I'd like to look at some and make a more informed opinion sometime, but what comes to my mind is I think both LN & manga V1s of that kanojo flag, er, If Her Flag Breaks one. Mostly because I was gonna check the anime out when it came around, but I was too disappointed by the art compared to those covers, which is usually not the case, to that extent at least.

the ethics of Fan-translation/ anime (and other) media piracy sites is a conundrum

on the one hand- it's good for the author/publisher. It can create awareness about a work/author in a market that they might not otherwise have access to (and lead to revenue down the line because demand was generated)

on the other- the artist does not have control over their own work, translations could be done poorly, creating a negative impression of the work, or the work could be altered in ways the author didn't intend/desire. In addition: the artist doesn't get paid for their work. (and this also breeds leeches)

the (fan) translator taking this down , now that it is licensed, is doing the right thing (either because it's the 'right' thing to do or to avoid legal issues?)

I understand the frustration of fans who've read a dozen volumes and now instead of waiting a few weeks/months for the next installment in English, now will have to wait a couple of years. The 'tipping point' for me becoming a member of JNC is because Invaders of the Rokujouma had a similar situation (and I'm glad it's here now and I am supporting the author/translator ) .

That being said I have no tolerance for those that object to paying for the art they want to consume , if there is a way to do so. (and I don't intend to criticize Aaronmar here, it sounds like he's just venting frustration)
Some try to justify art piracy because literature/video content/ music/ software/ whatever should be free, or the legitimate channels charge more than they like, or are inconvenient, or support a corporation that they object to in some way ("I don't want to support Apple/ITunes for my music, they have enough $$- I'll just use this torrent site instead...")

The one that comes to mind is Erased. In Japanese it's Boku dake ga Inai Machi, which I've seen translated to The Town Without Me or The Town Where Only I Am Missing, which I think fit the story better but don't roll off the tongue as easily as Erased.

@unsynchedcheese

So far the only long form series of LNs I've attempted was Index. I tried binge reading all of OT and while I didn't really notice a dip in its quality, I felt myself getting burnt out by volume 16. I haven't really picked it back up since. That's more on me than it is with the work.

Like most things, there will be high points and low points for such series, but as long as a positive average is maintained, I'm down.

The next longest series I'm familiar with would be Realist Hero. The first 4 volumes are great because there was a narrative that was meant to be told all throughout. When that arc ended, volume 5 felt like it was tacked on. Fortunately, it picks back up afterward and has been pretty good again.

Where was I going with this? I forget.

tl;dr I can accept dips in quality now and then as long as overall it's good.

Fire Girl has around 22 per volume including the cover. The artist (BUNBUN/abec) does a lot of illustrations for the series as pretty much every chapter break has a small illustration.

I can see it working if taken into account from the begining, otherwise the result will probably end up more confusing or difficult to read than anything.

I read Arifureta starts edgy but it turn quickly into a harem with an OP protagist, I enjoyed it till volume 8 then dropped. Its pretty funny and cute

Grimgar is edgy throughout, I read till the start of volume 10 (the volume after they get out of the darkness world forgot which volume it was). I didn't drop the series however I put it on shelf till I am back in the mood for heavier stuff.

I would also suggest Rokka Braves of the six flowers, it is very edgy and intriguing. I got my hands on volume 6 just a few days before Christmas now I just have to get into the mood to read something heavy

I would say its is highly dependant on anime. If it manages to hook me in, I will most likely buy novels. If its mediocre but interesting enough, I will most likely skip the novels all together.

In the end, manga and anime tend to skip a lot of content that can be considered important when you read novels. I read both Overlord, Youjo Senki, Slime, Danmachi in official format despite being familiar with content from fan translations and anime.

Prepubs I read like a serialisation so it's a bit every week, then two or three week gap between volumes. I don't need reminding in that time frame.

For every JNC series I buy Premium ePubs for, I don't read the prepubs cause I have too much to read as it is. For full volumes my process is when a new volume comes out I send it to my phone & reread the previous volume to remind me what was going on, then read the new volume. Another 2-3mths later I do the same with the next volume release, so I end up reading everything twice within about the time it takes JNC to release a new volume.

I do the same thing with the LNs from Yen etc, even though the gap between volumes is longer one volume behind then the new one seems to still work for me.

Very occasionally I'll reread an entire series if I don't have much to read, but as I'm buying more and more series these days I'm getting less chance to do that.

@jampodevral
Well, I did have some issues with American horror as I see that the majority is quite cheap and empty. So, I thought your issues are more like issues with how a lot of genre works are written than the horror elements themselves.
I am the total opposite from you and @Terabyte (I guess) as I, ultimately, like things that delve in human's mind and emotions so psychological horror and dark philosophical death games are more of my thing than anything else in the genre.

However, I found ghost story horror that can tell a story or have a meaning in many Asian stories, that was why I was pleased with the (at least, the modern) genre in the east more than the west.
(Just explaining where I stand, that's all)

I use (and love) my Kindle Voyage for ebooks, but I also have a 10" Lenovo Tab 4 that I use for Android games, the daily newspaper, and reading the website version of JNC books I haven't bought. It works well for all of that, so if you want Android or are anti-Amazon then that is a good choice too. It costs $180 new from Amazon here in the US.

Anyne knows if there is much difference between Skeleton Knight WN and LN?

@hyferzftw The last anime I watched that was related to trigger was Darling in the Franx and I regretted that decisions for every episode. But then again, stubborn.

Well, for Grimgar, living is the best punishment, death is sweet release. Lack of death has no impact on enjoyment of a series for me, but that is just my opinion. I am fine with people dying as long as it has some meaning. I think the only time when I got upset about death was in Overlord volume 7, but that is discussion for another time. Slime is pretty fun all round story, it didnt get any better or worse after Shizue died. If anything, her death came too sudden, it felt hollow, manga did it better, in my opinion. I read slime mostly for the sake of seeing how MC one-upping everyone else.

I really like how the relationship seems to work between Seven Seas and JNC. While they are competitors they appear to be friendly with each other. Friendly competition, in my opinion, is really good and helps that market to thrive.

Just bumping with a title change since there's a good Bookwalker JP sale going on where you can get some volume 1s for cheap (100 JPY each).

These are all Dengeki works afaik.

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Sale home page:
https://bookwalker.jp/select/26/

@terrence said in Department of Nerdly Affairs Podcast - Guest Sam Pinansky:

Maybe he wants some physical Rokujouma too? That series is so long, you'd almost have to Omnibus it if you wanted to catch up (are the volumes short enough to Omnibus together in sets of 3 like Katanagatari?).

Anything's short enough to omnibus if you're willing to have a big enough book. ;) Rokujouma is on the short side, though, or it is as far as I've gotten (through volume 15 so far). Three volumes together would generally be shorter than two volumes of Realist Hero or Smartphone.

@timmaaah True, and I’m sure there are people that wait until a series is fully translated before buying it as well.

There is a topic in the suggestion subforum, you can show your support there maybe that will help tip the scales in its favor...