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The Best English Anime Title Changes (with GIFs!)

Peter Payne by Peter Payne
6 years ago
in Your Friend in Japan

English Anime Title Changes

One day back in 1988, I was lucky enough to be one of the first people outside of Japan to see the film Tonari no Totoro. I was hanging out in the anime room of the San Diego Comic-Con — this was back before the current sprawling convention center was completed, when attendance was a mere 8000 — when representatives from Tokuma Shoten showed up, asking us to watch the just-released film and give our views on whether international fans would be interested in a story like this. I told them I thought we would embrace such a magical story, but wondered whether fans not familiar with Japanese would be able to remember a (then) unfamiliar Japanese title. It soon got an official English release as My Neighbor Totoro…and I got my picture in Animage magazine.

When anime licensors go to sell an anime or manga in international markets, one challenge they face is how to get as many fans as possible to learn the names of their property. If there’s a long or complex title that hinders the spread of popularity of that work, it’s not good for anyone. After all, Kyatto Ninden Teyandee (“Cat Ninja Legend Teyandee”) would never have achieved legendary status without its name change to Samurai Pizza Cats.

English Anime Title Changes Raphtalia

Many anime come with a decent official English title, like Food Wars, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, The Rising of the Shield Hero. These are easy for studios to market around the world as-is.

English Anime Title Changes Haganai

Some anime titles have hellishly long Japanese names, which would be impossible for the average consumer to memorize. Often licensors take the four-kana abbreviation (so important in the age of Google searches) as the English title for marketing, such as Oreimo or Haganai.

Anohana Anime Gif

Sometimes licensors take the short abbreviation and tack on a translation, like WataMote: No Matter How I Look At It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Unpopular! or AnoHana: The Flower We Saw That Day. This is often the best route to take to engage current fans while piquing the curiosity of new ones.

Chunibyo Demo Koi Ga Shitai! Anime

Another excellent English anime title change was converting Chunibyo demo Koi ga Shitai! to Love, Chunibyo and Other Delusions, a title that makes it easier for new fans to approach.

Ground Control To Psychoelectric Girl Anime

One thing I like is when licensors replace a complex Japanese title with an English name that’s totally original. One English anime title change I liked was renaming Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko (roughly, “Electromagnetic Wave Woman and Adolescent Man”) into Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl.

Quintessential Quintuplets Anime Gif

Another outstanding English title was Quintessential Quintuplets, from Gotoubun no Hanayome (“Five Servings of Flower Brides”). Whatever marketing guy thought that title up deserves a raise.

Yamada's First Time Anime Gif

Another great English anime title change was B Gata H Kei, meaningless to most potential viewers, into Yamada’s First Time, which captures the soul of the show with true elegance.

Cat Planet Cuties Anime

Another great original English anime title change was Asobi ni Iku Yo! becoming Cat Planet Cuties. This sums up the show perfectly.

Working Wagnaria Anime

Sometimes we’re not sure where certain anime title changes come from. The outstanding Working! anime, about young people working in a Japanee family restaurant, was changed to Wagnaria! in English. Perhaps this was done to make it easier to Google the title in the age of SEO, or perhaps from Japanese anxiety that “working” might be confused with prostitution (as in “a working girl”).

Title Changes in Visual Novels

Visual novels often face similar problems, and if a complex Japanese title is a barrier to getting a lot of fans on board with a new game, it can be a problem. For the fabulously gorgeous BL game 咎狗の血 Togainu no Chi, we’ve decided on  Togainu no Chi: Lost Blood for the official English title. Coming soon from JAST BLUE!

Got any more interesting English anime titles? Post them on Twitter!

New Doujin Music Cd Touhou Fate Grand Order

The “doujin” world of amateur fan-created works isn’t limited to naughty doujinshi. There are tons of other awesome products sold at the Comiket and other similar events, including doujin music CDs, which bring together amazing artists and singers remixing music from Touhou, Fate/Grand Order, and more. See our new stock here (we have sample music tracks too!)

Tags: Nendoroidonaholes

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