What does × mean in titles of Japanese TV shows and comics? Whether it's a NHK
show like _Designer × Artisan_ or a comic like _Hunter × Hunter_ , I've seen
this symbol occur very often in titles. What does it mean? How do you
pronounce it, in Japanese and English?
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2019-01-31T04:35:34.333
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2019-02-07T17:30:00.863
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What does × mean in titles of Japanese TV shows and comics?
In the examples I have witnessed (in Japanese advertising), it is used to
suggest that combining two concepts/groups produce results comparable to those
of a [Cartesian product](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartesian_product),
which usually returns more elements than a
sum/[union](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_\(set_theory\)).

It implies a meaning a bit similar to the expressions "1 + 1 = 3" , or "the
group is more than the sum of its individual components".

So the idea conveyed by "Designer x Artisan" would be something like "they are
not only Designer AND Artisan (Designer + Artisan), but they are actually
something much more than that".

Here are explanations I found of the concept, from a native speaker:  
exp-realize-n.jugem.jp/?eid=99  
この「×」という記号によって，コラボレーションという意味を成す，ということを我々現代人は直感的に理解します．
そこで，この記号の元来の意味を考えてみましょう．
「×」という記号は，算数の掛け算で用います．僕は小学二年の時に掛け算を習いました．ある数値(スカラー)同士の掛け算の記号，という認識が最も一般的だと僕は思います．
また，「×」記号はスカラー同士の演算だけでなく，様々な場面で使います．ベクトルの外積，行列の積，などなど．
掛けるという演算は，世の中の多くの場面に出現し，活躍しています
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2019-02-06T13:27:42.420
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