Sections
Jiken (事件): what it means in anime
事件
じけん · jiken · event; affair; incident JLPT N3
Jiken means "incident", "case" or "affair", the word for a crime under investigation. Detective anime live on it: 殺人事件 is "a murder case", 事件が起きた is "an incident has occurred".
Where you hear it 3 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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Erased · 13 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 2
事件以前から 何かが起きている―Something has been happening even before the incident...
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Psycho-Pass · 4 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 1
初陣で 嫌な事件に 当たっちまったな お嬢ちゃんOn your first mission, you encountered an unpleasant incident, young lady.
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Death Note · 13 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 3
今回の事件は難しいからな
Usage and nuance
Death Note, Psycho-Pass and Erased are built around 事件. Detective Conan has made 事件 a word every child in Japan knows, since one happens wherever Conan goes.
It covers more than crime: a scandal or a dramatic incident at school can also be a 事件, often jokingly.
Related: 事故 (jiko) is an accident, not a crime. 犯人 (hannin) is the culprit, 刑事 (keiji) the detective, 捜査 (sousa) the investigation.
Hear 事件 in Erased13 lines in episodes 1–3 · tappable subtitles · free, no account