First Name Basis / Anime & Manga

• The only main character in The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You who isn't on a First-Name Basis with Rentarou and the rest of his girlfriends is Nano, who is on a Full-Name Basis with everyone.
• In Ah! My Goddess, Keiichi realizes something is wrong with Megumi when she calls him "big brother" instead of "Kei." Turns out she's possessed by a demon.
  • Also, throughout the course of the series, Belldandy slowly transitions from referring to Keiichi as "Mr. Keiichi" to just "Keiichi" as they grow closer as a couple.
• Inverted in Akikan!. Secretary Airin Kizaki does not like her boss, Hidehiko Otoya, to call her by her first name, always leading to this exchange.
  Hidehiko: Airin-kun?
  Airin: It's Kizaki.
  • It's not just her boss, a few times Daichi does the same and she objects (they're both unrestrained perverts).
• In Angel Beats! Kanade/Angel and Yuzuru Otonashi start calling by their names after they become friends and Otonashi got his memories back Otonashi is the one who starts that.
• Everybody in ARIA appears to be First-Name Basis with each other.
• In Azumanga Daioh, during her fluffy dream sequence that includes Sakaki rescuing her from the other students on a white horse, Kaorin begs Sakaki to call her "Kaori" (which is her given name); unfortunately, she wakes up to her mother calling her by name.
  • Also, it is incredibly unusual for a Japanese teacher to be called by her given name. The fact that Yukari-sensei is never called "Tanizaki-sensei" by her students probably says more about the kind of person she is than any sort of change in relationship status, as we never see her being irritated by it or, alternatively, asking her students to do so.
  • Contrast her rival and old schoolmate Minamo, who is called "Kurosawa-sensei", as would be usual, until Tomo learns of her nickname of Nyamo and addresses her as Nyamo-chan. She is shocked.
  • Ayumu Kasuga somewhat feebly protests, but is forcibly nicknamed "Osaka" by Tomo, arguably indeed the kind of overly cheerful character who does such things. Soon enough everyone, even the class registry, only knows her as Osaka. Despite her initial vague concern, Osaka being Osaka, she pays it no mind shortly after being so nicknamed.
  • (Pre)Teen Genius Chiyo Mihama is always referred to as "Chiyo-chan".
• Bleach:
  • Commented on in canon—Uryu gets upset when Ganju calls him by his first name. Most of his schoolmates refer to him as "Ishida-kun" or just "Ishida", indicative of his aloof personality. The only people who refer to Uryu by just his first name in the original Japanese are his grandfather and father (the latter of whom Uryu calls by his first name, which indicates a strained relationship even by Western standards). The English translation erases a layer of social complexity by having all the Karakura High characters call Uryu by his given name- all the Karakura students are on a First-Name Basis.
  • Hitsugaya and Byakuya take issue with Ichigo calling them by their given names, although in Toshiro's case, it is because of his desire to be called "Captain Hitsugaya" at all times.
  • At the end of the Soul Society Arc, an impatient Ichigo jumps into a hospital window and asks Kuchiki Byakuya and Renji if they've seen Rukia. After his departure, Byakuya wonders aloud if Ichigo is going to continue calling him by his first name.
  • Near the start of the manga, Ichigo worried people heard him screaming Rukia's first name on national TV. He was anxious of the rumours that would start in the She Is Not My Girlfriend kind of way.
  • In the third movie, Renji, who has forgotten Ichigo due to the main villain's special ability, objects to being called by his first name.
  • In the Amagai filler arc, Amagai calls Izuru by his first name when he comes into the office, startling him and causing him to have a flashback of his old captain. He then says he was doing this to become closer to his squad, and then starts referring to Izuru by his last name from that point forth. Most other captains, with some exceptions, call their lieutenants by their first names.
  • The Visoreds all call each other by their first names even in the Past Arc, when some of them are captains and others are lieutenants.
  • Tsukishima appears to be the sole villain who calls Ichigo simply by his first name instead of his last name or the ever popular "KUROSAKI ICHIGO!".
  • In the UNMASKED databook, Orihime calls Ulquiorra "Ulquiorra-kun" in the comic short, much to his shock and refusal. Although it is possible she didn't know his last name, it would be incredibly risky for her to act so familiar with him if they weren't already so, especially since "Ulquiorra-san" would have worked just fine. In the main story, she never refers to him by name; he tells her to only call her "Ulquiorra", possibly to keep some distance.
  • While Orihime's relatively formal with most people, she calls her best friend Tatsuki by her first name.
  • In the last chapter, it's revealed that Ichigo, despite having called Orihime by her last name for all of the series (since he initially knows her as a friend of his long-time friend Tatsuki), has switched to using her first name since they got married.
• A case in Case Closed had a side plot in which Ayumi, realizing Ai Haibara was the only friend she called by her last name, tried to work up the nerve to start calling her by her first name. Haibara caught on by the arc's end and gave her permission, but shot down the boys when they asked if they could, too.
  • When Shinichi and Ran were children, there was a period of time in which Shinichi was more or less bullied into calling her by Last-Name Basis, causing her to be confused (and somewhat heartbroken, given that she considered him a friend), but one epic adventure later they'd reconciled and were back on First Name Basis.
• CLAMP:
  • In Cardcaptor Sakura, Li Shaoran finally calls Kinomoto Sakura by her name, in both anime and manga, right after a near-death experience. After he does, Sakura asks if she can call him Shaoran. He stammers "do as you like" (his way of saying yes). This is also how Mei Ling picks up on their developing relationship when she revisits Japan later, noticing that they're on a First-Name Basis.
  • This was carried over in Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-, where, when Sakura is the princess of Clow Country, Shaoran respectfully calls her 'princess' on every occasion, even though she insists that, as old childhood friends, they must stay on a first name basis. When Shaoran, later in the manga, exchanges Sakura's memories of him for the chance to save her life and politely addresses him as Syaoran-kun, he stops calling her 'Sakura' and reverts to 'princess.' It's even lampshaded in the Koryo Country Arc: Syaoran can tell the Sakura in front of him is an illusion because she calls him by his first name, and they are not in first name basis anymore.
• Rather significant relationship point between Jinto and Lafiel in Crest of the Stars. Lafiel is the granddaughter of the Empress and Jinto is the only person other than her immediate family who uses her given name. This is because he didn't realise exactly who she was when they first met, and Lafiel was delighted to have someone around who treated her like a normal person. When he later learns the class differences between them, he tries to be formal, but it quickly becomes clear that she's hurt by this, so he starts using her name again. When they start serving together, he addresses her by rank when on duty but still stays on a First-Name Basis off duty, which raises a lot of eyebrows.
• Kou, Wakaba, and Aoba from Cross Game. A Running Joke that Aoba's many admirers get quite upset that Kou and Aoba are on a first name basis. Since they assume it means he's her boyfriend. Aoba is not amused.
• The Dangers in My Heart : Moeko is the only one who calls Yamada by her first name "Anna". Yamada does the same with her and gives her friends Kobayashi and Yoshida nicknames based on their first names (Chihiro = "Chii" and Serina = "Nyaa" respectively). Yamada later starts calling Ichikawa by his first name, "Kyōtarō".
• In Darker than Black, Kirihara is chagrined when November 11 immediately starts calling her by her first name, Misaki, after they are introduced, and expresses her intention to call him Mr. Simon (he introduces himself as Jack Simon) In later episodes, when she has gotten to like him more, she doesn't object to him calling her Misaki and refers to him as November or November 11.
• In Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, the majority of the cast are quick to start calling each other by their first names, albeit most with added honorifics as a form of respect, as they are all part of the same demon slaying corps with a sense of camaraderie; the few characters who prefer to go by last names are the extremely polite characters like Kyojuro Rengoku, or those with a level of disdain towards someone, like Iguro Obanai only calling Giyu Tomioka by his last name. The shining example of course is the main cast itself: Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke start calling each other by their first names without any honorifics, forming a real bond quite fast, although Inosuke always get their names wrong, until the Infinity Castle Arc that is, where he finally learns how to call their names right.
• Occurs in both variants of Destiny of the Shrine Maiden where someone finds out that Himeko and Chikane are on a First-Name Basis. In both cases, the third party is in no way happy about the prospect of a commoner calling the latter "Chikane-chan". Chikane refers to Himeko by her first name without honorifics in private, but tends to call her "Kurusugawa-san" in front of others.
• In Digimon Adventure 02, Daisuke switches calling his Fusion Dance partner from "Ichijouji" to "Ken". Ken, on his part, goes from "Motomiya-kun" to "Motomiya" to, finally, just "Daisuke". However, both of them still switch between First-Name Basis and Last-Name Basis during the course of the series.
  • Similarly, after Miyako recognizes Ken as an ally, she starts calling him by his first name.
• In the Brazilian dub of Digimon Tamers, Lee introduces himself with his family name (as a Chinese custom) and we never got to know what his first name is until his father appears halfway through the series and calls him Jenrya. After that, Takato started to call him Jenrya too, and he never commented nor seemed to dislike the change.
• Durarara!! is strange in that nearly all characters are called by their given name. The only character who regularly calls people by their surname is Anri. And even she says “Celty-san”, having only just met her.
• In Eyeshield 21, protagonist Sena Kobayakawa is mostly referred to by others by his first name, or his title while he's on the field. He's also on these terms with Mamori, as the two grew up Like Brother and Sister, and Suzuna, though the latter asks this of everyone since she doesn't want to be associated with her stupid brother.
• This comes up in Flame of Recca when in the last chapter Yanagi asks Recca to call her by her name instead of "hime".
• As most characters are childhood friends, Free! boys refer to each other by given names. A special case of this is Nagisa who calls everyone by their given names (or nicknames) and the honorific -chan. This includes his very much of an adult male swimming coach and Haru's friends whom he has not met before.
• In Freezing, Rana Linchin makes a point to force the protagonist, Kazuya Aoi, whom she believes to be her soulmate, to refer to her solely by her first name, snapping at him whenever he attempts to add an honorific to it. This is immediately followed by Satellizer forcing him to do the same with her.
• In Fruits Basket, after Haru apologizes to "Honda-san", Yuki says that he could just call her "Tohru".
  • The first time Tohru called Yuki "Yuki-kun" instead of "Souma-san," Yuki turned bright red and turned into a rat. Tohru continued to call him "Yuki-kun," though, but Yuki only called Tohru by her name at the very end of the manga.
  • Machi calls Yuki his name at the end after having only called him president-san.
  • To an extent Yuki's acquired nickname of Yun-Yun from his fellow student council members, which he tells them to stop using in case it sticks or he gets used to it...they don't stop.
  • Also, Kyo jumping straight to this from Hey, You! after the Cat's true form incident is probably the biggest early hint to his feelings for Tohru.
• Full Metal Panic!:
  • Sousuke is a borderline aversion. He rarely calls anyone other than Kurz by their first name. In the first season, it took him quite a while until he got used to saying "Kaname" instead of "Miss Chidori". As for Tessa... despite her repeated requests, he only stopped using her rank in The Second Raid finale. It doesn't help she has a crush on him. As for the reverse, Kaname always called him by his first name but Tessa never stopped the Full-Name Basis. This makes sense because Sousuke only knows the world of the miltary. Hence Kurz he can call by first name because they have known each other for a while and are roughly equal in rank.
  • Gauron calls *everybody* by their first name, including his victims. In Kaname's case, it's even worse — he calls her "Kana-chan" on several occasions — a diminutive form, that only her best friend Kyouko uses with her on a regular basis. And let's not even get into his pet names for poor Sousuke...
• In a chapter of Fullmetal Alchemist, Riza claims the Colonel calls her by her first name when they're alone, but she's only trying to trick Envy into blowing his cover after he transforms into Roy.
  • The only person who Mustang is on First-Name Basis with in the series is Maes Hughes (and vice versa). Almost ironically, Mustang is one of the few characters who doesn't call Ed by his first name. The two Armstrong (Alex and Olivier) both, naturally, refer to each other by first name.
• In Futari wa Pretty Cure, the switch from "Misumi-san" and "Yukishiro-san" to "Nagisa" and "Honoka" happened at the end of an episode focusing on the question of whether the characters in question were, in fact, friends.
  • Similarly, in Yes! Precure 5, after fighting for a whole episode, Rin and Karen used each others' first names as an indication of having developed respect for each other. For the most part, this stuck.
• In Ga-Rei, it's worth paying attention to what everyone calls each other after Kagura loses her memory. Izumi calls Kagura either "Tsuchimiya-san" or "Kagura" depending on whether it's Yomi speaking or not. Kagura, who used to call Kensuke "Ken-chan", goes from calling him to "Nimura-kun" to "Kensuke-kun" as she gets to know him better. Again.
• The Girl Who Leapt Through Time — In a flashback of when Chiaki transfers into Makoto's class and the friendship between Makoto, Chiaki, and Kousuke develops, Kousuke lampshades it when Chiaki first calls Makoto by her first name. This is interesting because when Chiaki starts to date Yuri, he still calls her "Hayakawa-san," unlike Yuri, who calls Chiaki, "Chiaki-kun." He only calls Yuri, "Yuri-chan" once while talking about going to a nighters game with her to Makoto and Kousuke, though it was more to tease Makoto than really changing to first name basis. Makoto seems to be the only girl Chiaki is really informal with, though the reason as to why is quite obvious.
• In Girls und Panzer:
  • Saori asks Miho if she can call her by her first name shortly after they meet. Miho takes longer to get onto a First-Name Basis with her friends.
  • In the "Little Army" prequel manga, Miho gets onto a first name basis with Hitomi and Chihiro in the first chapter. While Miho, Hitomi and Chihiro start calling Emi by her first name in the second chapter, she continues using their last names, until calling out Miho's first name as they're saying goodbye.
• In Good day to you, how about a game? Sae is shocked to learn from her schoolmate Nonoha that at the school they go to, it is expected that students call each other by their first names and "-san," using "-sama" for senior students. Having been absent for the first few days of the year due to illness, Sae had assumed that Last-Name Basis was the norm, and had called Chise "Kannami-san" for the past several chapters without Chise correcting her. Sae immediately switches to using Nonoha's first name, and Chise is torn between asking Sae to call her by her first name, too, or sticking with last names because it's "more unique."
• In Gravitation when cold fish Yuki finally begins calling Shuichi by his first name it is a sign that their relationship is evolving favourably. Shuichi is overjoyed and does not lose the opportunity to comment on it, much to Yuki's chagrin.
• "Yatchan" in Grenadier (annoying cute shortening). Of course, this was after he called himself stupid under his breath and Rushuna initially called him "Mr Stupid", so he probably felt at the time it was more acceptable to be "Yatchan". Later on he seems to warm to the name.
• During the penultimate battle of GunBuster, Noriko calls Kazumi by her first name to snap her out of a Heroic BSoD. Much explosions, attack calling, and physics-breaking ensue.
• This trope is very common in the Gundam franchise as a whole—Colonel Michael^note Gern, Major Ulube^note Ishikawa, and Captain Grodek^note Ainoa are just a few examples. There are a few who use last names, but there's no explanation for the convention or exceptions to it.
  • In Universal Century Mobile Suit Gundam, a lot of characters appear to be on first name basis, even when adressed by rank. Char Aznable was known to everybody as Char. Lt. Amuro instead of Lt. Rey. Captain Bright but never Captain Noa. In the English dub of Zeta Gundam, Kamille often addressed his favorite ladies by their first name with the honorific "Miss". For example, Miss Emma or Miss Recooa. Even bad guys went by their first name. Captain Basque, not Captain Om. Titans leader Jamitov Hymen was usually called Jamitov. The one exception is Paptimus Scirocco who was always called Scirocco by friend and foe. In some cases, inexplicably, the last name sounded more pronounceable and familiar with the first. Neverthless, Astonauge Mendoza was still usually called Astonauge. For obvious reasons, the Zabis all went by their first name so we could easily follow which was which.
  • In Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, following their official defection from the Earth Alliance military, Mu la Flaga significantly makes a point of calling Murrue Ramius "Murrue-san" instead of "Captain." The two of them lay the Will They or Won't They? to rest in the following episode and continue to call one another by name instead of by rank for the rest of the series.
    • Additionally, when Neo Roanoke recovers his memories during the finale of Gundam SEED Destiny and thus remembers that he is Mu La Flaga, he communicates his recovery to Murrue by calling her by her first name for the first time in the series.
    • More or less the entire crew does this to each other after leaving the Earth forces during Gundam Seed. Kira goes from calling the crew of AA from their rank and last name (Captain Ramius, Major La Flaga,Lt Badguriel) to their first sames (Murrue-san Mwu-san Natarle-san) leaving the san because they are a good 10 years older than him and he is very polite. That last one is odd since Not only is Natarle is already gone from the this point and is their enemy but Kira never speaks to her again in person anyway. There's big scene about this change though Kira just flys in to save them asking Murrue if she's alright using her first name without provocation and that's the way the crew acts from then til the end of Destiny. Oddly Andy Waldfeld is the only member who doesn't get this. He's always referred to as Commander Waldfeld by everyone. Murrue and Mwu are also on a first name basis with Athrun, which is kinda strange since Murrue has never spoken to him ever in both Seed and Destiny and Mwu only a handful of times.
    • Also happens with Kira who first uses a honorific when talking with Lacus Clyne who asks him to refer just by her first name. Ironically, Lacus also used a honorific to Kira the first time they talked.
• In the first episode of Haganai both Yozora Mikazuki and Sena Kashiwazaki get onto first-name terms (without honorifics) with Kodaka Hasegawa at their first meeting, much to Kodaka's surprise and amusement. Yozora and Sena never do the same with each other, unsurprisingly given their mutual hostility, and they don't seem to be on first-name terms with anyone else in the school.
• In Haikyuu!! nearly everyone calls each other by their family names - including the fandom. Hence few examples of given-name referral say a lot about characters and their dynamics with each other.
  • The Protagonist Hinata is called "Shouyou" by only team libero Nishinoya in Karasuno. Nishinoya, being one of the friendliest guys on earth, becomes quick buddies with Hinata and takes up calling him by his given-name right of the bat. Hinata, on the other hand, calls him Noya-san.
  • Outside his own team, Hinata is also called by his given name by friendly rival Nekoma's Kenma. Kenma does not like formalities between people who are close in age, so he is nearly always referred to by his given name, including by Hinata.
  • Kageyama is called Tobio(-chan) by Oikawa - which is more mocking in its nature rather than friendly.
  • Karasuno's The Captain is called Daichi by second and third years and other close friends which reflects his friendly and dependable nature. He is only referred to by his last name (or as "captain") by first years, other teams, or the coaches.
  • Similarly, team's The Ace Asahi is rarely called Azumane (again, by only first years and the coaches). Despite his intimidating looks, he is gentle and even shy sometimes, which explains why he wouldn't have that formality with his teammates.
  • Tanaka is Tanaka for everyone except his best friend Nishinoya who calls him Ryuu.
  • Miya twins are referred to by their given names Osamu and Atsumu, as otherwise it'd be confusing.
  • Half-Russian member of Nekoma team is always referred to by his given name Lev, instead of Haiba.
  • Tanaka's sister Saeko calls nearly everyone on the team by their first names including; Yuu for Nishinoya, Tobio for Kageyama, Shouyou for Hinata, Chikara for Ennoshita, Kei for Tsukishima, Keishin for Coach Ukai etc.
  • Yamaguchi's mentor Shimada is the only one who calls him Tadashi.
  • Team manager Shimizu Kiyoko is called Kiyoko-san by Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Yachi.
  • Nishinoya calls nearly everyone by their given name; Ryuu for Tanaka, Asahi, Daichi, Chikara for Ennoshinta, Kazuhito for Narita, Hisashi for Kinoshita etc. as he is a pretty friendly guy. The only first year he calls by given-name, however, is Hinata. In return, nearly everyone calls him Noya-san.
  • Similarly averted with Team Mom Sugawara Koushi. Despite his nurturing and friendly nature, he never gets called Koushi. Instead, like Noya, he uses a nickname based on his family name, "Suga".
• Haruhi Suzumiya:
  • Kyon calls Haruhi by her first name after the chronological sixth episode, which served as the series' climax in the original non-chronological episode order, since at that point their relationship becomes much more intimate, as reluctant as both are to admit it. Haruhi in turn of course, calls people exactly as she likes.
  • When Kyon addresses Haruhi familiarly in the alternate timeline, she's offended until he tells her that he's John Smith.
  • For some reason, Yuki never, ever calls Kyon anything but "anata". This is a minor plot point in one of the later short stories. This could be because he's apparently the only person she talks to.
  • Inversion: Mikuru asks Kyon to call her by her first name fairly early on, but Kyon continues to refer to her as "Asahina-san". He does this both out of respect and to try to prevent them from growing too close, as that would have some bad consequences…
  • At the end of The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, when Ryouko, back from Canada, visits Kyon and Yuki, Kyon calls Yuki by their first name. The entire sequence, a product of Ryouko's imagination, takes place after Kyon and Yuki have been married for some time, and Yuki's had a baby.
• Haruka and Yuuto shift to First-Name Basis at the end of Haruka Nogizaka's Secret's first episode. (In episode 3, Haruka's little sister takes great pleasure in teasing them about it.)
• Nishizawa, upon getting closer with Hinagiku in Hayate the Combat Butler, tells Hinagiku to call her "Ayumu." It's this act that causes Hinagiku to stop pursuing Hayate as a love interest and work behind the scenes to support Nishizawa's attempts.
  • To the point that she feels uncomfortable when she does realize her interest in him, and unnerved when Ayumu does the same thing to her.
  • When Hinagiku first met Hayate, Hinagiku uses 'Hayate-kun'. When he uses her weakness against her, she reverts to 'Ayasaki-kun'. After she realizes that she's fallen in love with him, she returns to the first.
  • Hayate and Hinagiku try to use Athena's first name to create a nickname. It works for Hayate, but it angers Athena when Hinagiku tries to do so, shocking her back to referring to her as 'Tennousu-san'.
• In His and Her Circumstances Arima and Yukino are having a romantic walk in Kyoto when the subject of going to a First-Name Basis crops up. They awkwardly and shyly try it out before a pair of their friends run past in a drive-by teasing.
• In How I Lose Bets With My Sadistic Gifted Childhood Friend and She Steals All of My Firsts, Wakaba Yoshizawa refers to her long-time friend Komaki Umezono by her first name in her thoughts, but directly calls her "Umezono" due to a past incident. After Wakaba calls Komaki by her name when they're on a date due to Wakaba losing a bet, Wakaba calls Komaki by her name, but claims it's because it feels more natural to use that on a date.
• If Her Flag Breaks: When Nanami tells Souta her name, she tells him to refer to her by her first name, not her surname. She also warns him not to attach honorifics like "san or "chan" to her name.
• During the beginning arc of Inuyasha, the title character initially refers to Kagome as some constant variation of the word "you", punctuating their strained relationship. After she helps him kill their first dangerous enemy, however, he switches to using her name. Kagome, who has absolutely no understanding for the art of subtlety, quickly points this out, much to Inuyasha's chagrin.
• In Junsui Adolescence Nanao goes by a first name basis with her girlfriend Matsumoto, the School Nurse. In the beginning she is adamantly against it because she figures that Matsumoto doesn't feel the same way. Once they become a couple Matsumoto goes about happily calling Nanao by her first name in most situations without Nanao freaking out.
• In Kizuna, the principal couple, Enouji Kei (extroverted, casual) and Samejima Ranmaru (introverted, formal), normally call each other "Enjouji" and "Ran-chan". When Enjouji's half-brother Sagano Kai first rescues Samejima from a drugging and rape attempt and then essentially rapes him himself, Samejima in confusion and anguish calls him "Kei." Told about it later by Sagano, Enjouji realizes how badly Samejima was affected because "He only calls me Kei when he really needs me by his side." Unfortunately, Central Park Media in their English translation flattened all of the names so that everyone uses the same ones and left out the honorifics, making this chapter in particular much less effective.
• Near the end of the first Knight Hunters anime series, Aya conveys his gratitude to Tomoe Sakura for her efforts in protecting his sister by telling her his real name, Ran. Following this conversation, Sakura never sees Aya again, but his avoidance is for her own protection.
• While Akashi is in his "Bokushi" personality, in Kuroko's Basketball, he refers to his teammates using their first names with no honorifics, basically treating them how below they are under him.
• In Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Reinhart and Fraulein Hildegarde von Mariendorf try to get on a first name basis after they had fallen in love, got engaged and with a child in the making Hilarity ensue when they silently decide to remain formal calling their spouse "Your Highness" or "Fraulein after a very awkward attempt.
  • Upon first meeting his best friend Siegfried Kircheis, at age ten, Reinhard outright rejected his first name as "too common," and thereafter always refers to him by his last name, Kircheis which he likes much more.
  • There is also the scene where Yang is trying to propose to the newly-promoted Frederica. He makes several false starts, addressing her as "Lieutenant," then "Major," then "Miss Greenhill", before finally using her name.
  • When Hildegarde pays a visit to Annerose she initially adresses the latter as "Countess Von Grünewald". When Annerose suggests switching to first name basis Hildegarde is happy to oblige, even telling Annerose to use the familiar form "Hilda".
• Toyed with in Lucky Star. Konata finds that Kagami doesn't really have a nickname others can call her with (apart from occasionally "Kagamin"). In a fit of otaku-humor, Konata runs through several variants, until Kagami, in irritation, orders her to use "Kagami-sama" (very formal, respectful, and hinting at romantic feelings — Sylphiel's "Gourry dear" in the dub of Slayers was "Gourry-sama"). Konata does so, embarrassing her friend in the middle of lunch. They go back to the norm quickly.
  • Kagami also realizes at one point that she is on a first-name basis with people in Konata's class, and still on a last-name basis with people in her own class.
  • Yutaka has a bit of trouble calling her best friend Minami by her first name, even though her other friends have no problem doing so. She is finally able to after Minami addresses Yutaka by her first name.
• At the end of Season 1 of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Nanoha tells Fate that that the first step to becoming friends is to call each other by their names, and for the first time in the series, Fate says the name "Nanoha".
  • In the second season, Vita only gets Nanoha's name right when they finally became allies.
  • Nanoha seems to prefer being addressed by her first name, since she has her subordinates call her Captain Nanoha rather than Captain Takamachi. That said, in certain situations, even Nanoha's long-time friends may refer to her as "Instructor Takamachi" or "Captain Takamachi" for the sake of professionalism.
  • Even Nanoha's daughter calls her by her first name. Admittedly, this is to specify which mother she's referring to in a conversation.
  • The manga of the third season has Subaru calling Teana by Tea when she noticed her partner finally calling her by her first name. Teana immediately denies anything changing in their relationship and states that she's only doing that to differentiate Subaru from her sister! Really!
    • In StrikerS Sound Stage X, Ginga suggests that Runessa refer to her by her first name so that she doesn't get confused as to whether she's referring to her, her sister Subaru or her father. Runessa does likewise, noting that her last name is fairly common.
  • For no explicitly given reason, Shamal goes from referring to Fate as "Testarossa-chan" in A's to calling her "Fate-chan" in StrikerS.
    • Well, she did get the surname "Harlaown" during the interim.
  • As a member of the Saint Church, Chantez called Vivio "Your Majesty" in ViVid. By the time of ViVid Strike! she's switched to calling her by name, but she still occasionally calls her by her title on accident.
• Martian Successor Nadesico has Gai Daigoji, who insists on being called such instead of his real name Jiro Yamada which in Japan is considered a boring name, the equivalent of a name such as John Smith. Very few people, especially Ruri, call him Gai Daigoji, forcing him to continually remind people not to call him anything else. Gai is unfortunately shot in just the third episode of the series, probably to up the ante at an early stage and tell the audience that Anyone Can Die. People still call him just Jiro Yamada, but Akito Tenkawa who had become friends with Gai insists on calling him by his "soul-name".
• Koharu from My Girl refers her father, Masamune Kazama, as "Masamune-kun". Koharu does this for 2 reasons; first of all, she only moved in with Masamune at the age of five, so before that point she wasn't familiar with father figures; secondly, her mother Youko would refer to Masamune as "Masamune-kun" whenever she told Koharu about him. Eventually, after Koharu finds Masamune and Katabiri passed out from looking for her after she runs away, Koharu does start calling Masamune "dad".
• My Hero Academia: Nana Shimura and Gran Torino are the two people who call All Might either "Toshinori" or "Toshi". Both were mentors and close friends.
• In My-HiME, Natsuki and Mai aren't on good speaking terms when they first meet, and address each other as "you" and "Kuga-san", respectively. A few episodes after they decide working together is better than fighting each other, they start exclusively using each other's first names.
  • Mai and Yuuichi begin on a Last-Name Basis, but after Yuuichi is resurrected they call each other by their first names.
  • In the side novel, "Natsuki no Prelude," Shizuru, who is initially Natsuki's only friend and turns out to be in love with her, is noted as being the one person with "the gall to address Natsuki by her first name" before the start of the story.
  • Reito tends to be addressed by his first name by most people, and in Episode 7, asks Mai (whom he has a crush on) to do the same.
• In My-Otome, most of the characters who used last names on each other in My-HiME now use first names, and use titles when formality is required. Arika tends to do so quite often, using first names on people such as the President of Airies and the Queen of Windbloom.
  • In the sound dramas, Mai starts off by calling Natsuki "Kruger-san," but after realizing that it's difficult to pronounce in Japanese, suggests "Kuga-san" instead, which Natsuki refuses. She then proposes First-Name Basis, which Natsuki accepts.
• Everybody in Naruto seems to be on a First-Name Basis with each other. Even the polite characters like Hinata and Lee use first names with honorifics that would normally demand last names. In fact, outside of the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Mist Villages, it seems like 99% of the cast has Only One Name to begin with (and it's worth noting that even some of the characters from the Leaf and Mist don't seem to have surnames either). In flashbacks of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha's childhood, it's revealed that shinobi during the warring clans era were instructed not to give out their surnames, in case they ran into someone from an opposing clan. Perhaps this practice ended up influencing present-day ninja culture by making First-Name Basis the customary form of address.
  • The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, is often referred to as his title or versions of it (such as "The Third" or "Lord Third") by pretty much the majority of the other people of the Leaf. However, Danzō Shimura is the only one that refers to him by his first name. This is because Danzō was personally acquainted with Hiruzen in their younger days and viewed him as a fierce rival especially when it came to the title of Hokage.
• Negima! Magister Negi Magi:
  • First and foremost: Negi is never, ever addressed by any of his students by his last name! It's never "Springfield-sensei". His more polite students address him as "Negi-sensei", but many of them as "Negi-kun" or "Negi-bouzu".
  • Asuna's relationship with Negi parallels the honorifics she uses when referring to him. In the beginning, when she referred to him by name at all, it was never with an honorific (unless someone else was listening), a sign of how much she despised him. When she started to detest him less, she started referring to him as "-bouzu" (roughly, "kid"). Eventually, she comes full circle and starts using just his name again, as a sign of closeness.
  • It should be noted that, with Del Rey's tendency to keep honorifics and explain them, this translated into the English manga surprisingly well.
  • It should also be noted that other students also use this "honorific" as it is a pun. The Kanji for "Negi" can also mean "green onion" and "Bozu" can also mean "head" So in essence, they are cutesy-calling him "onion head."; a common term for children in Japan.
  • When Theodora, an actual princess ^note Third Princess of Hellas, is introduced to Negi, the most respectful honorific "-sama" is used. And she promptly tells Negi "You can call me Theo". Well, she's not Japanese. She should count herself lucky to get him down to "Theo-sama" before the episode is over.
    • Technically, Negi isn't Japanese either, he's Welsh. But he has referred to himself as an "English Gentleman," which no doubt annoyed certain Welsh readers... Of course, on an even more technical level, he's half Ostian, half whatever-Nagi-is. And on the royalty scale he probably outranks Theodora.
  • At the beginning of the series, Setsuna exclusively refers to Konoka as Ojousama, while Konoka calls Setsuna the much more informal and cutesier 'Secchan', admonishing her to refer to her as 'Kono-chan'. This represents the way Setsuna tries to keep her distance from Konoka, believing her to be above the simple peasant that Setsuna is, and their slowly growing friendship (and more) is demonstrated by Setsuna becoming increasingly willing to say 'Kono-chan'.
• Almost everyone from Neon Genesis Evangelion calls Shinji by his first name, but he's slightly more selective about the people he refers to by their first name:
  • In the TV version, he calls most of his friends by first name (Touji, Kensuke, Asuka...), but he never does the same with Rei except in the English dub (where he often switches off between her first and surname). He addresses most of the adults as "[first name]-san" (Ritsuko-san, Misato-san, etc.).
  • In the Rebuild continuity, he initially referred to Asuka as Shikinami-san until she asked him to use her first name while she chose to call him "Baka-Shinji".
  • Shinji and Kaworu reaches first name basis on their first meeting in the TV series, but in Rebuild it takes them until near the end of 3.0. In the manga, Shinji uses "Nagisa" until the end, as they are not as close like the anime or Rebuild.
  • Interestingly, there is actually a difference between how Shinji refers to Asuka, Tohji and Kensuke by first name and Kaworu by first name. In the formers' cases, he's simply being casual and informal rather than having an intimate relationship with them - especially Asuka, whom he bickers with on a daily basis and generally does not get along. However, in Kaworu's case, it's an actual intimate and loving relationship, as Kaworu approaches Shinji with soft kindness rather than intimidation. It's also notable that Kaworu is the only one whom Shinji adds "-kun" into his name. As for Kaworu, he refers to everyone by their titles or "kimi" but only Shinji by name.
• Mirelle in Noir replacing "you" with "Kirika" after Kirika sacrifices finding out more about herself to save Mireille's life.
• Subverted in Ojojojo. Chris is referred to by his first name despite using Last-Name Basis for everyone else (even Haru and Tsurezure use each other's last names). But it turns out later on that, because he introduced himself in Western name order (since he's British), they all thought that Chris was actually his last name.
• One Piece:
  • Robin initially called her crewmates by their titles on the ship to keep her distance, out of the fear that when the Marines pursuing her start closing in, they would betray her to save themselves. She sometimes made an exception for Luffy, who had agreed to take her in, although this is presumably on a professional basis, in the same way she would call Crocodile by his real name. After the Enies Lobby Arc, she begins calling them by name. Some of Luffy's crew members (Sanji, Chopper, Robin and Franky) typically start out calling him "Straw Hat", the nickname his enemies commonly use, but except for Franky, refer to him by name after joining.
  • Franky, who started off as The Nicknamer and typically referred to Robin by her full name of Nico Robin, has eventually switched to calling the entire crew by their first names after the Time Skip. In the anime, it started even earlier, as he had started calling Luffy by his name as of Episode 405.
  • Strictly speaking, not all of the Straw Hats even have family names, or at least ones we've been made privy to. Nami, Usopp, and Brook don't have the chance to go by surnames, even to strangers. Franky and Sanji's legal names both have surnames, but neither of them use them, since Franky has gone by that name since childhood and Sanji hates his biological relatives too much to want to keep his surname.
  • The accepted version of non-intimate address in pirate society appears to be calling someone by their pirate title, with or without their given name. Pirates switch to first-name basis pretty quickly upon acquaintance (except for those elders who are greatly respected, like Whitebeard, or feared, like Big Mom), but strangers and Marines (and the highly standoffish Trafalgar Law) are seen referring to Luffy as "Straw Hat," Zoro as "Pirate Hunter," Sanji as "Black-Leg," Brook as "Soul King", and so forth. Luffy, for his part, attempts to reciprocate Law's formality in his own fashion, but falls a bit short of the mark, calling him "Torao" (usually translated as "Traffy" or "Tra-guy").
• In Our Teachers are Dating, the main couple, Saki Terano and Asuka Hayama, call each other "Hayama-sensei" and "Terano-sensei" at work or in front of others, since they're both high school teachers. When they're alone, however, they switch to "Asuka-san" and "Saki-san."
• It's probably easier to name the major characters in Pokémon: The Series that do have full names: Shigeru Okido/Gary Oak, Professor Yukinari Okido/Samuel Oak, Ash Ketchum, Tracy Sketchit, and Delia Ketchum. In fact, Ash and Tracey are the only main characters that have had a last name given and that is only in the English dub. Kasumi/Misty, Takeshi/Brock, Haruka/May, Masato/Max, Hikari/Dawn, Iris, and Dent/Cilan are only known on First-Name Basis.
• Referenced to in Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! when Mitsumi says she and Cyrus aren't on a first name basis anymore. Incidentally, basically everyone in the series is on a first name basis, as is Pokémon manner neither even have a known last name.
• In the first episode of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, the New Transfer Student Homura Akemi calls Madoka by her first name and asks Madoka to do the same. This is because in the third timeline, the last thing Madoka said before Homura Mercy Killed her was how happy she was that Homura had called her by her first name. The only occasion where she calls someone else by their first name is when Kyoko is about to perform a Heroic Sacrifice, otherwise she switches between Full-Name Basis and Last-Name Basis.
  • Madoka's mother Junko and homeroom teacher Kazuko are also on a First-Name Basis, and are implied to have known each other for some time.
  • In the dub, Mami switches over to First-Name Basis for Madoka and Sayaka, instead of calling them "Kaname-san" and "Miki-san".
  • Hitomi Shizuki, a very polite rich girl, calls Madoka and Sayaka via first names and then adds -"san". When she stops doing so and switches to Last-Name Basis, it's because she's Brainwashed and Crazy
• An inverted version appears in Ranma ½, in an episode where Ranma and Genma unknowingly go back in time to a point before Ranma and Akane first met. One of the first clues that something is wrong comes when Akane scolds Ranma for yobisute (calling her "Akane" with no honorifics).
• Happens occasionally in Reborn! (2004) with changes of honorific, especially to show the change in relationships in the beginning of the Future Arc, but the most notable occur between Tsuna and Kyoko: first, at the end of the first episode, Kyoko asks to refer to Tsuna with the honorific '-kun' after he beats Mochida; second, TYL!Kyoko briefly refers to him by the pet name Tsu-kun, implying that they have become close in the future.
• In Red River (1995), Yuri always refers to Kail as "Prince Kail" or "your highness". When they finally have a Relationship Upgrade, Kail asks her to drop the formality and refer to him simply as "Kail" when they're alone. For the rest of the series Yuri occasionally forgets herself and calls him "Kail" in public (usually hurriedly correcting herself), though no one bats an eye since by the point it's well-known that the two are deeply in love.
• In Renai Daikou, Kengo accidentaily calls Mari by her first name when they run into each other since that how he's been referring to her while acting as Seki's love coach. He's initially worried that he might have made her uncomfortable (the entire reason he's helping Seki in the first place is because assertive guys make her nervous), but she just brushes it off because she grew up in Sweden and thus doesn't treat it with the same level of significance that someone living in Japan their entire life would.
• In Revolutionary Girl Utena, the vice principal and guidance counselor are having a talk with Utena when the chairman shows up. They're pretty shocked when Utena calls him "Akio" — they sweat bullets in his presence and prefer to call him "Mr. Chairmain, sir."
• In The Royal Tutor, the fact that Heine casually calls King Viktor by their first name in private reveals that they have known each other far longer than Heine first claimed and are actually quite comfortable and open with each other.
• Sailor Moon:
  • In Sailor Moon, the first time Helios/Pegasus calls Chibiusa by her name is when she finds him after he has been captured by Nehellenia, and Chibiusa comments on that. In the Cloverway dub, he had already called her "Rini" before, so they had to change the scene to have him call her "Minimoon" instead, which doesn't make sense because it's not her real name.
  • Smaller example: Everyone calls Haruna-sensei by her first name. The DiC dub switched it to make "Haruna" her last name (which is Sakurada in the original).
  • In the fifth episode of the live-action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Ami tries to change herself (more extroverted) in order to be "a better friend"; she does things like cheerfully greeting the entire classroom when she enters, sitting with Usagi's friends at lunch, and going to a pajama party with Usagi and Naru. At the end of the episode, Ami realizes that she doesn't have to change herself to be a good friend, and so things revert to normal. When Ami doesn't join Usagi's friends at lunch, they begin discussing her as though she's an outsider again, and it seems as though this episode accomplished nothing as far as their relationship... however, the group has definitely started to think about Ami differently, as Usagi suddenly realizes:
    Usagi (thinking): Naru-chan and the others, they're saying Ami-chan.
• Throughout Saki, Saki and Nodoka always call each other 'Miyanaga-san' and 'Haramura-san'. In the last episode, they finally agree to call each other by their first names (Saki-san and Nodoka-chan), complete with much blushing, stammering, hand-holding, and pure, unadulterated Les Yay.
  • Hisa also starts off calling Saki "Miyanaga-san," but switches to calling her "Saki" by the time the tournament begins. She's also so far the only person who has referred to Mihoko by her first name.
  • Yumi tends to call most people by their last names, except for her close friend Momo. When Yumi and Hisa call each other by their first names in Momo's presence, Momo freaks out and wonders what happened between them.
  • In a flashback, Kana asks Mihoko to call her by her first name, and Mihoko complies. It has also revealed that she has started calling Hisa by her first name, instead of "Ueno-san"(her last name when they first met three years ago).
• The girls in School-Live! are all on a first name basis with each other, even with their teacher who they call "Megu-nee" instead of "Sakura-sensei". Megu-nee wishes they would call her "Sakura-sensei" but they rarely do.
• In School Rumble Hanai and Mikoto are more on First-Name Basis with each other since they are childhood friends although they use honorifics in public for the sake of propriety. However during the survival game Hanai screams "Miko-chan!" when Mikoto gets shot. Its such an intimate nickname that it embarrasses the both of them to no end later.
• Momoka in Sgt. Frog is unable to call Fuyuki by his first name until she blurts it out while saving him from some alien cuisine that wasn't quite dead yet. Fuyuki, meanwhile, is oblivious to all of this.
• In Simoun, the fact that Angulas didn't say Aer's name at one point was a plot point... as, of course, was the moment when she did. And in the final episode, Yun happens to say Dominura's name Meanwhile, in the Future… while thinking of her.
• Spy X Family: Yuri, Yor's brother, doesn't really trust her new husband Loid, and demands to ask what Loid calls her. Confused, he says "I... call her Yor?" Yuri gasps and says "that's our thing!" Keep in mind that this takes place in a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Germany, not Japan (though Yuri and Yor are Asian-coded); calling even casual acquaintances by their first name is commonplace. Also keep in mind that Yuri is very overprotective and very drunk.
• In The Story of Saiunkoku, Shuurei is the only person who calls Ryuuki by his name instead of "Emperor" or "your highness", at his request. At one point she promises to always call him by his name when they aren't at some point of official function where they would get in trouble for it. Also comes up with Sa Sakujun, who Shuurei could never bring herself to call anything but "that man" or "young master".
• In Sweet Blue Flowers, Fumi has quite an emotional response when Yasuko calls her by her first name during their first date.
• The thirteenth episode of Tiger & Bunny ends with Barnaby calling Kotetsu by his name for the first time. Kotetsu still calls him Bunny though.
  • Tomoe switched to First-Name Basis with Kotetsu after he rescued her from an warehouse fire — though not without a good deal of tsundere denial.
  Tomoe: That's right! So [the name "Tiger"] suits you perfectly, Kotetsu!
  Kotetsu: Um, uh, did...did you just call me...?
  Tomoe: Ah! Um! I-I-I just thought Kotetsu T. Kaburagi w-was too long, so I thought I would give you a little nickname!
  Kotetsu: But Kotetsu's my real name...
  Tomoe: I-it's not like it matters or anything!
  Kotetsu: All right. Whatever you want, Tomoe.
  Tomoe: I-I didn't say you could use my f-first name!
  Kotetsu: [cough cough] Why'd you hit me? A-and right in the stomach...
• Tokyo Mew Mew:
  • The scene in where Aoyama Masaya first calls Momomiya Ichigo by her name instead of "Momomiya-san," while chasing after her to ask her about seeing her as Mew Ichigo, is one of the unlucky ones to be passed over by the English translators, since the latter naturally always has characters use their first names.
  • Ichigo has a dream in which Aoyama asks her to call him by his first name, but still refers to him as "Aoyama-kun" until the end of the series.
  • In Episode 16, Retasu's first hint that the boy she has a crush on (with whom she is on a Last-Name Basis) has already been taken is when the librarian calls him by his first name.
• In Transformers Victory, it's a notable moment when Blacker refers to Wingwaver by name instead of calling him "kid". They don't get to respect each other for a couple of more episodes, however.
• In Twin Spica, Marika accepting Asumi's use of this is a major step in her Defrosting Ice Queen progression.
• In Wandering Son Maho outright makes her boyfriend, Riku, start being on a First-Name Basis not soon after they begin dating.
• In X/1999, most characters are on first name basis with one another. One character, Sorata, is casual enough to be like that with everyone… except his love interest, who he politely refers to only as "neechan." Later on, they sleep together, and after he starts referring to her as "Arashi," no honorific.
• Played with in Yona of the Dawn. When Seiryuu started calling Yona by her first name and not "princess", the rest of the group asked if they could do the same, which she had no problem with. But Yona deliberately requested that her oldest friend Hak continue to refer to her as "princess" so she wouldn't forget that she was the daughter of a king.
  • The first time that Lili calls Yona by her name, she's a little disappointed that Yona doesn't seem to notice or react. Yona is Lili's first friend to be a) her own age and b) not a paid bodyguard like her handmaidens Ayura and Tetra.
• Tsubaki Sawabe is almost never referred to by her last name in Your Lie in April.
• In Yu-Gi-Oh!, everyone calls Yugi by his first name (because he's literally the titular character), even though he most often calls them by their last names. Anzu Mazaki (in the dub, Téa Gardner), the only girl in the main gang, is also often referred to by her first name. Interestingly enough, characters may be on a Last-Name Basis with one character and a First-Name Basis with a younger sibling they don't know as well, in order to distinguish the two (for example, the characters often call Seto Kaiba "Kaiba-kun" and his younger brother Mokuba "Mokuba-kun").
  • It's mostly because Mokuba is friendlier (well, except when he was a jerk because of his brother complex before his brother's mind collapsed), and thus less likely to object, while Kaiba can often be outright hostile when the main characters talk to him.
  • In the Japanese version, Mokuba calls Seto Kaiba "Nii-sama" instead. Also in the Japanese version, Kaiba's employees call him "Seto-sama", and Ishizu calls him "Seto" (perhaps because she knows his true destiny).
  • In the English dub, Seto Kaiba is one of the few characters referred to by his last name (although Mokuba and his adoptive brother Noah still call him "Seto"; and probably also Yugi's grandfather Solomon Muto). Seto is on a first name basis with the rival he respects, Yugi, and on a last name basis with Yugi's friend he disdains, Joey Wheeler.
  • All Egyptian characters are referred to by their first names, including Shadi, the Ishtar siblings (there are three of them after all, so a last name basis would be confusing), the ancient Egyptian incarnations of Yugi, Solomon and Kaiba, and the characters in the movie Dark Side of Dimensions who don't really have last names.
  • Pegasus is a tricky case, because it's his first name in the Japanese version and the manga (as in Pegasus J. Crawford), but it's his last name in the English-dubbed anime (as in Maximillion Pegasus). In either case, he goes by "Pegasus."
• In Yu-Gi-Oh! GX:
  • Pretty much everyone calls Judai by his first name, except Sho and Kenzan who call him "Aniki" (Big Brother/Boss) instead.
  • Fubuki tells Manjoume three times in one episode to stop calling him "Onii-san" when he's still angry over Manjoume brainwashing his sister.
  • After Sho's A Day in the Limelight in season 3 (which has been a very traumatic season for everybody), he starts to call Judai by his given name instead of Aniki, to show how furious he is at Judai. After Judai fuses with Yubel and Sho realizes that he's forgiven Judai for what happened, he screams 'Aniki' after him, and afterward calls him 'Aniki' again, or Judai-aniki.
  • This trope is invoked by Manjoume, who insists that everyone call him "Manjoume-san"...except Asuka, who he has a severe crush on. She is the only person he's ever given permission to call him by his given name of "Jun" to. She still doesn't do it. His demands to be called Manjoume-san also result in an unwanted nickname, due to the sentence "Manjoume-san da!" being mistaken for "Manjoume Thunder" ("saanda" being the Japanese pronunciation of the English word "thunder").
• Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds:
  • Everybody calls Yusei by his first name. Some other characters such as Crow are called by their first name all the time.
  • Yusei gets Aki's attention during their second duel (where she's having a psychic mental meltdown) by switching from "Izayoi" to "Aki." Jack is still the only one of the main cast who doesn't call her by her first name.
  • Rudger Goodwin is always referred to by his first name to distinguish him from his younger brother Rex Goodwin, whom everybody calls by his last name instead.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: Everyone calls Yuma, most of his pals or Kaito by their first name. Only a few characters actually call Shark by his given name instead by his nickname.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V:
  • Yuya and Yuzu are called by their first name by everyone^note except by Nico Smiley if they are in the middle of an official match he is doing the Combat Commentary for. However, Yuya and Reiji go with Full-Name Basis with each other until the finale of the second season, where they finally call each other by their first names only.
  • Yuto is the only character who calls Kurosaki by his first name, since they are best friends. And since Kurosaki was introduced by his given name first, the majority of the fandom sticks with his given name, despite the constant Last-Name Basis around him. Later on, other Heartland characters introduced in the series are shown to call Kurosaki by his first name.
• Similarly, in YuYu Hakusho, most of the main characters call Yusuke by his first name, and while everyone except Yukina and Shizuru call Kuwabara by his last name, most people call Shizuru "Shizuru-san." Interestingly enough, Kuwabara calls Keiko by her last name, Yukimura, in the manga, but calls her "Keiko-chan" in the anime.
• Yuusha De Aru:
  • Yuki Yuna is a Hero: The main characters are True Companions who all call each other by their given names, except for Mimori Togo who is called by hr surname (by her own request). Not soon after meeting the Sixth Ranger Karin, Yuki immediately starts calling her by her name, which shocks her but Karin still allows it.
  • In Washio Sumi Chapter, Gin asks her two teammates to call her by her first name in the first episode. They don't initially listen to her. It isn't until the second episode that they begin calling her by her first name.

Exceptions

• In Accel World:
  • Haruyuki, Chiyuri and Takumu, who have been friends since they were young, refer to one another by their abbreviated names, "Haru," "Chiyu/Chii-chan," "Taku/Takkun".
  • Kuroyukihime addresses Haru and Taku by their unabbreviated first names and the "-kun" honorific. At the end of the Dusk Taker arc, one sign of how the initially frosty relations between Chiyu and Kuroyukihime have improved is that Kuroyukihime starts calling Chiyu "Chiyuri-kun" instead of "Kurashima-kun." Much later, she addresses Rin who is actually Ash Roller, Haru's Friendly Rival and the Child of Kuroyukihime's best friend Fuko by her first name to acknowledge her as one of the group.
  • Ash Roller is not amused when Haruyuki calls Rin by her first name, so he generally sticks with her family name even though she asks him to call her by her first name.
• Hiroko in AKB49 – Renai Kinshi Jourei demonstrated her strong friendship with "Minori" by insisting that "she" address her by her first name, not knowing that "she" is really her classmate Minoru, who still addresses her as Yoshinaga-san when not cross-dressed.
• Another:
  • Kouichi calls his aunt "Reiko-san" rather than "Aunt Reiko", but this is averted when they're in class, since he's expected to call her "Mikami-sensei," and she calls him "Sakakibara-kun."
  • While Kouichi calls Mei Misaki by her surname when speaking to her, he refers to her by her first name in the narration.
  • In the anime, Izumi asks to call Kouichi by his first name while visiting him in the hospital which, unbeknownst to him, is not the first time they've met. She's also on a first name basis with her best friend, Takako.
• In Are You Lost?, the four girls trapped together on the island quickly start using first names on each other, despite having been in different classes and clubs until then.
• Last-Name Basis is almost the rule in Assassination Classroom and only four students are ever called by their first names: Nagisa the protagonist, Karma who's very proud of his Meaningful Name, Itona, and Ritsu who has no last names to use.
  • The main reason why Nagisa insists of being called by his first name is he doesn't want to get used to his mother's family name, in hope that he would get his father's name back if his parents reconcile with each other. Years later, Nagisa's own students call him by his first name as well.
• Asteroid in Love:
  • The protagonist of the series, Mira, almost exclusively goes by her first name. In fact, Mari "Monroe" Morino, the Club President at the start of the series, has to ask Mira to remind her what her family name is, and is surprised that Mira is the younger sister of the Student Council President.
  • Mira gives nicknames to nearly everyone in the cast, and the one person she doesn't is her very close friend Ao.
  • While Yuki Endou, the club advisor, is generally called "Endou-sensei," her family, as well as people who knew her when she was young, all call her by her first name.
• In Bakemonogatari, Senjogahara gets Araragi to call her by her first name by bringing her father on their first date, and pretending that he's addressing her father when he says "Senjogahara". She doesn't reciprocate.
• In Bakuman。, Kaya starts adressing Takagi by his first name, when they decide to get married. Interestingly she starts using honorifics and calls him "Akito-san", while she was just calling him "Takagi" before. Similar, both Takagi and Mashiro used to call her "Miyoshi" before the marriage and since then they've switched to "Kaya-chan".
• Given how formal Japanese society is about family and given names, this is a story point in Black★Rock Shooter. Yomi Takenashi is locked in a hospital room with her possessive childhood friend Kagari Izuriha, while Mato Kuroi is outside. Mato's voice causes Kagari to explode with rage. Lost in the moment, Mato calls Yomi by her first name. Yomi smiles (without realizing it) and Kagari turns on her. As Kagari gets more unstable, Yomi calls Mato by her first name while begging for help through the door.
  • Later in the series, Mato calls Yomi by her first name again, but apologizes. Yomi says it's alright though and returns the favor, indicating that they've become true friends.
• Bleach: For most of his introductory arc, Ginjo addresses Ichigo by his first name. Once Tsukishima reverses the effect of his Fullbring and restores his memories, revealing him as the Arc Villain, Ginjo immediately starts calling Ichigo by his last name, something he doesn't pick up on until Tsukishima points it out. Then, at the climax of their fight, he screams Ichigo's name and keeps using it in his private thoughts as he dies, hinting that Ichigo has begun to influence him.
• Bloom Into You:
  • Some of the cast members who are good friends, such as Touko and Sayaka, as well as Yuu, Koyomi and Akari, refer to each other by their first names without honorifics.
  • Throughout the early series, Touko alternates between calling Yuu by her first name and "Koito-san," depending on her mood and the situation. Eventually, Touko asks permission to call Yuu by her first name, and Yuu nonchalantly accepts, noting that it isn't a big deal for Touko. Touko then asks Yuu to also call her by her first name, but ends up blushing so much when Yuu calls her "Touko-senpai" that Yuu decides not to do it. Yuu does eventually switch to "Touko-senpai" after she and Touko start going out, but decides that it's a bit too early to start also using yobisute on Touko, at least until just after Their First Time.
  • Riko and Miyako are on a first name basis, although Riko calls Miyako by her title as the manager of her café while they're around Riko's students. The two are in a secret lesbian relationship. Some of Riko's students call her "Riko-sensei," much to her annoyance.
  • Strangely enough, Yuu calls her older sister "Rei-chan" instead of using Japanese Sibling Terminology, and uses the surprisisngly informal "Hiro-kun" on Rei's boyfriend Hiro, a man four years Yuu's senior. She also calls Sayaka's girlfriend "Haru-chan", despite still being on a Last-Name Basis with Sayaka herself.
  • In the Regarding Sayaka Saeki spinoff light novel series, Sayaka is a bit reluctant to get onto a first-name basis with people, but makes a few exceptions. In the second volume, she almost immediately starts calling her friends Manaka and Midori by their first names, but it takes her a little while to work up the nerve to call Touko by hers. In Volume 3, Haru almost immediately calls Sayaka by "Sayaka-sempai," but Sayaka addresses Haru as "Edamoto-san" for most of the story, until they start dating. At that point, Sayaka starts calling Haru by her first name without honorifics, and asks Haru to drop the "sempai" from Sayaka's name.
• Bokurano:
  • While some cast members are referred to by nicknames and others by last names, a few- Kana, Maki, Daichi and Kanji- are generally referred to by their first names.
  • Tanaka usually refers to Ushiro as "Ushiro-kun," but occasionally refers to him as "Jun" in private, since he's her son. She never directly addresses him that way, since in both the manga and the anime, she dies before he finds out she's his mother. She also once addresses Kirie by his first name while pretending to be his aunt, and casually claims to be a police officer in order to scare off some bullies.
• Despite being rather close as friends (or rivals), most of the players in Captain Tsubasa tend to refer to each other by family names, with the protagonist himself being as a notable exception, as everyone calls him by his given name (even wearing it on his jersey regardless of the team he's playing for). To a lesser extent, Hyuga also calls Takeshi Sawada by his given name.
• In A Centaur's Life, Sassassul asks to be called by her given name, since her surname, Quetzalcoatl, is shared by all Antarcticans.
• On-chan points out to Hotaka in Evergreen that the first time he met Niki, she referred to him by his first name, which was a good sign for his crush.
• In Failed Princesses, Izumi calls most of her friends by their first names, and asks to call Kurokawa by her first name after getting to know her, since it would be weird to only call her by her last name. As a result of that scene, Kurokawa realizes that Fujishiro is the only person close to her that she calls by her last name. In a post-series extra chapter, Fujishiro insists that they use first names now that they've started dating, and Kurokawa complies.
• Averted with most of the Sohmas in Fruits Basket, since they all have the same last name. Tohru refers to most them by their first names, but adds "-san".
  • Also Played With between Arisa Uotani and Kureno Sohma. Kureno starts calling her "Arisa" once she gives her name, and she chews him out for being so "forward"; also, when she asks his name, he just says "Kureno", and she assumes it's his last name. Of course, Kureno's just a bit socially inept, since he never really interacted with people outside the family - he's so used to sharing a last name with everyone, he assumes that First-Name Basis is universal.
• In Ghost in the Shell, the main characters are generally on a title-only or Last-Name Basis. However in the first season of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, when the double of the Major is shot Batou slips and yells the Major's first name out of shock ("Motokooooo!"). They remain on a last-name basis again afterwards, though.
• Hinagiku Katsura from Hayate the Combat Butler insists on being referred to by her first name by practically everyone straight off the bat (though with the "-san" suffix) — there's a teacher on campus who shares her family name and she doesn't like being confused with the teacher. Or to be reminded of said teacher. She conforms to normal standards when addressing others.
• Immediate use of the First-Name Basis is very common for characters who are very (and we mean very) outgoing and friendly. Miyako of Hidamari Sketch does this when the circumstances of her and Yuno's first meeting are shown in the second series, almost straight away asking Yuno to call her "Miya" and running through a number of possible nicknames for Yuno until she settles on "Yunocchi". Then they have a bath together.
  • The same counts for Hikari's insistence to give Futaba a nickname in Amanchu!.
• In How to Keep a Mummy, everyone among the main cast, barring Tazuki, addresses Sora by his first name. Sora in turn addresses everyone by their first names, with the exception of Motegi, who he calls "Mogi-chan."
• In If I Could Reach You, most of the main cast are referred to by their first names. In fact, their last names generally aren't shown.
• In spite of the gradual Slap-Slap-Kiss development of their relationship to the point of a mutual agreement to marry, Sango of Inuyasha continues to call Miroku "Houshi-sama" (referring to him by his status as a wandering Buddhist monk) instead of calling him by name, a distinction not carried over into the English dub of the anime. (The Latin American one resorted to "Excellency", referring to the authority given to Miroku as a monk.) Miroku, on the other hand, jumps directly to calling her "Sango" without honorifics almost as soon as they've met, although he attaches some kind of respectful honorific to the name of every other female he speaks to.
• An A Day in the Limelight skit in I Think Our Son Is Gay shows Hiroki is the only person that is on first-name basis with Daigo.
• In Junjou Romantica, Nowaki addresses his long-time lover Hiroki Kamijo as "Hiro-san". After being together for some time, it starts to bother him that Hiroki's friends address him simply as "Hiroki", but when he tries it, Hiroki yells at him. After much angst and miscommunication, Hiroki reveals the reason why he prefers Nowaki to call him "Hiro-san": because Nowaki is actually the only person who calls him "Hiro-san". "I've got a special name I'm called, and there's only one person in the world allowed to call me that." Awwww.
• Kaguya-sama: Love Is War:
  • Kaguya never addresses non-family members by their first name, no matter how close to them she is, to the point that Kei has to basically force her to do so when they were window shopping. She starts to call Hayasaka by her first name "Ai" at the end of chapter 187, since their master-servent relationship has been disolved and they're now free to just treat each other as friends.
  • By contrast, Kaguya's Shadow Archetype and cousin Maki always uses people's first names if she's even remotely close to them, even forgoing the use of honorifics.
  • While most characters use first name when relationship closes, School Idol Tsubame is so easygoing she uses first name for everybody, and almost everybody uses her first name in.
  • It is unclear whether Koromo Shiranui always use first name or was flirting with Ishigami, because we don't see a lot of her, but she uses "Yu-chan" first time she talks to Ishigami.
• At the start of Kaiju Girl Caramelise, the only people who refer to friendless Kuroe Akaishi by her first name are her mother Rinko and her Honorary Uncle Koutarou Hibino. Eventually, her Spoiled Sweet classmate Manatsu Tomosato refers to her by her first name, though she also uses the formal honorific "-san" because she thinks Kuroe is the priestess of her beloved Harugon.
• In Kamichu!, Matsuri demands from Yurie that they call each other by their first names right from the start, which is not all too respectful considering that Yurie is a god.
• Except on very special occasions, Kodocha's Sana and Akito never use honorifics when talking about each other, and always refer to each other as "you" and "Hayama" respectively.
• Last-Name Basis is the standard in Kotoura-san, with one exception: Dai'chi is in this trope with Yuriko.
• In Love Hina, Keitaro always refers to Naru by the formal "Narusegawa" even after they're married, to which the rest of the cast then needs to point out that it isn't her name anymore, while she always calls him just "Keitaro". One exception is in one of his daydreams, where he fantasizes about marrying her. During the wedding ceremony he calls her "Narusegawa", then corrects himself to call her "Naru" — immediately freaking himself out at the implications of the more intimate form of address.
• Major 2nd: Daigo Shigeno and Mutsuko Sakura are on a Last-Name Basis during elementary school (Season 1 of the anime). By the time they're in second year of middle school (anime season 2), they've switched to refer each other by given names, implying they've grown closer.
• Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun:
  • Reflecting their close friendship, Sakura and Seo are the only duo in the main cast that refer to each other by their first names.
  • When pretending to be a couple (for manga material) at a cafe, Nozaki and Sakura trial calling each other Umetarou-kun and Chiyo-chan. Nozaki doesn't find much impact in this and suggests calling each other the English translations of their names (aka Plum and Cherry). Sakura briefly agrees to it, much to Mikoshiba's annoyance.
  • Mayu likes older people and so refers to characters older than him by their first names (except for Wakamatsu to show his respect as fellow sports club members), letting readers hear the rare first name exchanges of characters who are almost strictly on a Last-Name Basis like "Mikoto-san" (Mikoshiba). In return, characters refer to him by his first name to avoid confusing him with Nozaki.
• My Hero Academia:
  • Tsuyu Asui always insists that people call her Tsuyu, and she calls most of her female classmates by their first names, because of the sign of friendship present in this treatment. She denies this privilege to Himiko Toga, though, insisting that only her friends can call her Tsuyu. Himiko takes this to mean they're friends, despite Himiko trying to kill Tsuyu at the time.
  • Speaking of Himiko, she refers to several of the heroes by their first names as part of her Villainous Crush. She's the only person to refer to Izuku Midoriya by his first name besides his mother, and she also calls Ochaco Uraraka by her first name.
  • Parodied in an Omake Yonkoma accompanying chapter 217. Tetsutetsu has a Luminescent Blush when he thinks Itsuka Kendo (who he's heavily implied to have a crush on in the canon storyline) has started using his first name. She reminds him that his last name is also Tetsutetsu. Each "tetsu" is written with a different kanji and has a different meaning, but obviously you can't tell that when the name is spoken. Kendo does, however, refer to Yui and Ibara by their first names, and is implied to be somewhat close with the former.
  • All Might's mentors, Gran Torino and Nana Shimura (the previous holder of One for All) call him by his first name, Toshinori. Midoriya is confused the first few times he hears the name, and it's unclear if he even knew All Might's real name before.
  • The third volume of the light novel features a fantasy-themed alternative universe shown in the third ending sequence. All the characters there go by their first names.
  • Mirio and Tamaki speak to each other by their first name due to their level of closeness and history.
    • In a flashback it is revealed that one day during high school, it was Mirio who gave him his hero name, Suneater.
  • Ditto Aizawa and Present Mic though they use last names sometimes too. Like Mirio and Tamaki, they have been close since high school and Hizashi gave Aizawa his hero name of Eraserhead.
  • Since Bakugo never calls Midoriya by his first name, it’s obvious he’s being serious when he *does* call him "Izuku" in the Dark Hero arc.
• Naruto and Sasuke start out calling one another 'dobe' and 'teme' ('dead last' and a rude variation on 'you', respectively) but later move to calling one another by their first names. Frequently, and sometimes while firing high-level attacks at each other.
  • Much later on in the series, Sai tries to learn about making friends by observing Naruto and Sakura, noting their lack of honorifics with each other, as well as the use of nicknames. This is somewhat subverted when he applies this knowledge, almost calling Choji "fatass" (Naruto saves his skin just in time). He then concludes that it is best to nickname a person the opposite of what he thinks they are, and proceeds to nickname Ino "Ms. Lovely." This earns him a smack from Sakura.
• New Game!:
  • While Umiko calls most of her coworkers by their last names, and adds "-san," she insists that her coworkers call her by her first name, because she's embarrassed of her last name, Ahagon.
  • Use of first names is common among the staffers of Eagle Jump. Not long after starting, Aoba's on a first name basis with Hajime, Yun and Hifumi, who work nearest to her.
  • Blue Rose, being a French company, has first names as the norm. For example, Chloe, the art director, calls Hotaru by her first name just after meeting her and also refers to Catherine (their boss) the same way.
• In Nodame Cantabile, Chiaki starts out with calling Nodame various rude names, up to the point where they play the piano duet, when Chiaki finally calls Nodame by her preferred name.
• Tamaki from Ouran High School Host Club insists on being on first name basis with Kyoya from almost the moment they meet.
• In Persona 4: The Animation, protagonist Yu Narukami eventually gets on a first-name basis with Yosuke (his second-in-command) and Rise (who has a blatant crush on him) about halfway through the series.
• In the localizations for the Persona 3 and Persona 4 manga (until Volume 9 for the former and Volume 10 for the latter), the teenage cast members tend to use first names on each other, while using last names for teachers and other adults. This even includes Mitsuru, who, in P3, called almost everyone besides Akihiko and later Yukari by their last names.
• The Quintessential Quintuplets: At the start of the Scrambled Eggs arc, Nino calls Fuutarou by his given name, much to the surprise of the others (especially Miku), given that up to that point she would at most refer to him by surname or "him". Considering that she was the most hostile towards him (and the last one to accept him as their tutor), their reactions are understandable.
• In Sazanka, Tatsuki, the protagonist, is on a first-name basis with her boyfriend, Keita, as well as her best friend, Aoi, all of whom only have their surnames revealed in supplementary materials.
• In Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles, while all the girls in Yuba's village address the protagonist as "Rio-sama", Yuba's granddaughter Ruri is the only one not to without care. However, when Rio stops calling her "Ruri-san", suspicion is aroused that the two of them had a Relationship Upgrade. What the village girls don't know is that Ruri has been told by Rio they are actually cousins and he wants to drop the honorifics since they're family; Ruri is warned not to tell anyone in the village about this and nearly slips up when questioned if the Relationship Upgrade is true or not.
• Shirobako:
  • Almost everybody at Musashino Animation is on a last-name basis with their co-workers, which is fairly normal for a Japanese workplace. The notable exception is Tarou Takanashi, who is referred to by his first name by nearly everyone due to how little respect they have for him. A few people, like Miyamori, call him "Takanashi-kun/san", but don't think any more highly of him.
  • The main characters, a group of five girls who were in their school's anime club together, generally use nicknames on each other (Aoi is "Oi-chan", Shizuka is "Zuka-chan," Misa is "Mii-chan," and Midori is "Rii-chan"), but they call Ema by her first name. Iguchi, one of Ema's coworkers in the animation department, starts off calling her "Yasuharacchi," before later switching to "Emacchi."
  • Isokawa, a classmate of Hiraoka and Yano's from vocational school, calls them "Daisuke" and "Erika," respectively.
• In Shy, the titular character calls everyone else by their family names, even if they already call her by her first name. This changes in chapter 30 when her best friend Iko decides that the two of them will now use their first names with each other. She even mentions what a big step this is for her.
• The Summer You Were There:
  • The progress of Kaori and Shizuku's relationship is shown by how they address each other. Kaori asks to call Shizuku by her first name during the aquarium date, and Shizuku is indifferent at first, continuing to call Kaori "Asaka-san." Kaori temporarily switches back to "Hoshikawa-san," but Shizuku eventually asks to start calling each other by their first names, although she refers to Kaori as "Asaka-san" in her thoughts. After Kaori collapses, she tries to break up with Shizuku, calling her "Hoshikawa-san" as she does, but Shizuku refuses, and by this point, she consistently refers to Kaori by her first name.
  • Kaori immediately starts calling Shizuka by her first name. When questioned about it by Shizuku, she remarks that if she didn't, she'd be calling everyone in the house "Hoshikawa-san."
  • Shizuku called Ruri "Ruri-chan" in elementary school, since she considered her a friend, even if she ended up bullying her in a misguided attempt to help her. When the two meet again midway through the story, Shizuku switches to the more formal "Ichinose-san" when trying to apologize to her. After Ruri expresses her desire to start over with Shizuku in an attempt to move on from her trauma, Shizuku switches back to "Ruri-chan."
• In A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, while Konatsu calls Koyuki "Honami-sempai" or "Sempai," she switches to "Koyuki-san" when she rings the doorbell to the Honami house and asks for Koyuki. She ends up blushing over that as she waits for Koyuki to come out. Meanwhile, Koyuki, being the sempai, freely refers to Konatsu as "Konatsu-chan" for much of the story. Eventually, Konatsu starst calling Koyuki by her first name on the latter's request, since Koyuki points out that she'll no longer be Konatsu's sempai after graduating.
• Yuki Yuna is a Hero: Togo is best friends with the rest of the main characters but no one calls her "Mimori". Togo explicitly asked them to use her surname. Yuna also likes the way "Togo-san" sounds.
• Yuri Moyou:
  • Ryou refers to her student Hikari by her first name, which is highly unusual for a Japanese teacher.
  • For most of the series, Serina's immediate superior, Chief Sakuraba, calls her "Sakimiya-san". In the last chapter, however, Sakuraba switches to "Serina-chan," much to Serina's delight.
• Yu-Gi-Oh!: Very few characters call Seto Kaiba "Seto", even less so in the 4Kids version. In the 4Kids version, only Mokuba, Noah and Gozaburo call him by his given name. In the Japanese version, Mokuba does not (he calls him "Nii-sama" instead), and aside from Noah and Gozaburo, the other characters who call him "Seto" are Ishizu, the Big Five and the employees of Kaiba Corp.

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