"I can't possibly believe that this light novel series' title is so long!"

[Haiprbim]

Yeah, quite a lot of recently released Light Novels indeed do have long titles.
Besides the already named ones, Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru. could also be an example, hehe.
I personally think they can lure fans into buying them and make quite a success if the long title is well picked and the cover looks great, but still, the top Light Novels will already have short titles.
Long, funny/interesting titles are made to attract people to a certain limit, but that limit is already so high that actually having a long title is safer than a short title nowadays. :D

[Dopplegeist]

How do Japanese readers view the long titles? Do they come across as more "dramatic" or is the effect purely comedic, since they are loosely referencing OreImo?

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Dopplegeist

How do Japanese readers view the long titles? Do they come across as more "dramatic" or is the effect purely comedic, since they are loosely referencing OreImo?

It's just a silly marketing gimmick like anything else, and basically the first thing that happens is the reader community comes up with some acronym for it anyway (like OreImo, Oregairu, etc.). On the positive side, it (and the art/artist) helps people know at a glance if it's the sort of story that might be worth checking out for them. And also, the long title means that there's unlikely to be another work with the exact same title (sort of like how it's hard to come up with decent one-word domain names these days). But in practical terms, it doesn't really make that much difference what they call it once someone reads it and gets hooked.

I would also say that, generally speaking, this fad is kind of over; I'm sure some will still do it going forward, but the big wave has passed.

[KanbeKotori]

If you think LN titles are very long, check out the VN Asairo. The full title isn't even displayed for it is around 4 sentences long from what I heard. I haven't read the VN of course but the title displayed ends with a comma.

きっと、澄みわたる朝色よりも、

That's all you'll get to see. Someone who read it told me the full title is displayed somewhere when you read it.

[erneiz_hyde]

*Shumon fanboy chiming in*

きっと、澄みわたる朝色よりも、
今、確かに此処にいるあなたと、
出逢いの数だけのふれあいに、
この手は繋がっている

Though this is also a gimmick to indicate the 4 big chapters of the VN. The VN is for all intents and purposes linear, and when you're going through each chapter, the title screen changes to the part corresponding where you currently are. The title screen with the full four phrase is unlocked after you cleared the whole novel.

[KanbeKotori]

Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde

*Shumon fanboy chiming in*

きっと、澄みわたる朝色よりも、
今、確かに此処にいるあなたと、
出逢いの数だけのふれあいに、
この手は繋がっている

Though this is also a gimmick to indicate the 4 big chapters of the VN. The VN is for all intents and purposes linear, and when you're going through each chapter, the title screen changes to the part corresponding where you currently are. The title screen with the full four phrase is unlocked after you cleared the whole novel.

Thanks for this. I haven't read managed to read it yet. The full title is amazing though.

[Triple_R]

There's a question I want to ask hardcore LN fans who read a lot of LNs and/or who watch a lot of LN adaptations. This thread seems like the perfect place to do it, given the nature of the question.

How often do you find that...

1) The big, long, synopsis-style title accurately reflects what you get in the story, without any irony? In other words, "What's on the label is exactly what you get in the can."

2) The big, long, synopsis-style title reflects what you get in the story, but mostly with irony? Hypothetical example - The title suggests that the male lead is useless and unpopular, but he's actually very brainy and popular, and him being that way is central to the story and his character.

3) The big, long, synopsis-style title is almost completely unrelated to what's in the story? Hypothetical example - The title suggests that the LN will be about the male lead playing RPGs all the time, but only 10% or less of the narrative's time is spent on the male lead actually playing RPGs.


tl;dr - I'm interested in finding out just how "honest advertising" these big, long LN titles are.

[SPARTAN 119]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

There's a question I want to ask hardcore LN fans who read a lot of LNs and/or who watch a lot of LN adaptations. This thread seems like the perfect place to do it, given the nature of the question.

How often do you find that...

1) The big, long, synopsis-style title accurately reflects what you get in the story, without any irony? In other words, "What's on the label is exactly what you get in the can."

2) The big, long, synopsis-style title reflects what you get in the story, but mostly with irony? Hypothetical example - The title suggests that the male lead is useless and unpopular, but he's actually very brainy and popular, and him being that way is central to the story and his character.

3) The big, long, synopsis-style title is almost completely unrelated to what's in the story? Hypothetical example - The title suggests that the LN will be about the male lead playing RPGs all the time, but only 10% or less of the narrative's time is spent on the male lead actually playing RPGs.


tl;dr - I'm interested in finding out just how "honest advertising" these big, long LN titles are.

Haven't read that many light novels, seen more anime adaptations, but here's my thoughts on the issue. I will also include manga and anime that have long, light novel-like titles:

Also, I'm pretty sure people on this thread have already mentioned this, but it seems to me that most long-titled light novels and manga are slice-of-life comedy. The only one I can think of off the top of my head that breaks that rule is Gate: Thus the JSDF Fought There!, which is an interesting combination military-action-thriller with high fantasy.

Now, without further ado, my thoughts on the honesty of the titles:

Watamote: The first version of the title, "Its Not My Fault I'm Not Popular", can be seen both as literal as ironic. Part of Tomoko's sad state can be seen as her being a victim of random chance. However, the anime/manga also suggests that it IS in part her fault she is not popular, or at least have very few friends. At the very least, her social phobias, odd behavior, and her simulataneous envy and hatred of popular people aren't helping the matter. Still, you can't fault Tomoko much, as the first step to getting help is admitting you need it, and that is hardest part. As for the other title variation, "No Matter How I Look At It, Its You Guy's Fault I'm Not Popular", is a reflection of Tomoko's inner anger at her situation, which she often directs at other people.

Ore ga Doutei (insert rest of Japanese Title)/About How I'll Die If I Lose My Virginity: Title refers to lead character, Kazuya's misconceptions about the whole scenerio where his 32-year old virgin childhood friend, Masaki murders him and for some reason he is sent back in time Steins;Gate style. He assumed he was killed by his friend out of jealousy of his many sexual partners. He later discovers Masaki's real motive is

Spoiler for Major OreDoutei Spoilers:

because he blames Kazuya's sexual relationship with his Masaki's former high school crush, Rika Yoshino, as starting a chain of events that led to Yoshino's death. In the second timestream, Kazuya discovers this, saves Rika's life, and as an added bonus, Masaki is no longer an unwanted virgin, having (presumably-off panel) scored with the manga's resident meganekko.

OreImo/My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute: This one is more difficult... perhaps ironic as Kirino is clearly intend to be quite cute, at least in the eyes of the otaku fanbase.

I Don't Like You At All Big Brother: Haven't seen or read this one, but from the sound of the reviews, the title is clearly ironic.

Boku Wa Tomodachi/I Don't have Many Friends: Only seen a few episodes. Appears to be the case at least for the beginning, but from what I heard, this may become less so for the lead character and the rest of their little club as the story progresses.

Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai/I Don't Care About My Adolescent Delusions, I Want A Date!: In this case, the title is pretty true to the concept, with the exception that Yuuta does not consider himself to have chuunibyou, however, he does relapse from time to time.

Gate: Thus the JSDF Fought There: Title is pretty much played straight, a gate to a fantasy world opens up in Tokyo, a fantasy army invades, only to be easily defeated by the JSDF, who then counter attack through the gate. Only think I could say as that as far as the word fought. Mowing down 100,000 swordsmen, archers, and dragon riders using machine guns, tanks, and Cobra attack helicopters seems so one sided it can hardly be called a fight.

[Lord of Fire]

Originally Posted by SPARTAN 119

OreImo/My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute: This one is more difficult... perhaps ironic as Kirino is clearly intend to be quite cute, at least in the eyes of the otaku fanbase.

I can think of two ways you can look at this title:
1. Yes, she is quite cute, both in looks and personality, but because Kyousuke is on ill footing with her, he can't see her as such;

Spoiler for OreImo spoiler:

2. He can't believe he finds his sister cute in a romantic way. IOW, he can't believe he's (falling) in love with his own sister.

I Don't Like You At All Big Brother: Haven't seen or read this one, but from the sound of the reviews, the title is clearly ironic.

Indeed, and again in two ways:
1. Nao is a huge brocon for Shuusuke, and every episode revolves in her trying to make him fall for her.

Spoiler for OniSuki spoiler:

2. However, as we learn in episode 1, Nao isn't his true sister, so he's not really her older brother.

Boku Wa Tomodachi/I Don't have Many Friends: Only seen a few episodes. Appears to be the case at least for the beginning, but from what I heard, this may become less so for the lead character and the rest of their little club as the story progresses.

Spoiler for Haganai spoiler:

Confirmed in S2. Kodaka is well aware that they've become friends over the time they've spent together, but he fears that if he starts favoring one girl over all the others, they stop being friends with him or even each other. Of course, this is only making the problem worse as more and more girls start falling for him.

Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai/I Don't Care About My Adolescent Delusions, I Want A Date!: In this case, the title is pretty true to the concept, with the exception that Yuuta does not consider himself to have chuunibyou, however, he does relapse from time to time.

I always believed the title was from Rikka's POV, but this may work even better, now that you mention it.