[NEWS/RECAP] February 2026 New Series + Print Announcements
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@hirei said in [NEW SERIES ANNOUNCEMENTS] Tune in on February 13, 2026 on our Youtube Channel!:
Note: This post will be updated with the recap once the announcements are finished!
Please do post the list of new acquisitions. I just realized that the "Our Latest Series" frame on your home page is incomplete -- it doesn't show "The Reincarnated Mastermind" for example. So I could easily miss something.
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@xdbx - the Series list is in order of addition to JNC by default (newest to oldest), so you can go there to see everything new.
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@HarmlessDave said in [NEWS/RECAP] February 2026 New Series + Print Announcements:
Hanashi's Observation Records
I see. I have been interested in giving the latter a try. Since I left this comment I had read volume 1 of Reforming an Icy Fina Boss: Getting Back at the Self-Proclaimed Villainess with the Power of Friendship by Takamedou and the antagonist of that story seems to actually enjoyed being the villainess (although I guess not for reasons the characters in the novels you mentioned do).
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@Aquasakura - Hanashi's Observation Records is a bit like Lady Albert: sweet girl trying to be a villainess because she thinks it's necessary. A big difference is it's written from the POV of the prince / capture target that's supposed to end up with the heroine not the MC.
The initial story wraps up in the first 2 volumes, then (also like Lady Albert) it continues on with new story arcs.
I had fun reading it.
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It feels like these were at least 3/4ths harem novels.... I'm not finding much on J-Novel that I'm interested in lately. I was hoping these would help, but sadly not.
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@radiantmemories said in [NEWS/RECAP] February 2026 New Series + Print Announcements:
It feels like these were at least 3/4ths harem novels....
A full half of them have female protagonists. I haven't read everything yet, but of the ones I've tried (5 of the 10) I've not encountered any harem elements. Totally fine to still bounce off them, but it doesn't seem to be harem itself doing so.
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@GeorgeMTO said in [NEWS/RECAP] February 2026 New Series + Print Announcements:
@radiantmemories said in [NEWS/RECAP] February 2026 New Series + Print Announcements:
It feels like these were at least 3/4ths harem novels....A full half of them have female protagonists. I haven't read everything yet, but of the ones I've tried (5 of the 10) I've not encountered any harem elements. Totally fine to still bounce off them, but it doesn't seem to be harem itself doing so.
Well, to be fair, Reborn to Reign certainly looks like one - though I didn't get far enough in to be sure. Miss Medic, Sister Mafioso, Proud to be the Villainess? Uh-uh. Path of an S-Rank Adventurer? Doesn't look likely at this point, but it's right on the edge of dropping so doubt I'll get far enough to be sure. Starting on Hard Mode? Yeah, probably - though it's teetering on drop for blandness instead of chunni, so also not sure if that's where it ends up. Unsung Epics? No way. Reincarnated Mastermind? Possible, I suppose, but still way too young to be sure. Corpse King? Seems pretty likely. Fired? Not at all.
So that's what, 3 out of 10?
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@Travis-Butler Yeah, but they said 3/4ths, aka three quarters, so 7 or 8 of the 10 licensed novels.
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@GeorgeMTO said in [NEWS/RECAP] February 2026 New Series + Print Announcements:
@Travis-Butler Yeah, but they said 3/4ths, aka three quarters, so 7 or 8 of the 10 licensed novels.
Right, exactly. The actual ratio is the opposite of what they thought.
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@Travis-Butler Ah, since you started with "to be fair", I thought you were on their side of the interpretation and had just read 3 or 4 instead. My mistake.
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Looking more, I can see that it's a bit of an exaggeration. I was looking quickly at work while on my break. And I did make assumptions about a couple based on how those types of stories typically go.
Going through these in more detail:
Fired? But I Maintain All the Software and Sister Mafioso aren't harems. Starting on Hard Mode is one. Return of the Corpse King is unclear, but with 3-4 girls on the cover, probably is at least pseudo harem. Unsung Epics of the Hero’s Journey is GL, so not harem afaik. Miss Medic’s Diary at War probably isn't one. The Reincarnated Mastermind is one I judged just cause that type of story almost always has a pseudo harem, and sure enough, when I look it up it does. The Path of an S-Rank Adventurer is one I know about already and it has a pseudo harem. Reborn to Reign is quite obviously a harem. Proud to Be the Villainess probably isn't one. The Accursed Chef looks to be a harem. And lastly All Eyes on Nekoyashiki-kun! is a BL and probably not a harem. So that's 6/13, and I wasn't counting Fired? But I Maintain All the Software because it's only sort of new (new version of something existing) so that's 6/12, or 1/2.You can see why I'd be disappointed, right? It's still quite a few of them, though not as much as I originally estimated.
Hello stranger!
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@radiantmemories ah, you only said novels so I didn't count the manga, so only going out of 10. JNC also has the novel for Accursed Chef (they just finished prepubbing the 3rd and final volume even), and it is not a harem. MC doesn't age up enough for romance to be a thing, and it stays with just the two girls as his dungeon diving companions who are also too young for romance, and just want delicious food (much like one of the author's other series, Reincarnated as a Sword, from what I hear).
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My initial thoughts on the new releases:
Reborn to Reign: Reincarnation isekai, but with little or no memory of past life. Becomes OP. Gets harem. These are all significant minuses for me. Reincarnated as a villian character: this is generally a minus, as it is so cliche now, although it is sometimes done well. With so much against it, I'm not even going to start.
Miss Medic's Diary at War: Refreshingly low on trope cliche overload. OK so far, I expect to at least finish the first volume.
Sister Mafioso: Has some interesting new angles. Another one I'll finish the first volume, but my hopes are not as high as for Miss Medic.
Proud to be the Villianess: It took until the end of prepub part 3 to get a feel for what sort of story it actually is, which is refreshing. It appears to be
This is a story type which I can enjoy for a while, but I typically drop after about 3 volumes, if not sooner.
The Accursed Chef: I started the LN when it came out. It didn't hold my attention enough to keep reading it. However, with the lower time commitment of a manga, I'll probably keep this on my permanent to-read list. (I have a few like this, including Campfire Cooking, and My Daughter Left the Nest.)
All Eyes on Kekoyashiki-kun: Undecided, I'll keep reading for a while.
Starting on Hard Mode: OP, harem. Sigh. I'll give the manga a chance for a while, but I'll probably drop it fairly soon.
Path of an S-Rank Adventurer: Big list of tired tropes. No manga to take the low-cost trial read. I'm not starting this one.
Unsung Epics of the Hero's Journey: Interesting characters, alternative POV to the hero's journey. Might end up too combat oriented for my tastes. This is reasonably promising.
The Reincarnated Mastermind: Looking very cliche so far. Might be worthwhile if the hero and first girl have good chemistry. I'm reading it, but it wouldn't take much for me to drop it. Reminiscent of the start of Hell Mode, which I did follow for a fair while.
Return of the Corpse King: Hasn't grabbed me, hasn't yet repelled me. I'll keep reading for a while, but pretty good odds I'll drop it.
Fired? But I maintain All the Software: I've been reading the manga, and I'll keep reading that for now, but it hasn't inspired me to want to read the LN.
So Miss Medic and Unsung Epics I might take on for the long haul, Sister Mafioso and Proud to be the Villianess are a step down, but clearly in the running. The rest will need to pleasantly surprise me soon to keep my attention.
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@radiantmemories said in [NEWS/RECAP] February 2026 New Series + Print Announcements:
Looking more, I can see that it's a bit of an exaggeration. I was looking quickly at work while on my break. And I did make assumptions about a couple based on how those types of stories typically go. […]
You can see why I'd be disappointed, right? It's still quite a few of them, though not as much as I originally estimated.
No, not really, though I admit I have a different angle than you.
JNC of late already licenses way more titles than I could possibly read. In fact, just the titles I already follow are more than I could possibly read, if all of them were active and releasing parts at the same time. So what I look for in each batch of new releases is enough titles amusing enough to keep me entertained between releases of the titles I really care about. With the hope that one or more will be good enough to add to the list of prized titles that I really care about and purchase, like D-Genesis. Hopefully you can see why that’s a lower bar to clear?
So if Reincarnated Mastermind turns into a harem at some point in the future, that doesn’t matter so much to me; because it’s amusing enough now, and I can always drop it if it does become boring. And I’m not afraid to drop a title if it does become boring; Isekai Walking, for example, had a first volume that was pretty fun but dropped off after that.
@Libri-Liberorum said in [NEWS/RECAP] February 2026 New Series + Print Announcements:
My initial thoughts on the new releases:
Reborn to Reign: Reincarnation isekai, but with little or no memory of past life. Becomes OP. Gets harem. These are all significant minuses for me. Reincarnated as a villian character: this is generally a minus, as it is so cliche now, although it is sometimes done well. With so much against it, I'm not even going to start.
For me, the stopping point was in the first part, when he revealed his recent reincarnation to the parents and brazenly announced that he reserved the right to be an asshole and they couldn’t do anything about it. Dude. Doing that in the face of parents who obviously still cared about their now-dead son, even as they mourned his turn to villainy? Not cool. Not to mention stupid, like a declaration of war.
Miss Medic's Diary at War: Refreshingly low on trope cliche overload. OK so far, I expect to at least finish the first volume.
Meh. Low on LN power fantasy cliches, but stuffed to the gills with grimdark “war is hell” cliches and I’m very tired of gore-porn. Didn’t make it past the first part on this one either.
Sister Mafioso: Has some interesting new angles. Another one I'll finish the first volume, but my hopes are not as high as for Miss Medic.
Yeah, it was one of the more promising ones from this batch.
Proud to be the Villianess: It took until the end of prepub part 3 to get a feel for what sort of story it actually is, which is refreshing. It appears to be
<snip>
This is a story type which I can enjoy for a while, but I typically drop after about 3 volumes, if not sooner.
This is probably my favorite of the new titles, just because the MC is so gonzo gung-ho about her actions, and looks like she’s about to find out she wasn’t as clever as she thought she was…
The Accursed Chef: I started the LN when it came out. It didn't hold my attention enough to keep reading it. However, with the lower time commitment of a manga, I'll probably keep this on my permanent to-read list. (I have a few like this, including Campfire Cooking, and My Daughter Left the Nest.)
I follow very few mangas, so that’s a strike against it to start. And like you, the LN didn’t keep me reading past volume 1, so I didn’t bother starting it.
All Eyes on Kekoyashiki-kun: Undecided, I'll keep reading for a while.
See above about mangas.
Starting on Hard Mode: OP, harem. Sigh. I'll give the manga a chance for a while, but I'll probably drop it fairly soon.
I’m giving the LN a try, but as I said earlier it’s overly bland - he literally has a help guide walking him through the world. The guide’s occasional snarkiness is admittedly amusing, but I’ll probably be dropping it shortly myself unless it improves.
Path of an S-Rank Adventurer: Big list of tired tropes. No manga to take the low-cost trial read. I'm not starting this one.
I try to give every non-manga title a try, so I did start it; but I’m just about burned out on kicked-out-of-the-party revengefics, especially with edgelordy protagonists. Will probably drop shortly.
Unsung Epics of the Hero's Journey: Interesting characters, alternative POV to the hero's journey. Might end up too combat oriented for my tastes. This is reasonably promising.
Yeah, another favorite out of this batch. I love it when a meek, apparently powerless character turns out to not be so powerless after all, so the last part cemented my interest.
The Reincarnated Mastermind: Looking very cliche so far. Might be worthwhile if the hero and first girl have good chemistry. I'm reading it, but it wouldn't take much for me to drop it. Reminiscent of the start of Hell Mode, which I did follow for a fair while.
Cliche, but handled well enough to be mildly entertaining so far; as you say, some potential for good chemistry with the first girl (and possible female lead?) Comparisons to Hell Mode are not in its favor, as that was a title I enjoyed in the first three books but got very tired of when it degenerated further into boring grinding minutiae.
Return of the Corpse King: Hasn't grabbed me, hasn't yet repelled me. I'll keep reading for a while, but pretty good odds I'll drop it.
What’s saving it for me so far is the MC’s snarky self-awareness about his former chunni behavior.
Fired? But I maintain All the Software: I've been reading the manga, and I'll keep reading that for now, but it hasn't inspired me to want to read the LN.
I like the hook, and followed the manga for a while, but see above about manga; I may keep following the LN for a while, but the MC is a little too far over the top for me, even for a Manic Pixie Dream Girl.
