The Japanese manga industry is beloved across the world for its dashing storylines and sometimes, even the titles that grace their covers. While titles in the United States and overseas tend to get straight to the point without spoiling the story, there are many manga and light novels in Japan that have long titles.
These long manga titles are almost like a meme, amusing some readers with wordy, self-explanatory titles that summarize the entire premise in one go. Often, these are isekai or fantasy titles that describe the main character’s goal and abilities, or these titles might describe an awkward relationship. Long titles might look like a hassle, but they do open up more possibilities for titles and allow the author to flex their creativity.
Update on May 13th, 2023 by Louis Kemner: by now, Japanese manga fans are used to some titles having hilariously long titles that describe the entire premise in a sentence, and it’s almost like a running gag. For every short title like Monster or Death Note, there are just as many titles with 10 or more words to thoroughly explain exactly what the manga is all about. Sometimes, manga series and light novels will do this to stand out in a crowded, competitive field and leave nothing to chance.
20 Oreimo: My Little Sister Can’t Possibly Be This Cute
This controversial series is best known as Oreimo, while the full Japanese title is My Little Sister Can’t Possibly Be This Cute. Notably, Oreimo was released when the trend of lengthy anime/manga titles was ramping up, meaning Oreimo stands out despite there being series with even longer titles.
Besides focusing on Kyousuke Kousaka’s extremely tsundere little sister Kirino Kousaka, Oreimo deals with the backlash of otaku and their rather complicated relationship. Some anime fans would rather avoid the bizarre sister complex themes of Oreimo, but for daring manga fans, it’s a treat to read.
19 Do You Love Your Mom And Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?
Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?‘s protagonist is a teenage Japanese boy, like many isekai leads, except his kind mother came along for the trip, which sets this isekai manga title apart from the crowd.
While the synopsis for the series is already ridiculous enough, the title refers to Masato Oosuki’s loving mother, Mamako Oosuki. This loving manga mom will prove how overpowered she is in this video game world where mothers in general are favored and receive considerable bonuses for their power.
18 Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren’t They?
Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren’t They is a light novel and manga that received an anime adaption that desperately needs a second season, it deals with gifted teens who all have different powers.
Izayoi Sakamaki, Asuka Kudou, and You Kasukabe all have psychic powers and are summoned by Black Rabbit from different time periods to participate in the games within Little Garden. In this isekai manga, games mean everything, and that should appeal to fans of No Game No Life, another esteemed isekai title.
17 My Entire Class Was Summoned to Another World Except for Me
My Entire Class Was Summoned to Another World Except for Me is a good example of a self-explanatory isekai manga title. After a God from another world summons everyone besides a boy named Kamiya Yato to another world, Kamiya awakens to realize he’s the only one left. This is because the magic circle didn’t reach him, so he was safe.
However, after somehow making it to the next grade, Kamiya realizes that monsters and terrorists are appearing on the school grounds. Now it’s up to Kamiya to stop it. In a way, this makes My Entire Class an isekai and reverse isekai title at the same time, a rarity in the manga world.
16 No Matter How You Look At It, It Is You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular!
This series translated English name is No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular. The full original Japanese title, meanwhile, is Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! It combines “Watashi” and “Motenai” to form the shorter nickname Watamote.
The series follows Tomoko Kuroki, an awkward and antisocial freshman in high school as she deals with her social anxiety in extravagant ways. The manga does diverge from this, however, all while showing Tomoko’s character development. Tomoko may be a moody antihero, but over time, she’ll start to feel more like quirky but familiar slice-of-life heroine fans can’t help but love.
15 Skill Taker’s World Domination: Building A Slave Harem From Scratch
Skill Taker’s World Domination: Building A Slave Harem From Scratch fits the unsavory trend of fetishizing slavery in isekai anime/manga, often depicting male leads obtaining female slaves as party members. Skill Takers’ World Domination might remind fans of Shield Hero and My Isekai Life, which do the same thing.
The series follows a high school inserted protagonist named Konoe Yuuto who is, as expected, perverted as he wishes to create his own “slave harem of 100 girls”. What makes it even better for him is that he is summoned to a world where slave trading is somehow legal.
14 Shomin Sample: I Was Abducted By An Elite All-Girls School
Shomin Sample: I Was Abducted by an Elite All-Girls School as a Sample Commoner’s plot could potentially lead to a harem, but for the protagonist, Kimito Kagurazaka, being surrounded by girls is hardly a dream come true. He’s treated more like a novelty or warning than as a valued student there.
Protagonist Kimito Kagurazaka gets himself kidnapped and is taken to Seikain Girl’s Academy to be used as an example of a “commoner” to show the rich ladies not to behave. Also, he must pretend to be gay so that none of the girls fall in love with him and avoid trouble. Kimito will also meet Aika, a shy, stubborn, and somewhat vain girl who is eager to learn more about the outside world.
13 My Mental Choices Are Completely Interfering With My School Romantic Comedy
My Mental Choices Are Completely Interfering With My School Romantic Comedy is Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Love Comedy wo Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru in Japanese. This refreshing light novel and manga follow Kanade Amakusa, a high school boy who has a power called Absolute Choice.
It is a power that forces him to choose two or more options at random, or else he will have a headache until he chooses something. To resolve this problem, a girl named Chocolat falls from the sky and tells him that God sent her to help him, despite her having amnesia.
12 WorldEnd: What Do You Do At The End Of The World? Are You Busy? Will You Save Us?
WorldEnd: What Do You Do At The End Of The World? Are You Busy? Will You Save Us? seems to just completely give up on telling anyone what its plot is and just asks random questions in its title. When manga fans read a few volumes, though, the odd title will suddenly click in their minds.
After humans have gone extinct and five hundred years pass, enemies called Beasts roam the world. It focuses on a group of girls named Leprechauns who are the only ones capable of fighting these fearsome enemies. Meanwhile, other surviving races live in floating cities, safe from most Beasts.
11 The Former Top 1’s Sub-Character Training Diary: A Dedicated Player is Currently Conquering Another World!
The Former Top 1’s Sub-Character Training Diary: A Dedicated Player is Currently Conquering Another World follows a boy who was ranked number one but then is suddenly hacked and loses his rank. He awakens to find that he is inside the game world.
Worse yet, the protagonist realizes that he is inside the body of the sub-character he created and bought premium buffs for, but forgot about them until now. Now the question is whether the boy can regain his #1 rank and prove his worth in this competitive gamer world.
10 Science Fell In Love, So I Tried To Prove It
Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It is a rom-com manga series with a two-season anime to its name. The grad student scientists Ayame Himuro and Shinya Yukimura just might be in love, but neither has the social skills or emotional maturity to say “I love you.” So science will say it for them.
Ayame and Shinya amuse, entertain, and annoy their scientist friends with their tireless experiments, testing everything from saliva samples to heartbeats and body language to gauge their true feelings. The cheerful Ayame can’t wait to find out, while the kuudere Shinya is more reserved with his warm feelings for her.
9 Secretly, I’ve Been Suffering About Being Sexless
Secretly, I’ve Been Suffering About Being Sexless is about marital woes for the charming young lady Togame and her husband. Their marriage is generally happy and healthy, but in the bedroom, things are getting tense.
Togame wishes to start a family, and that means getting physically intimate with her husband. The problem: the husband has no evident sex drive, and Togame feels so frustrated and lonely as a result. Soon, this tension will erupt, and Togame and her husband must learn to reconnect both physically and emotionally.
8 I’ve Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years And Maxed Out My Level
I’ve Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level involves blue slimes and OP isekai heroes, which sounds like That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. But I’ve Been Killing Slimes goes in a completely different direction, being a cozy, goofy comedy with minimal tension or conflict.
That makes Slimes a borderline iyashikei manga series that may also appeal to isekai fans, which helps refresh the stale isekai formula somewhat. This series is all about the blond isekai witch Azusa Aizawa and her OP magic as well as her efforts to befriend and support all her new companions in this idyllic new world.
7 Konosuba: An Explosion On This Wonderful World!
Most anime/manga fans are already familiar with the main Konosuba series, starring the sleazy antihero Kazuma Sato and his bratty blue-haired goddess friend, Aqua. Meanwhile, the explosion witch Megumin is the series’ most popular character of all, and she got her own prequel manga series in recent years.
Konosuba: An Explosion On This Wonderful World! is a brisk 5-volume adventure that fills in the gaps of Megumin’s quest to become the land’s #1 explosion expert. Fans will see firsthand how tough Megumin’s journey really is, and they’ll also see much more of Yunyun while also spotting cameos of Kazuma and Aqua.
6 I’m The Villainess, So I’m Taming The Final Boss
I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss may remind fans of I’m the Villainess, as both series feature otome game villainesses reborn as much nicer people. Unlike Katarina Claes, though, Aileen d’Autriche is sharp as a tack and can easily read most people around her to plan her next move.
Aileen’s character has no plot armor, so she made her own. She made it her mission to get engaged to the misunderstood kuudere demon king Claude, which made both of them happier. Then Aileen went undercover at Mische Academy and helped another half-demon, James Charles, avoid his own doom and prevent disaster at the school festival.
5 Mermaid Scales And The Town Of Sand
Mermaid Scales and the Town of Sand is a one-volume manga series with a wordy title, but a refreshingly straightforward narrative that’s easy to follow. This vaguely dark slice-of-life manga follows the young Tokiko, who moved to a coastal Japanese town with her father.
Tokiko has strange memories of the ocean, and she remembers almost drowning, only for a merman to save her, a heroic boy with a fish tail and scales. Now Tokiko will meet a local boy named Yosuke and learn the heartbreaking truth of her aquatic rescuer.
4 The Ice Guy And His Cool Female Colleague
The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague is a delightful slice-of-life romance anime starring a handful of office co-workers with supernatural gifts. The kuudere male lead, Himuro, is descended from the mythical Snow Woman, for example, and he’s got a big crush on the lovely Fuyutsuki.
As polite and respectful murderers, Himuro and Fuyutsuki are a perfect match, with Fuyutsuki having a cool personality to match Himuro’s icy powers, hence the manga’s title. This manga also got a short but sweet anime early in 2023.
3 More Than A Married Couple, But Not Lovers
More Than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers is another delightful manga series that got an anime early in 2023. The manga and anime versions both launch a bizarre premise: having boys and girls at a local school live together as make-believe married couples.
This social experiment promised to create new couples, but characters like Akari and Jiro have their hearts set on someone else. Akari and Jiro will have a tough time balancing their false married life, their crushes, and their blooming feelings for each other.
2 That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is one of the most popular isekai series out there, and it includes not just the manga, but also a light novel series, a multi-season anime, and a mobile game as well. For convenience, fans often shorten its name to TenSura.
Tensura is an action-packed fantasy series with a highly optimistic premise. Protagonist Rimuru Tempest may be OP, but he’s not fighting for glory or riches. He aims to create a new kingdom where all monsters may live in peace and build new lives for themselves, free of all violence and intolerance.
1 Konosuba: God’s Blessing On This Wonderful World!
Konosuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World! began as a light novel series that later got a popular anime adaptation. The franchise’s manga soon followed, meaning isekai fans everywhere have plenty of options to dive right into this isekai satire series.
Konosuba! is a wacky story starring Kazuma Sato, a NEET who relies on his maxed-out luck stat to scrape a living in the isekai world, where money isn’t easy to come by. Joining him are the obnoxious goddess Aqua, the explosion-loving Megumin, and the noble but goofy crusader Darkness.
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