Glossary of Japanese Fighting Game Terminology

Ever wondered what Japanese commentators are on about? Then this guide will certainly help!


英語 (例)　＝　漢字・(他の単語)・ひらがな・(カタカナ)・ローマ字
English (Example) = Kanji・(Another Definition)・Hiragana・(Katakana)・Romaji

Glossary

With courtesy of mizuumi


(Hit) Confirm　＝　（ヒット）確認・（ヒット）かくにん・(hitto) kakunin
(Wake-up) DP ＝　昇竜・しょうりゅう・shouryuu
Absorb (Damage)　＝　吸収・きゅうしゅう・kyuushuu
Ambiguous Cross-up　＝　表裏・ひょうり・hyouri
Back Jump　＝　後ろジャンプ・うしろジャンプ・ushiro jyanpu
Back Step/44/4(A+B)　＝　バックステップ・bakku suteppu
Bait　＝　フリ・fuuri
Battle　＝　対戦・たいせん・taisen
Blockstring yomi　＝　見てから・みてから・mitekara
Buffer, Input Frames　＝　入力フレーム・にゅうりょくフレーム・nyuuryoku fureemu
Cancel　＝　キャンセル・kyanseru
Champion　＝　優勝・ゆうしょう・yuushou
Character match-up　＝　キャラ対策・キャラたいさく・kyara taisaku
Character Normals (e.g. 4B/3C/6C)　＝　特殊技・とくしゅわざ・tokushu waza
Charge a move　＝　ため・tame
Command Grab　＝　コマンド投げ・コマンドなげ・komando nage
Crossup　＝　捲り・めくり・mekuri
Crouching　＝　しゃがみ・shagami
Dash　＝　ダッシュ・dasshu
Delay　＝　ディレイ・direi
Disadvantage - 不利・ furi (eg. 不利キャラ disadvantaged/weak character)
Distance　＝　距離・きょり・kyori
Dodge　＝　避け・さけ・sake
Double Overhead　＝　二段中段・にだんちゅうだん・nidan chuudan
Easy Mode (Combo), easy low dmg confirm ＝ 妥協（コンボ）・だきょう（コンボ）・dakyou (konbo)
EX (lit. super cost)　＝　ちょうひ・chou hi
Jumping out of a disadvantageous position　＝　浮遊・ふゆう・fuyuu
Forward Jump　＝　前ジャンプ・さきジャンプ・saki jyanpu
Focus Attack　＝　セービング・savingu, saving attack
Four-Way Mixup　＝　四道理・よんどうり・yondouri
Full Combo/Optimum damage combo/Most difficult link combo　＝　フルコンボ・furu konbo
Full Screen　＝　遠距離・えんきょり・enkyori
Fuzzy　＝　ファジー・faji (Warning – Americans and Japanese have a different concepts of “Fuzzy”)
American concept of Fuzzy　＝　かもね、のぼり中段・のぼりちゅうだん・kamone, noborichuudan
Gimmick　＝　ネタ・neta
Guard/Block　＝　ガード・gaado
Guard Bar　＝　ガードゲージ・gaado geeji
Guard Break　＝　ガードブレーク・gaado bureeku
Hit Trade　＝　相打ち・あいうち・aiuchi
HP/Health　＝　ライフゲージ・raifu geeji
i-frames, invincibility　＝　無敵・むてき・muteki
Input　＝　入力・にゅうりょく・nyuuryoku
Jump　＝　ジャンプ・jyanpu
Landing Recovery　＝　着地・ちゃくち・chakuchi
Launching Move (Launcher)　＝　浮かせ技・うかせわざ・ukase waza
Link (situational confirm)　＝　状況確認・じょうきょうかくにん・jyoukyou kakunin
Mash or attack at a disadvantage　＝　暴れ・アバレ・abare
Match　＝　勝負・しょうぶ・shoubu
Meaty　＝　重なる・かさなる・kasanaru
Melee, within one character range of opponent　＝　きん距離・きんきょり・kinkyori
Meter　＝　ゲージ・geeji
Mid Screen　＝　中距離・ちゅうきょり・chuukyori
Move (Technique)　＝　技・わざ・waza
Netplay　＝　ネット対戦・ネットたいせん・nettotaisen
Neutral/Spacing　＝　立ち回り・たちまわり・tachimawari
Neutral Jump　＝　垂直ジャンプ・すいちょくジャンプ・suichoku jyanpu
Normals　＝　通常技・つうじょうわざ・tsuujyou waza
Numeric Combo Notation　＝　テンキひょうき・tenki hyouki
Option Select　＝　仕込み・しこみ・shikomi
OTG Relaunch　＝　引き剥がし・ひきはがし・hikihagashi
OTG　＝　ダウン追い討ち・ダウンおいうち・dawun oiuchi
Overhead　＝　中段・ちゅうだん・chuudan
Parry or Counter　＝　当て身・あてみ・atemi
Partial Charge　＝　ちょいため・choitame
Pressure/Block Strings　＝　固め・かため・katame
Projectile　＝　飛び道具・とびどうぐ・tobidougu
Proration (Damage scaling)　＝　補正・ほせい・hosei
Reduce (Damage)　＝　レデュース・redyuusu
Reflecting Move　(e.g Urien Aegis Reflector) ＝　反射技・はんしゃわざ・hansha waza
Reversal　＝　リバサ・ribasa
Right next to someone, lit. “Glued together” 　＝　密着・みっちゃく・micchaku
Screen　＝　画面・がめん・gamen
Scrub　＝　へたくそ・hetakuso
Side Step　＝　サイドステップ・saido suteppu
Special Moves　＝　必殺技・ひっさつわざ・hissatsu waza
Frame trap and prevent mashing (lit. to “Crush a struggle”) ＝　アバレ潰し・あばれつぶし・abare tsubushi
Super Jump　＝　ハイジャンプ・hai jyanpu
Tech Trap　＝　受身狩り・うけみがり・ukemigari
Tech　＝　受身・うけみ・ukemi
Three-Way Mixup　＝　三道理・さんどうり・sandouri
Throw Tech　＝　投げぬけ・なげぬけ・nagenuke
Throw　＝　投げ・なげ・nage
TK (Tiger knee) ＝　低空・ていくう・teikuu
Triple Overhead　＝　三段中段・さんだんちゅうだん・sandan chuudan
Two-Way Mixup, 50/50　＝　二道理・にどうり・nidouri
Unblockable　＝　ガーぶ・gaa bu
Using reverse-input tactics to defeat ambiguous cross-ups and sandoori　＝　波動・はどう・hadou
Wall Bounce (e.g in 3rd Strike)　＝　壁バウンド・かべバウンド・kabe baundo
Whiff　＝　スカ・スカす・sukasu
Zoning Character　＝　遠距離キャラ・えんきょりキャラ・enkyori kyara

Glossary #2 (extras)

Cross-up (捲り・めくり, Mekuri): Used mainly for 2D games, but can be used for 3D games too.
Ambiguous Cross-up (疑惑のめくり, Giwaku no Mekuri): You can also get away with just saying Giwaku Mekuri
Ambiguous Cross-up - 表裏・ひょうり・hyouri
American concept of Fuzzy - かもね、のぼり中段・のぼりちゅうだん・kamone, noborichuudan
Anti-air - 対空 (taikuu)
Corpse Hitting (死体げり, ♥♥♥♥♥♥ geri): After a KO, hitting an opponent’s body with an attack.
Cross-up Corpse/reset (裏落ち, Uraochi): When you hit an airborne opponent with a reset and dash under to switch positions.
empty jump into low attack - すかし下段 (sukashi gedan)
Advantage (有利, Yuuri): Used in fighters when talking about frame advantage
advantage - 有利 (yuuri)
Bait - フリ・fuuri
Baiting (釣り, Tsuri): Literally means “to fish”
Baiting with Whiff (スカシ, Sukashi): Literally means an openwork
Double Overhead - 二段中段・にだんちゅうだん・nidan chuudan
Incoming Mixup 出現
Kara Throw (移動投げ, Idou Nage)
Link combo (目押し, Meoshi)
LOL combo (ワロスコンボ, Waros Konbo): Used to refer to Sagat’s Tiger Uppercut FADC f HK Ultra combo
Meaty - 重なる・かさなる・kasanaru
Beginner (初心者, Shoshinsha): To describe the level of a player
Expert (上級者, Jyoukyuusha): To describe the level of a player
Bulldog tactics (あばれ, Abare): Means to attack despite being in a frame disadvantage
Intermediate (中級者, Chuukyuusha): To describe the level of a player
Scrub - へたくそ・hetakuso
Moral (モラル, Moraru): Playing a textbook style that depends on frame advantage/disadvantage. Opposite of Abare.
Champion/Winner - 優勝・ゆうしょう・yuushou: Used when referring to tournaments or ranbats. i.e. Taikai Yuushou, Ranbat Yuushou.
一本取る, 一本取られた (ippontoru, ippontorareta. Usually followed by "no wa <player name> <character name>") - <player> <character> won a round match.
Ban (禁止)
Battle (対戦, Taisen): Refers to a match, or to play someone in a fighting game. Combine this with Online or Network and you can refer to online game. i.e. Online Taisen, Network Taisen.
Defeat/Beat 破る・やぶる
Reach (リーチ, Richi): In a fighting game where a person is shutting out an opponent. i.e. Sagat goes up 2 – 0 against a Ryu in a 3/5 series.
Match - 勝負・しょうぶ・shoubu
Ranking Battle (ランバト, Ranbato)
大将 (taishou) - General, name of the second player.
対 (tai) - versus
決戦 (kessen) - Decisive battle, name of the third player. In most 2v2 matches, I see taishou as the name of the second player more often than kessen.
Opponent - 相手 - (aite)
先鋒 (senpou) - Vanguard, name of the first player in a three-man team.
差 used when both characters play very offensively but what it actually is regards to I’m not sure - 差し合い (sashiai)
Blockstring yomi - 見てから・みてから・mitekara

Commentary, Flair & Slang

We just got ourselves a real match - 暑いぞう！attsuizou!
オワコン (owakon) – abbreviation of 「終わったコンテンツ」 literally means the contents are now over. Used when something is no longer popular.
Close match - Oshii!
ひよる/ひよた (hiyoru/hiyota) – basically mind ♥♥♥♥♥♥
わからん殺し (wakaran koroshi) – being killed something you never seen before
フラゲ (furage) – short for flying get. Getting something before it officially goes on sale.
待ちガイル (machi guile) – waiting Guile. Born from Street Fighter II it basically a Guile who just holds down back who sonicbooms when you’re far away and flash kicks when you jump.
ベガ立ち (vega tachi) – Literally means Dictator stance (where he stands with his arms folded). Used to describe people in the arcades who just cross their arms and watch. I think the example given on Amalgame was when Daigo or other top players come in the vega tachi group will stop playing, as they don’t think they can win and just spectate.

憤死：Salty Loss, Rage Quit

Nico/wiki:

ワロタ (warota) - "Bad," "That sucked."
オワタ (owata) - "It's over"
wktk (wakuteku) - Excited, hyped
ktkr (kitakore) - It's here!
うまい, 上手い (umai) - Skilled, "Nice!"
クソゲー (kusoge-mu) - "This game sucks." (usually following a match where DIO wins. =P)
m9っ - A hand pointing at the screen
ノシ - A hand waving
あるある (aruaru) - "That happened to me!"
えーよ (neeyo) - Opposite of aruaru.

General Terminology

Buffer, Input Frames - 入力フレーム・にゅうりょくフレーム・nyuuryoku fureemu
Chain Combos (連打, Renda):
Character match-up - キャラ対策・キャラたいさく・kyara taisaku
Character Normals (e.g. 4B/3C/6C) - 特殊技・とくしゅわざ・tokushu waza
Input - 入力・にゅうりょく・nyuuryoku
EX (lit. super cost) - ちょうひ・chou hi
Far Range (遠距離, En Kyori)
Flashy KO (曙フィニッシュ, Akebono Finish): When you kill someone with a Super or Ultra in SF, resulting in flashy background
Footsies (足払い戦, Ashibaraisen): Literally means foot battle.
low attack - 下段 (gedan)
Low Level (下段, Gedan): Used in fighting games to describe attack height
Magazine/book (ムック, Mook): Used for certain strategy guides that are sold on magazine racks in Japan.
Charge (タメ, Tame): Used for moves like Sonic Boom, Flash Kick, etc. (BE?)
Charge Partition (タメ分割, Tame bunwari): 3rd Strike/UNIEL term to describe how to split up charge times for moves.
Close Range (近距離, Kin Kyori)
Confirm (確認, Kakunin)
counter-plan [generally used in regards to character matchups] - 対策 (taisaku)
Full Screen - 遠距離・えんきょり・enkyori
Fuzzy - ファジー・faji (Warning – Americans and Japanese have a different concepts of “Fuzzy”)
Gimmick (ネタ, Neta): Literally means “gag” or “joke”
inescapable ie. on a incoming character Abegen does standing H then Tron’s King Kobun xx Thor’s grab hyper xx She Hulk’s air throw hyper - ハメ (hame) – a situation you can’t get of
Guard (ガード, Gaado)
Guard Bar - ガードゲージ・gaado geeji
Guard Break - ガードブレーク・gaado bureeku
Guard/Block - ガード・gaado
Heat/Blood Heat - かいほう・kaihou
Hit (当たる, Ataru)
Hit Confirm (ヒット確認, Hitto Kakunin)
Hit Trade (相打ち, あいうち, Aiuchi): When two players hit each other at the same time.
HP/Health - ライフゲージ・raifu geeji
i-frames, invincibility - 無敵・むてき・muteki
Initiative Heat - ＩＨ
Jump - ジャンプ・jyanpu
Jump Cancel (ジャンプキャンセル, Jyampu Kyanseru)
Kara Cancel (移動技, Idou Waza)
暴発: Refers to when you mean to do the input for one move, but another move comes out instead, e.g. when trying to do Kyo's k from a guarding position, the game reads it as k instead. I'm sure there's a concise term for this in English but I don't know what it is?
補正 - by itself it means 'correction', but when used in the context of damage/combos it refers to damage scaling.
Super Flash Reversal - 暗転返し (antengaeshi)
Reel In - 引き寄せる (hikiyoseru)
Kara Input - ずれ入力 - (zurenyuuryoku)
Practice - やりこみ - (yarikomi)
HP Recovery - 回復 - (kaifuku)
Start Up - 発生 - (hassei)
Mash - 連打 - (renda)
Stamina (Health) - 体力 - (tairyoku)
short for eternal pattern there is a bunch of other names for it too. - 永パ (ei pa) – infinite
Crouch - しゃがみ (shagami) - (referring to opponent)
キャンセル - Cancel
バースト - Burst
ラピキャン - "rapikyan," Rapid Cancel
Rapid Cancel - ラピッド -
上 (ue) - up
下 (♥♥♥♥♥) - down
前 (mae) - Forward, 6
受身 (ukemi) - tech
Landing Recovery - 着地・ちゃくち・chakuchi
literal translation: land war - 地上戦 (chijousen) – footsies/ground game
Location Test (ロケテスト, Roketsuto)
Losses - れんぱい【連敗】a succession of defeats
Mash or attack at a disadvantage - 暴れ・アバレ・abare
maximum damage - 最大 (saidai)
Melee, within one character range of opponent - きん距離・きんきょり・kinkyori
Meter - ゲージ・geeji
Meter Management：ゲージ管理 • Geeji Kanri
Mid Screen - 中距離・ちゅうきょり・chuukyori
Move (Technique) - 技・わざ・waza
Move (移動, Idou): In general arcade terms, this means when a machine is in operation
Netplay - ネット対戦・ネットたいせん・nettotaisen
Neutral Jump - 垂直ジャンプ・すいちょくジャンプ・suichoku jyanpu
Neutral/Spacing - 立ち回り・たちまわり・tachimawari
Normals (ONLY – 5A/5B/5C/2A/2B/2C) - 通常技・つうじょうわざ・tsu

Glossary #3 (extras)

Game & Character specifics:

- Dictator’s jump MP (お手玉, Otedama): Literally means a juggling beanbag
- Arc Drive - アルクドライブ・aruku doraibu
- v-13’s D Swords (シーティング, Shuuteinngu)
- Zangief’s diagonal jump MK (マリオキック, Mario Kick)
#√ Tournament & Matches

- Champion/Winner - 優勝・ゆうしょう・yuushou: Used when referring to tournaments or ranbats. i.e. Taikai Yuushou, Ranbat Yuushou.
- 一本取る, 一本取られた (ippontoru, ippontorareta. Usually followed by "no wa <player name> <character name>") - <player> <character> won a round match.

- Ban (禁止)
- Battle (対戦, Taisen): Refers to a match, or to play someone in a fighting game. Combine this with Online or Network and you can refer to online game. i.e. Online Taisen, Network Taisen.
- Battle - 対戦・たいせん・taisen
- Defeat/Beat 破る・やぶる
- Reach (リーチ, Richi): In a fighting game where a person is shutting out an opponent. i.e. Sagat goes up 2 – 0 against a Ryu in a 3/5 series.
- Match - 勝負・しょうぶ・shoubu
- Ranking Battle (ランバト, Ranbato)
- 大将 (taishou) - General, name of the second player.
- 対 (tai) - versus
- 決戦 (kessen) - Decisive battle, name of the third player. In most 2v2 matches, I see taishou as the name of the second player more often than kessen.
- Opponent - 相手 - (aite)
- 先鋒 (senpou) - Vanguard, name of the first player in a three-man t# eam.

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Movement & Defense

- Air Back Dash - 空中バックダッシュ・くうちゅうバックダッシュ・kuuchuu bakku dasshu
- Air Dash - 空中ダッシュ・くうちゅうダッシュ・kuuchuu dasshu
- Air Dodge, j.2E - 空避け・くうさけ・kuu sake
- Air Tech - 空中受身・くうちゅううけみ・kuchuu ukemi
- Back Jump - 後ろジャンプ・うしろジャンプ・ushiro jyanpu
- Back Step/44/4(A B) - バックステップ・bakku suteppu
- Flight - 浮遊・ふゆう・fuyuu
- Forward Jump - 前ジャンプ・さきジャンプ・saki jyanpu Instant Air (低空, Teikuu): Literally means “low air”, basically when referring to moves that use Tiger Knee motions to get you just above the ground, i.e. AHVB in Marvel 2, Cammy’s TK Cannon Strike in SF4.
- Crouching - しゃがみ・shagami
- Dodge, 2E - 避け・さけ・sake
- Side Step/2E - サイドステップ・saido suteppu
- Sidestep/Dash (ステップ, Steppu)
- ジャンプ - Jump
- ダッシュ - Dash
- チキンブロック - Chicken Block
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MVC3 slang

- Skrull Win - 不快 – (fukai) – unpleasant (Apparenty it was originally said by Kyamei when OGTY made a comeback with Skrull).
- Super Skrub - はいスク(haisuku) （あ～はいはいスクラルね～）
- Vergil Win - はいバー - (haiba) as above except in regards to Vergil. -
- Shieldskill Spammers - 脳障害 (noushougai) brain disorder/disability. Used to describe people who spam Taskmaster’s Shield Skills.

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Players & Styles

- Beginner (初心者, Shoshinsha): To describe the level of a player
- Expert (上級者, Jyoukyuusha): To describe the level of a player
- Bulldog tactics (あばれ, Abare): Means to attack despite being in a frame disadvantage
- Intermediate (中級者, Chuukyuusha): To describe the level of a player
- Scrub - へたくそ・hetakuso
- Moral (モラル, Moraru): Playing a textbook style that depends on frame advantage/disadvantage. Opposite of Abare.
- Frame Advantage 有利 Yuuri

[←←←↕→→→]

https://youtu.be/va1oiojnGrA?si=4XrhKiT4CmA2Kepg

[←←←↕→→→]

https://youtu.be/_spLLz0tPg4?si=v4yGC7ygv_oTPaNT

[←←←↕→→→]

多分、メイbelline

[miso]

格闘ゲームプレーヤー Kakutō gēmu purēyā

[Gondola]

Is there a term they use just to say "fighting game player"?

[(★‿★)]

Thanks, great reference!

[Telamon]

everyone will totally remember all of these

[󠀡󠀡]

⠀

[Hexer]

What about hitstun, knock back, and so on?

[Greinu]

かもね、のぼり中段 is correct, but you can see more people who call it F式(efu shiki) because it is just famous.

when you fight in N people team, you can call them
1:先鋒(senpou)
2:次鋒(jihou)
...
X:(N-X+1)将({N-X+1}shou)
...
middle:中堅(chuuken)
...
X:(N-X+1)将({N-X+1}shou)
...
N-1:副将(fukushou)
N:大将(taishou)

they are from martial arts competitions like this
http://sakenren.com/news/file/20090924100104.pdf