Manga Sound Effects (SFX): What They Mean and How to Translate Them
Manga sound effects explained: 40 common Japanese SFX and what they mean, three ways to translate them, and which manga translators handle them.
Serifu · · 9 min read
Manga sound effects (SFX) are the Japanese words drawn into the art: the ゴゴゴ behind a villain, the ドキドキ of a pounding heart, the プルルル of a phone. Translating one means finding what it stands for, then choosing whether to replace it on the art, add a small translation beside it, or leave it as drawn. Most image translators only translate speech bubbles; to have sound effects translated on the page, you need one that also reads the text outside the bubbles and repairs the art behind it. In Serifu, that is the app for macOS and Windows.
This guide covers what manga sound effects are, 40 common ones with their meaning, the three ways translators handle them, and which manga translators translate them, from each tool's own pages, checked on 21 October 2026.
What manga sound effects are
Japanese has thousands of these words, and manga uses them far more than English comics use "BANG" and "POW". They fall into three groups:
- Sounds (giongo, 擬音語): what you would actually hear. バン (a bang), コンコン (knocking), ゴクッ (a gulp).
- States (gitaigo, 擬態語): things that make no sound at all, written as if they did. キラキラ (sparkling), ジーッ (staring), シーン (dead silence).
- Feelings (gijōgo, 擬情語): what a character feels. ドキドキ (a pounding heart), イライラ (irritation), ホッ (relief).
They are hard to translate for three reasons. Many have no English sound at all: there is no word for the sound of silence or of staring. They are drawn, not typed, often huge, hand-lettered and woven into the art, so removing one means redrawing what was under it. And the same word can mean different things: ゴロゴロ is thunder, a ball rolling, or a cat lazing on the floor, and only the picture says which.
40 common manga sound effects and their meaning
The English column is one way an English edition might letter it; for states and feelings, a short word is often used instead of a sound.
Sounds
| Japanese | Reading | What it is | In English |
|---|---|---|---|
| ゴゴゴ | gogogo | a deep rumble; menace before something big | RUMBLE |
| ドドド | dododo | pounding, rushing; an overwhelming presence | THOOM |
| ドン | don | a heavy impact; also a dramatic reveal | BOOM |
| バン | ban | a gun, a door, a hand slammed on a table | BANG |
| バタン | batan | a door slamming shut; someone falling flat | SLAM |
| ドサッ | dosa | something heavy dropped: a bag, a body | THUD |
| ガシャーン | gashān | glass or dishes smashing | CRASH |
| ガチャ | gacha | a door handle or a lock turning | CLICK |
| ピンポーン | pinpōn | a doorbell | DING-DONG |
| プルルル | pururu | a phone ringing | RING RING |
| コンコン | konkon | knocking on a door | KNOCK KNOCK |
| ザーッ | zā | heavy rain; static | SHHHH |
| ポタッ | pota | a single drop falling | DRIP |
| ゴクッ | goku | a gulp | GULP |
| ゴホゴホ | gohogoho | coughing | COUGH COUGH |
| グー | gū | a stomach growling | GRUMBLE |
| モグモグ | mogumogu | chewing with a full mouth | MUNCH MUNCH |
| ゴシゴシ | goshigoshi | scrubbing hard | SCRUB SCRUB |
| カツカツ | katsukatsu | heels on a hard floor | CLACK CLACK |
| シュッ | shu | a quick swish through the air | WHOOSH |
| ハァハァ | hā hā | panting | HUFF HUFF |
| モゴモゴ | mogomogo | mumbling, words not quite coming out | MUMBLE MUMBLE |
States
| Japanese | Reading | What it is | In English |
|---|---|---|---|
| シーン | shīn | dead silence | (silence) |
| ジーッ | jī | staring hard | STARE |
| キラキラ | kirakira | sparkling, glittering | SPARKLE |
| ピカッ | pika | a flash of light | FLASH |
| ニコッ | niko | a quick smile | SMILE |
| ニヤニヤ | niyaniya | grinning, smirking | SMIRK |
| ビクッ | biku | a startled flinch | FLINCH |
| ヨロヨロ | yoroyoro | staggering | STAGGER |
| ギュッ | gyu | a tight squeeze or hug | SQUEEZE |
| ゴロゴロ | gorogoro | rolling; lazing around; thunder | ROLL, RUMBLE |
Feelings
| Japanese | Reading | What it is | In English |
|---|---|---|---|
| ドキドキ | dokidoki | a pounding heart: nerves, excitement, a crush | BA-DUMP BA-DUMP |
| ドキッ | doki | the heart jumping once | BA-DUMP |
| ワクワク | wakuwaku | eager excitement | GIDDY |
| イライラ | iraira | irritation building up | FUME |
| ムカッ | muka | a flash of anger | TCH |
| ガーン | gān | the shock of bad news | SHOCK |
| ズーン | zūn | gloom settling in | GLOOM |
| ホッ | ho | relief | PHEW |
Written in katakana, a sound effect usually reads louder or harder; in hiragana, softer or more personal. The same word can appear in both.
Three ways to translate manga sound effects
| Way | What the reader sees | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Replace | The Japanese removed from the art, the English drawn in its place | Short sounds on a plain background; a page that should read like an English comic |
| Subtitle | The Japanese kept, a small translation beside it | Large sound effects that are part of the drawing |
| Leave | The Japanese kept, untranslated | Sounds the picture already explains; readers who want the original |
Official English editions use all three, sometimes on the same page: a small sound replaced, a huge ゴゴゴ across a panel kept with a subtitle beside it.
Which manga translators translate sound effects
From each tool's own pages, checked on 21 October 2026. Where a page does not say something, neither do we.
| Tool | Translates sound effects | How they are shown | Can you turn it off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serifu app | Yes | On a plain background: the Japanese removed, the translation lettered. On screentone or art: kept as drawn until you retouch them | Yes |
| serifu.net | No: the text in speech bubbles | ||
| PicTranslate | Yes | Replaced on the art; an overlay or a note beside it as options | Not stated |
| Musely | Yes | Four modes: all, the main ones only, beside the original, or kept | Yes |
| Manga Translator Z | Yes, a setting | Drawn over the image in bold outline; replaced in its image swap mode | Yes |
| Yomi | Yes | Cleaned and lettered, every line editable | Not stated |
| AI Manga Translator | Yes, on the art | Erased and replaced | Not stated |
| Google Lens | Only text it can read | Over the image | |
| Koharu | Not mentioned |
- PicTranslate describes "smart detection of background sound effects" on its manga translator page, and says it replaces them while keeping the texture behind. You upload pages; two free translations at sign-up.
- Musely lists four sound effect modes: translate all of them, translate only the main ones, add a translation beside the original lettering, or keep them untranslated.
- Manga Translator Z is a browser extension with a Translate SFX setting in its popup. Its own documentation notes that sound effects drawn deep into the art may not be found, and that its image swap mode handles them better than its overlay.
- Yomi is a workspace that finds dialogue, captions and sound effects, then lets you translate, clean, letter and export them step by step.
- AI Manga Translator (ai-manga-translator.com) does not describe a setting for sound effects. In our test on the same pages, it erased the sound effects drawn on the art and wrote English in their place, but the words did not match the sounds: ゴシゴシ (scrubbing) became "TRASH", and モゴモゴ (mumbling) became "CHATTER", with a ゴ left behind under it.
- Google Lens lays its translation over the photo. Google's own help page warns that "small, unclear, or stylized text may result in lower accuracy", which describes most hand-drawn sound effects.
- Koharu, the open-source desktop translator, does not mention sound effects in its documentation. More in Koharu manga translator without a GPU.
How Serifu translates manga sound effects
On serifu.net, the text in speech bubbles is translated. Sound effects and other text on the art are translated in the Serifu app, for macOS and Windows, along with the dialogue, with nothing to switch on:
- On a plain background, such as a white balloon, the Japanese is removed and the translation is lettered in its place, like a line of dialogue.
- Drawn over screentone or art, a sound effect stays as drawn. Retouch this page removes it and redraws the art behind it, then letters the translation where it was: 2 credits a block, only the blocks you choose.
Here is a page as it comes out of the app, with nothing changed by hand. The answering machine's lines are in speech bubbles; both phone rings are sound effects on a plain background.
Every sound effect is a line like any other: you can change its wording, font, size and colour in the editor. To leave every sound effect as drawn, turn on Leave sound effects untouched in the app's Settings › Translation.
FAQ
Are sound effects and onomatopoeia the same thing?
Mostly. Onomatopoeia are words that imitate a sound; manga sound effects also include words for states and feelings that make no sound, such as キラキラ (sparkling) or シーン (silence). On the page they look the same: drawn into the art, usually in katakana.
How do I find the meaning of a sound effect that is not in this list?
Look up its reading in a dedicated sound effects dictionary such as The JADED Network's SFX list, which has thousands of entries with examples. A long vowel (ー) or a small ッ at the end changes the feel, not the meaning: ドン and ドーン are the same impact, the second one longer.
Should every sound effect be translated?
No. A sound effect the picture already explains, such as a punch landing, reads fine in Japanese, and some readers prefer the original art. A translation helps most where the meaning is not visible: a state, a feeling, or a sound from outside the panel.