Why do anime series change titles so often (nearly for every "season")?


I've always wondered this, but why do anime series titles change so often
whenever it gets a new "season"?

I mean, I understand that the title stays the same for long running series,
like _Bleach_ or _One Piece_ , but why do new "seasons" for one or two cour
anime have slightly different names? For example...

  * _To Aru Kagaku no Railgun_ , _To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S_
  * _Zero no Tsukaima_ , _Zero no Tsukaima: Futatsuki no Kishi_ , _Zero no Tsukaima: Princesses no Rondo_ , _Zero no Tsukaima F_
  * _Medaka Box_ , _Medaka Box Abnormal_
  * _Sword Art Online_ , _Sword Art Online II_
  * _Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai_ , _Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai._
  * _K-On!_ , _K-On!!_

I'm particularly interested in the last two, where the only noticeable
difference in the title is a punctuation mark. They're all direct sequels, so
why not just give it the same name as the first season, like in American
television? The source material keeps its name throughout its entire life
(e.g. there was never a _Naruto: Shippuuden_ manga or a _Shakugan no Shana
III_ light novel), so why do their anime adaptations get different titles?

Is there a legal thing in Japan which disallows a production for one "season"
to have the same name as another, for clarification purposes? Or do the
producers/whoever chooses the names just want to attract more fans by making a
distinction between different "seasons"?

Some insight into how the airing of anime works would be much appreciated.




Okay, based on what I've learned
[here](https://movies.stackexchange.com/q/19370/5764), I think I understand
why you're asking this question - it looks like it boils down to the fact
American television and anime use the word "season" differently.

The way anime is produced nowadays is that the production of a second season
is almost always strongly contingent on the commercial success of the first
season. As such, production will typically halt completely in between seasons
- different seasons are **different productions**. What this means is that
what anime watchers call "seasons" are what American TV watchers call
"series".1

And this, I think, is the important insight. It is rare for American
television to feature shows that have multiple _series_ (separated by halts in
production) set in the same continuity, since American television production
functions differently. American shows typically semi-continuously churn out
new content (a la _The Simpsons_ ) until they get cancelled.

In the specific cases you used as examples (Railgun, Zero no Tsukaima, Medaka,
SAO, OreImo, K-ON), it looks like all of them experienced halts in production
between each season.

> I mean, I understand that the title stays the same for long running series,
> like _Bleach_ or _One Piece_...

Right, and the key factor here is that _Bleach_ and _One Piece_ are each one
continuous production - because there was never a halt in production, they
never got a new title.2

> The source material keeps its name throughout its entire life (e.g. there
> was never a _Naruto: Shippuuden manga_ or a _Shakugan no Shana III_ light
> novel), so why do their anime adaptations get different titles?

So again, this boils down to the fact that the _Naruto_ manga and the
_Shakugan no Shana_ light novels were each one continuous production (as
basically all manga series and light novels are). There's no logical breaking
point at which to change titles in these cases.

> I'm particularly interested in the last two, where the only noticeable
> difference in the title is a punctuation mark.

The practice of using a punctuation mark rather than a subtitle or other
designation to identify a new season is a stupid practice that has been
"trendy" recently, and should (with any luck) die out eventually. Still, the
idea is basically the same - _K-On!!_ could just as well have been called _K-
On! 2_ or _K-On!: This Time It's Cuter_ or whatever - anything to indicate
that it's a separate production from the original series _K-On!_.

> Is there a legal thing in Japan which disallows a production for one
> "season" to have the same name as another, for clarification purposes?

I'm no expert on Japanese law, but I would be astounded if this were the case.

* * *

Addendum: the case of _Fairy Tail_ is interesting - it ran from Oct 2009 to
Mar 2013, then stopped for a while, and picked back up again in Apr 2014.
Despite this, the name of the series did not change - it was called _Fairy
Tail_ both before and after the break in airing.3

My _suspicion_ here is that the break in airing had been planned in advance,
and that the producers had planned to resume airing once the manga had had
some time to get ahead.

If this is in fact the case, there would have been no reason to halt
production during the break in airing - it was already known at the time
airing stopped that they _would_ be making more episodes. Contrast this with
e.g. _Railgun_ \- when the first season finished in 2010, they didn't know
(for sure) that they'd be making a second season (which didn't end up
happening until 2013).

* * *

# Notes

1 In most cases, anime has no notion that is equivalent to what American TV
watchers call "seasons"; the major exception would probably be long-running
children's anime (think _Doraemon_ , _Sazae-san_ , etc.).

2 This explanation doesn't really work for _Naruto_ vs. _Naruto Shippuden_ ,
though, and I'm not familiar enough with that show to posit an explanation.
You might like to ask about that particular case separately if it interests
you.

3 Regarding which, see [this
question](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/8649/1908).




Okay, based on what I've learned
[here](https://movies.stackexchange.com/q/19370/5764), I think I understand
why you're asking this question - it looks like it boils down to the fact
American television and anime use the word "season" differently.

The way anime is produced nowadays is that the production of a second season
is almost always strongly contingent on the commercial success of the first
season. As such, production will typically halt completely in between seasons
- different seasons are **different productions**. What this means is that
what anime watchers call "seasons" are what American TV watchers call
"series".1

And this, I think, is the important insight. It is rare for American
television to feature shows that have multiple _series_ (separated by halts in
production) set in the same continuity, since American television production
functions differently. American shows typically semi-continuously churn out
new content (a la _The Simpsons_ ) until they get cancelled.

In the specific cases you used as examples (Railgun, Zero no Tsukaima, Medaka,
SAO, OreImo, K-ON), it looks like all of them experienced halts in production
between each season.

> I mean, I understand that the title stays the same for long running series,
> like _Bleach_ or _One Piece_...

Right, and the key factor here is that _Bleach_ and _One Piece_ are each one
continuous production - because there was never a halt in production, they
never got a new title.2

> The source material keeps its name throughout its entire life (e.g. there
> was never a _Naruto: Shippuuden manga_ or a _Shakugan no Shana III_ light
> novel), so why do their anime adaptations get different titles?

So again, this boils down to the fact that the _Naruto_ manga and the
_Shakugan no Shana_ light novels were each one continuous production (as
basically all manga series and light novels are). There's no logical breaking
point at which to change titles in these cases.

> I'm particularly interested in the last two, where the only noticeable
> difference in the title is a punctuation mark.

The practice of using a punctuation mark rather than a subtitle or other
designation to identify a new season is a stupid practice that has been
"trendy" recently, and should (with any luck) die out eventually. Still, the
idea is basically the same - _K-On!!_ could just as well have been called _K-
On! 2_ or _K-On!: This Time It's Cuter_ or whatever - anything to indicate
that it's a separate production from the original series _K-On!_.

> Is there a legal thing in Japan which disallows a production for one
> "season" to have the same name as another, for clarification purposes?

I'm no expert on Japanese law, but I would be astounded if this were the case.

* * *

Addendum: the case of _Fairy Tail_ is interesting - it ran from Oct 2009 to
Mar 2013, then stopped for a while, and picked back up again in Apr 2014.
Despite this, the name of the series did not change - it was called _Fairy
Tail_ both before and after the break in airing.3

My _suspicion_ here is that the break in airing had been planned in advance,
and that the producers had planned to resume airing once the manga had had
some time to get ahead.

If this is in fact the case, there would have been no reason to halt
production during the break in airing - it was already known at the time
airing stopped that they _would_ be making more episodes. Contrast this with
e.g. _Railgun_ \- when the first season finished in 2010, they didn't know
(for sure) that they'd be making a second season (which didn't end up
happening until 2013).

* * *

# Notes

1 In most cases, anime has no notion that is equivalent to what American TV
watchers call "seasons"; the major exception would probably be long-running
children's anime (think _Doraemon_ , _Sazae-san_ , etc.).

2 This explanation doesn't really work for _Naruto_ vs. _Naruto Shippuden_ ,
though, and I'm not familiar enough with that show to posit an explanation.
You might like to ask about that particular case separately if it interests
you.

3 Regarding which, see [this
question](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/8649/1908).

