Misleading or overexaggerated titles for a series (NOT non-sensical titles)

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grandy_UiD said:

IZUMI64 said:

Morbyllan said:

To Love-Ru - Maybe it's a play with "To Love You", but even if it was To Love You, it doesn't makes sense. The main characters doesn't loves anyone, he's heavily undecised.

Japanese read it as "Toraburu" or Trouble. like what always happen to Rito with all girls

Was about to explain that but you beat me to it.

Yeah, it's really just a pun (that makes little sense to non japanese, or those that are unfamiliar with the way they pronounce love). The official german translation actually calls that manga "Love Trouble"

Nice pun. To be honest the title itself really isn't that misleading because it's all in all something about romance.

Definitely not as misleading as Final Approach, another generic harem.

Apr 4, 2012 1:07 PM

#156

lisnoire

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Anime_Name said:
They drew Holo in girl form with a tail and ears but you perceived it as a fox because of your limited perception on how animal coats should look.

--this, This, THIS! Get over the damn fox/wolf thing. She's a frickin' wolf and says so many times herself.

-animeS - The plural of anime is anime. More than one deer is still deer. There is no damn "s".
-epic |ˈepik| noun•a work portraying heroic deeds/adventures covering an long period of time - adjective • heroic/grand in scale or character
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Apr 4, 2012 1:09 PM

#157

Amberleh

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Nov 2011

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Elfen Lied.

I want my Elves goddamnit.

Apr 4, 2012 1:23 PM

#158

lisnoire

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Amberleh said:
Elfen Lied.

I want my Elves goddamnit.

--lol

RoCSC-006C1BST said:
. . . . Ghost In The Shell - A "ghost"/"soul" was . . . relates to some real theories . . . . some discussions amongst them whether they have developed true souls/ghosts (or transference of your mind/soul self on to the "net" and/or into an android body)

Full Metal Panic - It's an anime full of militaristic references. . . that went way over people's head . . . . Full Metal Jacket . . . . (all that and the, metal prosthesis, and the suit of armor

11 eyes - . . . so 5x2+1 eyes= 11 eyes. (Crap, even I got that one.)

Gosick - Gothique is gothic in French, which pronunciation kind of sounds like Gosick if it were to be written in English . . .

Neon Genesis Evangelion - . . . Neon=New. Genesis= what the Christians call the Torah of the Hebrews . . . . Revelations in a certain way, since they planned with the Instrumentality Project to end the world as we know it, . . . Evangelion are gospels, or also Evangelium, in some language, and Latin: Evangeliarium. (Spot on and well said!)

-animeS - The plural of anime is anime. More than one deer is still deer. There is no damn "s".
-epic |ˈepik| noun•a work portraying heroic deeds/adventures covering an long period of time - adjective • heroic/grand in scale or character
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Apr 4, 2012 1:50 PM

#159

darkevangel31

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Mar 2012

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Ro Kyu Bu! - I still have no idea what the title is even supposed to mean... m(- -)m

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~Negi Springfield

Apr 4, 2012 3:38 PM

#160

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lisnoire said:

RoCSC-006C1BST said:
. . . . Ghost In The Shell - A "ghost"/"soul" was . . . relates to some real theories . . . . some discussions amongst them whether they have developed true souls/ghosts (or transference of your mind/soul self on to the "net" and/or into an android body)

Full Metal Panic - It's an anime full of militaristic references. . . that went way over people's head . . . . Full Metal Jacket . . . . (all that and the, metal prosthesis, and the suit of armor

11 eyes - . . . so 5x2+1 eyes= 11 eyes. (Crap, even I got that one.)

Gosick - Gothique is gothic in French, which pronunciation kind of sounds like Gosick if it were to be written in English . . .

Neon Genesis Evangelion - . . . Neon=New. Genesis= what the Christians call the Torah of the Hebrews . . . . Revelations in a certain way, since they planned with the Instrumentality Project to end the world as we know it, . . . Evangelion are gospels, or also Evangelium, in some language, and Latin: Evangeliarium. (Spot on and well said!)

This, too. I mean what's the problem with people? Many of the titles here have kinda obvious inferences.That's why Language and Text Interpretation classes must be mandatory in all schools in all countries...

Apr 4, 2012 4:50 PM

#161

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Bah I should change my opening most. People are misunderstanding something as simple as the difference between misleading and nonsensical.

Something that you believe to be nonsensical cannot be misleading because you have no predisposition toward what it will be. Something misleading is you have a preconceived image of what it will be but find out that it totally isn't. :/

Apr 4, 2012 5:31 PM

#162

Shocked

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I'd say .hack//Sign. I definitely expected a lot more MMORPG action or something, but it was more about solving the mysteries around Tsukasa and talking about why everyone played the game. The show is great as is, but it wasn't what I expected.

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Apr 4, 2012 5:38 PM

#163

hellsascendant

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Jan 2011

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i can't believe angel beats was brought up. it was one of the title i believed to be the most masterfully named.

angel:
it could have been a direct inference to Tenshi, who was depicted as an angel throughout the first half of the series. it could also infer life after death and supernatural places like heaven and hell. it also could be implied as a man with good will, and sacrifices himself for others; Otoshi-(something what ever his name was).

beats:
at the begining i thought this just simply meant that she (an angel) beats people up, and that in fact did happen. but later it became a symbol for the music, as in rhythmical beats, thus making the title infer angels music (reference in the op with Tenshi playing the piano). near the end we found out about the heart, and that Tenshi was saved by Otoshi-(what ever his name was) donated heart; hence "beat" as in heart "beat". this was also reflected in the logo, as the underline depicted a heartbeat on those fancy hospital machine thingys.

also surprised death note was here...
it was literally about a notebook that cause death...how mush simpler is that? (repeated but seriously?)

IceBubbleTea said:

Black Rock Shooter- I know it's named after the character, but why was the character named Black Rock Shooter anyway?

the character shot rocks? did you even watch it? not being able to infer meanings is one thing but that was pretty damn obvious.

FauxAzn said:

Katanagatari. Too much gatari; not enough katana.
Infinite Stratos. No explanation necessary.

Katanagatari. your argument is invalid; thread is about misleading titles, not complaining about titles, and also, there was a plenty of Katana.

Infinite Stratos: can't believe this was mentioned. it's as simple as it gets: an anime about infinite stratos....yes infinite stratos isn't real, but it isn't misleading. to be misleading it had to lead you to believe it was something else.

now for titles that were misleading to me:
H2O: Footprints in the Sand. i swear to god i thought it was about mermaids, but no....i was WAY off

people, read the 8 pages before posting plz.......titles and explanations have been repeated again and again. also, if you haven't watched the anime, could you plz not say it's misleading? naming is a very difficult process. it's not as simple as telling people what will happen, it has to intrigue a viewer/reader yet at the same time give them insight. Angel Beats! is one of the best tittles i've ever seen.

hellsascendantApr 4, 2012 6:55 PM

Hide behind the mighty wall of internet, i shall

Apr 4, 2012 8:13 PM

#164

Morbyllan

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Okay then, does anyone have a explanation for Trigun?

「レミ咲が今日のティータイム。」- RemiSaku ga kyou no tea time!

Apr 4, 2012 9:18 PM

#165

SerB3128

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Jan 2011

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After reading your question, before seeing your examples I thought of Legend of Legendary Heroes! xD
When my friend told me to watch it, my eyebrows rose at the title of it, haha! Very strange and misleading.

The show "Cat Shit One"
Honestly thought it was going to be something about annoying cats or something with shit! Ended up being about about two rabbits fighting in a war against camels! And actually I enjoyed it!

Apr 4, 2012 10:07 PM

#166

FauxAzn

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hellsascendant said:

FauxAzn said:

Katanagatari. Too much gatari; not enough katana.
Infinite Stratos. No explanation necessary.

Katanagatari. your argument is invalid; thread is about misleading titles, not complaining about titles, and also, there was a plenty of Katana.

Infinite Stratos: can't believe this was mentioned. it's as simple as it gets: an anime about infinite stratos....yes infinite stratos isn't real, but it isn't misleading. to be misleading it had to lead you to believe it was something else.

Katanagatari was mentioned more as a joke, like Fruits Basket, punning on the titles. Infinite Stratos, I wasn't hinging on misleading, but more on overexaggeration: the word Infinite. But thinking about it a bit more, you're right, I'm editing that one out.

Lazy Link

Apr 5, 2012 12:38 AM

#167

leingodf8

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Morbyllan said:
Okay then, does anyone have a explanation for Trigun?

According to a random wiki I found its because vash (and wolfwood) has 3 primary forms of weaponry (that is, pistols,a false arm holding a sub machine gun and his super mega death angel arm). Wolfwood of course gets the pistols, machine gun, and rocket launcher all associated with that awesome cross.

Kind of a weak explanation I guess... but hey, if it was named Bigun after the 2 angel arms... that would've sounded lame.

Apr 5, 2012 3:06 AM

#168

kickthebucket

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hellsascendant
[u said:
now for titles that were misleading to me:
H2O: Footprints in the Sand. i swear to god i thought it was about mermaids, but no....i was WAY off.

haha i actualy got the refference the first time, but i can see how it was misleading for a lot of people when you never read the following poem.

i just remember that poem from somewhere ^^

Apr 5, 2012 11:16 AM

#169

Vikare

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Dec 2011

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I'm going to say Clannad. Purely for the fact that having had it rammed into my head for the last 14 years, Clannad does not mean family in Irish. That would be "clann" (Pronounced "clown", more or less).

Clannad is the name of a fairly popular trad band. It's kinda like naming an anime "The Beatles" and making it all about insects. Which would actually be pretty cool, now that I think about it. Meh, Clannad sounds better than clann anyways.

Apr 5, 2012 11:25 AM

#170

Anime_Name

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Apopholis said:
I'm going to say Clannad. Purely for the fact that having had it rammed into my head for the last 14 years, Clannad does not mean family in Irish. That would be "clann" (Pronounced "clown", more or less).

It's still Gaelic for family.

Apr 5, 2012 12:15 PM

#171

DraconisMarch

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Aug 2011

1646

hellsascendant said:
i can't believe angel beats was brought up. it was one of the title i believed to be the most masterfully named.

angel:
it could have been a direct inference to Tenshi, who was depicted as an angel throughout the first half of the series. it could also infer life after death and supernatural places like heaven and hell. it also could be implied as a man with good will, and sacrifices himself for others; Otoshi-(something what ever his name was).

beats:
at the begining i thought this just simply meant that she (an angel) beats people up, and that in fact did happen. but later it became a symbol for the music, as in rhythmical beats, thus making the title infer angels music (reference in the op with Tenshi playing the piano). near the end we found out about the heart, and that Tenshi was saved by Otoshi-(what ever his name was) donated heart; hence "beat" as in heart "beat". this was also reflected in the logo, as the underline depicted a heartbeat on those fancy hospital machine thingys.

Like I explained in picture form.

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Apr 5, 2012 12:43 PM

#172

Vikare

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Dec 2011

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Anime_Name said:

Apopholis said:
I'm going to say Clannad. Purely for the fact that having had it rammed into my head for the last 14 years, Clannad does not mean family in Irish. That would be "clann" (Pronounced "clown", more or less).

It's still Gaelic for family.

Scots Gaelic? Pretty sure it's just clann in Scots Gaelic too. That or teaghlach in both ("tie-lock", more or less).

Apr 5, 2012 12:54 PM

#173

Anime_Name

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Apopholis said:

Anime_Name said:

Apopholis said:
I'm going to say Clannad. Purely for the fact that having had it rammed into my head for the last 14 years, Clannad does not mean family in Irish. That would be "clann" (Pronounced "clown", more or less).

It's still Gaelic for family.

Scots Gaelic? Pretty sure it's just clann in Scots Gaelic too. That or teaghlach in both ("tie-lock", more or less).

It means family in one of the tongues, not sure which one but it doesn't just mean clann.

Apr 7, 2012 9:27 AM

#174

ElPysCongroo

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Mar 2012

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Groove Adventure Rave

When I first heard the title I thought it was going to be about people raving in a nightclub :/

Apr 8, 2012 2:38 AM

#175

Kazeshini

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Tiago97 said:
http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=377
See? 463 people out of 917 didn't watch Death Note because of L.

those are MAL user statistics... even people who never watched anime before know of L, he's like the symbol for death note.

Apr 8, 2012 1:14 PM

#176

hellsascendant

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Kazeshini said:

Tiago97 said:
http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=377
See? 463 people out of 917 didn't watch Death Note because of L.

those are MAL user statistics... even people who never watched anime before know of L, he's like the symbol for death note.

i always thought the death note was a symbol for deathnote....or the apple

Hide behind the mighty wall of internet, i shall

Apr 8, 2012 1:29 PM

#177

ImPico

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Feb 2012

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Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Yes understand that it doesn't seem misleading, but Madoka barely does anything until that last few episodes :P.

Apr 8, 2012 1:34 PM

#178

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11429

hellsascendant said:

Kazeshini said:

Tiago97 said:
http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=377
See? 463 people out of 917 didn't watch Death Note because of L.

those are MAL user statistics... even people who never watched anime before know of L, he's like the symbol for death note.

i always thought the death note was a symbol for deathnote....or the apple

Pretty much... L's adventures or something just sounds more lame.

Apr 8, 2012 1:35 PM

#179

LegendXV

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Apr 2012

125

Just remember that although the titles don't seem to make sense literally, they're symbolic.

Many novels have weird titles, but only after you read them and think about it, does the novel really make sense.

Fruit Baskets may have been a symbolic term for whatever happens in it. Is it happy? I haven't seen it, but perhaps fruit baskets in other cultures is a gift to express happiness, etc.

Apr 8, 2012 3:55 PM

#180

Kazeshini

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Tachii said:

hellsascendant said:

Kazeshini said:

Tiago97 said:
http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=377
See? 463 people out of 917 didn't watch Death Note because of L.

those are MAL user statistics... even people who never watched anime before know of L, he's like the symbol for death note.

i always thought the death note was a symbol for deathnote....or the apple

Pretty much... L's adventures or something just sounds more lame.

exactly, as much as L's tea party sounds lame, so was the anime....

Apr 8, 2012 5:00 PM

#181

Nefayn

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Apr 2011

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A ton of people has probably already said this but, School Days. It just sounds innocent, as if it were a slice of life show like Ano Hi Mita.

Apr 8, 2012 7:49 PM

#182

kickthebucket

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this is becoming more of a "help me understand this simple title" topic

most of these (if you actualy would try this once) if you google it, the meaning will probably be there on the wiki!

here have an example... (wich i allready comented on and got the first time i heard of the anime)

H2O: Footprints in the Sand

The name H2O comes from the first letter of the three main heroines: Hayami, Hinata, and Otoha. Footprints in the Sand comes from a poem; the first part of this poem appeared in episode one of the anime and the second half in the final episode.

or this one (wich indeed is kind of fitting for this topic?

bleach

The series was originally meant to be named "Black" due to the color of the Soul Reapers' clothes, but Kubo thought the title was too generic. He later tried the name of "White," but came to like "Bleach" more for its association with the color white and that he did not find it too obvious

yes this google thing is hard stuff.

Apr 9, 2012 5:19 AM

#183

Seasonreaper

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Jan 2008

2587

So many simple answers and questions. Pretty much everything mentioned could've been solved by watching the shows and paying attention, a simple search or a little thought.

I still have no idea why 'Kiddy Grade' is called 'Kiddy Grade' though. All searches result in links back to info about the show itself, I don't recall it being mentioned in the show or any reasoning behind it ever making itself apparent and I don't see any relevance to anything. The title doesn't make it out to be anything like it actually is either. I'd expect something like Hanamaru Kindergarten with a title like that, but it's more like a version of Ghost in the Shell for people who don't want to think.

Still not as retarded as the sequel 'Kiddy girl -and-' though.

Apr 9, 2012 6:16 AM

#184

Shima_XIX

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May 2010

1016

Some misleading title I can think of...

Now and Then, Here and There: The title makes it sound like a slice of life anime.

Murder Princess: With a title like that, I was expecting more of a bloodfest.

Read Or Die: Sounds like a horror anime.

Apr 9, 2012 7:27 AM

#185

Maffy

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Hmmm let's see,

Bakuman: Before reading the description, I thought it was abt a monster xD Bakuman sounds like one! Including akuma and all xD Totally not the case xD

Angel Beats: Had seen the cover also and just thought it'd be a silly shoujo anime with cute girls doing boring stuff (even if they were holding weapons, thought it could have been a game)... how wrong was I again xD;

Phi Brain: Thought it'd be abt some elaborate quizes or detective work or something to do with math... well not exactly totally misled but not what I had expected in any way.

Prism Ark: It sounded like a fantasy land where prisms (crystals) would play an important role... I still don't get what exactly happened xD;

Steins;Gate: Expected something more demonic actually. It sounded like it was a gate to hell or something important was hidden there. Idc though since I love it<3

School Days: ALMOST forgot that one. Thought it'd be a simple romantic setting with feeligns going arnd.... WELL, that was a huge twist xD

I'm sure I'd have other misunderstandings by titles but can't remember xD

Apr 9, 2012 8:01 AM

#186

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Maffy said:

Angel Beats: Had seen the cover also and just thought it'd be a silly shoujo anime with cute girls doing boring stuff (even if they were holding weapons, thought it could have been a game)... how wrong was I again xD;

Explained septillion times before.

Maffy said:

Steins;Gate: Expected something more demonic actually. It sounded like it was a gate to hell or something important was hidden there. Idc though since I love it<3

stein: German for stone(Google translate).
Gate: well, it's a gate. A big door if you will.
Now how did it inferred it meant a gate to hell or something important is beyond any and all logical reasoning. You probably would find titles such as "The Three Little Pigs" to be misleading.

Apr 9, 2012 10:00 AM

#187

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11429

Still, in the anime the gate in steins gate was not a literal meaning which was sort of confusing. That is it's not a physical gate, a metaphysical one maybe. Comparing that to the three little pigs is way too exaggerated to be of any relevance.

Apr 9, 2012 11:16 AM

#188

BlazBlu

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Apr 2012

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Nichijou(my ordinary life)

Its anything but ordinary xD

Apr 9, 2012 11:23 AM

#189

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Tachii said:
Still, in the anime the gate in steins gate was not a literal meaning which was sort of confusing. That is it's not a physical gate, a metaphysical one maybe. Comparing that to the three little pigs is way too exaggerated to be of any relevance.

Sorry but in the anime it was clearly stated Steins;Gate had NO meaning at all, and not even considering that you obviously didn't get the point I was trying to make.

Apr 9, 2012 11:37 AM

#190

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11429

Actually, I did, I was going to say how it's pretty out there for anyone to think about this title related to something demonic. However, I just don't see how even anyone who could conjure up that connection will think the 3 little pigs will be misleading. It sounds like two completely different examples and quite insulting to the person you're responding to.

And he was also thinking of the term as something physically related to some important gate that will be introduced in the series. Turns out it apparently does have "NO meaning at all".

Apr 9, 2012 11:49 AM

#191

Tiago97

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2611

Kazeshini said:
(...) even people who never watched anime before know of L, he's like the symbol for death note.

Good fucking balls. Seriously. How the fuck do you know everyone watched Death Note because of L? Is it because you did so? In case you haven't noticed, not everybody is the same. Not everybody reads the same shit on the internet. Not everybody researches an anime's characters before watching it.
You thought L was the best character of the show? Good for you. But that doesn't mean everyone watched DN because of him.

BTW, I always thought Light was the star of the show. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he's the protagonist...

/rant

Apr 9, 2012 11:49 AM

#192

Vikare

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Dec 2011

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BlazBlu said:
Nichijou(my ordinary life)

Its anything but ordinary xD

I thought Nichijou meant "Daily lives"? Also, the Japs seem to use that expression far more than we do, don't they?

RoCSC-006C1BST said:

Maffy said:

Angel Beats: Had seen the cover also and just thought it'd be a silly shoujo anime with cute girls doing boring stuff (even if they were holding weapons, thought it could have been a game)... how wrong was I again xD;

Explained septillion times before.

Maffy said:

Steins;Gate: Expected something more demonic actually. It sounded like it was a gate to hell or something important was hidden there. Idc though since I love it<3

stein: German for stone(Google translate).
Gate: well, it's a gate. A big door if you will.
Now how did it inferred it meant a gate to hell or something important is beyond any and all logical reasoning. You probably would find titles such as "The Three Little Pigs" to be misleading.

Not really. Firstly, it is stated that Steins;Gate has no meaning, but not until quite far into the series, and this is basically a thread about preconceptions. Even if it was just called "The Gate", it's not too much of a stretch to make that into something ominous, and seeing as most people don't Google translate everything, if you're not German, Steins can mean anything. I kind of assumed they were going along the Einstein route with sciencey time and stuff, and wahey, I was right, but it's really not half as stupid as you're making it sound.

Apr 9, 2012 12:05 PM

#193

bravesirrobin

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Jan 2012

57

History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi (My ass)

Apr 9, 2012 12:10 PM

#194

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11429

Now that's a title I haven't seen on this topic... somehow. Maybe someone mentioned it already.

I mean, even the girl she likes is stronger than him for like the majority of the show, lol. I mean, the manga do develop him into someone pretty strong but lol @ the strongest.

What would be an alternative though?

History's weakest disciple kenichi? Hilarity ensues. Even if it's another exaggerated title, it would be lolworthy.

Apr 9, 2012 12:47 PM

#195