I think if the author just included a few extra chapters about epilogue and maybe allowed White to you know stick around with the rest of the cast for a little bit before being swiped off to be with D then it would have been all right. If the climax had been made into two volumes instead of trying to shove everything into one it would have felt more natural.

@SomeOldGuy said in RightStuff soon to be no more:

My attitude towards them changed after the original ownership change. At that time, I'd had 60-100 items in my watch list, pretty much adding everything as it was posted. I also stopped mentioning them here as a source.

The first big reputation hit for me was when they started pushing ‘shipping insurance’ on every sale - and then when I actually needed to use it, when a blu-ray case got fractured in shipping, they really didn’t want to replace it, and I had to make a fuss.

The first announcement cancelled all "adult" stuff, That was kind of understandable. I wonder if the separate site they set up to handle that stuff still exists?

Yeah, that was a worrying moment, but as you say, understandable.

Then I cut back when the "intermittency" of shipping hit, and started only ordering stuff when it was marked as "in stock", rather than "released but on backorder".

…oh boy, that’s wonderful. X.x I hadn’t even noticed, because my orders with them had dropped way down.

Today, I cleared everything off my list that wasn't in stock today. Fortunately, that included the third AoaB fanbook and a few other "releasing soon" titles. (That's one of the big things I liked about RS... Getting things when they were on the shelf, even if they weren't scheduled to be released for a bit.)

For me, it’s going to be checking all the Nozomi series they have licensed themselves, and see if there’s anything I can’t live without and grab while there’s a chance. (This really sucks. Their releases of old-school anime - Tylor, Dirty Pair, Utena, Nadesico, etc. - set quality standards at the time, and even now they were one of the best.)

@Jon-Mitchell honestly, I personally prefer the interface of the mobile website compared to the app. I like being able to look at the calendar to see what's coming up later in the day compared to just seeing the recent releases. The app is good, and if it was all that was available I'd probably use it, but I have a preference for the website so I tend to ignore the app. They might feel similar.

@heimdal7 Check out this topic:

https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/7300/unable-to-read-manga-on-a-pc-light-novels-are-ok

Short answer: Calibre isn't really a great option for reading manga and there are many other better readers, but there are some settings you can try to tweak.

@BookManiaReader Just to add on, the man died a hero if that bit of info wasn't known.

Wow, almost everything I wanted to say has already been said. All that's left on my list (nowhere near the top, though) is Dungeon Dive: Aim for the Deepest Level. Feels like this one would be a coin flip. If they can portray the MC's mental state well, it'll be a good adaption, even if they can't make the fights look that great. OTOH, if they botch the portrayal of the MC's mental state, no amount of fancy animation can fix it.

The Unwanted Undead Adventurer is already getting an adaptation, but I think it's worth mentioning because it's a rare case where the anime has the potential to surpass the source. Mainly because the source is absurdly pointlessly wordy. I love this series, but it's the only one where I recommend people read the manga first before giving the LNs a try. If there's an anime, it'll be an even better entry point (as long as it isn't awful).

To comment on the ones others have already mentioned, I think that Dahlia in Bloom and Secrets of the Silent Witch are the easy ones. I feel like those two have stories that lend themselves especially well to animation. Ah, and maybe a Dahlia anime can just show us the food instead of describing it in detail. I suppose they'd still have to keep in some of the alcohol discussion... Although I think it's a bit too much, discussions on alcohol feel so integral to the world of Dahlia that losing them would feel wrong.

@Lily-Garden said in What is your anime adaptation wishlist?:

Lazy Dungeon Master

Lazy Dungeon Master feels like it could be a fun anime, but it could also easily lose all of the intricacies of how the dungeon systems work. It'd probably be a bit like the So I'm a Spider, So What? anime in that all of the "why" of how things work is lost, and you just have to accept that it does. Any strategy or clever moves will feel like arbitrary plot devices that are made up on the spot instead of built up to.

@Paul-Nebeling said in What is your anime adaptation wishlist?:

Hell Mode

Speaking of, right as I started reading Hell Mode, I thought "Man, there's no way anyone could ever adapt this into a manga or anime. This series can only exist as a light novel". Then, having read some of the manga, I feel validated in thinking that. I can only see the manga as extra companion images to the LN with how little of it they managed to adapt, and an anime will be even worse.

@WaterDweller said in What is your anime adaptation wishlist?:

To Another World... with Land Mines! (the author has already made it into the anime realm with his other series, so I have good hopes for this one.)

And then there's To Another World... With Land Mines!. On the one hand, I do think this could make for a great anime. On the other hand, my gut's telling me that this will get a really cheap, barely functional anime. The kind of anime that feels like nobody cared when they made it, and that everybody forgets as soon as it's done. I don't know why, but whenever I try to imagine a Land Mines anime, I can vividly see the cheap anime version in my head. It feels almost inevitable that it will both get an anime and that it will be cheap.

@jazzyjeoff
That's awesome! Love the details you put into the scene, that's really detailed, and I'm loving the design especially the addition of the painter. Any idea of the Emperor you come up with is bound to be amazing, and yours definitely looks majestic! Always great to see more Tearmoon love out there. Thanks for sharing!

@Curra said in Book Depository closing down:

Amazon shipping is free on most things with Prime membership.

With the caveat that you have to live in a country where Amazon has a presence. For me, the shipping costs generally meant that ordering from Book Depository was cheaper.

Chapter 4: Perhaps...

The Emperor and Empress spent the rest of the evening eating, dancing and entertaining their guests. It didn't matter that said guests were close to wanting his head on a platter just hours prior. The Emperor didn't hold a grudge—and he loved a good party! The Imperial pair did not even have time to discuss the evening's events—they were just having too much fun! While Matthias and Adelaide were certainly all-in while in attendance at one of their soirées, the Emperor and Empress were never ones to close a party out—well, that's not exactly true, they just tended to close out their parties privately. So, after thanking all of happy attendees and finding rooms for anyone that wanted to spend the night, Matthias and Adelaide quietly made their exit, as the party still roared on.
    They strolled arm in arm down the palace hallways. Ever the expert party-goers, they had enjoyed just enough wine to add to the ambiance, which meant they were both still quite lucid.  A very covert lucidity was always a priority for the Imperial couple—especially at parties—because parties were a treasure trove of the best information, and Adelaide's schemes were grounded in good information. So usually their after-party routine included a discussion of the evening's best party gossip—but not tonight. Tonight, Matthias went straight to a postmortem of the evening's main event.
    "Sooo... how did I do?"
    Matthias knew exactly how he did—but hearing praise from his beloved was just too delicious not to go fishing for a compliment.
    "You were brilliant!" The Empress gushed.
    "Well, it was your plan."
    "Everybody has a plan... but you played Duke Redmoon like a fiddle!" Adelaide giggled, "He must be absolutely fuming right now!"
    "Well, I do feel bad about the boy. I hope he's okay." Mathias's concern was genuine. He never paid much thought to embarrassing himself— he did it so often that it was pretty much his M.O.. But the idea of hurting the feelings of a teenager made him feel terrible.
    Adelaide explained, "Yes, I wasn't quite sure which way to go on that one —fighting against one of Redmoon's more experienced soldiers would have given Serena a better opportunity to show off her skills, but then Darius might not have been so quick to stop the match— and somebody could have gotten seriously hurt."
    "Yes, your way was best." Matthias reflected,  "the boy is bruised, not broken."
Adelaide sighed, "Of course, now we have another generation of Redmoons that has an axe to grind against the palace."
    "I don't know about that."
    "What?" While Adelaide was certainly the primary schemer in this power coupling, she knew her husband was much more perceptive than he ever let on, so she eagerly awaited her partner's insights.
    "Oh, I know my cousin," Matthias laughed, "much better than he knows me. He is prideful, but he isn't stupid. He will learn from his mistakes, and his son will, too. Besides, Duchess Redmoon just had a daughter."
    "Yes, Ruby."
    "Well, I think after today's events, Ruby will be getting a bit more attention from her father. If we have trouble with Thomas, perhaps Ruby will be more sympathetic to our cause."
    The mention of Duke's new daughter shifted Matthias's thoughts in an entirely different direction.
    "A daughter... I would love a daughter!" Matthias gushed, "I am sure that she would be as brilliant and beautiful as you!"
    "Oh, we don't need a daughter. You would spoil her rotten."
    "Of course!"
    As Adelaide laughed at her husband's honesty, her love's wish permeated her thoughts. Well, if we do have a child, I won't care if she is smart or pretty—I just want her to have your kind heart. But Adelaide did not say those words out loud. Instead she simply answered, "perhaps."
    "Perhaps what?"
    "Well, you married the greatest Schemer-Seductress-Witch in the history of the entire continent—and I've done my share of scheming for the day, and I am not in much of a mood for witchcraft. So, perhaps..."
    Her words were playful—and maybe a little mischievous. But the smile on Adelaide's face was much more pure—an expression of true love.
Matthias opened the door of the Imperial Suite.  The full moon served as the room's only light, so it was as if their little bed by the window was the room's only furnishing. Matthias softly held Adelaide's hand as he led her to the window—he wanted to see her face. In her eyes he could see the moon reflected in a sea of blue. She was his world.
    He pulled Adelaide into his arms for a long embrace—this moment was perfect, and he didn't want it to end—the warmth of her body, the softness of her skin against his cheek. And even if this tiny bit of perfection could not last forever, he knew that he would remember it forever. Whatever followed, she would always be with him.

end

@kurosov I'd argue that's not so much gender-neutral as it is gender-assumptive, which is a similar but different thing. Kind of like how a Bosc pear and a Bartlett pear are both pears (and, in fact, are two different cultivars of the same species), but if you have a recipe that calls for a Bosc and you use a Bartlett it's not going to taste quite the same.

For the non-Librarians out there, the Five Laws of Library Science is a concept laid out by S. R. Ranganathan in a book by that name published in 1931.
The Five Laws of Library Science
In brief, they are:

Books are for use. Every person his (or her) book. Every book its reader. Save the time of the reader. A library is a growing organism

At the time, these were kinda radical concepts.

Books are for use.
If they aren't being used, what the heck good are they? Every person their book.
Every reader desires a [book]. Get it to them. It is not the place of library staff to make judgements concerning the material sought. Every book its reader.
There's a reader out there, somewhere, for every [book]. Seriously. Save the time of the reader.
Do what you can to simplify the process of matching readers and [books].
Cataloging.
How materials are arranged for retrieval.
Bibliographies and finding aids.
Reference services.
In all ways, consider the end user when designing library related systems. A library is a growing organism.
Libraries aren't static.
They grow and change to reflect the needs of their users and the technologies available.
Libraries need to be willing to change to remain relevant to society.
[Books] are added, and [no longer relevant books] are removed; while some may cry revisionism or censorship, the fact remains that our knowledge of reality is constantly changing and materials published years past reflecting then state of the art knowledge may now be sufficiently inaccurate that it would be better to have nothing locally than to have these. [This is still a hotly debated topic, let me assure you.]

2 & 3 are tightly intertwined concepts. And sometimes in conflict with aspects of 5. Not judging what the reader seeks, and not judging the content of materials available... At what point does the library say, "Um, if you are researching the historical state of knowledge or historical attitudes, yeah, we get it, but if you are looking for this stuff as a source of knowledge to build your life upon, um, no, we aren't providing it because it's been legitimately debunked or superseded by later research." An aspect of librarianship none of us really enjoys, or at least I hope not!

J-Novel Club is a publishing firm, not a library.
From that perspective the Five Laws of Library Science are irrelevant.
But one can still look at J-Novel Club within its field of focus, kinda.

Books are for use sale.
Um, yes.
In that J-Novel will gladly sell you copies of anything they publish.
If they don't publish it, they can't sell it to you.
They do have a list within the forums of what LNs and Manga are currently licensed for English, and by whom, which is something I'm not aware of any other publisher doing; that's much more of a library reference & referral thing.

Every reader purchaser their book.
If it falls within J-Novel Club's focus, and isn't currently licensed by someone else, J-Novel Club will give some level of consideration to licensing requests; they can't publish anything that the original publisher isn't willing to license to JNC.
If JNC has an active license, they'll sell to anyone who can deal with their sales interface.

Every book their reader purchaser.
JNC's livelihood is selling books.
Trust me, they want to get the potential readership for every title in their catalogue aware that it's available.
Sales through other retail outlets can be problematical, but that lies with the other retail outlets, not JNC; this is why JNC having their own direct sales mechanism is a lovely thing.

Save the time of the reader purchaser.
JNC tries.
Their sales catalog interface is constantly changing as they attempt to improve the ability of potential purchasers to locate the works for sale from JNC.
It isn't perfect.
No such interface is.
You can get in touch with staff and fellow readers far more easily at JNC than any other publisher I'm aware of, in pretty much any field. Seriously.

A library publisher is a growing organism.
JNC has a constantly expanding list of titles available for sale.
Within their field, they attempt to reflect the diversity of what is being published.
They started as a digital publisher, mainly.
They've expanded to paperbacks in some cases, where they could see revenues justifying such a move.
They're now adding audiobooks.
Their web interface is being upgraded on a regular basis. A recent upgrade means it's now possible to purchase digital manga directly from JNC, as well as a couple of works that sold at a different price from all of their other LNs.
They've got the forums as part of the website, Twitter for announcements, Twitch when possible for coverage of their Convention presentations and suchlike, and an active Discord; they didn't start with all of this, and there's every sign that they'll continue investigating means of improving their interactions with their readership.

JNC has a wide variety of titles, many of which I enjoy; to my knowledge, the ones I don't enjoy have solid reader bases. That's kinda a 2 & 3 thing, in that they're doing well at match my reading habits while also matching other individual's reading habits that don't align with mine. So they're getting me books I like, and finding readers for works they've licensed that I don't like; that's a good thing.

Assigning a numerical rating?
Not happening.
But I hang out here, so clearly I think they're onto something.

Relevant factors have definitely come up before to pick the series. Sometimes it's that the next volume is about to begin prepubs after a while off, sometimes it's that it has an anime airing.
Mixed Bathing is one I wouldn't be surprised to see, since it has the final volume currently in prepubs after a big gap. Getting people interested in it when it's about to be complete might be helpful in reminding them the series event exists.
Also possible that they'll pick another Sol Press rescue after VRMMO this month.

@LegitPancake that’s a great code, thanks! Did the preorder!

@PoeticChaos said in Please, I need help figuring out how to pre order!:

I want to pre order the Full Metal Panic Short Stories omnibuses to show my support. If there is a staff member who can help me with that I'd be eternally grateful!

@GeorgeMTO said in Please, I need help figuring out how to pre order!:

@PoeticChaos The print omnibus is not yet up for preorder. You could preorder the vol 1 epub, but I feel like that's not quite what you're after? You'll just have to wait a while for the omnibus itself to get to the preorder stage.

It should also be noted...

Physical volumes, such as the omnibus in question, cannot be ordered directly through J-Novel Club.

So:

Wait until a release date for a physical volume is listed. For an omnibus, this will not happen until after all the volumes for that omnibus have been published. Go to your preferred distributor of physical books, and pre-order there.

@jazzyjeoff Well done!

I thought it was a funny coincidence that the first angle was named Clarence... till I realized that it wasn't a coincidence at all.