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Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, TV | Tagged: doctor who, light novels
Doctor Who Would Work Great with Japanese Light Novel Titles
Every era of Doctor Who could have an alternate Japanese Light Novel title that explains the series' premise in a hilarious, on-the-nose way.
Article Summary
- What if every era of Doctor Who had a Japanese Light Novel-style title describing its wild premise?
- Light Novels use long, funny titles that sum up the plot—something Doctor Who could hilariously borrow.
- From the First Doctor’s adventures to Torchwood, eras get a unique, on-the-nose Light Novel title.
- Reimagining Doctor Who with anime-inspired titles would be a fun way for the BBC to "rebrand" the classic sci-fi series.
There is much debate about what could have made Doctor Who more successful, including various cross-marketing promotions and so forth, but one thing that the BBC and even Russell T. Davies seem to have overlooked is giving the series alternate titles, as Light Novels often use. The new spinoff miniseries The War Between the Land and the Sea almost has a Light Novel title already, and it's getting good viewing figures. Could there be something in that title? It could also have been called I WAS A LOWLY CIVIL SERVANT WHO BECAME THE LOVER OF A FISH PERSON THREATENING WAR AGAINST HUMANITY.
In case you were wondering, Light Novels are Japan's answer to Young Adult novels. They cover Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance, and Horror, and have millions of readers. They're also the source for many anime and manga spin-offs with tens of millions of fans worldwide. What distinguishes them is their hilariously long titles that directly describe the entire plot of the series, so you're not in doubt what it's about. The most successful recent examples include The Time I Was Reincarnated as a Slime, Rascal Dreams of Bunny Senpai, Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? and over a hundred other titles are all real, and adapted from prose into hit manga and anime series. For all the references to popular genres and medium to give Doctor Who, anime has been a blindspot. Imagine if the series had been sold with alternate titles that you would find in Light Novels. The series has been around for over sixty years. Each era of Doctor Who could have a different Light Novel-style title.
Let's take the first version of Doctor Who from 1963. It could be called WE'RE HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS AND OUR STUDENT AND HER GRANDFATHER KIDNAPPED US AND TOOK US THROUGH TIME.
The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) era could be called I'M IN LOVE WITH THIS POMPOUS OLD MAN WHO KNOWS MORE ABOUT ALIENS THAN THE ARMY DOES.
The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) era could be called WE'RE LIKE BICKERING COLLEGE HOUSEMATES EXCEPT OUR HOUSE IS A TIME MACHINE OWNED BY A FLAKY ALIEN WHO LIKES CRICKET!
The Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) era could be I'M A USELESS AMERICAN GIRL TRAVELING IN TIME AND SPACE WITH AN ANGRY ALIEN IN A RODEO CLOWN COSTUME.
The Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) era might be I'M A BOMB-LOVING DELINQUENT TRAVELING SPACE AND TIME WITH A DANGEROUS SCOTTISH ALIEN.
The default title for the series, especially the modern era, could be CONNED INTO TIME-TRAVELING BY A SEXY ALIEN IN A BLUE PHONEBOX.
Let's not forget the spinoffs.
The Sarah Jane Adventures might be FIGHTING ALIENS WITH OUR FRIEND'S MUM.
Torchwood could be WE ARE SEXY CANNON FODDER WORKING FOR AN UNKILLABLE SEXY MAN FROM THE FUTURE AND WE ARE GETTING KILLED A LOT.
Just think, the BBC could resell each era of Doctor Who to Japan and even remarket the series as a Light Novel type series. It's win-win!
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