Manga Sound Effect Word List [Over 250 Words and Meanings]

8 thoughts on “Manga Sound Effect Word List [Over 250 Words and Meanings]”

1. That’s a good question. I don’t want to be the resident pedant so Chris can answer better, but GPT of course was exceptionally helpful here!

   https://chatgpt.com/share/67f2d3b4-9298-800a-86b1-6eb9c33f98e5

   @Chris, oh hey BTW, I’ve been meaning to post on Reddit for a while something that’s been in the back of my head- there’s a lot of anime body language that I think is totally worth its own article if it were something that you’ve fancied or taken an interest in yourself.

   But regardless of an article, these body language gestures almost drive me nuts—they’re like caricatures of themselves. They’re almost pantomimes and they’re so pervasive it’s kind of annoying; social constructions aside, just draw your character as an individual! *Not EVERY person with glasses takes on an air of self-assuredness and pushes them back up onto the bridge of their nose with their middle finger while the other 4 are gently splayed open, ya know.* 😑

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   1. Thanks for the idea! Formulaic body language might align with character trope shorthands. I’ll have to think on it. I will have to research Kabuki and Noh pose repertoires. I suspect the body language you mention may originate there. I have an academic book that dives deep into Noh in my to-read list. The book will be a cleanse after reading books about Japan’s AV industry and silent sexual victimization of women for the past month. I still haven’t decided how to write (or even if I should) about what I’m reading there.

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2. Thank you so much for this list, it’s been so helpful!
   Though, I have a question.
   There is a SFX, I read that it can be either foot steps or “really pissed off” , in the situation both would make sense, but how do I know which one is the right one?
   The SFX is カンカン

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   1. カンカン can also be a hitting sound, like “clang.” If both meanings make sense in the context, it’s likely both meanings are being used at the same time. It’s not unusual, especially when working with high-context languages like Japanese and Chinese, for multiple meanings to be correct at the same time. If a character is “really pissed off,” it makes sense they would stomp their feet or hit things. Without seeing the context, I would say カンカン will mean both a stomping/hitting sound and “really pissed off.” English writers will also sometimes use sound words to represent sounds and emotional punctuation marks within a scene. L.E. Modesitt Jr. does this in some of his novels.

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3. Thank you. This is a huge help to my manga project. I will study this.

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   1. I’m glad the article is able to help you! Good luck with your project!

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4. thank you for this list! though, it seems there isn’t one for ticking of a clock? I’m drawing a silent classroom where only the clock could be heard. what do you suggest I use? thank you!

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   1. カチカチ Kachikachi is a clicking sound, but this could also be used for the ticking of a clock.

      チクタク Chikutaku can mean tick-tock.

      If your plot needs something more symbolic or a show of stress, you might use the character’s heartbeat, dokidoki, to show the clock and the character’s heartbeat are aligned. Good luck with your project!

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