Content:Titles

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Titles are how you identify an anime - there are many different kinds, both official ones and common ones as well as abbreviations. No anime can have have the exact same title as another. The Main Title (the transcription of the original language title) is listed at the very top of each anime entry, and at the top of the details table next to the image. The rest of the titles are listed with language and title type details. Anyone can add a title to any anime, with the restriction that if there already is an anime with that exact same title, it won't work; please use the search function to check for overlaps. Anyone can request that a title be edited or removed, but it will have to be approved by a mod, so state a good reason for why you wish it to be edited or removed. More Info...

To be merged into here: episode titles.

General Guidelines

Capitalization

For rules on capitalization, please consult the capitalisation guide.

Foreign Language Portion of Official Japanese(/Korean/Chinese) Title, a.k.a. "Taglines"

1. Official language title: In general, if the official original language title, in the video or otherwise, comes with a foreign language portion, generally (but not always) English, that foreign portion is included in the Official language (Japanese, Chinese, Korean) title.
   1. If the foreign language tagline is otherwise ignored, such as a marketing message or a narration (see the Symphogear example), don't include it in the Official CJK title.
   2. If the foreign language tagline is a transcription of the CJK title, do not add it to the CJK title; e.g. "キルラキル KILL la KILL " becomes just "キルラキル".
   3. Otherwise, always add the foreign language tagline (translations, a narrative snippet, a dialogue snippet, etc.) to the Official CJK title; e.g. 纳米核心 NANOCORE , "進撃の巨人 attack on titan ", and "神様のメモ帳 It`s the only NEET thing to do. ".
2. Transcription title: If the foreign portion is "otherwise ignored", it is excluded from the transcription. "Otherwise ignored" refers to, but is not limited to references to the anime: on websites, in the media, in the Japanese trailer.
   1. In the Main/Transcription title, do not transcribe the foreign language tagline if the foreign language tagline is simply a translation (e.g. "進撃の巨人 attack on titan " is transcribed only to "Shingeki no Kyojin") OR a transcription (e.g. "キルラキル KILL la KILL " is transcribed to only "Kill la Kill") of the CJK title.
   2. Otherwise, add the foreign language tagline to the Main/Transcription title; e.g. "神様のメモ帳 It`s the only NEET thing to do. " is transcribed to "Kamisama no Memo-chou: It`s the Only NEET Thing to Do.".

Disambiguation

Sometimes two or more anime get the exact same title. AniDB does not allow multiple anime to have the same title, though, so disambiguation is required. The older anime (the one that has the earlier release date) gets the original title, and the newer anime gets a disambiguation bit at the end. Then:

Note	Do not ever, under any circumstances or for any reason, make up your own fake season numbering. Other sites do it, but we don't. Season numbers are given if, and only if, they are already present in the title, such as in the cases of Overlord II or Shingeki no Kyojin Season 2 .

1. Absolutely do not append anything to the older anime. If both anime have the exact same release date, or it is impossible to tell, just report one of them and let the mod figure it out.
2. If the two anime are of the same type, then append the year to the newer anime, even if they're released in the same year. The year should be within parentheses.
3. If the two anime are of different types, then:
   1. If the release year is the same, then append the type to the newer anime. Unlike the year, the type does not take parentheses.
   2. If the release year is different, then append the year to the newer anime. Again, it should be within parentheses.

A few supplementary rules apply if you are trying to disambiguate more than two anime:

1. If the rule tells you to take the year and it is already taken, try the type. Similarly, if the rule tells you to take the type and it is already taken, try the year. In either case, inform the mod of what exactly you are doing, as there may be a better way to handle the case.
2. If both type and year are already taken, try both, in the "(Year, Type)" format. Do not use any other formats.
3. In the highly unlikely event all else fails, just report the entry and a mod will figure out how to best handle the case.

Titles

Official Title (Japanese, Kanji)

Please check our Kanji & Romaji Guideline for further assistance with this.
allcinema is a reliable source for this.

Example:

Anime title: Hagane no Renkinjutsushi
Official Japanese Kanji title: 鋼の練金術師

Official Title (English)

Check the official English page if it is licensed.

Example:

Anime title: Hagane no Renkinjutsushi
Official English title: Fullmetal Alchemist

3rd party "official" sources may also be acceptable for English titles, when there is no 1st party English licencor. For example, My Big Emergency is an animation from 1936. As part of the National Project for the Sustainability of Born-Digital Cinema, supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan, in 2016 The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo re-released the animation on their website with an English translation and English title. The translation was provided as "My Big Emergency". This can be accepted as an official English title for AniDB purposes.

Official Title (Language)

Meant for official titles in other languages. This title should be the title it is sold/aired under in the regions where they use the specified language; if it is sold/aired under more than one name in a language, use Synonyms/Aliases for that.

Synonym/Alias

For anything not official, which is widely used, or if it is sold/aired under more than one name, set them as synonyms/aliases.

Example:

Anime title: Hagane no Renkinjutsushi
English Synonym: Full Metal Alchemist

Shorttitle

A shortened version of the title.

Example:

Anime title: Hagane no Renkinjutsushi
Shorttitle: FMA

OVA/OADs with only 1 regular episode entry

If the OVA/OAD only has 1 regular-type episode entry (regular episode type, meaning S episodes are excluded), the episode title is added to anime entry's title and not the episode entry's title; the episode entry's title follows default rules ("OVA" or "OAD" in most cases).

1. Generally, this rule applies only for cases when there are one (Hajimete no Gal: Hajimete no Bunkasai ) or two (Koi to Uso: Isshou no Koi / Koi no Kimochi ) episode titles.
2. In rare cases when there are more than 2 (Tottoko Hamtarou: Anime Dechu! ) episode titles, do not add them to the OVA/OAD's anime title; they are added like usual to the episode entry's title.

Adding Titles

In order to add a title to an anime, you need to go to the 'contributions' tab of an anime entry and click the 'add/edit titles' link there. This will lead you to the "Add/Edit Names for ..." page, where you can see (and request removal of) all the titles and which language they are in, that are currently added to the anime, as well as a tab where a text field and a few lists let you enter a new title and select what kind of title it is and which language it is in.

Languages

If an anime is or has been sold/aired in your language with a specific title, go ahead and add that title as 'Official Title' for your language. If you see a title that is clearly wrong under these contitions, please request removal or change the type of that title, stating your reasoning for the change so a mod can approve. If an anime has never been sold or aired in your language, there is no reason it should have a title in it, so please don't add one.

One thing AniDB relies on are its users from different regions, who can check and verify titles in different languages. If you would like to help out with this effort for languages you know, please don't hesitate to contact us on irc://irc.synirc.net/anidb. You can see a list of which languages already have people who can verify them on the staff page.