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    Many Anime series have fairly lengthy titles. Frequently, they wind up picking up a Portmanteau Series Nickname, with a syllable or two of each word in the series name. Sometimes, the producers explicitly encourage this, and refer to the series using the nickname in the Post Episode Trailer.

    Portmanteau words are the Japanese equivalent of acronyms. The Japanese language is syllabic—instead of single letters, Japanese is built from entire syllables; consonants (except "n") don't occur by themselves. So where a Western term would produce an acronym, the Japanese equivalent produces a pronounceable word. The Japanese use portmanteau terms in much the same way that English speakers use acronyms. Which is to say, frequently. More so recently thanks to the need to create short hashtags on Twitter, some of which have been officially endorsed by the author or publisher.

    Probably the most famous is Pocket Monsters becoming Pokémon. The longer name is official for both the games and the show in Japan, but couldn't be used in America because an early-90s toyline/comic/cartoon had secured the trademark on the name "Monster In My Pocket". This is actually slightly common; some of these are so ubiquitous that they get used as the official English titles.

    See also Officially Shortened Title

    Alphabetical order by official Japanese title, please.

    Examples of Portmanteau Series Nickname include:

    Anime and Manga

    Card Games

    • Pokémon Card Ni Natta Wake -> Pokewake.

    Literature

    • Kara no Kyoukai -> "Rakkyo"

    Professional Wrestling

    Theatre

    Video Games

    • Banjo to Kazooie no Daibouken -> "BanKaz"
    • Beatmania -> "Bemani" (no longer used for this purpose; in recent years, "Bemani" is used to refer to Konami's Rhythm Games as a whole.)
    • Bokujo Monogatari -> "Bokumono"
    • Bokura no Taiyou -> "Boktai"
    • Crash Bandicoot -> "KuraBan"
    • Double Dragon -> "DabuDora" (also applies to Billy and Jimmy's expies, Ryuichi and Ryuji, from the Kunio-kun series)
    • Dragon Quest -> "DraQue" (incidentally, the name "Duracuets" in La-Mulana is an alternate spelling of "DraQue 2")
    • Dragon Slayer -> "Drasle", though this only really shows up in the Japanese title of Legacy of the Wizard, which is Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family.
    • Famicom Tantei Club -> "FamiTan"
    • Gensou Suikoden -> "GenSui" (Though Konami simply uses "Gensou" as the abbreviation for the game series.)
    • Guitar Freaks and Drum Mania (collectively) -> "GitaDora"
    • Gyakuten Saiban -> "Gyakusai"
    • Harukanaru Toki no Naka de -> "HaruToki" (Although the "official" short version used in Japanese media is "Haruka"—it even made its way into the title of the English-language release of the manga adaptation.)
      • By extension, the TV series based on the franchise, Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Hachiyou Shou -> "HaruHachi" (or, going from the Japanese version, "Haruka8")
    • Inazuma Eleven -> "InaIre"
    • Kimi ga Nozomu Eien ("The Eternity You Wish For", aka "Rumbling Hearts") -> "Kiminozo"
    • Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable -> "NanoPo"
    • Metal Gear Solid -> "MeSo"
    • Western example: In fandoms for games which feature the Chinese Civil War (such as Hearts of Iron or Steel Panthers), it's not unusual to sometimes see NatChi and ComChi used for the Nationalist / Kuomintang and Communist forces, at least when they aren't using the KMT and CCP acronyms.
    • Panel de Pon -> "Panepon", which shows up in the Japanese titles of Tetris Attack (Yoshi no Panepon) and Pokemon Puzzle Challenge (Pokemon de Panepon).
    • Pocket Monsters -> Pokemon/Pokémon (the official international name)
    • pop'n music -> "PoMu"
    • Princess Maker -> "PuriMe"
    • Pro Yakyuu Family Stadium -> "FamiSta"
    • Sengoku Basara -> "SenBasa"
    • Shin Megami Tensei -> "MegaTen"
      • One of its more obscure spinoffs, Giten Megami Tensei, is commonly abbreviated as "GigaTen".
    • Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke wo -> Sonohana
    • Street Fighter II -> "Suto Tsuu" (or "St. II", as one beta for the Genesis port spells it out.)
    • Subarashiki Kono Sekai (The World Ends With You) -> "SubaSeka"
    • Super Mario Bros. -> "SuuMari"
    • Super Smash Bros. -> "SmaBro" (mostly in Japan), "SSB(M,B)"
    • Tokimeki Memorial -> "TokiMemo"
    • Yoake mae yori ruriiro na Crescent Love -> "YoakeNa"
    • Zeruda no Densetsu -> "ZerunoDen"

    Other

    • Drinks chain Beverages & More! now calls themselves BevMo! (Yes, with the exclamation point in both versions.)
    • Despite its common use, "Famicom" is technically a nickname for the Family Computer (the Japanese version of the Nintendo Entertainment System). Nintendo made the abbreviation official for the Super Famicom, which didn't stop Bandai from abbreviating that name further with their SuFami Turbo accessory.
    • American shipping company Federal Express rebranded to FedEx, a popular nickname, and used both till 2000.
    • National Biscuit Company -> Nabisco, they changed their name so long ago, most people don't even know of the full name.
    • The British bank National Westminster Bank rebranded to NatWest in the mid 90s.
      • As did now-defunct American bank Washington Mutual ("WaMu").
    • Service Games was originally founded as an American company, but after it opened its Japanese offices in the early 1950's, they would eventually be referred to as Sega.
    • Japan Capsule Computer Co. was only in the business of making video game arcade cabinets, which they thoughtfully named "Capsule Computers." Now that they're in the business of making games themselves, we have since known them as Capcom.
    • Jagex's name originally stood for "Java Gaming Experts", though they have redefined it as "Just About the Game Experience".
    • Bluesman Keb' Mo', originally Kevin Moore (not that one).
    • JLo.
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