Wrapping Up the Year with December Catchups
-
As we bid farewell to 2023, we look forward to all the wonderful things that 2024 will bring. To help get into the mood, this month members can catch up with some popular ongoing series whose stories will be continuing into the future!
In Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon, a young boy yearns for revenge after an adventuring party representing all the races of the world leaves him to die in a dungeon. His Gift, Unlimited Gacha, grants him power beyond imagination, but his quest for vengeance unveils a vast conspiracy that just leaves him with ever more questions.
Now I'm a Demon Lord follows Yuki, a young man reborn into a fantasy world as a demon lord who now just wants to live out the silly dreams from his old life. He somehow tames the most powerful dragon in the world with modern sweets, and his antics just attract more and more female companions to his side. Can anything rein in this impulsive young whirlwind of unrestrained desires?
A Royal Rebound stars Amelia, a young noble awaiting a happy future after marriage. She loses contact with her fiancé after he enters the royal academy, but assumes he's just busy with school. Things get stranger once she herself matriculates and her peers all ostracize her while her fiancé avoids her. And why won't the fourth prince leave her alone...?
Yuri's new world has everything he lacked in his first one: a family, a home, and a life he appreciates. His country has enjoyed peace for centuries, and war is only fought in distant lands. But Yuri soon realizes that peace can't last forever. Find out more in The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom!
Isekai is a lot grimmer when it involves possessing the bodies of dead people. Re:RE — Reincarnator Executioner explores a world ravaged by these Reincarnators and a group of people who will do anything to stop them and put their revived loved ones to rest.
Finally, if you've been enjoying the I Shall Survive Using Potions anime but haven't had time to read the light novel, you can try the manga this month!
There are 30 volumes waiting for members to unwrap as we approach the final holidays of the year! Thank you for your support this last year, and into the next!
Whoever said nothing's impossible never tried slamming a revolving door.
-
Pinned by
myskaros
-
Just looking at the covers in the catch-up section on the home page, my first thought was, 'why so many grimdark series?' But ignoring those three series in the middle, the rest seem like sweet romcoms (not counting Potions manga). So this month, I'll check out 'Now I'm a Demon Lord' and 'Royal Rebound'.
-
@saidahgilbert Royal Rebound is the only one of this month's lot that I've actually read. And it was... okay? Ish?
Volume 1 seemed stronger (and a lot more popular on the forums) than 2 and 3 were. Not the best romance jnc's ever translated, but readable, at least. (Though I, personally, got bored and started skim-reading in the third book. I didn't miss much.) I suspect for most people, the best way to treat that series is to read Volume 1 and pretend its just a one-shot.
-
@kuali said in Wrapping Up the Year with December Catchups:
@saidahgilbert Royal Rebound is the only one of this month's lot that I've actually read. And it was... okay? Ish?
Volume 1 seemed stronger (and a lot more popular on the forums) than 2 and 3 were. Not the best romance jnc's ever translated, but readable, at least. (Though I, personally, got bored and started skim-reading in the third book. I didn't miss much.) I suspect for most people, the best way to treat that series is to read Volume 1 and pretend its just a one-shot.
I read the first volume and thought it was OK but not brilliant (conflicts got resolved way too easily, kids who wronged the heroine got punished disproportionately, etc.) and never got a chance to read the second volume. I’d considered catching up to see if the bits that annoyed me faded away, as I kind of liked the heroine and the hero and their interactions and their goals for their country.
I might check out volume 2 if I have time this month, but it doesn’t like it’s worth making it a high priority. Is it complete with 3 volumes?
-
@lilitu93 Yup, its complete.
This is the final volume of the series.
The fact that I have been able to continue this story, which was originally a completed story, in a second and third volume is all thanks to you readers.The one warning I would give is that Volumes 2 and 3 tie together more strongly than they do with 1 (since 1 was originally the entire story, and 2-3 are the expansion plot), so the end of 2 might not be the most satisfying of drop points.
As for your issues with the first book... well, they don't ever really go away, but moving the main setting out of the school means they're not quite as prevalent, either. A lot of 2+3's plot happens abroad, where the Royal Family can't just status their way past problems... but they're still the most (magically) powerful characters in the story, so don't expect anyone to put up a decent fight against any of the princes even when they aren't in their own nation.
-
@saidahgilbert - Demon Lord is indeed a sweet romcom :) . Yuki uses a bit of strong language now and then but there's more sugary sweet romance and wholesome family fun than battle action.
Backstabbed is edgelord gatcha addict wish fulfilment that's cringey in its author self-insert MC worship, but can be fun despite that. It's hard for me to take it seriously enough to call it grimdark.
I noped out of Re-Reincarnator's bleakness, not my cup of tea.
-
Save yourself the frustration... avoid I shall survive using potions like the plague.
Unless an unlikable main character, random ass-pulls, and the author writing themselves so deeply into one boring hole after another that the only thing they could do was reset the whole series and try again - and then make the same terrible writing mistakes all over again - is what does it for you.
At which point... You do you I guess.
-
@myskaros said in Wrapping Up the Year with December Catchups:
Well, at least I started all of them… ^^;;
Waaaaay too edgelordy, and I generally don’t like I’m-gonna-get-revenge-on-everyone!!! plots. Dropped it after 3-4 parts.
Now I'm a Demon Lord follows Yuki, a young man reborn into a fantasy world as a demon lord who now just wants to live out the silly dreams from his old life.
“Silly” is a good word for it. Not at all serious most of the time, and I really wouldn’t call it sweet most of the time either - the MC is a smartass and spends most of his time teasing the tsundere in the first book. But it’s fun.
A Royal Rebound stars Amelia, a young noble awaiting a happy future after marriage.
I got tired of it by book three, but it was nice at the start - abused girl starts having things going right for her, without getting too treacle-y or revenge-y. Fine line to walk, and it managed successfully in the first book. Started wearing thin by book 2, and didn’t manage to finish 3.
Find out more in The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom!
Another promising start that I lost interest in before the first book was finished. Clever at first, and the characters and setting were moderately clever, but it started digging itself pretty hard into the details without making them interesting enough.
Isekai is a lot grimmer when it involves possessing the bodies of dead people. Re:RE — Reincarnator Executioner explores a world ravaged by these Reincarnators
Didn’t even make it past part 1 on this one. Grimdark galore, hard pass.
Finally, if you've been enjoying the I Shall Survive Using Potions anime but haven't had time to read the light novel, you can try the manga this month!
Another (quietly) smartass MC, but this one was a lot more selfish/annoying. Made it through one book, but not much further.
...Cats are the proof of a higher purpose to the universe.
-
Wow people have different opinions on stuff other people enjoy and view differently wow.
Anyway if I buy the sub. I can read the catch up and stuff being translated? If I sub and buy one the coin deal. How much do I get to buy? Because I try paying for webtoons before. I bought 50 dollars worth of coins. I was only able to read half series before running out.
-
@JRPG-Nation Yup, either sub gets you access to every book in pre-publication and every book on catchup.
A book's price in coins is generally its price in USD multiplied by 100 - e.g. a $6.99 book (the most common price for the light novels) is 699 coins. 100 coins per dollar is also how expensive the coins are pre-subscriber-discount. Manga volumes are more expensive (the ones I've bought were 899 coins each).
So as a rough guide, $50 in coins will get you 7 and a bit light novel volumes (stretching to about 8 and a half for a premium subscriber since we get around ~882 coins more for our 50 bucks), or 5 and a half manga volumes (around 6 and a half on premium). Premium subscribers also get a bonus 699 coins a month, incidentally, on top of however many coins you buy separately.
In short, if you plan to buy a lot of Books, premium will save you some money in the long run. Otherwise I think you'll be happy on regular.
-
@JRPG-Nation just to add to what @kuali said I have a subscription because it allows me to read a lot more series through prepubs than I could afford through coins. It also allows me to try out series to see if they're to my taste before spending the coins to own them, which I find to be very cost-effective and helps me budget my money wisely. If you read a lot of series I would seriously recommend a subscription
“There’s always a story. It’s all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything’s got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.” ― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky
-
@Lily-Garden Yeah, that's more or less how I use it, too. Just next week, I have 17 part releases I'm scheduled to read - 12 on subscription, and only 5 that I'm actually buying. There's no way I would be reading all seventeen of those if I had to stick to purchases alone,
-
@JRPG-Nation - the basic sub is worth it even just to "try before you buy" since you can read much more of a book (all of it) instead of the teaser sample from Amazon,. etc.
My job (senior software developer) pays pretty well so my personal rule (not one I think anyone else should follow) is if I finish a prepub for a volume then I buy that volume.
I buy a lot of volumes, but there are also many where I've read a few parts and then decided it's not a series for me. That's saved me a lot of money over time, and since I buy so much the premium sub saves me even more.
-
I think of the Premium subscription as two parts:
First Part - 12 books per year:
I figure that the 699 coins per month (call it 7 US dollars to make the math easier). I get enough coins to buy 12 books (1 per month). The total cost is 12 x 7 = 84 dollars. So I get 12 books for 7 each which is a dollar discount if I was to buy them on Amazon where they sell usually for 8 dollars per Volume. Not a bad deal.Second Part - Streaming Pre-Publications each week and Monthly Catchup Series:
The difference between 120 for the cost of the Premium (84 dollars) vs what is left over which is 36 dollars (120 - 84 = 36). I like to think of the 36 dollars per year as the cost to stream books I may never have tried if I had to buy them all.Now if you get the Premium you also get a discount of 15% on extra coins as an added bonus.
This is my first year on the Premium and I have read 102 Light Novels to date. If i bought all those novels so Amazon it would have cost me 816 dollars. Note: I personally am not worried about owning them all (being 64 years old - no one in family will read them so no one to pass them to).
-
@Travis-Butler said in Wrapping Up the Year with December Catchups:
Another promising start that I lost interest in before the first book was finished. Clever at first, and the characters and setting were moderately clever, but it started digging itself pretty hard into the details without making them interesting enough.
I'd actually say Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom is a bit of a slow start. The first 3 volumes are essentially the prologue to the main conflicts in volume 4 onwards. Taken as a whole, I really liked this series, and I think it's likely the best of this month.
-
Hi everyone! Just a note that due to the holidays, January catchups will be switched over on Tuesday, January 2. Hope you enjoy December's catchups in the meantime!
-
@LeavesCat said in Wrapping Up the Year with December Catchups:
@Travis-Butler said in Wrapping Up the Year with December Catchups:
Another promising start that I lost interest in before the first book was finished. Clever at first, and the characters and setting were moderately clever, but it started digging itself pretty hard into the details without making them interesting enough.
I'd actually say Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom is a bit of a slow start. The first 3 volumes are essentially the prologue to the main conflicts in volume 4 onwards. Taken as a whole, I really liked this series, and I think it's likely the best of this month.
Er.
While that may be true, and it’s all well and good to do that… if you’re going to devote the first three books to setup, you at least need to make that setup interesting.
As I said, it started out interesting… but got so bogged down with the details that I lost interest. That’s bad enough if you’re diving right into the story - but if the entire book is just setup, that’s deadly.
Or to put it another way, saying it’s a prologue is no excuse. An author has to catch and hold the readers’ interest from the start; expecting them to go through three slow books just to get to the real conflict in book four doesn’t work.
-
@Travis-Butler said in Wrapping Up the Year with December Catchups:
Or to put it another way, saying it’s a prologue is no excuse. An author has to catch and hold the readers’ interest from the start; expecting them to go through three slow books just to get to the real conflict in book four doesn’t work.
Like the people who say Final Fantasy < N > gets good after the first 30 hours of tedium, or TV show X gets good after season 1, which you can't skip if you want to understand season 2-on.
Not all of us have that much patience :)
-
Unpinned by myskaros
