Mixed Bathing was a lot more "wholesome harem" than I ever expected it to be, but really needs two volumes to hit its groove. Would have kept ignoring the series if it wasn't for a catch-up month, now I can't wait for the next one.

@hyferzftw
Guess you either read the wn fan translation or you can read Japanese

If it is the wn are Ln and wn any difference as I know some are completely different

Don't forget that other annoying Americanization where they use "freshman" and "sophomore" instead of just using the school year.

@unsynchedcheese thanks for the clarification, after reading the synopsis and review on animenewsnetwork I got the impression that the interaction between the characters would be that of a love rivalry drama, and not a comedy.

I will get the first volume and check it out as you describe it, it is my sort of novel. ATM I am reading 'Observation Record of a Self-proclaimed Villainess’ Fiancé' its' hilarious very similar to Bakarina too.

@aruseus493 what about the story on how the people of our world and someone gets spirited away and it's the story of how we act and react to said person's disappearance. One aspect could be after a lot of time the person returns.

When the new catchup titles are announced I'll update my topic: https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/1060/catch-up-titles-september-2018/1

You can subscribe to it and get a notification when I reply to be sure to not miss it.

All titles. I think more free preview content (for volume 1) would benefit sales/memberships for all series, but that's just my guess.

From what I have heard from other people who have wanted to license things from Kadokawa (though not light novels), the bit about them insisting on high licensing fees is spot on.

And to their credit, most of what people always want to see from them are some of their biggest and most successful properties, so I don't think it's entirely unreasonable for them to not be willing to settle on nickles and dimes from a niche overseas market. Kadokawa themselves are responsible for the modern "media-mix" marketing strategy that dominates the anime/manga/LN market and, to some extent, responsible for the LN market being as big as it is at all. They've probably earned the right to puff out their chests as far as valuing their properties goes.

I imagine is has to do with it being old fad (magic highschool) and not new fad (isekai), too.

@harmlessdave Indeed. Exactly because real world space is precious, I will only buy physical items that are worthwhile. If the eBook version is superior to the physical one, then there's no point in buying it for collection purposes. That's just how convenient eBooks are that it made buying physical books pointless. But at the same time it means that having a well managed real life library is that much more important. From a collector's viewpoint, anyway.

I think I'd have more fun collecting books before the digital age came. All the marketing bollocks just makes it harder...

Wow, you actually read through it haha.

Sorry about that. I wanted to establish that every one of these characters have their own unique type of chess, referenced from real life practical play. Watching Kuroko's Basketball, I very much enjoyed the promise/teaser at the beginning that "These 5 players from Teiko are all god-like in skill". We get introduced to one and we think, "This power is bullsh*t!! There's NO WAY the remaining guys can beat him!!!" And then another one gets introduced with a skill that's completely different from the previous one, (oh?) and it creates anticipation for what could be the next power to match all that.

This feeling honestly made me want to play basketball. I still don't, (I have no friends) but I want to get someone interested in chess by similarly referencing various things in the chess community.

Rei plays blindfold chess (this sh*t is so hard to do, I don't know how anyone can keep track of 32 pieces in their head), the book he writes is the book Fischer made before he died, Anasthese is Judit Polgar (reference to women's chess), the title of the novel is "Swindle", which is a "hail Mary" all-or-nothing final attack you make when you are already losing. If the opponent flinches and makes a wrong move, you can turn this lose into a draw or maybe even a win, effectively "swindling" the opponent of his well-earned victory.

There are also a lot of other interesting trivia I want to reference: correspondence chess (you play 10 different boards at the same time), gambling chess (i know a friend in highschool who gets really good when money is being wagered), tag team chess (2 people alternate), bughouse chess (2 vs 2, you play white on your board, your teammate plays black, every black piece you take from your opponent becomes your teammate's piece), speed chess (sanek), human chess (32 humans in a checkered front lawn), etc...

Along with this, I would also like to give each character a superpower of sort, to act as a metaphor/ battle representation for their creativity in playing

If you're talking about the original novels, no IIRC.
I once read a discussion somewhere that who Candy ends up with is left ambiguous in the novels.

@rahul-balaggan

Thanks. It was my first time on the forum. I actually went looking for a report mistake section but could not find one so I went looking for the most likely place to post .....

@legitpancake to be honest I'm not sure I'll expire 22+. I'll keep them members only but... would seem cruel to have them unavailable at all streaming when 1-21 are free to stream. Might keep them up as a special exception.

@drone205 They will be 3 in 1 and hardback, but they will also be in their original magazine size, so much bigger. $50 each though is pretty dang steep.

If you buy the premium ebooks from JNC instead of the regular ones from somewhere else, there are bonus stories not part of the catch-up / web version:

(copy-pasted from the Premium Content thread here)

How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom

Volume 1: 6 store exclusive short stories
The Little Tanuki Princess of Amidonia
Aisha: Day of Departure
Tomoe's People-Watching Diary
Juna - Better Days Are Coming
What They Wanted to Be
Liscia: Picking an Outfit

Volume 2: 6 store exclusive short stories & a Color Pinup!
Aisha in the God-Protected Forest
Juna and Excel
Ludwin and XXX
Getting Dressed by Liscia
Tomoe and Poncho's Behind the Scenes Work
The Little Tanuki Princess on the Night Before the Final Battle

Volume 3: 5 store exclusive short stories
Aisha and Juna's Secret Pact
Liscia's Happy Family Get-Together
Jeanne and Hakuya's Joint Complaining Session
In the Refugee Camp
Maid Training

Volume 4: 5 store exclusive short stories
Liscia and Aisha's Emergency Conference
Post-Juna
Roroa's Mistaken Order
The Association for Victims of Masters: Now Seeking New Members
Poncho and Serina: A Bizarre Midnight Snacking Session

Volume 5: 5 store exclusive short stories
Program Production Conference
Castor's Marine Diary
The Fiancees' Guarding Techniques
Fried on the Grill Every Day
On a Corner During the Spring Announcement Festival

Volume 6: 8 store exclusive short stories
Tomoe, Holding Down the Fort
Naden and the Royal Capital
Poncho Becomes a Governor
Juna and Roroa Demand Answers
Ruby Goes to Hal’s Family Home
The What-If Known as Discarded Setting Elements
Liscia in Recovery
The Former King and Queen are Enjoying the Slow Life

FYI, the $50 (sometimes $30) Amazon Fire 7" tablet works pretty well as an ebook reader. It's not as nice (or as light) as my $200 e-ink Kindle but is perfectly legible and isn't too heavy. It also has a microSD card slot that supports 128 GB cards.

The main drawbacks with it are: the built-in speaker is terrible (headphones sound great) and it doesn't run a standard version of Android or include any of the Google apps or store.

He's still writing the web novel part of it atm.

Its only about a chapter or so in.

@terrence Thank you.