anime

Noun

anime (countable and uncountable, plural anime or animes)

1. (countable) An animated work that originated in Japan, regardless of the artistic style.
   • Gotta get in tune with Sailor Moon / 'Cause that cartoon has got the boom anime babes / That make me think the wrong thing1998, “One Week”, performed by Barenaked Ladies
   • After three months of successful sales in manga form, it was made into an anime for television.2005, Peter J. Katzenstein, A World of Regions, page 165
2. (uncountable) An artistic style originating in, and associated with, Japanese animation, and that has also been adopted by a comparatively low number of animated works from other countries.
   • I can draw an anime version of you, if you want.
   • Touching on themes as disparate as sex, death, science fiction and romance, manga and anime catered to all ages and tastes. Commercial hits like “Pokémon” and “Dragon Ball Z,” meanwhile, projected a new image of Japan to the world.2019 July 28, Emiko Jozuka, “Japanese anime: From ‘Disney of the East’ to a global industry worth billions”, in CNN
3. (countable, proscribed, rare) An animated work, regardless of the country of origin.
   • Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way first: Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is absolutely gorgeous. It looks like the anime, as you’d hope and want it to, animations are stunning, and it feels smooth in the way that great fighting games should.2026 June 30, Will Borger, “Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game Has Me Excited to Get into the Lab | IGN Preview”, in IGN, archived from the original on 04 Jul 2026