Sections
Dame (ダメ): what it means in anime
ダメ
だめ · dame · no good; not serving its purpose; useless JLPT N4 · also written 駄目
Dame means "no good", "not allowed" or "useless". As an exclamation, ダメ！ is "don't!" or "stop!"; about a person, ダメ人間 is "a hopeless person".
Where you hear it 10 of 42 series
Lines from the Japanese subtitles of episodes 1–3 of each show. A translation is shown only when it clearly matches the line; counts are subtitle lines containing the word.
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Soul Eater · 8 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 3
クソ ダメだ 死のう…Damn it, I'm hopeless! I could die!
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The Promised Neverland · 10 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 1
“絶対に近寄ってはダメよ”
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Spy x Family · 9 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 1
おい ダメだと言ったろ
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Attack on Titan · 8 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 2
ああ… ダメだ 早く門を！
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Re:Zero · 8 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 1
だから 期待しちゃダメだからね
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Demon Slayer · 7 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 2
買わないとダメだな 新しいのを
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K-On! · 7 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 3
いッ 痛い話はダメなんだ
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Your Lie in April · 6 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 3
やめちゃ駄目 カッコよかったのに
Also in: Polar Bear Café, Cowboy Bebop.
Usage and nuance
It is written 駄目 in kanji and ダメ in katakana for emphasis; subtitles and manga use both. The katakana version is the shout, the kanji version is the calm judgement.
Patterns: 〜ちゃダメ ("you mustn't"), ダメだった ("it didn't work out"), もうダメだ ("it's over, we're done for"). The last one is the despairing line before a rescue.
Evangelion's 逃げちゃダメだ, "I mustn't run away", is the most quoted ダメ in anime. It combines ダメ with 逃げる (nigeru).
Hear ダメ in Soul Eater8 lines in episodes 1–3 · tappable subtitles · free, no account