Ixhishishi

BL (short for Boys' Love) is a genre that depicts homosexual relationships between men. BL is the predominant term in Japan. In the West, the term Shounen-ai categorizes romantic stories that focus on emotional aspects of relationships, while Yaoi categorizes more of the sexual aspects such as Smut or explicit content.

Constant panty shots, bouncing breasts and dubious camera angles are hallmarks of an Ecchi title. These titles are usually sexualized and designed to titillate, depicting perverted themes and focusing heavily on the female body. Nosebleeds, suspicious hand positions, faceplanting into bosoms, expressive and exaggerated body parts and other tropes characterize this genre. Ecchi is all about fanservice, while Borderline H and Smut titles focus more on sexual content.

These anime depict an explicit level of sexual content, indicated by one or more of the following: detailed, graphic sequences; a high frequency of sexual content, even if content isn't explicit; prevalent nudity; Fetish-based, graphic sequences; or simulated sexual acts.

A harem includes three or more characters who potentially show romantic interest in a male protagonist. The sex, gender, or orientation of the harem members is irrelevant as long as they exclusively, or at least primarily, are vying for the affections of the same individual - who may or may not reciprocate towards one, several, or none of these romantic rivals.

These anime feature young, generally school-aged girls as defenders of love, life, and justice. They typically stumble upon the source of a magical power, or are granted one by allies that are aware of evil forces on the rise. Often by using a special item or with the help of a magical familiar, these characters are able to transform into an alter-ego ready to cause mischief or fight their foes. Magical Girl is a sub-genre of Henshin Heroes.

Mecha are self-propelling machines that are modeled after humans; some can change into multiple, non-humanoid formats as well. They're usually controlled by an internal pilot or by remote, but are sometimes sentient beings that move autonomously. A mecha's size ranges from bulky, wearable armor to a massive, towering contraption and beyond. While mecha have a wide range of applications, such as making manual labor easier, they are most commonly portrayed as heavily-armed war machines.

These titles have a mild amount of nudity, either because of Ecchi or light fanservice, mild Sexual Content, or simply a one-off shower scene or hot springs visit. 

A reverse harem includes three or more characters who potentially show romantic interest in a female protagonist. The sex, gender, or orientation of the harem members is irrelevant as long as they exclusively, or at least primarily, are vying for the affections of the same individual - who may or may not reciprocate towards one, several, or none of these romantic rivals.

These anime have a mild amount of sexual content, such as light Nudity or implied/off-camera sex acts. 

Yuri is a genre that depicts homosexual relationships between women. Japan typically uses this single category for all forms of these relationships, sexual or not. In the West, the term Shoujo-ai categorizes stories that focus on the emotional aspects of the relationships, while Yuri categorizes more of the sexual aspects and explicit content. As Anime-Planet's audience is mostly based in the West, we use the Western definition for both Yuri and Shoujo-ai.

These anime are categorized as Shounen-ai. Boys' Love or BL in Japan, is a genre that depicts homosexual relationships between men. Japan typically uses this single category for all forms of these relationships, sexual or not. In the West, the term Shounen-ai categorizes stories that focus on the emotional aspects of the relationships, while Yaoi categorizes more of the sexual aspects, such as Smut or explicit content. As Anime-Planet's audience is mostly based in the West, we use the Western definition for both Yaoi and Shounen-ai. See BL for a list of both titles.

Wuxia (武侠) is one of the oldest genres in Chinese literature, and translates to "martial arts chivalry". These anime feature Martial Arts heroes who will stop at nothing in order to become the strongest of them all. The hero may use their Cultivation skills to fight evil in their never-ending quest for strength.

Yaoi, also known as Boys' Love or BL in Japan, is a genre that depicts homosexual relationships between men. Japan typically uses this single category for all forms of these relationships, sexual or not. In the West, the term Shounen-ai categorizes stories that focus on emotional aspects of relationships, while Yaoi categorizes more of the sexual aspects, such as Smut, or explicit content. As Anime-Planet's audience is mostly based in the West, we use the Western definition for both Yaoi and Shounen-ai. See BL for a list of both titles.

Characters in these anime have excessively large hands, often reminiscent of Facehuggers or having fingers that are tentacle-like in nature. This sort of character design is most common in Yaoi anime (though isn't exclusive to the genre), and thus is referred to as Yaoi Hand Syndrome or simply Yaoi Hands.

Yuri is a genre that depicts homosexual relationships between women. Japan typically uses this single category for all forms of these relationships, sexual or not. In the West, the term Shoujo-ai categorizes stories that focus on the emotional aspects of the relationships, while Yuri categorizes more of the sexual aspects and explicit content. As Anime-Planet's audience is mostly based in the West, we use the Western definition for both Yuri and Shoujo-ai.