This might turn out to be a long post, because I need to cover news and links for both this month and the previous one. Sorry for not getting a December post put together, but hopefully this will make up for it a bit. Let’s start with the LN releases from the last couple months:
Recent Releases
Log Horizon (vol 3), Accel World (vol 5), Durarara!! (vol 2), and a Certain Magical Index (vol 5) all released in November.
And then for December, we had Kizumonogatari, The Devil is a Part-Timer! (vol 3), Spice and Wolf (vol 16), Black Bullet (vol 2), Sword Art Online (vol 6), and Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (vol 4).
Upcoming Releases
On January 19th, Pandora Hearts: Caucus Race (vol 3) and Strike the Blood (vol 2) will release. And then on January 26th, look forward to The Isolator (vol 2), Kagerou Daze (vol 3), and Seraph of the End: Guren Ichinose – Catastrophe at Sixteen (vol 1) will release. Do note that Vertical’s release of Seraph of the End will be an omnibus that includes the first two volumes of the LN series together. (So volume 2, set to release in May, should in fact be volume 3 and 4 together.)
Also, it looks like there will be ebook versions available for Pandora Hearts, Strike the Blood, and Kagerou Daze, for those of you with Kindles or Nooks.
Site News
- Happy to say I got all my reviews written up that I wanted to. That makes twenty reviews I wrote for last year, which I think was about what I was aiming for. There are 44 reviews total you can read now, and I hope to have plenty more up by the end of this year.
- I’m planning to open the site up more for guest reviews this month, for those of you who may have an interest in that. There are plenty of LN series I don’t have time to read, so this could be a way to give some of them a little more exposure. I will put together a post soon that will give details for this.
- Goals for 2016:
- Add some more information for the LN entries: more review links, more suggestions, add Japanese publisher, and add release dates for individual volumes (in English, and in Japanese?). Maybe add ISBNs too. Also, I’m considering adding an “upcoming releases” section for the entries of all the current series.
- I’d like to put together a page that offers recommendations to various light novels to those that are brand new to the scene. Could be a simple “fans of this genre may like…” sort of thing, but I’ll give it some thought.
- More editorials, collaborations, and interviews would be nice. I would like to put together something about the various LN publishers in Japan. And some time I wish to have another post for translated Japanese novels that people here could be interested in–there’s a lot of stuff out there.
- I plan to have the LN summer reading program again, this time probably for May, June, and July. I have a good idea for what official releases we’ll read, but I might try having a poll of some sort for what fan translations to discuss.
English Light Novel News
- Recap in case you missed it — Yen On announced some new light novel licenses: The Asterisk War, Re:Zero, and Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Sword Oratoria.
- In summer 2016, Viz’s Haikasoru imprint will be releasing The Gate of Sorrows, by Miyuki Miyabe (the author of Brave Story, Ico: Castle in the Mist, and many other works that have been translated).
Japanese Light Novel News
- In February, Kadokawa will launch a new light novel imprint called “Novel 0,” which will focus on releases for a more adult audience. Check the link for the list of authors who will be involved.
- The Familiar of Zero light novel series will continue following Noboru Yamaguchi’s passing, with volume 21 to release in February.
- A new Twelve Kingdoms novel is in the works. Sometime in 2016, Fuyumi Ono plans to publish a thirteenth volume for the series.
- Kizumonogatari, the Monogatari novel that received an English release last month, has just had an anime film adaptation open in Japan. It is titled Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu-hen, and you can find a preview for it here.
- The video game Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax: Ignition will receive DLC: Yuki as a character from Sword Art Online, and LLEN as an assist character from SAO’s Alternative Gun Gale Online spin-off novel.
- An anime adaptation for the Qualidea Code franchise has been announced. The original story consists of three novels written by popular LN authors Sou Sagara (Henneko), Koushi Tachibana (Date a Live), and Wataru Watari (Oregairu).
- The competition for longest LN title continues, as Kazuma Kamachi (author of A Certain Magical Index, Heavy Object) announces a new release for March:Â The Name of the Weakness That Has Aggravated the Strongest Max Level Sword Holy Woman Beatrice, is “Buu Buu.”
Links to Recent Reviews and Articles
- A review of When Hikaru Was On the Earth (vol 1) at The August Hail.
- A review of Strike the Blood (vol 1) by Ryan Speakman.
- Some more video reviews are up by Justus R. Stone, including Durarara!! (vol 2) and Kizumonogatari. Also, he gives a nice overview of the new series coming out this year.
- Some thoughts on the situation with BookWalker Global from Melodicity.
- Also from Melodicity, a review of Amagi Brilliant Park (vol 1).
- At Anime Tengoku, a review of Sword Art Online: Progressive (vol 3).
- Some thoughts on the Earl and Fairy anime (based on LN) at Slice of Life.
- An editorial on the Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers anime (based on LN) by LynLynSays.
- Lastly, Frog-kun has written a couple editorials, including one about web novels in East Asia and other releases similar to light novels, and another about light novels targeted to girls.
And that's all I have for now! Please feel free to post links to more light novel-related articles, and to share your thoughts on this feature or anything else for the site.