their lovers’ arms. The male version is known as a Gary Stu.

shounen-ai/yaoi – The former is translated as “boys’ love”, the latter a reference to a mature fanfiction featuring two males in sexual situations. Why is this listed in a list of anime fanfiction references? Well, these two themes are consistently recurring even outside the anime realm (termed “slash” in English fandoms) and are quite the phenomenon. It’s not known exactly why 16-year-old female writers want to slash Heero and Duo, but it happens. A lot.

shoujo-ai/yuri – The female equivalent of the above definition.

lemon/lime/citrus – Referring to degrees of “mature” content in fanfiction, from highest to lowest.

OOC – An abbreviation for “out of character”

WIP – An abbreviation for “work in progress”

Finally, a few recommendations for anime fanfiction sites:

Fanfiction.net (General)
Media Miner (General)
Freedom of Speech (General)
Higher than the Sun (Fullmetal Alchemist)
The Inuyasha Fanfiction Community (Inuyasha)
Aishiteru (Gundam Wing)
Women Fanfiction Writers (Webring)
Annual Sailor Moon Fanfiction Awards (Sailormoon)