noun
romantic story; colorful story; highly embellished story
Refers to a story that is fanciful, romantic, or exaggerated, often with a sense of being too good to be true. The English gloss suggest a tale that is embellished or colorful rather than strictly factual.
彼の冒険談はいつも奇談めいていて、どこまで本当かわからない。
His adventure stories always sound like romantic tales; it's hard to tell how much is true.
この本には、江戸時代の奇談が集められている
This book collects colorful stories from the Edo period.
怪談 means 'ghost story' or 'horror story', focusing on the supernatural and eerie, while 奇談 is more about curious, romantic, or embellished tales without necessarily being scary.
美談 is a 'moving story' or 'touching tale' with a moral or heartwarming element, whereas 奇談 emphasizes the unusual or fanciful aspect.
Compound of 奇 (ki, 'strange, curious') and 談 (dan, 'story, talk'). The alternate spelling 綺談 uses 綺 (ki, 'beautiful, ornate'), suggesting a more embellished nuance.