Light Novel News Digest (December 2019)

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Buck Naked in Another World

Welcome to 2020! We here at English Light Novels are ringing in the New Year with a new format of News post written by an all-new staff member (me!) – and yes, that’s a lot of newness! I aim to make these posts a regular feature, popping up at 1 AM on the 1st of every month, recapping the new license announcements, new publications, new news stories, and new articles of interest in the world of Light Novels. IMHO: if you rely on only one news source for the most important information relating to Japanese Pop Literature – this should be it! (^_−)☆

New License Announcements

Even with all the new titles that were already announced during the New York Comic Con and the Anime NYC convention,  we still had two new license announcements in Dec ’19.

  • Seven Seas Entertainment will publish Buck Naked in Another World by Madoka Kotani and Mochiusa on July 21, 2020 (and earlier on digital platforms). When an ordinary Japanese man is catapulted headfirst into a fantasy world, he's especially disappointed that he was sent stark naked! Adapting to life in a land of monsters and magic is hard enough without having to do it in your birthday suit, but Yoshida Shuta is going to grin and bear it--or bare it--as best he can. This already has a manga adaptation, so it will be interesting to see if that gets picked up eventually as well. As an isekai comedy with ecchi and harem elements, this could have broad appeal with fans of everything from Sword Art Online to Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension. Maybe.
  • Cross Infinite World announced that they’re preparing The Misfortune Devouring Witch is Actually a Vampire?! by Kiiro Himawari and Kibiura for an English release on January 31st. Would you pay in blood to have access to the witch’s knowledge? Rumors about Yuuri Watoh being a witch who feeds upon the misfortune of others have kept customers away from her Eastern Medicine Shop as long as she can remember--until he showed up. Intrigued by the rumors, Count Ernest Travis Selden, close attendant to the Hylant king and a notorious eccentric, seeks the Hinomoto witch’s specialized knowledge to solve a royal incident. But borrowing the witch’s aid comes at a steep price--one that can’t be paid in gold or jewels. How will the stubborn shut-in vampire witch who hails from the East handle the peculiar Western Count who frequently brings her problems to solve and seems all too happy to pay the price? The romance aspect should appeal to Cross Infinite World’s established audience of shoujo fans, while the interesting elements of traditional medicine and the meeting of East and West makes it sound like they’ll be forging new ground in the world of English-translated Light Novels!

News Stories

What else is spiraling around this wild galaxy of Light Novels?

December 2019 Releases

H = Hardcover     P = Paperback     D = Digital     Bold = Previously Available

3 thoughts on “Light Novel News Digest (December 2019)

  1. Welcome aboard Nick! Happy New Year to all the staff!

    Bucked Naked in Another World seems like another generic isekai. On novelupdate it got a 2.7/5 and 5.84/10 for it manga’s counterpart on MAL. Nobody score the light novel version on MAL. Is it that bad? Or plain boring and predictable?

  2. Welcome aboard! Thank you for compiling the news for us, I think that’s a great idea!
    I’m doing a podcast centered around Light Novels which also has a news segment but everytime I’m preparing this segment there’s always some news that get lost because ANNs search engine is kinda whack xD So I hope I can rely on those posts from now on :)

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