Sorry again for falling even further behind on everything for the site lately. Things have finally settled down somewhat in my life enough that I can find some time each day to work on the blog again. I managed to get some long-overdue LN/novel entries up the past few days, and now I’ll try to recap all the licenses we’ve gotten over the past couple months.
They just keep coming! And they just keep mostly being the same sort of fantasy/isekai stories.
- Cooking with Wild Game — by EDA (art by Kochimo) — lndb.info
- I Shall Survive Using Potions! — by FUNA (art by Sukima) — lndb.info
- Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! — by Makishima Suzuki (art by Yappen) — lndb.info
The first volumes are already up for J-Novel Club members. Look for the ebooks in the next week or two.
Also, J-Novel Club now has the manga adaptations for An Archdemon’s Dilemma, The Magic in This Other World is Too Far Behind!, I Shall Survive Using Potions!, and Master of Ragnarok, as well as a manga titled Animeta!.
J-Novel Club also announced physical copies for Infinite Dendrogram will begin releasing in September.
Also, print releases for JK Haru and Last & First Idol in July.
Cross Infinite World new LN license:
- Beast Blood — by Sato Fumino (art by Akira Egawa)
Volume 1 will release digitally on February 28th. I’m not sure what to think of this one yet, but it is something different from the norm here at least.
- Little Witch Academia: The Nonsensical Witch and the Country of Fairies — by Momo Tachibana (art by Eku Uekura)
- The Survived Alchemist With a Dream of Quiet Town Life! — by Usata Nonohara (art by ox)
These are planned to start releasing in July. I’m assuming Little Witch is a side-story one-shot for the anime series. It is interesting to see a novel from a children’s line getting brought over.
- Reincarnated as a Sword — by Yuu Tanaka (art by Ruroo)
This one will arrive physically and digitally on August 6th. But really, a sword? What next, a vending machine?
Also, Seven Seas will release paperbacks for Arifureta Zero starting in September.
And some more Yen On new LN licenses:
- The War Ends the World / Raises the World — by Kei Sazane (art by Ao Nekonabe)
- Combatants Will Be Dispatched! — by Natsume Akatsuki (art by Kakao Lanthanum)
- The Genius Prince’s Guide To Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?) — by Toru Toba (art by Fal Maro)
The Combatants series is by the author of Konosuba.
Also worth noting, there will be an art book released for Sword Oratoria (Danmachi), full of art by Kiyotaka Haimura.
That’s all for now, I think! Let me know if I missed something, and I’ll add it to this post.
In more general blogging news, I’m going to be spending the next couple weeks working on updating LN entries, as well as the preorder page and current releases page. If you’re curious what I’m reading at the moment… It’s Katanagatari. Finally started. Maybe I can get around to a review for that in the coming weeks.
Every time I see the font choices and layout design of J-Novel Club licenses (and to a lesser extent Cross Infinite World) I die a little inside.
The Survived Alchemist With a Dream of Quiet Town Life! is actually a relatively young series so I’m pleasantly surprised to see it being picked up. Glad to see you back and your blog well and alive, I’ll be looking forward to more of your reviews in the future.
Yes, those title fonts / cover layouts for the three J-Novel Club LNs are… not their best. I like the Beast Blood cover from CIW quite a bit though. Perhaps the title is a little hard to read, but there’s a strong style to it at least. (And that artwork… just fantastic.)
Yen On and J-Novel Club have picked up a few series that are relatively new in Japan, and I won’t be surprised if that’s a trend that continues. I don’t know anything about Survived Alchemist, other than it sounds like it’d be in the center of the venn diagram of I’ve Been Killing Slimes and I’ll Survive Using Potions. But maybe a little more serious than those, judging by the art style (which reminds me a lot of If It’s For My Daughter).
I think Cross Infinite World is really improving their covers since Blood Beast’s font and layout design look great. (They’re hiring amazing artists too) While the genre for this novel isn’t up my alley (it’s a steamy josei romance according to marketing) they offer more to me than J-Novel Club.
I feel J-Novel Club is somewhere between content and lazy.
Only recently have they started marketing to broader audiences, but nearly every single title they design looks like an amateur web novelist’s handiwork. (I’m especially sad about how the elegant kanji of Faraway Paladin was made into unattractive block letters.)
I checked out the commercials for the Japanese books of the Survived Alchemist (please, Yen On, rearrange the ENG name xD) and it looks to be a fantasy in the vein of Kenja no Deshi presentation-wise, so my fingers are crossed that it will avoid some of the worst tropes in the WN –> LN market right now.
Sadly, nothing interesting for me :c I really wish to see more darkish and sad series be picked up, and if possible, let it be something without harem and ecchi stuff.
It’s nice that “Mr. Sword and Kittygirl” got translation tho /o/ I read manga and it’s quite cute, but not sure if I would reach for novel.
Yes, nothing much is up my alley here either, save perhaps for Beast Blood. Which might interest you too, since it seems on the more serious side. You might also want to keep an eye out for the recent Yen On license “Torture Princess,” and check out some recent one-shots like J-Novel Club’s “Echo” and Vertical’s “Masquerade and the Nameless Women.” And be sure to give series like Rokka, Magical Girl Raising Project, and Empty Box a look, if you haven’t yet. Those all have dark and sad elements, and don’t utilize harem setups.
Hey life happens don’t be too hard on yourself! I had no idea Little Witch was being localized so I’m excited to pick it up :D I’ll be getting that along with Beast Blood.