Chinese internet slangbullet comments · danmaku

弹幕 dàn mù

Comments that fly across the video.

The short answer

EverydayNow commonChecked November 2026

Danmu are comments that fly across a video while it plays. Each comment shows at the moment in the video where a viewer wrote it. Bilibili made the format popular in China.

Literal: bullet + curtain, a barrage of gunfireRegister: Everyday word for a common feature of video sites.

In a chat

  1. 灯灯 Dengdeng

    你看视频的时候开弹幕吗？

    Nǐ kàn shìpín de shíhou kāi dànmù ma?

    Do you turn on bullet comments when you watch videos?

  2. 亮亮 Liangliang

    开啊，弹幕比视频还好笑。

    Kāi a, dànmù bǐ shìpín hái hǎoxiào.

    Sure. The comments are funnier than the video.

  3. 灯灯 Dengdeng

    可是弹幕会挡字幕啊。

    Kěshì dànmù huì dǎng zìmù a.

    But they cover the subtitles.

  4. 亮亮 Liangliang

    那你可以把弹幕调小一点。

    Nà nǐ kěyǐ bǎ dànmù tiáo xiǎo yīdiǎn.

    Then make the comments smaller.

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How to reply

  • 第一遍关弹幕，第二遍再开。

    Dì yī biàn guān dànmù, dì èr biàn zài kāi.

    First time with the comments off, second time with them on.

  • 弹幕说得太对了。

    Dànmù shuō de tài duì le.

    The comments are so right.

When not to use it

  • 弹幕 is the name of the comments, not a verb. To post one, say 发弹幕.
  • Do not post spoilers as 弹幕. Everyone who watches later sees them on the screen.

What it means

Under most videos, comments sit below the player. 弹幕 sit on top of the video and scroll across it. Each one is tied to a time in the video, so later viewers see a comment at the same moment as the person who wrote it.

When many viewers comment on the same scene, the text can cover the whole screen.

How people use it

发弹幕 is to post one, 开弹幕 and 关弹幕 are to turn them on and off, and 刷弹幕 is to post many. Viewers often post the same line at the same moment, for example when a favorite character appears.

Many Chinese video apps, including Bilibili, Tencent Video and iQIYI, have the feature.

Where it comes from

弹幕 first meant a barrage of gunfire. As a comment format, it started on the Japanese video site Niconico, which launched in December 2006 and showed comments on top of the video.

Chinese sites took the format soon after. Bilibili, founded in 2009, became known for its scrolling comments, and the word 弹幕 spread with it.

In use

2 examples
01

这(Zhè)个(ge)视(shì)频(pín)的(de)弹(dàn)幕(mù)特(tè)别(bié)有(yǒu)意(yì)思(si)。

The bullet comments on this video are really funny.

02

我(Wǒ)一(yī)边(biān)看(kàn)剧(jù)，一(yī)边(biān)发(fā)弹(dàn)幕(mù)。

I post bullet comments while I watch the show.

The characters

Explore individually
弹
dàn

bullet, pellet

幕
mù

curtain; screen

Individual character meanings do not always explain the meaning of the whole word.

Sources

This guide is original Dengdeng editorial content, offered under CC BY-SA 4.0. The linked dictionary entries adapt CC-CEDICT under the same license.

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