Just something I've been thinking about:

Lately I've noticed a lot of anime titles are long sentences. Just off the top of my head:

this year's anime:
"Moshi Koukou Yakyuu no Joshi Manager ga Drucker no 'Management' o Yondara"
"Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai"
"Onii-chan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!!"
"Control: The Money and Soul of Possibility"

last year's anime:
"Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai"
"Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt"
"The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya"
"Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi"
"Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu"

Of course there are plenty with short names as well, like "Chu-bra", "Softenni", "Tiger & Bunny", "Kurage-hime", but I've noticed more long ones recently. Can anyone think of an older anime with a long title? I guess "Hagane no Renkinjutsushi" is a little long, it's only 3 words but the third is a really long word.

Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kouen-mae Hashutsujo
Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure
Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru
Naikaku Kenryoku Hanzai Kyosei Torishimarikan Zaizen Jotaro

Ah, those are pretty long as well.

I guess my point is, you'd never see a TV show in America with this type of super long name. Mostly they have very short titles: "Weeds", "Friends", "Dexter", "Stargate", "The Wire", "The 4400", "Futurama", "The Shield", "Mad Men", "South Park", "Mythbusters", etc. The only long titled American shows I can think of are "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody", and "My Life as a Teenage Robot", and those aren't that long. You would never see a show called "We Still Don't Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day" or "What If the Female Manager of a High School Baseball Team read Drucker's 'Management'?". I wonder why? Is it due to the perceived short attention span of Americans?

It's probably not this simple, but I think it's just a trend. Like mecha animes, moe stuff, tsunderes and things like that. I guess they saw people liked it and they are continuing it.

Probably there is a logical explanation for it (Based on marketing and psychology I mean), but I can't think in one right now.

"My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy"
"Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" "Wizards of Waverly Place" "Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers" "Bananas in Pajamas"
and i can give you some more, esp if I look around

American shows have plenty of those as well;
mostly on cartoons and children shows; but still ~




I don't know; maybe the Japanese ran out of good short names ideas? x3

I'll note that series like those are almost never referred to by their full names, but by nicknames. For example, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai., Moshi Koukou Yakyuu no Joshi Manager ga Drucker (Dorakkaa) no 'Management' o Yondara, Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai, Hagane no Renkinjutsushi, Boku ha Tomodachi ga Sukunai. Nevertheless, you certainly have a valid point, as the denizens of 2ch can prove.



As for long titles on older anime, how about メーテルリンクの青い鳥 チルチルミチルの冒険旅行 (Maeterlinck no Aoi Tori Tyltyl Mytyl no Bouken Ryokou), which aired in 1980?

Actually, I find Hagane no Renkinjutsushi pretty easy to remember.

bananas in pajamas are comin' down the stairs
bananas in pajamas are comin' down in pairs
bananas in pajamas are chasing teddy bears
'cause on tuesday they will try to catch them unaware!