Kai’s Question #4 – Light Novels?
I realized from all the anime hobbies like manga, visual novels, gaming and so on, light novels are probably the most uncommon of all, even though quite a hefty amount of them had already been translated. From my perspective, I can see that not many actually read them, which is a shame considering that there are a lot of undiscovered gem just waiting to be found.
So for my question this time will be extremely simple, as you can see from the title. Do any of you read light novels? If so, which series had you started and which ones are your favorite? If you’re one of the rare anime fans who actually read light novels, I would love to hear your experiences in it.
Of cause, instead of just ending my post here, I had made a mini recommendations below for those who haven’t started reading light novels, but is planning to. Please note that my experience and knowledge in light novels aren’t particularly vast either, but it should be enough to get beginners started.
Various One-Shots
In my opinion, reading one-shots is a good idea for people who only started reading light novels. For a lot of you, who are so used to pictures and sound from their anime and manga, I’m sure you will be baffled by the wall of text featured in light novels. Even if you read a lot of books, it will take a bit of time to get used to anime content in heavy text format. This is why I feel it is better to read one-shots to get used to light novels first. The thing with one-shots is that the theme and concept being presented is easier to get across. Chances are, some of these one-shots had probably been adapted into an anime movies, like Remembrances for a Certain Pilot for one, which I had finished reading recently. Another one-shot I recommend is Iris on Rainy Days. Another type of one-shots are sequels or prequels of famous anime, in light novel one-shot format, like Angel Beats! Track Zero for example, which is a prequel to the original anime Angel Beats, focusing Hinata as the main protagonist. Death Note: Another Note is another great novel which is a prequel to the main series of Death Note.
The World God Only Knows
What I like about The World God Only Knows is that it isn’t a retelling of the series but actually present completely different stories. It had Keima conquering completely new girls not present in the original anime and manga, though some female characters Keima had already conquered in the anime made some cameo appearances. What’s more interesting is that the conquering Keima did in the light novels seem much more challenging then the girls he conquered in the anime. In fact by comparing his feat between the novels and the anime, it made the conquering he achieved in the anime seems almost anti-climatic. To those fans of The World God Only Knows, I suggest to give it a try.
Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria
This series was the first series I read, and is still one of my favorite light novels yet. While I had some difficulty trying to get used to the massive amount of information, that doesn’t stop me from enjoying it thoroughly. Zero no Maria is extremely mysterious and suspenseful. Each volume tackled on different supernatural phenomena, while I haven’t read volume 5 or 6 yet which had already been translated, volume 3 and 4 remains my favorite volumes yet, which in my opinion, has the most epic arc as of yet. There is quite a massive amount of information aforementioned so beginners to light novels who aren’t used to wall of text should best try out some lighter one-shots first. If you are used to wall of text on another hand…
DDD: Decoration Disorder Disconnection
The light novel series written by esteemed Type-Moon author, Kinoko Nasu. With a title just as bizarre as it’s series itself, the series show everyone just how maddening the general atmosphere is, and the madness was already at it’s peak at the beginning pages. In terms of story, the novel follows an order of storytelling much like Kara no Kyoukai, each volumes are not in chronological order. If you like Kara no Kyoukai, you will no doubt be fond of this light novel. Actually, if you’re a Type-Moon fan in general, I’m sure you will most definitely take a liking to this novel. In fact, I think you could give it a try even if you’re not familiar with Type-Moon. Especially for the fans of the horror, mystery, action, gore and psychological, DDD will instantly become a top favorite.
At that end, the question this time is a hybrid of both a question and recommendation, aiming to spread this unnoticed anime medium known as light novels. If you are into original sources like manga and visual novels, why not light novels as well?
Kai’s Questions
Kai’s Question #1 – Revealing Figures
Kai’s Question #2 – Android Online Games
Kai’s Question #3 – Storing Anime
Kai’s Question #4 – Light Novels?
Kai’s Question #5 – Weekly or Marathon?
Kai’s Question #6 – Sweaty Hands and It’s Effects on My Gaming Experience
Kai’s Question #7 – Best Girls of Love Live!
deluscar 
I have to admit that i’m one of the people that hasn’t tried reading light novels. Are they just like short stories?
Hmm not quite, in light novels term, a short story is usually when a story deprived from the main story is written, usually focusing on a different character or timeline.
hey just thought I’d mention there is a number of them being translated on Baka-tsuki.org http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Main_Page i also know they’ve commercially localized a very very small number of them
ive only read kokoro connect and Oreimo
light novels are really popular among male otaku audience, this stuff they actually get bought! unlike visual novels that is priced way beyond people’s budgets so no1 buys. and plus, it’s uncomfortable to read lots of text off a screen unless u have a tablet, so the LNs are doing well. in fact huge number of anime shows are adapted from LN
Thanks for the info Aaeru. Indeed, baka-tsuki is my main source of light novels too, but aside from baka-tsuki, I also found a few light novels translation blog where they post all their completed works. No pdf/epub support for the latter though.
Ahh I see. I didn’t know about the purchasing side of things but I can see that it’s quite inactive from all the light novel discussions. so far, the most active light novel discussions I see are in animesuki or light novel translation sites themselves, and the latter is a no brainer, lol. If you’re talking about visual novels about the tablet thing, I actually prefer using my desktop for it, lol. Guess I just got too used to it, I can’t seem to marathon as well when I’m using other devices.
I’ve been putting off light novels for far too long. I only ever tried reading once, and that was a chapter of the Haruhi novels. I actually still have the TWGOK novel on my bookmark list, so maybe I should actually give it a try pretty soon.
I tend to avoid mainstream light novels which is basically telling the same story as their anime counterparts, but there might be some significant difference still, so I might try out the Haruhi novels soon enough. Yea TWGOK’s good for starting out, I think there must be a hell lot of volumes for Haruhi, lol.
I’m reading the suzumiya series. Really good, are a bunch translated already. I still have Book Girl laying around and I’ve not started the Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria series. But it sparked my interest. Also maybe Iris on rainy days. Still so much to read. Just like with manga, I tend to pick it up every now and then, instead of watching anime which is more consistent to follow.
I’m sure there are since it’s so mainstream, haven’t check it yet myself though. Book Girl seems promising, but seems like the translation is abandoned at baka-tsuki, lol. Where do you get it? Or did you just bought the physical copy? Indeed, I have a lot on my backlog too.
I just buy it at the book depository. Yen-press does Suzumiya and Book Girl I believe. I’m not to fond of reading books and stuff on my pc, so just buying them is a more convient way for me. Baka-Tsuki is still a group of volunteers, just like scanlators. I really appreciate what they do, but are inconsistent as they are able to abandon a series in the middle. But most of the time there are multiple reasons for that.
I see. How much of book girl is in English? I don’t read them on my pc too. I put pdf or epub on my phone and just read it there. I think reading on a tablet may be the best but I dont have one. Thinking of buying an ipad or just acer iconia for that.
About baka-tsuki, on their defense, translation project was abandoned most times because of licensing issues. There are quite a lot of similar problems for visual novel translations as well.
How much…hmm let me check. 6 books already. I only have two of them as of today. I buy them but I have so much to read haha, terrible me.
Nothing beats the books, but I read manga and stuff mostly on my phone. The screensize and resolution on the HTC One X works just fine for me.
And that explains a lot, I know about the licensing issues. But most of what they do isn’t licensed by overseas companies if I believe. As long as the licensing companies overseas don’t have the rights to it, the chances a serie will be ongoing is pretty high. I think Japanese companies tolerate this form of ‘advertising’ to gain foot overseas. Just like Activision doens’t claim the video’s on YouTube, because it’s great advertising. But on the Japanse companies, I could be mistaken,
All of them translated, that’s quite a good amount.
I read most of them on my phone too. Books ar good though, feels traditional and nostalgic.
There are still a few which got licensed though, ahh anyway, I don’t have a lot of knowledge behind-the-scenes with these things either ;p
I read light novels. I actually started with the Zero No Tsukaima. After reading the first 10 translated books I stopped for a while and swapped over to Sword Art Online (this was a few weeks before the anime had been announced) and consider it one of my favorite book series. I also read books 4-6 of Durarara!!. I read the Accel World, Ore no Imouto and Kokoro Connect LN as soon as they get fully translated and turned into PDF or EPUB. I plan on reading the To Aru Majutsu no Index series and To Aru Kagaku no Railgun manga after I read Fate/Zero.
Considering the amount of hate it received in the anime for Sword Art Online, that’s interesting, lol. Though there are a lot of positive comments for the light novel before the anime was announced, I haven’t check much after the anime though. Are there any significant differences? I see that you’re reading a lot of light novels that are already adapted into anime, I tend to pick the less mainstream ones :D But I already had Fate/Zero and Kara no Kyoukai readied anytime for reading though.
The main differences that I can remember are in how the story progresses while inside of SAO. The first book deals with the game, Asuna and ends with him waking up. The second book has most of the side stories (all but the murder case, which is in book 8) from the anime and expands upon them more then the show did. The good thing about it is that in the books set in SAO there isn’t as much secrecy about his unique skill since it was written from Kirito’s perspective, also book 2 has more usages of the unique skill than the show mostly because the show wanted to wait until the dramatic reveal during the boss fight and book 2 was written after the readers had already seen the reveal thus knowing about the skill. Heathcliff also makes a more prominent appearance in the side stories as a person who knows more about the rules than the average player should..
I tend to pick LNs that I have seen the anime due to wanting to continue the story beyond the end of the show or wanting to be more immersed in that particular world. I have read a few LNs that are one shot or not turned into anime but the main ones that I have read have all been adapted to anime.
I see. Seems almost the same as the SAO arc of the anime too, ending with Kirito waking up, guess one major difference is that the side stories are shown first. What about ALO? Most of us anime watchers (me included) think SAO haven’t been good ever since ALO arc started. The light novels has that part too right? Is it actually better there? lol. Good to know about the unique skill and Heathcliff though. Also, Sword Art online chapter 16.5 ftw.
I avoided that due to possible sequels. I know there are significant differences but I guess I’m just the type who prefers new stories.
Reading light novels is really good if you want to read your series like the author intended in the first place.
I read a bit in the Haruhi Light Novel, these are pretty cool since I love the anime. But yeah it is long text with too few pictures, I can imagine everything, but seeing a few more illustrations in between wouldn’t be bad.
I really would like to read all the Haruhi novels, but that might be a long time project.
There shouldn’t even be pictures at all for normal novels, lol. The few illustrations in between are what differentiate them from normal novels.
Haruhi is good, in fact, I think it’s one of the main source behind LN’s increasing boom. Like you said, it’s long though. I even plan to reread all of Hako no Maria past volumes due to me not being able to absorb everything and that might already take quite a long amount of time.
I keep saying I’m going to get into light novels, but the only one I’ve read that has actual pictures but lots of text is Guin Saga. I’m not sure that counts (and the reason I got it was because it was on sale lol) but one day, when I finally master the art of not procrastinating, this will happen…you can count on it!
Yea I think that count as one. How is it?
If you’re going to get into LN, I’m sure you would love TWGOK xD
Book one is almost horribad. It takes until the end to actually get interesting. And then once it gets interesting, you’ll probably be compelled to keep reading and reading and reading, and I kept reading and finished Book 5. The other volumes won’t be coming anymore (Author passed away + lots of volumes + low sales), but it definitely made me want to check out the anime now.
Ahh slow build up. Imo, I always think that you need extra patience with light novels or visual novels. There’s a lot of content for these two mediums so things only starts to build up at a much later time. Sad to hear about the author, reminds me of the Zero no Tsukaima LN case where the author fell terminally ill at one point.
I have began reading light novels for quiet a while now, but all of them are translated in Thai. Apparently, Thailand and Japan have a really good manga/light novel agreement and we can basically get light novel releases here pretty fast. The only thing we don’t have is the anime. Weird, considering the manga and light novels are released so fast yet we barely get any anime here. (most of them are only fan-dubbed)
I would like to read an english translated light novel too though. The only thing that they do here for light novels is they try to twist it into their own vocabulary or create a new pun, instead of translating it according to the actualy Japanese script. :/
The only places I’m able to find light novels in english are online though….
I think Brunei had it worse. Chances are, if you ask a shopkeeper in a anime or bookstore “I’m looking for a (inserts name) light novel” and his answer would be “What the heck is a light novel?” Brunei’s known for it’s ignorance anyhow.
And online is definitely the next best thing aside from getting physical copies of the books. It’s pretty much where I get all my anime, manga, LN, VN needs lol. A majority of them are fans translated and ironically, they seems to be more better then the official translations. Most of the fan translators actually took the time and effort to carefully translate the “Japanese-only” puns, terms and references. That’s from my limited exposure to official translations anyhow so I might be wrong too though, lol.
Ohh! So your from Brunei? Nice to meet you :D
I heard there are certain blogs that translate light novels, but I have a hard time trying to find them. The only ones I seem to be able to find online are either sword art online or the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya.
I’ve had better luck at finding visual novel, and let’s just say I’ve stumbled on quiet a few, to this day, the scenes are still stuck in my mind. (*cough* Saya no Uta)
Yeah I agree. I believe the fans are more committed to the translation than paid Translators!
Wow!! That’s amazing! So your capable of reading Japanese as well? >_< I'm so envious!!
I think I have some of those blogs in my blogroll so you can have a look if you want. I prefer reading them in PDF/epub but some titles aren’t just as easily accessible so I Don’t have much choice. Those are definitely the easier titles to find since it’s so famous.
Really??! O_O Thank you so much!!
Ah yes, it’s easier to scroll down and revisit a page on PDF.
The one’s I found are usually just in type format so I lose my placing all the time XD
^ ^ Again, thank you so much! Can’t wait to read them!
I just find it easier to read on my phone, especially so if it’s epub, since I got a specialized app for reading them now xD
Wahhhh!! That’s so cool!! > < Sounds handy!
I’ve been reading light novels for a few years now. I started with Haruhi after hearing that the anime was based off a book series, and that it was translated. After that i started to read a lot more mostly from Baka-Tsuki.
My favorite is definitely Toaru Majutsu no Index, mostly because its just a great series, and partly because i managed to read the entire series(and the first New Testiment) in my mandatory intro to computers class, which without the series i would have ended up failing it because i would have just skipped that class all year.
I actually think Haruhi is the reason behind the light novels boom, in Japan at least. Weirdly enough, I actually got into light novels through Shakugan no Shana. I was reading some fanfictions which are based on the novels itself and finally got resign myself and started reading light novels. In the end, I still didn’t read Shana novels though, too long.. I’ll see if I can get to that soon.
Yea.. another long series, lol. I think the anime’s still pretty active in that franchise so watching the anime will suffice for me. I’m sure the light novels will obviously do a better explanation of things, especially the science of physics of how they fight. Lol, nice, so you’re actually “studying” in a sense.. xD
I also warmly recommend Iris on Rainy Days. I’ve bought and read the book while I was on a trip to Japan last year and it’s a very nice light novel. For those who liked Sword Art Online I would highly recommend checking out the .hack//G.U. books. They are available in English on Amazon and are high up there in terms of overall quality for a light novel.
I’m thinking of reading Kara no Kyoukai next. Haven’t seen the movies yet and reading the books beforehand will probably make the movies that much sweeter.
As for light novels as a medium, I think the language barrier is what’s keeping most Westerners from reading light novels. If a book isn’t printed on paper most people won’t read it even if it is available for free (fan-translated that is) on the net. I myself am quite intimidated by the long light novels. For example, I liked the Mayo Chiki anime so I considered reading the Mayo Chiki light novel series. But then I found out it was 12 volumes long. And that length is typical for light novels. Japanese just gulp those down in a day or two. But for me it takes a month or two to read just one, so I tend to read only one or two light novels a year.
It’s a nice heartwarming book for sure, reminds me of the Master-Robot relationship in Time of Eve, though still slightly different in a way that this is from a robot perspective. Not sure if I would like Sword Art Online since the anime isn’t a doing a pretty job in proving how good it is, lol. But might just check out the light novel anyway. Interested to know about .hack//GU, is it set before, after or the same events as the game? I had seen the Kara no Kyoukai movies but haven’t started reading them yet. Hmm not sure about that lol ;p
I guess I have a different preference, I try not to use books as much as possible, and I’m lacking space for them in my room anyway. I get everything digitally if possible, and that includes light novels. My first light novels was read in pdf format on my phone, and now, I prefer epub format due to having a specialized reading app and better format. Yea, I’m kinda intimidated by them too. Even now I’m planning to re-read Hako no Maria, which I already considered long.
I don’t really like Sword Art Online, but a lot of people saw it so I pointed them to an older, yet much better, book series worth reading. The .hack//G.U. books tells the story of Haseo. The timeline is the same as the three PS2 games by the same name. However, the books were written by Tatsuya Hamazaki – the man who singlehandedly created the story behind .hack, and because they are not limited by budget or CG constraints these four books are much better than the games at telling the story. I really enjoyed them.
I do all my work on a computer, so when I get home I can’t stand to look at a PC monitor. Even though I have a tablet I honestly prefer to pick up a nice sturdy book. Naturaly not everyone can read these books on paper (most visual novels are not available in English on paper that is). But when it’s possible I do tend to read the real book.
At any rate, people rarely blog about their taste in visual novels so I’m glad you brought this topic up.
I see, I will certainly give it a read as well if it’s even better then SAO, hack and SAO’s stories does seem similar. That’s one of light novel’s strong points and it pretty much applies to any other light novels, because it’s text, the way it presents itself is pretty versatile. It can do anything as long as it is describable with text. Ohh it’s just four volumes? Lesser then I thought xD Shouldn’t take long to read them I hope.
I just went with whatever available, as long as they are translated in English, but won’t mind a good old traditional book too. Text on papers is also something always appearing at work, lol.
Hello guys. .
As what the blog say’s, it is true that Light Novel’s are true hidden gem’s waiting to be found, but it is really to bad that it hasn’t been given any attention. Also, some anime that are poorly adapted into anime, actually in truth, is a very good Light Novel. I leave this message because i am proud to be one of those people who reads Light Novels. Also if you guys would ask what Light Novel’s are, they are simply not some short story or some single random book in some shelve displayed in shops. Also, it wouldn’t hurt if you guys immerse yourself and explore the net in search of Light Novels, trust me, you will not be disappointed. Also, Sword Art Online is not the only good Anime adapted Novel out there, some other novels that aren’t even adapted or haven’t garnered attention can easily surpass SAO in other fields other than SAO being a Online Game Based Anime. Some Novel’s like Haganai, Hamachi, Date A Live, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, ToraDora!, Dxd, Mondaiji Tachi, Hidan no Aria, Oreimo, etc. are Light novels too, And I assure you it surpasses the anime. .
If you wan’t to get more info, just leave me a reply. I don’t mind if you give me a negative remark, but hey, we can learn from each other’s preferences and I would be more than happy to learn about things I don’t know. .
Yea as reasons said above, it is difficult for non-Japanese to get their hands on the physical copy, even more so when there’s a language barrier. Indeed, there may be fan translations but some people prefer to read on a book literally instead of a monitor screen, so they can only rely on official translated books, if they can read Japanese on another hand, that’s a different story xD
I’m not sure about SAO since I haven’t read the light novel, but the anime certainly isn’t as good as the franchise made it out to be. Most (but not all) original sources tend to surpass their adaptions, the examples you given, are all mostly mainstream anime that had been adapted into anime, and I will be sure to give them a read. Interestingly, there are some where the anime is better then the light novel, Chuunibyou, at least, that’s the response I could get checking around anime sites and discussions. The inclusion of fillers characters and their own self-made ending actually made them better then the light novel.
I’m still pretty new to LNs but I have read a few. So far the only ones I’ve finished are Death Note: Another Note and Angel Beats!: Track Zero (both of which are prequels to their respective series, interestingly enough) and I enjoyed them quite a bit. They were nice additions to their series and it was good to get more insight on some of the characters that didn’t get as much focus in the main story. I read the first volume of the Fullmetal Alchemist LN and it was a pretty good read, though I haven’t continued them since I don’t have the second volume. It’s a sad thing because I have volumes 3-5. I suppose that I could probably skip and just read the ones I own, but I’m obsessive about trivial things like this lol.
I’ve also been reading (at a very slow and irregular pace) the LNs for Toradora (having just recently finished the third volume). While it is essentially the same story, reading Toradora has been very much worthwhile. As one might expect, LNs do a very good job of providing descriptions and details on character thoughts, which were still expressed very well in the anime but are made more clear in the LN, allowing for a lot more insight on perspective. Another thing to note is that the LN does have bits that weren’t presented in the anime. It was very interesting seeing how the situation with Ami and her stalker was actually longer in the LN than in the anime, which essentially mixed two different scenes to cover that aspect of the story. The anime didn’t do a bad job with it, though the LN made for more interesting events that allowed for both amusing and emotional interactions that were omitted from the adaptation so it was nice to see that there is indeed more for me to read even if the story itself isn’t too different.
I want to give more LNs a try since it seems like there’s a lot of potential with them. As I just completed the visual novel for Fate/stay night, I’m especially eager to read through the Fate/Zero LNs. I loved Fate/Zero’s anime so I’m curious to see how the source material is in comparison, might take me a while to get to it but I know I’ll enjoy it once I finally start.
Track Zero’s pretty good, not as good as the main series, but it’s good to see more focus on the other characters. For some reason, I’m not surprised to see Hinata as the protagonist here, since from what I can see in the show, he seems like protagonist-material xD Another Note is something I would love to read if I can squish in some time for it. Also, didn’t know FMA’s LN is translated, unless you’re reading it raw or something, lol. Or are the English versions licensed?
Indeed. What LNs excel which other medium cannot is it’s ability to express character’s thoughts, maybe with the exception of VNs. Especially for monologues and soliloquies, LNs are able to show those to a much greater level. Seems quite similar albeit with a few differences from what I read in your comment about Toradora, I would read them too just to check out the differences, but I have tons of others in my backlog I would like to prioritize first xD
It seems like you read a lot of LNs which were already adapted to anime. For some reason, I tend to shy away from those books and read the more uncommon ones, although I certainly don’t mind if the novels are telling a story in a different timeline away from the main series, or perhaps even a different universe. If you don’t mind more recommendations, since I read more now, I have newer ones I would recommend aside from the ones given here, namely – Heavy Object and Sayonara Piano Sonata. The latter especially is awesome, it’s like Sakurasou (the atmosphere), Nodame Cantabile (the music, though it has rock too) and Toradora (the romance) all combined together to form one awesome series, give it a read sometime^^
Sorry for the horribly late reply, my schedule’s been pretty terrible as of late and I just got on spring break. Senior year truly is a troublesome thing, just two more months to go until I’m done with high school. It’d be really nice if I could actually catch up on my blogging before then though lol.
It was definitely nice to get some backstory on how a few of the characters met since Angel Beats was too short to cover most of that. And Hinata does seem like protagonist material, I remember when I first saw a random episode of Angel Beats at a convention I thought he was the main character for some reason, guess he just exhibits that type of vibe. And Another Note was indeed a nice read, pretty solid story and it’s not too long so it’s a convenient read that ties in pretty nicely to Death Note, even if it’s not the same style for the most part. And the FMA LNs were licensed by Viz, I think there are 7 of them but only 5 were translated and released by Viz. I’m still hoping one of these days I might come across volume 2 at a convention or bookstore, that would be beautiful.
Very true, LNs are fantastic with exposition and characterization, two things I very much value when it comes to stories, so it’s a medium I can appreciate even if I’m far more used to the visual nature of anime or manga. And that makes sense, the Toradora LNs at least are certainly worth reading but if you don’t have a whole lot of time there are probably bigger priorities. For all it’s worth, Toradora’s anime did a solid job with the adaptation from what I’ve observed so you don’t need to read the LNs right away, enjoyable though they may be.
Yep, so far my main motivation to read LNs has been their connection to anime and/or manga that I’ve already enjoyed, so it’s easy for me to jump into the stories since I already have background on the story and characters even if the medium itself is quite different from what I’m used to. That’s not to say I won’t read other LNs, just that I haven’t had the time for it yet and thus haven’t gotten the chance to. I definitely want to read more when I have the time for it, hopefully summer can be a land of wonderful and exciting new things but it feels so far away. Heavy Object seemed interesting from the post you made about it and Sayonara Piano Sonata sounds fantastic. I still have yet to watch or read Nodame Cantabile (which I’ve heard is a pretty quality series) but if it’s comparable to Sakurasou or Toradora then I’m sure I’d enjoy it. I’ll have to check that one out.
Not a problem, don’t worry about it.
Too large of a character cast, too little episodes. Reading the light novel is a good way to expand your horizon on Angel Beat’s backstory and some of it’s characters. Hinata does, as if that normal hair, ikemen face, average body stature aren’t already any indication. Although in the anime, he tends to make a lot of yaoi jokes for some reason. I can most definitely see a different style in Another Note, considering well, there aren’t any Death Notes in there, I assume? (haven’t read it). Yea, kinda sucks how you have all the books, just only volume 2, lol. Although I guess, if the stories are episodic, skipping volume 2 might work.
Characterizations and gradual changes in characterizations (aka developments) are also things I take notice of whenever I look at stories, especially when it comes to character-driven stories. Also, just from using words to express the protagonist’s inner monologues, we can know straight away that it is the main character that we were accustomed to, without even mentioning his name. Actually, speaking of Toradora, I just rewatched the whole show sometime ago, pleasant experience xD
I tend to prefer new settings and characters but I can understand your sentiment of returning back to the same settings and characters in which the anime had already shown you. Summer should come sooner when you least expected it to, lol. Also, if you’re a fan of rock music, Sayonara Piano Sonata also made lots of references to them too xD That, and classical music, though I’m not sure either if you’re a fan of the latter.. or neither. Anyway, if you like to check it out, I already written a review of Sayonara Piano Sonata here. Oh, and you might wanna know this, Sayonara Piano Sonata is a completed series, and the translation is completed too (with the exception of some side-stories) so that might give you some incentive to read it xD
The LN was definitely nice for expanding a bit on the characters, even if only briefly. I’m really excited about the upcoming VN since it looks like the cast will be getting detailed characterization this time around, and there’s a lot of potential there. Angel Beats could really end up as a 10/10 for me in VN form with all the development potential and storytelling time, if done right I might even like it more than Clannad so we’ll have to see how that goes. And he did make a lot of random yaoi jokes in the anime, I remember hearing something about yaoi routes in the VN (which tripped me out actually, and I’m not sure if it means exactly what it sounds like) so I guess that’ll probably stay in the VN too then? Strange strange. And as I recall there weren’t any Death Notes, or at the very least they weren’t a major component of the main story. The Shinigami Eyes were pretty much the only really supernatural element in play, the rest was a largely detective mystery story with certain DN characters to connect back to the main story. And chances are I could probably read the others without needing 2, though obsessive as I am I probably won’t get around to that lol.
Indeed, LNs can definitely do a lot as far as expressing the characters, and you can get a much clearer idea of character personalities from LN storytelling than you might be able to in other types of stories. And nice, one of these days I want to rewatch Toradora as well, it’s quite a lovely series.
Interestingly enough, summer has indeed arrived and while the journey toward it was slow, I stop and think “Wow, it’s already here” and it’s a strange thing. Not sure how much I’ll be able to get to given, well you’ve already seen my summer list plans and all. xD Nice, it’s quite interesting seeing musical references in these types of stories. Reminds me of JJBA where there are musical references all over the place, even from the beginning they exist but they really start getting obvious in parts 3 and 4 (well, ACDC in part 2 was obvious as well but the others were more obscure as I recall). And I’ll have to check out that review then. It’s definitely good that it’s completed though, don’t have to suffer the agonizing wait for it to come out and then to be translated and whatnot. I mean, there are some like Accel World out there. I really enjoyed the anime and wanted to get the novels, but only one beyond where the anime stopped was translated, and then it was picked up for license in America (which, admittedly, is a VERY good thing, assuming the company releases at a fair pace and doesn’t stop releasing the novels, at that) so no more translations for that until Yen Press gets to it. Anywho, hopefully I can give it a try sometime, so many LNs (and other things too) I really wanna get around to.
Considering if they actually make good use of the increased time with pacing, which I think it’s hard to fail, considering VNs just have that much more freedom and potential with structuring their pacing than anime, since, they quite obviously have the increased time to expand on details. And indeed for me too, although it’s still hard to compare since we are technically comparing a visual novel with an anime (Clannad), unless we are comparing it with the actual Clannad visual novel, then again, I never get to finish it D: Yaoi routes in the VN? Lmao, totally unnecessary, although they might show some hidden revelation to Angel Beat’s universe, but still kinda unnecessary characterization-wise. Reminds me of OreImou’s odd yaoi route as well. Still seems interesting, but in order to immerse myself further into the prequel, I think I want to rewatch the whole Death Note anime again, lol, which is going to an even longer time to actually start, considering I have some other priorities atm.
The only thing I can say about your summer list is that it looks like you got your work cut out for you xD Yes, and also, the translator seem to link the references to actual real covers of the music pieces in youtube, so if you want to listen to them, it might help if you read it on a computer, or on some device which enables you to stream on youtube (and obviously, internet converge areas). I honestly didn’t do it myself since I read most of them on-the-go and I didn’t have internet with me 24/7 D: I honestly haven’t jump into the JJBA bandwagon but it does look like some “ridiculous fun”. Although I’m planning to just read the manga, do you think I should watch the anime? Didn’t know about Accel World but it’s good that it’s picked up for license^^
It’s hard to compare a VN to an anime to begin with, although in the case of Clannad I feel that it has room for more detail and the Kappei route would add stuff since that wasn’t in the anime, but for the most part I imagine my impressions of the VN would be largely the same as the anime. Clannad’s adaptation was just really well done, as an anime I find it brilliant but it’s also a pretty successful VN adaptation as far as I can see. If Angel Beats lives up to its full potential though I feel it could be substantially better than the anime was and I wouldn’t be surprised if I liked the VN more than Clannad, anime or VN. I’m planning to play the Clannad VN sometime in the not super near but hopefully not too far future, I imagine I’ll enjoy it a lot. And yeah lol, I’m not sure if it was just a joke or if it wasn’t meant in the romantic sense (I know they’re supposed to have routes focusing on the male characters, but that could mean pretty much anything) but I guess we’ll have to see how it goes. Ah, hopefully you’ll get around to it sooner or later but there’s always so much to watch so I get what you mean. One of these days I need to actually stop and watch through the entirety of the anime, I feel like I’ve seen the whole thing in random bits over years but I never did go from beginning to end.
Indeed, and it’s sad there’s still quite a bit for me to get around to. I’m always piling up lists for myself, and then I make more excuses to get around to other things I wanna watch, and then delay even further. Doesn’t help that this means I take forever to make blog posts too……there’s always so much to do and I can never finish everything lol. And that’s pretty neat, whenever I do get around to starting it then that would definitely help. Chances are I’ll be reading it on my computer anyway so that’s good. Kinda reminds me of how the webtoon Dr. Frost actually has icons for sound effects and music on the original site, though there wasn’t a way to replicate those on English sites so they didn’t carry over, sadly. Then again, I read it all on my phone so that wouldn’t have been any good anyway. And JoJo definitely is a ridiculous fun series, it’s over the top and has a distinct sense of style but it’s also a quality story when it gets down to it. Starts off pretty simple but expands in creativity and really makes great use of its ideas as it goes on. It’s a pretty colorful series and remains refreshing despite running for even longer than something like One Piece so that’s definitely something I respect. As for manga or anime, either way is fine. At the moment, only the first 2 parts and nearly half of part 3 exist in the anime, so if you do go with that you’ll have to play the waiting game (or just go with the manga for the stuff afterward if you so choose). The anime does a fantastic job though, despite being a good 25 years after the manga was released, it does really well with replicating the atmosphere and style of the original manga while also making it a fresh and energetic adaptation that makes the most of the anime medium. Tackling the entire manga might be a bit daunting so if you just wanna try it out you can watch the existing anime material and see what you think. Either way, I’d say it’s a great experience so hopefully you do enjoy it once you do watch or read it. And it’s always nice to hear about more LN localizations. Not too long ago, Yen Press also picked up No Game No Life and Log Horizon so it’s good to see that people are paying more attention to LNs and that they are a viable option in the American market.
After receiving an email about milesvibritannia’s comment, I re-read my comments from last year. I still agree with my opinions on reading a series for more in-depth views of its world but my tastes have changed dramatically. Where I once liked stories like OreImo (my greatest regret in quite a long time) and SAO, I now find myself wanting to read more like Log Horizon, Spice and Wolf, MaoYuu and others like them. Not to say that I don’t still like the ones on my other list, but now I find myself liking stories with complex world problems turned into easily understood stories (guess I should have noticed that one when I read Durarara!!)
TL;DR I’m similar as I was a year ago but more “political and stuff”.
OreImo has one of the greatest ending of all time [lol]
I can see how series like those stroke your political intrigue. I can appreciate the style myself, though political stuffs to me are a little harder to follow, lol.