Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context PunnyName / AnimeAndManga

Go To

1%%
2%%
3%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!
4%%
5%%
6{{Punny Name}}s in anime and manga.
7
8----
9* Every single main character in ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'', sometimes overlapping with IronicName - for example, Naddy's real name is Nadeshiko Yamato, or YamatoNadeshiko in the Japanese naming order, while Mimimi's name sounds like "me, me, me" and Momiji's name sounds like "momi-momi", the onomatopoeia for groping something, in the Japanese naming order.
10* ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'': An in-universe example, as the bizarre octopus-like teacher never gives a name when he's introduced to his class. The students quickly come up with "Koro-sensei", a pun on "korosenai" meaning "unkillable". He adopts that name for the rest of the series.
11* Yomi from ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh''. Her full name is Koyomi Mizuhara, which roughly means "read between the lines".
12* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Ichigo's name (一護) is written with the kanji for "one" and "protect", so it's meant to be interpreted as "one who protects", but it also sounds the same as the Japanese for "one five" (ichi = 1, go = 5). When the story starts, he is 15 years old and has a sign with the number 15 on his bedroom door. If [[AlternateCharacterReading written with different kanji]] (苺), it means "strawberry", a semi-common [[GenderBlenderName girls' name]], and can also be used to tease him about his unusual hair color, which does get singled out in-universe.
13* Several characters from the ''Manga/CaseClosed'' and ''Manga/MagicKaito'' SharedUniverse. Others may have [[MeaningfulName meaningful names]] instead.
14** Shin'ichi Kudou (工藤新一 ''Kudō Shin'ichi''), whose name contains '''''shin''''' ("new"), ''ichi'' ("'''one'''"), and his catchphrase 真実はいつもひとつ '''''shin'''jitsu wa itsumo hitotsu'' ("only '''one truth''' prevails").
15** [[LoveInterests The love interest]] Ran Mouri (毛利蘭 '''''Mōri Ran'''''), named for [[Literature/ArseneLupin Maurice Leblanc]] (モーリス・ルブラン '' '''Mōri'''su Rubu'''ran''''').
16** The BunglingInventor Hiroshi Agasa ('''阿笠博士 ''Agasa''' Hiroshi''), humorously titled '''阿笠博士''' '' '''Agasa''' Hakase'' ("Dr. Agasa"), named for Creator/AgathaChristie (アガサ・クリスティ '''''Agasa''' Kurisuti'').
17** The inspector '''Juu'''zou '''Megure''' (目暮十三 ''Megure Jūzō''), named for [[Literature/{{Maigret}} Jules Maigret]] (ジュール・メグレ '' '''Jū'''ru '''Megure''''').
18** Sango Yokomizo (横溝参'''悟''' ''Yokomizo '''Sango''' '') whose given name sounds like '' '''san''' '' ("'''three'''") and 五 '' '''go''' '' ("'''five'''"), and his [[PolarOppositeTwins twin brother]] Juugo Yokomizo (横溝重'''悟''' ''Yokomizo '''Jūgo''' '') whose given name sounds like 十五 '' '''jūgo''' '' ("'''fifteen'''").
19** The [[TheMafia crime boss]] code-named '''Gin''' and his silvery (銀 '' '''gin''''' ("silver")) hair.
20** Shuuichi Akai's [[LatexPerfection disguise]], Subaru Okiya (沖矢昴 ''O'''kiya Subaru''' ''), named for Casval (キャスバル '' '''Kyasubaru''' '') from ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' (Casval is the real name of Char Aznable, whom Shuuichi's name references).
21** Takaaki Morofushi (諸伏'''高明''' ''Morofushi Takaaki''), nicknamed Koumei ('''高明''' '' '''Kōmei''' '') after the legendary Chinese military strategist [[Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms Kongming]] (孔明 '' '''Kōmei''' ''). The "long o" sounds in 高 and 孔 are historically very different sounds that merged in Japanese only, so this pun would not work for a Chinese translation.
22** TheRival Kaito Kuroba (黒羽快斗 ''Kuroba '''Kaito'''''), also known as Kid the PhantomThief (怪盗キッド '' '''Kaitō''' Kiddo''). ''Kuroba'' means "'''black''' wings", even though Kid wears white. Another rival of Kuroba is the young [[PrivateDetective detective]] Saguru Hakuba (白馬探 ''Hakuba Saguru'') whose name contains ''hakuba'' ("'''white''' horse"), which alludes to a [[BlackAndWhiteMorality black vs white metaphor]]. Other characters from ''Magic Kaito'' also have words for colors in their names. Notable examples include Kaito's two love interests (one of whom has an unrequited love for him), Aoko (literally "'''blue''' girl") the innocent girl and Akako (literally "'''red''' girl") the mischievous witch, a pair of almost RedOniBlueOni.
23*** Kuroba is also a homophone of ''clover'' (クローバー ''kurōbā'') and Kid wears a FourLeafClover tag hanging from his monocle. His recurring disguise is the foreign dignitary Count Clover.
24* Creator/NaokoTakeuchi, ''Manga/SailorMoon'''s creator, just seems to like this in general, since in her early manga ''Manga/TheCherryProject'' all of the characters have punny names, most noticeably the protagonist, whose name is Asuka Chieri.
25* There are a lot of these in ''Manga/DeathNote'', as the author, Tsugumi Ohba, loves puns.
26** The title and titular object are a pun on shinigami, which literally breaks down to "death god". The god part, "kami", is a homophone of the Japanese word for "paper".
27** Light Yagami's name is a dual-language pun. "Raito" as a name is more likely in Japanese than "Light" is in English, but it means the same in both languages and essentially pinpoints how the character sees himself. "Yagami" breaks into "night god", an analogous phrase for a death god.
28** There's Raye Penber, whose name is not, as far as we're aware, as pun in itself, but is in context (Light and Raye).
29** The deceased shinigami Gelus, whose name is pronounced exactly like the word "jealous".
30** L's surname, Lawliet, can be construed as the phrase "law light". He polices the world from the threat of Kira, who, unknown to him, is Light.
31* In the first episode of ''[[Anime/DirtyPair Dirty Pair Flash]]'', it's stated that Yuri's home planet is called "Shack-G". It's named after the town of Shakujii, the real-life location of Studio Nue.
32* ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'':
33** The titular character's name is derived from the term "noraneko", which means stray cat. The "dora" part, however, is an obvious pun on his TrademarkFavoriteFood, dorayaki.
34** [[ChildProdigy Dekisugi]]'s name is a pun on the verb "dekisugiru", which means "overachieving".
35* TheProtagonist of ''Doubutsu no o-Isha-san'' (動物のお医者さん) is named Masaki (公輝), but his grandmother keeps calling him Kimiteru ([[AlternateCharacterReading saying his name using different readings for the kanji]]) and other people keep calling him Hamuteru (deconstructing the shape of the kanji 公 used in his name as ハム ''hamu'').
36* Osana Najimi in ''Manga/DoujinWork'', which sounds like ''osananajimi'', or {{childhood friend|Romance}}.
37* In ''Franchise/DragonBall'', a ''ton'' of the characters' names have puns or odd naming schemes.
38** Son Goku got his Earth name from [[MonkeyKingLite Sun Wukong]], the monkey king in the Chinese classic ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest''. His first son's name is taken from his adoptive grandfather's name, which is a pun on Goku (Wukong) and the word ''go-han'' "cooked rice; meal".
39** In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', there were three villains named [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} Bibidi, Babidi, and Buu]]. Bibidi is only briefly mentioned as part of the backstory, making the pun slightly less obvious. Slightly.
40** All the Saiyan names are based on some kind of vegetable (Kakarot/Carrot, Vegeta/Vegetable, Nappa/Nappa Valley Lettuce, Broly/Broccoli, etc.)
41** And the Ginyu Force's names are all based on dairy products. The literal translation of their name in the Japanese version is "Special Corps. Milk." They only work in Japanese though. Their English names equate to Japanese words or slightly modified English anagrams for Cheese (Jeice,) Milk (Ginyu,) Butter (Burter,) Cream (Recoome,) and Yogurt (Guldo)
42** Most characters are named after food, food-related items, and other various mundane items. For example: Oolong (oolong tea), Yamcha (a kind of dim sum), Chaozu (a kind of dumpling or potsticker) and so on. Also, there's the Brief family who are all named after underwear: Trunks (another name for boxers), Bulma (Japanese version of 'bloomer'), however, neither Bulma's mother and father ever get first names and are only known as Mr. and Mrs. Brief, all of Frieza's family (Frieza=freezer, Coola=cooler, etc.) and, of course, Dr. Gero (gear), who's a mad scientist who builds robots and also happens to become one by the time the Z era of the animes happen.
43** Piccolo Jr. being the son of King Piccolo is a holdover name from his old gang. King Piccolo's minions Piano, Tambourine, Cymbal, and Drum, and Piccolo himself, are all named for instruments.
44** Namek born Namekians have names taken from mollusks. Nail/Snail. Cargo/Escargo. Dende/den den-mushi and Moori/Katatsumuri (both Japanese for snail) and Lord Slug from the films.
45** Androids 17 and 18's real names (Revealed ''much'' later in supplementary material), Lapis and Lazuli, are a reference to the lapis lazuli stone.
46** Mr. Satan's name is obvious. His daughter Videl is an anagram of 'devil.' Again in later supplementary material Hercule Satan is meant to be a stage name. His real name is Mark, which is an rough anagram of the Japanese 'akuma', also meaning devil. It also gives him the distinction of one of the few characters to have a [[TheTeamNormal real name.]]
47** Gohan's and Videl's daughter, Pan, manages a three-for-one pun. First, "pan" is the Japanese word for bread (imported from Portuguese), continuing the food theme from her father. Pan is also the name of a Greek deity who was ''demonized'' into the stereotypical appearance of Satan, continuing the devil theme from her mother. And finally, the mythological Pan is heavily associated with a woodwind instrument, the "Pan flute", which is a nod to Piccolo (who's her HonoraryUncle) and his musical instrument theme.
48** The Gods of Destruction and their attendants are mostly named after alcoholic drinks starting with Beerus and Whis (beer and whiskey). We also have Champa and Vados (champagne and calvados) as well as Belmod and Marcarita (vermouth and margarita).
49* ''Manga/FairyTail'':
50** Natsu '''Dragneel''', the Dragon Slayer. {{Justified|Trope}} since Natsu was reared by a dragon anyway, so his name probably would be along those lines.
51** Erza '''Scarlet''', the girl with bright red hair. Erza [[spoiler:didn't originally have a last name. [[ShipTease Jellal picked Scarlet for her]] because he figured it would be easy to remember that her last name was her hair color]].
52** Nichiya, the Edolas version of Ichiya (whose name means "One Night") means "Two Night".
53** Hilariously, anime-only character Dan Straight.
54* In ''Manga/{{Fullmapla}}'', Makoto Sain communicates strictly by [[TalkingWithSigns holding up numbered signs]].
55* ''Literature/{{Gate}}'' gives us the princess of TheEmpire, Princess '''Pina Co Lada''' (an obvious play on Pina Colada).
56* Yuki Uchiki from ''Manga/GourmetGirlGraffiti'' is the local ShrinkingViolet. In Japanese, her surname is homophonous to the word for "shy".
57* Franchise/{{Gundam}}:
58** ''Anime/GundamBuildFighters'' gives us Meijin Kawaguchi III. Not exactly punny at first mention, but then his Gunpla have "Amazing" on their names. Now, note that "Amazing" when said with a Japanese accent sounds very similar to "Meijin". Lampshaded for laughs in one of the "tweets" regarding him before his match with the Renato bros.:
59--->'''Random "tweet":''' Is the Kämpfer Amazing because he's a [[{{Pun}} Meijin?]]
60** ''Anime/GundamBuildFightersTry'': The "Try" in Gundam Build Fighters Try sounds identical the prefix "Tri", referencing the new [[PowerTrio three-man team battles]] that become the focus of this season.
61* In ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'' (literally "First Step"), the titular character is named after the word for "one step", which also functions as a LiteralMetaphor. In the first chapter, titled and spelled in English "The First Step", Ippo takes his first step toward becoming a professional boxer. His dog is named Wanpo, after him, by replacing ''ip-'' ("one") in ''ippo'' with ''wan'' which is both what the Japanese think the English word "one" sounds like and how they think dogs bark.
62* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'': Hayate is "Rushing Winds", his parents named him such to help him run from debt collectors. Nagi, the other main character, means 'calm' in contrast to Hayate. The series name also becomes the name of Hayate's special attack, which is a burst of wind (which he is careful not to employ around those wearing skirts).
63* ''Manga/IganoKabamaru'': Protagonist Igano Kabamaru himself. His actual surname, "'''Kage'''maru", means "absolute shadow", which is a reference to the fact that he is a {{Ninja}}. However, his InSeriesNickname "'''Kaba'''maru" means "hippo's mouth", because he eats a lot and also has two prominent front teeth like a hippo.
64* ''Highschool! Kimengumi'':
65** Undou Kai, an athlete; ''undoukai'' means "sports" or "sports day".
66** Kireide Shou, a pretty boy; ''kirei deshou'' means "aren't I good-looking?".
67** Kawa Yui, a cute girl; ''kawayui'' means "cute".
68* ''Manga/HitoribocchiNoOOSeikatsu'': Everyone (except Hanako) has a Punny MeaningfulName based on a phrase or term that describes them.
69* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': Almost every character in the series has a punny name, often relating to either music or (mostly in Part 3) major arcana Tarot cards. For example [[Music/REOSpeedwagon Robert Edward O. Speedwagon]]. We have also Vanilla Ice. His Stand is called Cream. Think about it. Cream was a band headed by Music/EricClapton in the '60s, making it ThemeNaming as well.
70* Several characters in the 60s dub of ''Manga/KimbaTheWhiteLion''.
71** Pauly Cracker (a parrot).
72** Bucky (a gazelle).
73** Ali (an alligator).
74* ''Manga/KomiCantCommunicate'': Nearly every character has a name that reflects their personality. There are over a hundred characters, so below is just a sample:
75** Tadano Hitohito, the main character, is the most average guy in the school; his name means "just a guy" or "just a person".
76** Komi Shoko, the title character, suffers from a "communication disorder", or komyushou; "Komi Shoko" sounds similar to "Komyushou".
77** Osana Najimi is an old childhood friend to everyone in the school; their name means "childhood friend".
78** Nakanaka Omoharu is a chuunibyou. Her family name can be read like "chu", and her given name means "puberty".
79** Ashitano Jou is named for the Japanese title of ''Manga/TomorrowsJoe''. Her introductory scene has her copy the ending scene of the manga after burning out asking for Komi's contact information.
80* ''Manga/LuckyStar'': Konata Izumi's name can also mean "this person" or "here". In the same vein, her mother Kanata's name means "that person" or "there". The latter meaning of Kanata's name is heavily used in merchandise related to her, as [[PosthumousCharacter she's literally "on the other side"]].
81* ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'' has a young boy named Shouta that is lusted after by an older woman, making her a "[[LoliconAndShotacon shoutacon]]".
82* ''Manga/MobileSuitGundamSEEDAstray'': The protagonist Lowe Gere is a mechanic/mecha pilot.
83* ''Manga/MonsterMusume'': One character is a nine-tailed kitsune named Ils Nineta, or "nine tails".
84* In ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musashi_no_Ken Musashi no Ken]]'', Musashi's name would only be a MeaningfulName (he was named after the legendary swordsman UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi) if it weren't justified by its spelling and its supposed "real origin": ''mu'' is for June (the "sixth" month of the year), ''sa'' is for the 3rd day of the month, and ''shi'' is for 4 AM, his exact birthday and birth time.
85* ''Manga/MyBrideIsAMermaid'':
86** The female protagonist's name is Sun, and at one point her fiancé Nagasumi sees her face imprinted on the sun.
87** Mawari's given name is a pun on "Omawari-san", a gentle and polite way to say policeman in Japanese. Fittingly, Mawari wants to be a policeman.
88* In ''Anime/MyHime'', Natsuki's name, is the hiragana for "summer princess". Natsuki was born on August 15, and is a Hime (based off the Japanese word for "princess"), which her parents were aware of all along. Natsuki's mother nicknames her "princess" at times, but she doesn't learn the meaning until she actually becomes a Hime.
89* ''Manga/{{Nanbaka}}'': Most of the characters are named after numbers. Partially justified as it's a prison story and many of the characters are inmates with serial numbers.
90* ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'':
91** Naruto Uzumaki himself. ''Uzumaki'' means spiral, while ''Naruto'' is the name of a famous whirlpool in Japan, located near a city of the same name. This links to his reoccurring spiral motif -- both on his clothes, and his Rasengan (螺旋丸, literally "spiraling sphere") signature attack (a whirling ball of chakra). There's another pun in there -- a ''narutomaki'' (literally "Naruto-like curly") is a type of rice cake found in the main character's TrademarkFavoriteFood, ramen. This has been hinted at least once, as the onbu Naruto took care of in a filler liked these. And yet another one: [[spoiler:his mother came from Uzushiogakure, which means the "Village Hidden in Whirpools"]]. Finally, the kanji for Naruto whirlpool is 鳴門, which means "roaring gate", because of the noisy sounds the whirlpool makes. The ''naru'' part, 鳴, which means "to roar/to make noise", is [[NoIndoorVoice pretty apt]] [[BrattyHalfPint for our hero]]. There's also the fact that ''naru'' with different kanji (生る) can mean [[CharacterDevelopment "become" or "to bear fruit"]].
92** Sakura Haruno's name has a little pun. "Haruno" is written as 春野, which means "spring field". In Japanese, however, her name can also be construed as ''haru no sakura'' (春の桜), which means "cherry blossoms of spring".
93** The host of the two and eight-tailed beast have punny names relate to the number of tails of their beast. The second tailed is named Yugito Nii, with ''ni'' being Japanese for "two". The eight tails's name is actually bilingual as while the name is [[GratuitousEnglish a Japanese approximation of the word Killer Bee in English]], this is because the Japanese word for "bee" (''hachi'') is pronounced the same was as the word for "eight".
94** The majority of named characters from Bee's home village have names that are Japanese renderings of English letters, meaning that his name has a triple meaning: it's also the letter B (which as you can see kinda resembles an 8). And their [[CallingYourAttacks attacks]] also have punny names: the English names of ProfessionalWrestling moves, but written in kanji that approximate the English pronunciation of the wrestling moves only if uncommonly-used alternate readings are used. The more usual reading of the kanji produces Japanese phrases that ''also'' are fairly accurate descriptions of the attacks.
95** "Akatsuki" means "dawn" in Japanese, befitting their stated goal of becoming the new superpower of the world through the collection of the tailed beasts. However, if pronounced "aka tsuki", the meaning changes to "red moon". [[spoiler:The organization's true goal, as envisaged by Obito Uchiha, is to use the combined form of the tailed beasts, the Ten Tails, to cast Infinite Tsukuyomi and subject the entire world into an eternal illusion. During Infinite Tsukuyomi, the moon transforms into [[BadMoonRising a gigantic, red Rinne Sharingan]].]]
96* Several characters from the works of Creator/OsamuTezuka. Inspector Tawashi, for example, whose name is Japanese for scrub-brush, which his moustache resembles.
97* ''Manga/Oddman11'''s resident is a [[WolfMan furry dog girl]] that goes by the name of Inuta Wan, which is kind of like being called Doggy Woof.
98* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Zoro's most basic ([[CallingYourAttacks named]]) attack, "Oni Giri", ("Demon Slash"), is pronounced identically to ''o-nigiri'' (rice balls).
99** [[AllThereInTheManual As revealed in various tie-in databooks]], almost all background characters get [[StevenUlyssesPerhero Astonishingly Appropriate names]] based on whatever minor role they have in the plot. Viz translator Stephen Paul goes through a few [[https://twitter.com/translatosaurus/status/1180539769194811392 here]].
100* Some characters with funny hero aliases from ''WebComic/OnePunchMan''. Other may have [[MeaningfulName names]] that solely describe them, and a few with [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment redundant names]].
101** Child Emperor (童帝 ''Dōtei'') may derive from the word for "male virginity" (童貞 ''dōtei'').
102** Iairon (イアイアン ''Iaian''), a blend of "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iaid%C5%8D iaidō]]" and "iron".
103** Okamaitachi (オカマイタチ) comes from "[[DragQueen okama]]" and "[[RazorWind kamaitachi]]".
104** Bushidrill (ブシドリル ''Bushidoriru'') from "[[{{Samurai}} bushidō]]" and "drill".
105** Puripuri Prisoner (ぷりぷりプリズナー ''Puripuri Purizunā'') from the words "[[https://jisho.org/search/%E3%81%B7%E3%82%8A%E3%81%B7%E3%82%8A puripuri]]" and "prisoner".
106** Golden Ball (黄金ボール ''Ōgon Bōru''), from convoluted literal translations from the Japanese word for "balls" (金玉 ''kintama'') into English and back into Japanese.
107** Ground Dragon (グランドドラゴン ''Guraundo Doragon''), a literal translation from the Japanese word for "mole" which spells "ground dragon" (土竜 ''mogura'').
108* Shirahime Kanata from ''Literature/OtoXMaho'' has a weapon named [=OverThere=]. Guess what ''kanata'' translates to. Later, when [[WholesomeCrossdresser Kanata]] [[spoiler:really turns into a girl]], the [=OverThere=] becomes the [=Cross OverThere=].
109* In ''Manga/PlusSizedElf'', the titular elf, Elfuda and her rival Kuroeda, have silly names when read through in a japanese context, the former as read in Japanese kana (Erufuda), simply is the describing phrase: ''"Erufu Da / It's an Elf"''; the latter's name as read in Japanese kana: Kuroe[rufu]da, simply is the describing phrase: ''"Kuro Erufu Da / It's a Black Elf"''. Alternatively Kuroe can also be transliterated as ''Chloe'', pointing towards ''"Kuroe Da / It's Chloe"''.
110* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' is a HurricaneOfPuns (however, most of these only occur in the dub.)
111** Ash Ketchum (Satoshi) and Tracey Sketchit (Kenji). Try to guess what they do.
112** The Oak (Okido) family as a whole fits into the tree-themed naming system, but when you realize there is an actual type of tree called the Garry Oak...[[note]]The character is called "Shigeru" in the Japanese version.[[/note]]
113** The blue-eyed surfing Pikachu in the episode "The Pi-Kahuna" is called Puka, which obviously sounds like "Pika" but is also [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puka_shell the name of a type of shell]] popularly used in Hawaiian jewelry.
114** There are species known as the red ash, the green ash, the blue ash, and the indigo ash. Red, green, and blue are three of the four [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Generation 1]] colors[=/=]versions, and the Indigo Plateau houses what is essentially the ultimate challenge in the Pokémon League for Pokémon Trainers of the Kanto and Johto regions.
115** And the wonderfully groanworthy/clever anime episode titles in the English dub. See [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/ Bulbapedia.]] However, with the ''Pokémon Best Wishes'' era, this trend seems to be in a steep decline with the English dubbing team, with puns being either awkward or not present at all -- an example of the latter is the rather bland and to-the-point title of the 31st ''Best Wishes'' episode, "Ash and Trip's Third Battle!"
116** It's so ingrained in the series that one character who DIDN'T have a punny name at first, Todd, was later renamed in re-airings as "Snap". He's a photographer (and the featured character of the N64 game ''VideoGame/PokemonSnap'').
117** ''Best Wishes'' is both initialized "BW" (Black and White), and in Japanese "Wishes" would be pronounced very similar to "Isshu", the Japanese name of Unova, the region the series is set. Also, the GratuitousEnglish is -- goes without saying -- a totally JustifiedTrope in this series given that Unova is based on North America rather than Japan.
118* In ''{{Manga/Pokemon Adventures}} Black 2 and White 2'', the name of protagonist Lack-two (Rakutsu) is from Black 2 (in VIZ named Blake), and Whi-two (Faitsu) is also from White 2 (in VIZ named Whitley).
119** The other protagonists' names in this series are also from the game versions.
120* Natsu Yasumi in ''Anime/{{Potemayo}}'', which reads like the words for "summer vacation".
121* The ''Anime/PrettyCure'' franchise mainly sticks to [[MeaningfulName single names with relevant meanings]], with a prominent exception. ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'' gave us [[SchoolNewspaperNewshound Mika Masuko (Masuko Mika in Japanese family-name-first order)]], "but from now on, call me Masukomi-ka!" "Masukomi" (or Mass Communication) being the Japanese version of the English phrase "mass media". (For the record, nobody actually calls her that.)
122** Note, though, that in Japanese his name is "Andersen".
123** Though probably unintentional, "ande" is Swedish for spirit.
124* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', Kyubey reveals at the end of Episode 8 that the origin for the term "[[MagicalGirl Mahou shoujo]]" is because [[spoiler:they ultimately turn into witches, or "majo"]].
125* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' has quite a few.
126** Ryoga's name is a pun on his fangs.
127** Shampoo, Cologne, and Mousse are fairly obvious puns.
128** Ukyo's name is a pun on being from Kansai. Ukyo: kyo (京) is the kanji for capital -- Tokyo (東京) and Kyoto (京都府) (the former capital). Ukyo (右京) breaks down into the kanji for "to the right of" and "capital (of a country)".
129* Old kids' anime "Robby the Rascal" (''Cybot Robochi'') has the full name of Dr. Deko, the resident MadScientist of the series: Art Deko (as in the Art Déco movement).
130* Kamatari of ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' wields a large scythe and is known as "the Great Scythe (O-kama) of the Ten Swords". ''Okama'' is slang for a homosexual transvestite, which he is.
131* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'':
132** Every main character has the Japanese character for the planet she represents in her name. Even more obvious is the main character's name, Usagi Tsukino. "Tsuki" means "moon" and "Usagi" means "rabbit", so her name sounds exactly like the Rabbit in the Moon of Japanese folklore.
133** Likewise, the others' names are puns on meaningful phrases that relate to their planets and/or powers: Rei Hino ("Spirit of Fire"), Minako Aino ("Beautiful Child of Love"), Ami Mizuno ("Friend of Water") and Makoto Kino ("Sincerity of Wood"). The outer Senshi have Haruka Tenou ("Distant Sky King"), Michiru Kaiou ("Rising Sea King") and Setsuna Meiou ("Momentary Dark King"). Then there's Mamoru Chiba ("Protection of Earth" -- he's Tuxedo Mask, the guy that's constantly saving Sailor Moon) and Hotaru Tomoe ("Firefly Sprouting from Earth" -- she represents death and fireflies are associated with death in Japan).
134** While the kanji for each soldier's planet appears in that soldier's name, only Usagi, Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna use the same pronunciation. Take Sailor Mercury, for example. Her name is Mizuno Ami ("mizu" means water) while the Japanese name for Mercury is Suisei ("sui" also means water). Also, Minako/Sailor Venus seems to avert this trope, but her full name is ''Ai''no Minako, where "ai" means "love" in Japanese, and ''Venus'' just happen to be the goddess of ''love''.
135* ''Anime/SamuraiPizzaCats'' is full of characters with names like these, such as Speedy Cerviche, Polly Esther, and Al Dente, which is a result of it being a GagDub.
136* ''Manga/SetonAcademyJoinThePack'': While many of the characters' names are just plays on their species or regular SpeciesSurname[=s=], such as Kurumi ''Neko''mai the cat or Ranka ''Okami'' the wolf, Yukari the koala's name is actually a play on the Japanese pronunciation of "eucalyptus".
137* ''Manga/ShamanKing'': Lyserg Diethel, his fairy Morphin, Camel Munzer, Peyote, and Kanna Bismarck. Hiroyuki Takei was probably playing on the joke that most shamans and mediums could be... [[ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs On drugs]], or something. Nearly all of the patch in the English versions were puns on various metals or alloys.
138* ''Manga/SoulEater'': We have Maka, anagram of "kama", which means [[SinisterScythe scythe]], the resident {{Badass Bookworm}}s Ox Ford and Harvar D. [[ShockAndAwe Eclair]], and then there are Jacqueline "[[KillItWithFire Jackie O'Lantern]]" Dupre and Dr. [[FrankensteinsMonster Franken Stein]]...
139** The Hungarian dubbing team translated the name of Death the Kid as "Kid, a halál fia", which literally means "Kid, son (or kid) of death", as he ''is'' the son of Shinigami-sama, but it is also an expression that means "a goner".
140** Eruka and Mizune are anagrams of [[AnimalMotifs ''kaeru'' (frog) and ''nezumi'' (mouse)]].
141* ''Anime/SpeedRacer'': The protagonist's given name is Go. In addition to the obvious pun, Go is Japanese for the number 5, hence the number on the car. A common anime naming scheme is to give a character a name that's the homophone of a number. That number then tends to crop up all over.
142** ''Manga/HikaruNoGo'' is just as guilty of this.
143* ''Manga/SukiXSuki'':
144** The title takes advantage of two different versions of the word "suki". The left "suki" is written with the kanji for "love", while the right "suki" is written with the kanji for "transparency". The plot of the manga is Touka Aizuki, a girl with the power to become invisible, using that invisibility to openly act on the feelings for her crush she is unable to express otherwise.
145** The first kanji of "Touka" means "transparent". The "Ai" in "Aizuki" can be read as "love" and doubles up with the love and transparency meanings of "zuki/suki".
146** The first kanji of Ryoutarou's surname, Mimori, means "to see". Ryoutarou is Touka's crush and, unknown to Touka, is the only person who can see her while she's invisible, much to his discomfort.
147* ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'': The three Zentraedi spies are named Warera, Loli, and Conda. Their names combine to form "Warera {{LoliCon|AndShotacon}} da", Japanese for "we are pedophiles". {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d when Loli steals a singing Minmei doll from a store and Shammy Miliome notices it and accuses him of being a pedophile ("lolicon") and Loli exclaims, "She knows my name!"
148* ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'', with its PunBasedTitle, likes using puns. Maybe not for the character names, although there are some pretty weird elements to the ThemeNaming, but the weapons and attacks, which usually [[GratuitousEnglish make use of English]], and actually work better in Japanese.
149* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'': Twenty-Fifth Bam's name translates to Twenty-Fifth Night, his birthday. Bam also means chestnut in Korean and the [[PhysicalGod Guardians]] like to point out how tasty he sounds.
150* In ''Manga/UzakiChanWantsToHangOut'', the two kanji that compose Hana's family name are fairly normal: Space (宇) and Pennisula (崎), but they are read as "Uzaki", which is a reference to a slang based on the japanese word for annoying (Urusai > Uzai). That is pretty much on point for the basic premisse of the series: Annoying-chan wants to Hang Out!
151* ''Manga/YuGiOh'' author Creator/KazukiTakahashi literally named the two main characters, Yuugi and Jounouchi, [[ThePowerOFFriendship after the word for "friendship"]], ''yuujou''. This pun is [[LampshadeHanging pointed out]] by Jounouchi himself when he realizes that he wants to be [[BestFriend best friends]] with the ingenuous kid he bullied, as "a treasure visible and invisible at the same time" (Geddit? Friendship is invisible, but Yuugi and Jounouchi are visible). The pun also made [[https://www.db.yugioh-card.com/yugiohdb/card_search.action?ope=2&cid=5754&request_locale=ja a card]] in [[TabletopGame/YuGiOh the card game]].
152** Almost every duelist in the series has a PunnyName akin to wrestlers, a trend that was maintained in the Creator/FourKidsEntertainment dub. These include Insector Haga / Weevil Underwood, Mai Kujaku / Mai Valentine, and Chronos de Medici / Vellian Crowler.
153** "[[Characters/YuGiOhSetoKaiba Seto Kaiba]]" is awfully similar to the Japanese word for "student council" or "student council president", [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil "seitokai"]]. Appropriate, as he can resemble some of the more negative examples of a haughty StudentCouncilPresident.

Top