Name's the Same/Anime and Manga


 * There are actually two completely unrelated series both called Gakuen Heaven. One is a Yaoi Guys series set in an all boys school, the other is an ecchi series about a ronin teacher set in an all girls' school. Don't get 'em mixed up.
 * On a similar note, there are also two series called Gakkou No Sensei. One is about a male teacher at a supernatural school of some sort (I haven't actually read it, so I could be wrong), while the other is about three female teachers who also happen to live together. Adding to the coincidence, they both have hints of Ho Yay (the first one) and Les Yay (the second one).
 * There's a group of people called "Fairy Tail", but are they a Chaotic Good group of magic users or a Chaotic Evil gang of monster terrorists?
 * The Pokémon Ledian and the Gundam Wing character Lady Une share the same katakana (レディアン), though Une has a dot between the ィ and the ア.
 * Shinji of Neon Genesis Evangelion and Judai of Yu-Gi-Oh GX both have two love interests named Rei and Asuka, with the same but reversed color schemes (white and red) to their wardrobes.
 * Shinji is also Rider's master.
 * Shinji Ikari, the main character from Neon Genesis Evangelion is also not connected in any way to Shinji Hirako from Bleach.
 * Paul's Japanese name is Shinji... and almost all his idiosyncratic ship names reference Neon Genesis Evangelion because of it.
 * ...And Dawn's Japanese name is Hikari.
 * By the way, Shinji shares almost the same name as Shinji HIKARI, who happens to be called Fireball in WEP's "dub".
 * And Rei is also a Sailor Senshi. In a double whammy Rei of Eva was intentionally named after Rei of Sailor Moon.
 * Ikari Yui and Katsuragi Misato, two characters who would never be paired by anyone with a sane mind. Yui and Misato, Blue Drop's Official Couple. No wonder there is only one crossover between the two series.
 * There's also a major character in Yuusha Raideen called Rei Asuka. And one called Mari.
 * I think it's safe to say that Kozo is not Azuza's grandfather, despite sharing the same surname - Fuyutsuki.
 * Kaname Chidori and Kaname Chidori.
 * While we're on the subject, these two: Sakura Haruno and Sakura Haruno.
 * Non-human example: Both Code Geass and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann feature a mecha named 'Gur(r)en', both of which are Red and Very Awesome. (Both are spelled the same way in Japanese, but the latter is officially romanized with a second R.) This is because "guren" means "red lotus" in Japanese. See also: Solf J. Kimblee, the Crimson Alchemist, from Fullmetal Alchemist, who in Japanese is called "Guren no Renkinjutsushi".
 * Yukari Kamishiro is either the main characters' attention-craved drunken flirt of a teacher in Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu or one of the haremettes in the Gift series.
 * There are two characters with the name Saten. One is from Railgun who is one of the protagonists and the other one is from Needless who is an antagonist. Please don't mix them up. Oh wait, do it. You'll get a laugh out of it.
 * Sauzā (サウザー) is the Japanese pronunciation of two different Jump-related villains: Souther the Holy Emperor (aka Thouther, Thouzer), the successor of Nanto Hō-ōken from Fist of the North Star; and Sauzer ("Salza" in Funimation's dub), one of Coola's henchmen in the fifth Dragon Ball Z movie.
 * Lampshaded in Haruhi-chan with Kimidori, the (male) artificial lifeform balloon animal, who is totally not Kimidori, the (female) Artificial Human who works with Yuki. That being said, 'Kimidori' means 'yellow-green'. The latter's hair and eyes while the former is a yellow-green balloon animal.
 * Pico from Boku No Pico has absolutely nothing to do with either Newgrounds, or F Zero, or that crappy movie about a talking caterpillar and Christopher Columbus.
 * Both Death Note and Part 4 of Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure feature a supernatural Serial Killer named Kira. In both cases it's meant to evoke the English word "killer", but in Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure the villain's full name is actually Yoshikage Kira, and in Death Note "Kira" is a nickname created by the media. Their reasons for killing are also vastly different.
 * Azumanga Daioh and Ga-Rei both have main characters named Kagura and Yomi.
 * Speaking of Yomi, there's also Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga from the former series, and Kekkaishi gives us an interesting name combo of a character called Yomi Kasuga.
 * The Robot Girl character from Mahou Sensei Negima and the bar where Akemi works as a waitress in Maison Ikkoku both have the same name: Chachamaru. The spaceship from Plastic Little also has this name, except that it's usually punctuated as "Cha-Cha Maru".
 * Mahou Sensei Negima and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha both have a Fate. Both are the same gender as the hero and they start as an enemy with lots of subtext. This has led to no small number of jokes amongst fans of both series.
 * Try not to confuse Misa Amane with Misao Amano.
 * Not exact, but Yukino Miyazawa is a high school student voiced by Atsuko Enomoto. Yukine Miyazawa is a high school student voiced by ... Atsuko Enomoto.
 * Both Pokémon and Digimon Adventure have characters named Hikari, although the Hikari in Pokémon (introduced in 2006) had her name dubbed as Dawn, while the Digimon Adventure one (introduced in 1999) became Kari.
 * There's also a character named Hikari in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
 * K-On! has an aspiring musician-cum-moeblob call Yui who plays guitar. Angel Beats also has an aspiring musician-cum-moeblob call Yui who plays guitar.
 * Is The Major the ass-kicking commander of an organisation working for the government or the scheming Nazi leader of an organization of vampires?
 * Shamal is a doctor in both Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and Katekyo Hitman Reborn, being female in the former and male in the latter.
 * The British dub of Space Carrier Blue Noah referred to Hidaka as "Alan Carter", which is the name of a character from the British science fiction series Space: 1999.
 * "Deathscythe" is a deadly weapon; do you mean the Gundam or a type of weapon fueled by souls?
 * Teru Mikami from Koko ni Iru yo! has absolutely nothing to do with Teru Mikami from Death Note.
 * Mai Kazuki is the elementary school student that transforms into Magical Star Magical Emi as well as a character from Magne Robo Gakeen.
 * Crossing over with Real Life, a drama CD was released starring five different male characters all voiced by seiyuus whose first name is Daisuke.
 * Intentionally invoked with Kimi Ni Todoke. Whether you're referring to the anime/manga, it's first season OP, it's second season ED, or it's live action version's theme, they all mean the same thing.
 * Also, Chizuru Yoshida says hi.
 * Ein: The bounty hunter from Fist of the North Star? Or the dog from Cowboy Bebop?
 * The main hero in both Dragonball and Saiyuki is Son Goku, a Sajin with a staff. It's because both stories are based upon Journey to The West, whose main character is named "Sun Wukong".
 * Miu Serizawa and Miu Serizawa.
 * Kuroneko is either a Once Per Episode cameo making feline from Trigun or a Tsundere Elegant Gothic Lolita from Ore Imo.
 * Ichigo is either the male lead of Bleach or the female lead of Tokyo Mew Mew.
 * And by the same token, Byakuya is either one of Ichigo's friends or a mercurial servant of Inuyasha's nemesis Naraku.
 * "Ichigo" is also the name of the female lead of Yumeiro Patissiere.
 * Mt. Moon: A mountain that is home to the moonstones, rocks that contains limitless energy, or a mountain that is home to the moonstone, a rock that allows Clefairy to evolve?
 * Gon is both an adorable major character in Hunter X Hunter and an adorable little ridiculously powerful t-rex-looking thing from the manga of the same name.
 * Or, for that matter, a Gomamon.
 * Light Yagami or Hikari Yagami? Not quite, but you really don't want to confuse the two.
 * Kurama: A girly-looking redhaired fox spirit with a thing for plants, or a princess seeking a perfect man to help restore her race?
 * Robotech's Rick Hunter (AKA: Macross's Hikaru Ichijou) came a couple or so years after the Rick Hunter played by Fred Dryer in that TV show Hunter.
 * The main character in Ai Ore Love Me is named Akira Shiraishi. In Lucky Star, Hiyori points out that it sounds like the Lucky Channel characters Akira Kogami and Minoru Shiraishi got married. (And the doorbell rings, leaving Konata to wonder which one it is...)
 * Joey Jones: the Kid Hero from Stan Lee's recent anime or the minor character from Stellvia of the Universe.
 * Digimon somehow pulled off two internal examples between the same two media - both the manga Digimon Next and the anime Digimon Xros Wars have characters named Yuu and Tsurugi, though in Xros Wars Tsurugi is that particular character's surname as opposed to the Next character's first name.
 * Mami is the name of a character from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, as well as the title characters from Creamy Mami and Esper Mami.
 * There's also Mami Futami from The Idolmaster franchise.
 * Kagura from Inuyasha is not to be confused with Kagura Sohma from Fruits Basket or Kagura from Azumanga Daioh or Kagura from Ga-Rei.
 * Aoi Futaba: Crossdressing police officer or cute but badass teenage diplomat?
 * The fictional character Ryosuke Takahashi happens to share his name with a real life anime director.
 * "Sakura" is a very common girl's name in Japan. Along with the aforementioned two Sakura Haruno's, there's also a certain street fighting fangirl and a certain magical girl who collects magical cards.
 * Musashi Tomoe and Mami Tomoe. Somehow, this makes perfect sense.
 * In the same way, Tomoe Yukishiro, Tomoe Marguerite and simply Tomoe.
 * Is the lord with the surname Yao a jerkass boar with the title of Demon King or a Xingese prince looking for the secret to immortality?
 * Or a voice actor?
 * Leina: a fighting princess?, Rom Stoll's younger sister? or Judau Ashta's younger sister?
 * And, (with a different spelling), Reina, who, by a weird coincidence, is a swordswoman just like the QB's one.
 * Cattleya: A busty warrior?, A Pokemon Trainer?, Louise's sister? or Raidiece F. Branstein's sister-in-law?
 * Airi: A Wraith maid?, Rei's sister? or a Hollywood actress stuck in a fantastic world?
 * Shinobu: A hot-blooded Super Robot pilot?, a clumsy ninja?, a loli vampire?, or a a spirit detective on the wrong side of the law?
 * Is Giro a psychotic space frog or an evil wolf leader?
 * While they don't share the same name, they share the same nickname: Is Micchan a fat toddler, an annoying girl or a basketball player?
 * In fact, someone else already noticed that.
 * It's also the nickname Fuuko gives Mikagami in Flame of Recca, and Shigure's editor in Fruits Basket.
 * Saber: a female King Arthur? or an Autobot?
 * JoJo is a diminutive nickname, but does it belong to anyone from or related to the Joestar family, or to the youthful royal heir Jordy Volder?