Content:Characters

The information on this page is incomplete and may not be of much use.
If you can, please help by adding to it.

The cast of an anime includes the characters and their seiyuu (voice actors and actresses).

Cast info sources

Note This section is a mostly untouched copy of some of the text from nwa's forum post and still needs further details, proper editing and formatting.

The following are acceptable sources for information on the cast:

  • VIDEO - yeah... well... as always.
  • The official page for the anime - Lists the main and secondary cast generally. Sometimes gives the hiragana readings as well (from which you can get the main name).
  • Japanese wiki - this should be the BEST source for characters since they most of the time also give the hiragana reading (inside brackets). And they mention seiyuu changes, generally...
  • http://www.anime-title.com/ - lists complete cast info per episode for a number of anime, older one as well as ongoing. Note that the cast info is very well hidden, after you select an anime, you need to click on an episode title to unfold the cast info (it doesn't show a pointer cursor). If nothing unfolds, then that episode has no cast info.
  • SeiyuuDB - complete cast info for various series in the 20xx range.

One thing to note, if you add a character WITHOUT the official Japanese name and WITHOUT any links whatsoever, well that's just lame and makes it quite hard to track down the character to see if that's really his name and what not, but alas, we're not as strict with characters as we are with creators. I bet we have quite a number of characters by now whose name order is wrong or who don't meet our romanisation standards.

Note from nwa

Note This section is verbatim copypasta from the bottom of The Big One .

Note from nwa: since we're all here too lazy to actually write guides and standards, I'm afraid you guys just need to check the existing examples of data for now. If there are any questions regarding the addition of characters/creators/songs/staff credits or anything else related to the new features, please ask so in the forum. Hopefully some day there will be a notes section on the add/edit pages. But for now, just remember that AniDB is meant to display the original Japanese data, character and creator names depend on how they were given in the video or on Japanese sources (family name vs given name order anyone?). Oh, and... NO spaces in Official Japanese names, and always try to provide them!

Notes about adding character data

Note These are some items I learned about while adding characters on my own. These notes may not accurately reflect AniDB policy, but may be helpful to other users just getting started adding character data.
  • For all data it is preferred to stick with original Japanese sources, written in Japanese. This means your primary sources should be Japanese broadcast (or R2 DVD) video, official Japanese web site (.jp), and Japanese Wiki.
  • Automatic translation services such as Google Translate and Babel Fish may be helpful, but should not be trusted on their own. Expect some words (especially names) to be translated incorrectly. Try to find a more authoritative source to corroborate translated information.
  • Spoiler tags should be used in character descriptions to hide potentially spoiling information. English Wikipedia contains a lot of spoilers.
  • For character images the official Japanese web site is preferred over screen caps from the video.
  • Character images may be as large as 400 pixels wide by 500 pixels tall, but must not exceed 102400 bytes in size. discussion
  • Episode relations are added by editing the character to anime relation and entering values into the Episodes field. Acceptable values consist of a series of comma separated ranges which may be delimited by hyphens. Just enter something like "1-26", or "2,5,8", or "9-13,16,22,26".
  • JP URL and EN URL fields are for official web sites of the anime only. Do not enter the URL of any other web site here! If there is no official web site, or the official web site of the anime no longer exists, then simply leave the URL field blank.
  • Additional character data sources may be cited in the comment to the mod field.
  • When adding text credits, the preferred format is "English (Kanji (Romaji))", if you know all 3, "Romaji (Kanji)" if you aren't sure of the translation and "Kanji" if you're unsure even about the reading.

Character Relations

As you have a parent, Sousuke might have one. Thus we have established the char-char relations. You can access them on every character page by clicking on the "Add Entitiy Relation" tab, if there is no relation yet present, or, accessing the "Related Entities" tab and clicking [add/edit relations], when somebody has added at least one relation. Should you need specific help concerning the relations of a character, look for Hinoe on our IRC channel or click "report this entry" in the "Contribution" tab on the character's main info block to issue a comment creq.

General notes on character relations

There are many different kinds of relations that can be set and are self-explanatory by the name or relation they carry; others might need a comment to specify the relation a bit more. If on doubt, simply consider whether the relation type explains everything there is to be explained. Some relations will have standardized comments; others will require comments but not have a specific standard on them. When there is no standard currently set for the relation type, general rules and common sense apply; when examples are available, following them should be generally safe. Additionally, if a relation has ended, it is highly encouraged for the comment to specify the point in the timeline and the reason why the relation ended.

Character relations are supposed to be lower case, as well as short and as neutral as possible. They are furthermore always supposed to be two-sided; the vice versa option should always be marked. If a relation is truly one-sided (e.g. character A considers character B a rival, but character B doesn't think that way, or maybe doesn't even know character A exists), the comment should specify it as "on character A's part only".

is family of

This is a perfect example for the 'in need of comment' category. Being part of a family can mean a lot of things, and many people have different ideas of how to put those into words. Beneath you'll find a list of preferred wording for those relations.

While it should be as neutral as possible, the (usually) older family member should always be mentioned first. Even though there are exceptions - an uncle can be born later than a nephew - this will still use the same template. There will be no distinction between fraternal or maternal grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc.

Relationships in families can be genetic or non-genetic. The latter includes marriages and adoptions. So if your mother's brother marries a woman, she will still be considered your aunt.

  • ancestor (anything that goes further in the family tree than great-great-grandparent level)
  • great-great-grandparent - great-great-grandchild
  • great-grandparent - great-grandchild
  • grandparent - grandchild
  • grandparent - grandchild (adoptive)
  • parent - child
  • parent - child (adoptive)
  • stepparent - stepchild (the parent is not related by blood and hasn't adopted the child after marriage to the biological parent)
  • foster parent - foster child (the child has been taken and brought up by another family than its biological, without legal steps in place)
  • uncle - nephew
  • uncle - nephew (adoptive)
  • uncle - niece
  • uncle - niece (adoptive)
  • great-uncle - great-nephew (a great-uncle is the brother of your grandparent)
  • great-uncle - great-niece
  • aunt - nephew
  • aunt - niece
  • great-aunt - great-nephew (a great-aunt is the sister of your grandparent)
  • great-aunt - great-niece
  • cousins
  • siblings
  • siblings (adoptive)
  • half-siblings (related by blood to one parent)
  • stepsiblings (unrelated by blood, came into the family due to marriage)
  • foster siblings
  • twins
  • triplets
  • quadruplets
  • multiplets (quintuplets, sextuplets, and above)
  • distant blood relatives (other distant blood relation such as distant cousins or branch families, when relevant. Please note that this is often a fallback relation; if unsure, ask before adding this comment)
  • in-laws (parents) (this goes for any combination of mother/father/daughter/son-in-law)
  • in-laws (siblings) (this goes for brother/sister-in-law)

Family relations never end, even after one person dies. The question of whether someone who's related through marriage (e.g. your aunt who's your mother's brother's wife) continues to be a family member following a divorce or the death of their spouse has not yet been settled; for now, please assume all relations existing at the time of the end of the marriage will stay so, and new additions to the family will not have the relation. This is not yet settled policy and is subject to change at any time. Also, it should go without saying, but family relations are never one-sided.

As a final note, please note that couples are NOT valid family relations; please use the appropriate couple-centered relations instead. If, however, the relation is incestuous, both the couple relation and the regular family relation should evidently be added.

is killed by / kills

On its own, that relation is entirely self-explanatory. A comment might elaborate on the circumstances, reasons, means employed, and so on; some examples might include "stabbed in the jugular vein with a ballpoint pen" or "accidentally shot on the forehead". Clearly, this relation is never one-sided and never ends.

is the predecessor of / is the successor of

This relation type also requires a comment, as it always refers to an office, position, title, etc. You can be someone's successor as some company's CEO, as some country's king, as head of your clan, and so on; the comment should specify what role specifically one character succeeded the other in. Some reasonable examples might be "as family head", "as king", "as the King of England", or "as Nintendo's president". This relation is never one-sided, and it never ends.

is the rival of

This relation type implies an object of rivalry between the rivals, which needs to be specified; when two people compete, they compete for something, and there is a need of a comment to specify what they are competing for. You can be someone's rival in the fight for someone else's love, in trying to be the fastest racer in town, in your goal of being the very best, like no one ever was, and so on; additionally, rivalries might end following some sort of event, and they may be one-sided, in that only one side recognizes the other as a rival. Reasonable examples might be "for Sakura's love", "for Sakura's love, until Tarou fell in love with Yuri", "for Sakura's love, until Tarou died", "for Sakura's love, only on Keiichi's part", "for Sakura's love, only on Keiichi's part, until Tarou died", "as fellow racers", and so forth.

other

The "other" relation type always requires a comment, because otherwise people won't be able to understand what the relation is even supposed to cover. This may sound obvious, but "other"-type relations without a comment are very common, leading to much frustration when dealing with them. As such, please always describe the "other"-type relations you add, and try to elaborate on any you find. Since this relation type is a catchall for anything not covered by any other type, it may be one-sided, and it may end, or it may not. Please exercise common sense to its fullest when adding an "other"-type relation and do not add foolish relations over inane things.

MediaWiki spam blocked by CleanTalk.
MediaWiki spam blocked by CleanTalk.