As you are perusing some manga, watching some anime or perhaps reading some behind the scenes information about the anime/manga industry, you’ll probably come across a term called “Omake”. While it may seem initially confusing, it isn’t as complicated as it first appears.
Written as お負け in Japanese although it’s also often written simply as おまけ, the term itself simply means “extra”. This can refer to things as simple as DVD extras such as behind the scenes, commentaries, deleted scenes etc. Of course, this doesn’t seem much different to the Western meaning of extras but further examination reveals some very interesting examples of omake that differ quite a bit to our usual interpretation.
I remember back when I was first getting into anime, I was watching Naruto: Shippuden and I noticed that most episodes tended to have a clip before the preview for the next episode which had the characters either goofing around or explaining aspects of the show. I can remember quite enjoying this format even though I didn’t completely understand the purpose behind it.
It wasn’t until later on that I found out that many anime have these shorts although it does seem that many of them are provided as extras on disc rather than playing directly after an episode. Nonetheless, there are plenty of notable examples such as Gunbuster where the characters, in a chibi art style, explain some of the science in the series or the Gundam Seed Character Theater where the characters end up in many comedic situations.
However, when I think of the term “Omake”, I tend to think more of manga than anime. This may either be because I first learned about omake in this context or it may be because I consider it to be more unique compared to anime incarnations. In particular, I think of 4-koma that appear at the end of manga such as Fullmetal Alchemist or bonus non-canon stories at the end of manga like Black Lagoon.
Omake isn’t as different from Western extras as you may expect but there are still plenty of interesting examples to be found throughout anime and manga. Let me know your thoughts on omake, what some of the best examples you’ve come across are, other types of omake that I may not have mentioned and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!