I Am Not Shazam / Anime & Manga

• Action Heroine Cheer Fruits: The girls' fictional superhero team is called "Hina-Nectars", while "Cheer Fruits" is the name of their production team. This phenomenon is actually discussed in Episode 4, where Misaki mentions that the popular heroine Kamidaio belongs to a production team called Gingers, but most people just use the Kamidaio name because it's far more prominent.
• AKIRA: Akira is not the name of the main character of the manga, he's named Kaneda. His best friend who gains superpowers and goes insane also is not Akira, he's called Tetsuo. The strange creepy child that gives Tetsuo the superpowers? No, he's Takashi. In fact, Akira doesn't show up during the entire first volume and is more like a living MacGuffin.
• ARIA: The main character is Akari, and Aria is the name of the company she's working in (although it's a namesake of the president).
• Astro Boy: Played straight or subverted, depending on the anime and dub you're watching. Some had his whole name as Astro Boy (that's the name Kathy and Dr. Elefun give him in episode 2 of the English dub of the 80's series, The Robot Circus), but even than he's usually called Astro for short. And of course the rest have his name as just "Astro." This is also true in the original Japanese, where the series is called "Tetsuwan Atomu" (Mighty Atom), but the titular robot's actual name is simply Atom.
• Akazukin Chacha: The protagonist's Older Alter Ego in the anime is simply named "Magical Princess", but fans have occasionally labeled her as "Holy Up" since that’s the second part of her By the Power of Grayskull! speech, or, in some extreme cases, they use the whole line and call her "Magical Princess Holy Up".
• None of the girls in Azumanga Daioh are named "Azumanga". It's just a manga written by Kiyohiko Azuma and published in Dengeki Daioh magazine.
• The usual Frankenstein flub is parodied in Baccano!, where Isaac corrects Miria for making the error: Frankenstein was the scientist — the monster's name was Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelly.
• Bakugan: The protagonist of the the series is named Dan Kuso, not Bakugan. They are just the battling toys.
• None of the characters in Bleach are named "Bleach", nor any objects or concepts for that matter - while the title can allude to multiple things in the story, per Word of God it's meant to be a stylistic analog for the color white, which in Japan is commonly associated with the concept of death, an overarching motif in the manga.
• There is no character in Charlotte named "Charlotte". The title refers to a comet, which emits particles into the atmosphere when it transits Earth. Children who breathe in these particles develop superpowers.
• Chobits is not the name of the female lead of the series (of the same name). It's Chii. "Chobits" is the class of persocom that Chii is implied to belong to. Turns out, she is one of them.
• When City Hunter was adapted to Italy, Ryo, the main character, had his name changed to... Hunter. This was also prevalent in the original City Hunter manga, where "City Hunter" (often rendered "CH" in English with Japanese furigana above it in dialogue balloons) was implied to be the name of Ryo and Kaori's organization.
• Cowboy Bebop:
  • No character is actually named "Cowboy Bebop". "Cowboy" is an in-universe slang term for bounty hunters, and the ship used by the main group of hunters is named the Bebop. This was just one of many mistakes made by the Trope Namer for Cowboy BeBop at His Computer. It also doesn't help considering names are rarely spoken.
  • Many people confuse the name of the villain Mad Pierrot with the episode in which he appears ("Pierrot Le Fou"). Though since he appeared in one only episode, where his name is rarely mentioned, it's understandable. Particularly since "Pierrot le Fou" means "Mad Pierrot" in French...
  • Even the back cover of the DVDs makes this mistake: "A new generation of outlaws came into being. People referred to them as Cowboy Bebops."
• The main character of Daphne in the Brilliant Blue is called Maia. "Daphne" refers to a subplot involving her grandfather's last words.
• There are two main characters in Dororo, one of which is actually named that (the courageous but mouthy thief child). Who most people think is Dororo, the prosthetics-sporting swordsman, is Hyakkimaru.
• Doctor Slump: The title is an insulting nickname for Bungling Inventor Senbei Norimaki, but it's never used in-universe (except for the occasional Title Drop), and Senbei isn't even the main character. It doesn't help that Senbei was actually renamed Dr. Slump in some old European dubs.
• Dragon Ball:
  • A lot of people who are not anime fans think that "Dragon Ball" is the name of Goku.
  • Even worse, Goku and his friends are sometimes referred to as "The Dragonballz".
  • Another common mistake is referring to the Energy Blasts that became staples of the series as Dragon Balls.
  • In fact, the actual Dragon Balls themselves are the series' MacGuffins that gave the series its title.
• Dr. STONE is not the name of that Mad Scientist holding the flask you see in all the promotional material. His name is Senku (or Senkuu). There's no character in the series named Dr. Stone; the title refers to Senku's use of science to reverse the effects of people getting turned to stone, him being a scientist living in a Stone Age society, and his nickname for soap, "the doctor stone," as it helps stop so many diseases it's like having a doctor around.
• Fist of the North Star: The Streamline Pictures' dub of the movie made it seem as if "Fist of the North Star" was a title that Kenshiro and his brothers were fighting for rather than the name of their martial art style Hokuto Shin Ken (The Divine Fist of the North Star), which can only have one successor per master.
  • It should be noted that the Japanese title, Hokuto no Ken, is an Epunymous Title. The name "Ken" is a homophone for the Japanese word for "fist" or "martial art". Thus, Hokuto no Ken can refer to the martial art of Hokuto Shin Ken (as in the "martial art of Hokuto") or the main character himself, who is named Ken (as in "Ken of the Hokuto school"). This play on words is lost on the English title.
• In Franken Fran, the title character's name is Fran Madaraki. The series name comes from how she's an Artificial Human in the vein of Frankenstein's Monster.
• Future Diary: Mirai Nikki doesn't refer to any character in the series. It's Japanese for "Future Diary", which refers to the diaries that can help learn about future events, that are given to each contestant.
• The protagonist in Hana no Ko Lunlun is called Lunlun, not Hana. This is a understandable mistake to make if you have not watched the anime since Hana is a common Japanese name for girls while Lunlun just sounds nonsensical.
• This happens often with Hellsing. The title refers to the vampire hunting organization which is named "Hellsing" after the family who founded and runs it. The current head of the Organization is named "Integra Hellsing" and she employs a vampire who hunts other vampires named "Alucard". He's the main character who is featured most on book and DVD covers. Almost always, when someone with no knowledge of the series takes a look at it or comments on it, they tend to call Alucard "Hellsing".
• In a rather odd variant, Hetalia: Axis Powers's Italy refers to himself as Hetalia in the credit song. This is likely because since "Hetalia" is a portmanteau of "hetare" (incompetent) and "Italia", he meant something along the lines of "I'm Incompetent Italy!" However, his name is still Italy and not Hetalia.
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
  • While the title of the third part, Stardust Crusaders, is pretty obviously meant to refer to Jotaro and his Stand-using allies, the group is never actually called that, whether in canon or by Word of God. Officially, the team doesn't have a name at all. However, for simplicity's sake, many fans refer to the heroes of Part 3 as "the Stardust Crusaders", which leads some less-experienced fans to believe that's the group's name.
  • Similarly, in Part 5, Golden Wind, the main group of heroes is often referred to as Passione, which is actually the name of the mafia as a whole. The group has no name. It doesn't help that the English Dub changes Giorno's stand from Gold Experience to Golden Wind.
• In the Brazilian dub of Kaleido Star, the dubbers for some reason decided to change the name of the Kaleido Stage to Kaleido Star, most likely for easier recognition. The term "Kaleido Star" is used in-show as the title to the best artist of the circus. In the Brazilian dub, this term became "Estrela do Kaleido Star" (literally, "The Star of the Kaleido Star").
• Kanamemo lampshades its title on an omake in the manga, also referring to infamous examples such as the Die Hard and Avatar examples:
  Kana: Supposedly it's a pun on the word memorandum, since "Kanadiary" wouldn't catch on, wouldn't you agree, Yume?
  Yume: I'm just worried that it's gonna have the John McClane or Na'vi effect.
  Saki: Ugh, I hate that.
• Tsukimiya Ayu's name is not Kanon, nor is it the name of any other member of the Unwanted Harem. Kanon refers to Kanon D-dur, a piece of German classical music known in English as "Canon in D" or "Pachelbel's Canon".
• Koharu Biyori is not anyone's name in the series. It translates into "Indian Summer" which it was retitled for its North American release.
• The girls of K-On! are in a band. Their band's name is "Afterschool Teatime", not "K-On." The title is a contraction of "keiongaku" or "light music," a term for less-serious classical compositions. The cast re-forms the school's Light Music Club, though in practice they spend 90% of their time goofing off and 10% of it performing pop songs with Western-style rock instruments.
• People will sometimes say "KonoSuba is my waifu". There is no character named Konosuba—technically, "Konosuba" isn't even the name of the series, it's an abbreviation of "Kono Subarashii Sekai Ni Shukufuko O"—and they are likely confusing the title of the series with Aqua, the poster girl.
• Love Hina: "Hina" doesn't refer to any of the main characters, but to the name of the inn where characters live, itself named after Keitaro's grandmother.
• Little Witch Academia: The name of the school Atsuko Kagari attends to become a witch is called Luna Nova Magical Academy, not the title of the Anime itself.
• The protagonists' idol group in Love Live! is called "μ's" ("muse"). "Love Live" is a school-idol contest they participate in. The sequel title Love Live! Sunshine!! indicates the successor band is called "Sunshine," but, nope, they're "Aqours." Similarly, the group of Love Live! Superstar!! is called Liella. The outlier is Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club whose main cast is indeed the Nijigasaki High School Idol Club, but unlike the other casts they are just a club of solo idols and not a group.
• Magic Knight Rayearth: The title is not the name of the Magical Girl team featured, who are just referred to as the Magic Knights (plural). It specifically refers to the lead Genki Girl and her mashin named Rayearth. The OAV attempts to change this by changing the name of the Mashin to "Lexus" and Rayearth is all the knights' fused Mashin.
• The female lead of The Mystic Archives of Dantalian is called Dalian, not Dantalian.
• The title character of Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok is not named Loki Ragnarok; he's just Loki. In fact, the god Loki, from Norse Mythology.
• Naruto: While the protagonist is indeed named "Naruto", his last name is Uzumaki, not "Shippuden". Naruto Shippuden is the name of the sequel to the original anime series.
• Due to the title, there's confusion over the name of the protagonist in Negima! Magister Negi Magi. It's "Negi", not "Negima" (and as of this writing, the author has not given a reason why there is an extra "ma" in there). ^note Also, the extra "ma" is written with a hiragana character, while the protagonist's name is written with katakana characters "ne" and "gi", which further underlines the fact that this is actually a compound word. The only time it's mentioned is during a Title Drop. Negi's friends briefly call themselves the "Negima Club" until Evangeline makes them change it. See the manga's Fridge Brilliance page for a possible (spoilerific) reason for the -ma at the end.
• That guy known for defeating his enemies with one punch? He's never called the One-Punch Man. He's only ever addressed by his real name, Saitama, or his super hero name, Caped Baldy (he didn't pick it).
• Pani Poni Dash! is not the name of the school that Becky teaches at. The school is called Momotsuki Academy. The term "paniponi" is used in-show, but it's unclear exactly what it means.
• Pokémon: The Series: There are people who think Pikachu or Ash's name is Pokemon. Misty's sisters are introduced in the episode "The Water Flowers of Cerulean City". Their group name is not "The Water Flowers", it's "The Sensational Sisters". The episode title also caused many fans believe that Misty's surname is "Waterflower". It's not. She has no known surname. Despite this, you'll be hard pressed to find a fanfic that doesn't call her "Misty Waterflower" (either that or "Misty Williams").
• The heroine of Princess Mononoke is named San, not Mononoke. Mononoke is just the type of demon that the residents of Irontown believe her to be. Additionally, she's not actually a princess, either.
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica:
  • The first cover image of Puella Magi Madoka Magica's Spin-Off manga Puella Magi Oriko Magica showed Mami, Kyouko, and an unknown green-haired girl. It was initially believed that this girl was the title character. It turns out Oriko is someone else and the green-haired girl's name is Yuma.
  • The English name of the series is an odd example. It's actually a Gratuitous Latin subtitle/translation of the Japanese title, "Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica" ("Magical Girl Madoka Magica"). "Puella Magi" appears exactly zero times in both the original Japanese track and English dub; the heroines are always referred to as Magical Girls. Nonetheless, this term is often used in the fandom as an alternate name for the heroines, since it's a convenient way to distinguish them from Magical Girls in general. However, in the sequel, the protagonists do refer to themselves as the "Puella Magi Holy Quintet", but only once, and it's during a very strange sequence which can be construed as mocking the fandom.
• Ranma ½:
  • Not a character, but similar, is a situation with Ranma ½ and the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken. This is a type of Training from Hell in which the trainee attempts to pluck chestnuts from amidst open flames in order to boost their speed, and Ranma later uses this training to develop a Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs attack that becomes the keystone of his subsequent battles. He never actually names this in the manga, but the anime and video games evidently mistook the training for the technique and, thanks to Calling Your Attacks, it became an established part of Fanon.
  • There's also the awkward case of Pantyhose Taro. Just like more traditional names like Kentaro, Ryutaro, Sentaro, or Yotaro, his full Japanese name would be "Pantsutotaro" as one word (thanks to the perverted Happosai, who baptized him, replacing an ordinary prefix with something more to his tastes.) However, "pantsuto" literally means "pantyhose," making it awkward at best to transliterate his name into "Pantyhosetaro." Thus, for the sake of aesthetics, his name is typically displayed in English (both in official translations as well as Japanese materials) as "Pantyhose Taro." Fans, however, took to referring him by his "first name" Pantyhose or his "last name" Taro, which would be akin to calling some one "first name Ro, last name Bert."
• The manga Rin isn't named after a character, but is a kanji used to refer to something that gives one shivers of awe.
• In the aborted Robotech II: The Sentinels, the Sentinels doesn't really refer to the members of the Robotech Expeditionary Force. It refers to a multiracial group of aliens form Invid occupied planets. The REF assists them in liberating their worlds. Some of the REF members do end up fighting alongside the Sentinels but they were not charter members and were still mostly associates.
• Rurouni Kenshin:
  • Kenshin's family name is not Rurouni. (For that matter, "Rurouni" is a Neologism for Rōnin that never really caught on.)
  • When the series first came out in America, the title was often pronounced "Ronin Kenshin". Cue countless newbies asking which one is Roan.
• Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei: The teacher/main character prefers to be called Itoshiki Nozomu. He freaks out when his name is written horizontally, however, because it spells out "Zetsubou", which means "despair".
• The team in Science Ninja Team Gatchaman is simply called the "Science Ninja Team", while "Gatchaman" is the codename for their leader Ken the Eagle, but the way the title is written makes it seem as if Gatchaman is the team's name.
• Sgt. Frog: Dub example—While making Ikinari dumplings at lightning speed on an assembly line, Angol Mois mentions feeling "just like I Love Lucy in that episode of I Love Lucy".
  • A real-world example is Keroro's name. Initially, there was confusion that caused some English readers to call him Sergeant Frog, since even though his name wasn't changed for the English release, that was the name the series got. Most people know better now, though.
• Sherlock Hound is simply the English title made to showcase how the series is an Anthropomorphic Animal Adaptation. Sherlock is named "Sherlock Holmes" even in the dub.
• Sonic X: Both the Latin America Jetix TV spots and the in-vision presenters of the UK's CITV (during its first few showings) would refer to Sonic as "Sonic X". Any fan of the franchise, especially the videogames, knows that the character is known as Sonic the Hedgehog.
• In the English dub of Space Battleship Yamato (known as Star Blazers), the crew is not called the Star Blazers in any dialogue. They are always called the Star Force. In the recap narration for each episode, the narrator, however, does say "a team of Star Blazers called the Star Force...", which does sound somewhat odd.
• The main character from Steins;Gate isn't named Stein. His real name is Okabe Rintarou, and he refers to himself as Hououin Kyouma. The name comes from his Catchphrase, "This is the choice of Stein's Gate!", which he uses to refer to any interesting developments.
• The main character of Sumomo Mo Momo Mo is named Momoko, not Sumomo or Momomo. But most people are just lucky to say the tongue-twister title correctly, so try to cut them some slack on getting the characters right, too.
• The Suzy's Zoo: Daisuki! Witzy anime is based on the Little Suzy's Zoo sister franchise, not the main Suzy's Zoo one (the latter has Suzy Ducken, Jake Quackers and Corky Turtle and targets an older audience).
• Tenchi Muyo!:
  • The main character in the series Tenchi Muyo! is named Tenchi Masaki. The title of the series is a complicated Japanese pun (involving, among other things, the standard Japanese labeling for "This End Up!"), and not the name of the main character. This caused some confusion when the movie Tenchi Muyo! In Love came out, because misreading the title as the name of the main character implies that Tenchi falls in love in the movie, which he doesn't. The title is most easily translated as "No Need For Tenchi", which fits in with the Idiosyncratic Episode Naming.
  • Ryoko has been called "Tokoton Ryoko" on at least one fan web site. Tokoton Ryoko is actually the title of a book about her, and means Thoroughly Ryoko. Her name is in fact just Ryoko, although she is sometimes (but never to her face) called Ryoko Hakubi, due to her relationship with Washu in the OVAs.
• For all intents and purposes, the titular Tensai Bakabon is not the bumbling old man with the "kore de ii no da" catchphrase. That's his (unnamed) dad.
• The protagonist of Trigun is known as "Vash the Stampede". No one is certain what the title refers to, the most popular idea being his three weapons: the silver revolver, the machine gun hidden within his prosthetic arm, and his Angel Arm. This confusion was lampshaded during the Adult Swim broadcast of the show. One of their bumper cards accidentally referred to Trigun, the show, as "he." This resulted in a ton of angry emails to AS about how the character's name is Vash, not Trigun. AS responded by creating a new card which intentionally confuses the two. "Can Trigun escape? Will his marksmanship be enough?"
• Tokyo Pop is guilty of this; in their translation of Tokyo Mew Mew, Mew Ichigo was initially referred to as if "Mew Mew" was her name. In fact, "Mew Mew" is a title granted to all the series' Magical Girls. When the group is given the name "Tokyo Mew Mew" in the second volume, the translators realized their mistake and started calling her Mew Ichigo. Too bad they didn't fix everything, though.
• Lum and the other Onis in Urusei Yatsura come from the planet Oniboshi. The title is a complicated Japanese pun that is partly based on "urusai" and "-sei" (meaning star or planet, the same kanji used for -hoshi/-boshi). The meaning of the title was explained in the Viz manga, so it became widely known, and fans have misinterpreted that as meaning that Urusei is the actual name of the planet. Fanfic then spread it further.
• In the Violinist of Hameln manga, the hero's name is Hamel, and he is going north to the Mazoku city Hameln (the name of which comes from the fairy tale about the Pied Piper of Hamelin). The anime never told us the name of the Mazoku capital, but kept the title Violinist of Hameln, making it seem like Hamel's name was actually Hameln.
• The Vision of Escaflowne: The heroine is named Hitomi, not Escaflowne. Escaflowne is, of course, a giant mecha. Escaflowne does not have the vision, the vision is depicting Escaflowne.
• Wangan Midnight: "Blackbird" (or sometimes "The Blackbird") is the extensively-tuned Porche driven by Tatsuya Shima, not the doctor himself. However, his identity is so tied to that vehicle and street racing (Akio and Reina at least occasionally hang loose and have some fun) that a lot of readers and Maximum Tune players now call both entities Blackbird. This was adopted in the anime adaptation.
• Inuyasha: Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's father is known as "Inu no Taishou". A lot of fans think this is his name but it's simply a title roughly equivalent to "the Dog General". His name is never revealed.
• Before Yotsuba&! got its official translated name, a lot of folks thought the main character's name was Yotsubato. Despite the fact that the Japanese manga books say "Yotsuba&!" on the back cover.
• The nameless pharaoh from Yu-Gi-Oh! is neither called Yami or Yu-Gi-Oh. The later just means "King of Games" and would refer to the title everyone who plays the series' card game is trying to achieve and the former is a Fan Nickname stemming from his in-universe nickname of Yami Yugi (Dark Yugi) which characters often use in order to differentiate him from the "normal" Yugi. Although the English dub tosses around the term "king of games" and "spirit", it also has a scene where the Pharaoh tell Yugi he is known by many names, including Yugioh and Yami.
  • Knowing that Yu-Gi-Oh means "King of Games," it's not unreasonable to believe that it's one of the things he's known as. Since he is a Pharaoh, he likely has titles like this. In fact, the opening monologue in the Japanese version states "People refer to him as 'Yu-Gi-Oh'" (though presumably as a title rather than an actual name).
  • Saying he's known as Yami could be Fridge Brilliance, in that he's correct: it's the name the fans use for him. So, he's being meta.
  • The Italian intro actually starts with the lyrics "Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh! That`s your name!", and a German kids magazine about Anime constantly called Yami Yugi "Yu Gi Oh" in their commercials.
  • It's also far from uncommon to hear those unfamiliar with the series to believe that Yugioh is the name of the main character. Granted, this is somewhat understandable, given his name is Yugi, which means game, although his full name is "Yugi Muto" and not "Yugioh".
• When YuYu Hakusho came to Israel and was dubbed into Hebrew, Yusuke Urameshi's name was changed to...you guessed it... "Yu Yu Hakusho".
  • The Netflix description of the movies is worse. One of the movies refers to him as Yu Yu Hakusho, the other Yu Yu Urameshi, and the series itself correctly identifies him as Yusuke Urameshi.
  • Anime fans have a meme from the period where WWE Smackdown advertised the Dark Tournament video game with color commentator Tazz proclaiming "Yu Yu Hakusho! I love that guy!" in each and every ad.

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