It’s a well-known truth in our precious otaku community that certain light novel titles are laughably long. It’s mostly isekai titles, where the titles are just plot summaries. How many titles have we read that begin with “A Story About…” or “That Time I…”?! Kakeru Takamine, the author of the light novel How to Melt the Ice Queen’s Heart, explained in an interview with Anime Corner that Japanese fans want to know what the novel is about based solely on the title alone. He’s not a fan of the practice, so his title is short. It’s not A Story About How I Melted the Ice Queen’s Heart and Landed the Best Girlfriend in the World.
User-generated fiction websites have never set a character limit, thus further promoting the practice of making titles incredibly long. We’re here to pick out some of the longest light novel titles that have been adapted into anime and manga.
1. I Got a Cheat Ability in a Different World, and Became Extraordinary Even in the Real World. (Isekai de Chīto Sukiru o Te ni Shita Ore wa, Genjitsu Sekai o mo Musō Suru: Reberu Appu wa Jinsei o Kaeta)
We discussed this series before, it’s getting an anime adaptation.
This is an example of a light novel title that just summarizes the plot, and brags about how cool the main character is. It’s a series where a guy is bullied by everyone, family and enemy alike. He even gets fired from his job because he kept showing up to work with the bruises that prove assault. His grandfather leaves him a manor with a gateway to another world where he can level up like a video game. After leveling up, he turns into a handsome man with superhuman skills.
I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too began as a novel series by Miku and was published on the Kakuyomu website in March 2017.
2. I’m Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness: I’ll Spoil Her with Delicacies and Style to Make Her the Happiest Woman in the World! (Konyaku Haki sareta Reijou wo Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto wo Oshiekomu: Oishii Mono wo Tabesasete Oshare wo Sasete, Sekaiichi Shiawase na Shoujo ni Produce!)
We discussed this series before, it’s also getting an anime adaptation.
This light novel title essentially has the main character talk to the potential reader. The powerful sorcerer Allen Crawford finds Charlotte Evans collapsed in the woods near his manor. After hearing her story of betrayal and arrest, and the sheer abuse she suffered from her family, he takes her in and hires her as his maid. He plans to teach her how to be naughty, which amounts to teaching her how to indulge in hobbies and treats, to make her the happiest person in the world.
Disgraced Noble Lady’s Crash Course in Naughtiness was first posted to the user-generated website Shosetsuka ni Naro on August 12th, 2019.
3. Story in Which I Was Kidnapped by a Young All-Girl School to Become a “Sample of the Common People” (Ore ga Ojousama Gakkou ni “Shomin Sample” Toshite Gets♥Sareta Ken)
A light novel title that is a cry for help from the victim of a crime. Kimito Kagurazaka is abducted and sent to a prestigious, upper-class private school for rich girls. The plan is for these girls to get used to the presence of a commoner, and a man. The school was led to believe that Kimito prefers muscular men, and he must keep up the ruse, or he will lose his southern friend.
Kimito’s enviable situation first began in the light novel series by Takafumi Nanatsuki.
4. The Misfit Of Demon King Academy: History’s Strongest Demon King Reincarnates & Goes To School With His Descendants (Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha: Shijou Saikyou no Maou no Shiso, Tensei shite Shison-tachi no Gakkou e Kayou)
A light novel title that’ll make people giggle with how needlessly long it is. A war between humans and demons ravaged the world. In an act of sacrifice, the Demon King Anos Voldigoad gave up his life to end the war, with the lingering wish that he be reborn into a peaceful world. When he is reborn, he finds that a Demon King Academy has been founded in preparation for his return. Unfortunately, his life has been fabricated, and no one will listen to his story, making him a misfit.
Anos began his mission to assert the proper history in a light novel series written by Shu and illustrated by Yoshinori Shizuma.
5. WorldEnd: What Do You Do at the End of the World? Are You Busy? Will You Save Us? (Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii desu ka?)
A light novel title that is a cry for help. Willem Kmetsch, the last surviving Emnetwiht, a race who fought the “Beasts” in the past, awakens in a world that had left him behind. He idles about, carrying out mundane tasks, until he meets Ctholly Nota Seniorious and her friends. Seeing that they’re being used as weapons against the “Beasts,” he decides to take care of them.
Beasts began plaguing this found family in the light novel series written by Akira Kareno and illustrated by Ue.
6. Life as a Reincarnated Sage in Another World, Gaining a Second Profession and Becoming the Strongest in the World (Tensei Kenja no Isekai Life: Dai-2 no Shokugyou wo Ete, Sekai Saikyou ni Narimashita)
Another light novel title that overly describes the plot. Yuji Sano works entirely too much, which makes his summons to another world a true blessing. He arrives in a fantasy world with game-like abilities. Unfortunately, his first skill is monster taming, and while it looks cool, it’s declared the weakest skill. Yuji puts it to proper use, and makes his way to becoming the strongest around.
Yuji first traded his bad life for a good isekai life in the light novel series written by Shinkoshoto and illustrated by Huuka Kazabana.
7. The Former Top 1’s Sub-Character Training Diary: A Dedicated Player is Currently Conquering Another World! (Moto Sekai 1-i no Sub-Chara Ikusei Nikki: Hai Player, Isekai wo Kouryakuchuu!)
This light novel title feels like a current events update. Satou Shichirou, a hardcore gamer, has spent every waking moment leveling up his character Seven in the online game Mobius Online. One day his life was shattered when a hacker deleted his, and the top 3,000 ranked characters, in the game. The studio couldn’t restore them, so the protagonist decided to truly “game end.” The next thing he knew, he ended up in Mobion, the world of Mobius Online, in the body of his backup character, Second. It had no EXP, but it had rare items equipped. With his dream truly fulfilled, he would live out his second life.
Satou Shichirou as Second began a new life in the light novel illustrated by Risou Maeda and written by Harutarou Sawamura.
8. A Story About a Dragon and the Rising of an Adventurer ~ A Healer Who Was Seen as Useless and Was Kicked Out From an S-Rank Party, Goes off to Revive the Strongest Dragon in an Abandoned Area ~ (Ryuu to Ayumu Nariagari Boukensha-dou: Youzumi toshite S-Rank Party kara Tsuihou sareta Kaifuku Majutsushi, Suterareta Saki de Saikyou no Shinryuu wo Fukkatsu sasete Shimau)
Another overly descriptive light novel title. Dion, a healer mage, was assaulted and abandoned by his party, who used the party leader’s absence, and a new healer, to be rid of him. Thus, Dion was left to die in some terrible place. Seeing that it was over for him, Dion saw a dying dragon and healed it. The dragon used her blood to revive and strengthen Dion just before he died. Eldora the dragon girl decided to join Dion as he makes his return.
Dion found his dragon waifu in the light novel written by Kishimoto Kazuha and illustrated by Karikari Ume.
9. Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon: My Party Tried to Kill Me, But Thanks to an Infinite Gacha I Got LVL 9999 Friends and Am Out for Revenge (Shinjiteita Nakama-tachi ni Dungeon Okuchi de Korosarekaketa ga Gift “Mugen Gacha” de Level 9999 no Nakama-tachi wo Te ni Irete Moto Party Member to Sekai ni Fukushuu & “Zamaa!” Shimasu!)
I can’t think of a better light novel title than that. It has everything a reader could want. Light, the only human of a party consisting of various races, is betrayed and left for dead. He uses his only magic skill, Gacha, one last time in an attempt to summon something that’s not just the typical junk. He manages to summon a max-level maid who is absolutely devoted to him. He eventually summons an entire harem of superpowered maidens to take revenge on those who wronged him.
Light began his life of love, lust, and revenge in the light novel written by Shisui Meikyou and illustrated by Takafumi Oomae.
10. When a Gun Nerd is Reincarnated to a World of Magic, He Established a Harem-Army with Modern Weapons!? (Gun-Ota ga Mahou Sekai ni Tensei shitara, Gendai Heiki de Guntai Harem wo Tsukucchaimashita!?)
Another descriptive light novel title that is definitely tailor-made to get attention. Hotta Youta lived a pretty uneventful life after a horrible ending to his high school tenure. It all came to an abrupt end after a drug addict attacked him as he left his job at a metalworking factory. The next thing he knew, a bunny girl was carrying him in a world unlike his own.
Hotta’s life began to take a turn for the better in the light novel series written by Shisui Meikyou and illustrated by Takashi Yameta.
Bonus: My Life Is Just As Wrong As I Expected After Traveling to Another World Where I’m Surrounded By Cute Girls At A Magical High School And Am Also The Fabled Hero of Legend, But Before I Tell You That Story I Have To Tell You This Story, In Which I Was Walking Along With My Unbelievably, Impossibly Cute Younger Sister Who Doesn’t Like Me At All, And She Said To Me It Was My Fault She Wasn’t Popular No Matter How She Looked At It As We Walked To School Together, And We Stopped To Look At A Garden, Which Had A Flower Whose Name I Don’t Remember, When Suddenly A Portal Opened Up To Another World And When I Landed In A Field And My Face Was Buried In The Largest Pair of Boobs I’d Ever Seen, And My Sister Hit Me And Called Me An Idiot While Blushing, But Then The Girl I Landed On Saw The Birthmark On My Hand And Gasped And She Grabbed My Hand And I Blushed But She Started Dragging Me Away And My Sister Got Mad And Chased After Us And I Asked Where We Were Going, And She Said She Was Taking Us To Grimheart Magic School, Where She Was The School President, And Then I Gasped Because I Was Now In A Magical World, And When We Got To The School Which Was A Giant Castle I Asked The Girl What Her Name Was And She Said It Was Akane Yuusha, Which I Thought Was A Tad Strange Since She Had Blonde Hair And Blue Eyes And The Entire Aesthetic Of The School Seemed Very Ancient European, But I Forgot About All Of That When She Told Me We Needed To See The Headmaster Because She Had Been Taught That The Mark On My Hand Was The Symbol Of The Reincarnation Of The Legendary Dragon Hero Of Legendary Literature, And I Said That Was A Cool Thing To Be Taught Because At Our School The Only Book We Learned Was Atlas Shrugged, And She Asked What That Was And I Told Her I Was The Book Our Society Based Its Philosophy On A Speech From, And She Asked Me To Recite The Speech, Which I Did, And The Speech Went “For Twelve Years You Have Been Asking…
I’m just kidding, and so was Anime Maru when they pulled this stunt back in 2016, though it nearly had me when Outer Haven covered it in their 2021 article. For those curious, that incredibly long, and fake, title consists of 387 words, in 1,942 characters.
More adult books have long titles too, you know. Iyanakao Sarenagara Opantsu Misete Moraitai Hon 5 is a long title, and it has girls showing off their panties, albeit with disgusted faces.
Do you think incredibly long titles are an issue, or are they just fine? Did we miss any of your favorite titles? Could you think of any better light novel titles that could be a paragraph on their own? Let us know in the comments below.
