zoku 続 - Meaning in Japanese

In Japanese, zoku 続 means "sequel," or more literally, "continuation." It's found in the names of some anime which refer to the second season of a series or some other sort of continuation.

It's spelled with the same kanji as tsuduku 続く, which means "to continue" and is sometimes found at the end of an episode (typically spelled with hiragana, as tsuduku つづく) because the series continues in the next episode.

• Examples
• Homonyms
  • Sound Effect
  • Clan
  • Thief

Examples

Since there are not that many anime and OVA with zoku in their names, I gathered a list of them and translated their titles below, for reference:

• Zoku: Atakkka YOU! - Kin Medaru e no Michi
  続・アタッカーYOU! 金メダルへの道 (2008)
  Continuation: Attacker YOU! - Path to the Golden Medal
• Zoku: Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei
  俗・さよなら絶望先生 (2008)
  Continuation: Goodbye Zetsubou-Sensei
  (Jokingly written with 俗 instead of 続 because of the kanji's meaning: worldliness, mundane things, as opposed to spirituality, Buddhism, etc.)
• Zoku: Natsume Yuujinchou
  続　夏目友人帳 (2009)
  Continuation: Natsume's Book of Friends.
  (note the space in the title. It's also written 続・夏目友人帳)
• Mushi-shi Zoku-shou
  蟲師　続章 (2014)
  Mushi-shi: Sequel Chapter
  (mushi normally means "insect," but in the past the meaning of the kanji included any lifeforms, even humans)
• Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabukome wa Machigatteiru. Zoku
  やはり俺の青春ラブコメはまちがっている。続 (2015)
  As I thought my young romantic-comedy is wrong. Continuation.
• Wake Up, Girls! Zoku: Gekijouban
  続･劇場版 (2015)
  Continuation: Movie Version. (WUG had 2 movie continuations)
• Zoku: Owarimonogatari
  続・終物語 (2018)
  Continuation: Owarimonogatari.
• Zoku: Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru
  続　刀剣乱舞-花丸 (2018)
  Continuation: Sword Dance: Flower Circle

This one isn't anime, but it's a live-action based on a manga.

• ALWAYS Zoku: Sanchoume no Yuuhi
  ＡＬＷＡＹＳ　続・三丁目の夕日 (2007)
  ALWAYS Continuation: Third Street's Evening Sun

Well, this is awkward. But it seems the first anime to use zoku in their titles were, in fact, hentai. A couple of examples:

• Zoku: Kuroneko Kan
  続　黒猫館 (1993)
  Continuation: Black Cat Mansion
• Zoku: Gosenzo San'e
  続・御先祖賛江 (2000)
  Continuation: To Your Ancetors*
• Zoku: Koihime
  続・恋姫 (2001)
  Continuation: "Princess of Passion."

*Note: because the Japanese language absolutely hates you, the phrase X yori Y-san e XよYさんへ, meaning "from X to Y-san," written with the san honorific and the e へ particle that's normally written with the hiragana he へ instead of e え because of reasons, sometimes needs to written with kanji, even though it doesn't have kanji, and so ateji is used, making it become written as X yori Y san'e X与利Y賛江. This happens, for example, in banners hanging on flowers given "from X to Y" in events to commemorate Y opening a new store or publishing a new book or something. Such banners are preferably written entirely with kanji, because of formality and aesthetics, I guess, and so they use the ateji instead of writing the particles with just kana. (see 『秋山祐徳太子の母』出版記念展オープニングパーティー to have an idea). (By the way I can't believe the title of a two decades old hentai just made me go around the internet trying to figure what that means)

Anyway, if true, I'd guess that's because around that time it was normal for normal anime to be aired on and on and on for years, so sequels weren't really necessary, and only something like adult anime which were not aired on TV would need to release "continuations." (there are more recent hentai anime with zoku in the title, the practice hasn't ceased for that genre, I just haven't bothered to list them.)

Homonyms

There are a few other things that are also zoku in Japanese.

See also: homonyms.

Sound Effect

The word zoku ゾク may also be a sound effect (mimetic word) for shivering or feeling excited.

Manga: Gabriel DropOut, ガヴリールドロップアウト (Chapter 3)

• zoku'
  ゾクッ
  *shiver*
• See also: shaking lines, kakeami カケアミ.

Manga: Mob Psycho 100, Mobu Saiko Hyaku モブサイコ１００ (Chapter 55, 知らない)

• See also: odoro おどろ.

Clan

The morpheme zoku 族 means "clan" and is found in a bunch of words, like:

• kazoku
  家族
  Family.
• kizoku
  貴族
  Nobility.
• shuzoku
  種族
  Race.
• minzoku
  民族
  The people of an ethnicity.

Character: Vignette, ヴィネット
Anime: Gabriel DropOut, ガヴリールドロップアウト (Episode 7, Stitch)

• Context: a sukeban スケバン.
• bousouzoku
  暴走族
  Biker gang.

Thief

The word zoku 賊 means "thief" and is found in words like:

• touzoku
  盗賊
  Robber.
• gizoku
  義賊
  Chivalrous thief. (e.g. Robin Hood who steals from the rich to give to the poor.)
• kaizoku
  海賊
  Pirate.
• sanzoku
  山賊
  Mountain bandits.