Novel pick-up requests
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@paulnamida
The newest series being translated are about succubi and the art is damn beautiful. -
The only thing I feel bad for with official translators, such as Yen Press, is that even though any LN series they get is licensed by them, people still find a way to look for illegal fan translations.
The only series I can think of that does so is "Mahouka". The series is licensed, which will definitely take a while for YP to get to the latest volumes. However, fans of the series still find ways to read the latest volume in the series. Whether it's from a download, someone PM'ing the link to them, or a person is secretly translating the series.
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Primitive Wizard
Protagonist spent his life trying to find real magic. Upon his death though, he reincarnates as a Dragon in a fantasy world finally giving him wish. His next goal, to establish an Academy to teach magic. Big problem though is that the fantasy world he reincarnated in has humanity at a cave-man stage with little to no real language. It features comedy, romance, and slice of life with a touch of action as the protagonist explores magic and tries to teach it to others.
I find it to be a surprisingly enjoyable series that actually addresses a drama plot-point I see rarely addressed.
End of Volume 1 Spoilers
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@Aruseus493 I'm so tempted to click the spoiler, but I won't. Stuff like New Life +'s little twist / spin is what I live to discover and be surprised by in literature.
While I'm here, I saw this new novel pop up. I was interested because the protagonist is a bit hefty. But it sounds like he might not remain hefty forever...
"I was summoned as a different world, but I was forcibly repatriated back to Japan, but I decided to let it go"
https://bookwalker.jp/de0644642e-dcac-4cec-8a45-9ed638f5a343/?acode=WpfPW3yk
Haruhiko Todo Haruhiko (32 years old) who withdrew for 10 years has undergone lack of exercise and overeating, and the current weight is 126 kg. Suddenly he is summoned as a brave man in a different world one day. However, the status is less than an ordinary person, and it is aborted as a pig bastard from a disappointed soldier of a different world. As a result, Haruhiko is forcibly repatriated to Japan, but the princess of another world was accidentally caught there! To return her to the former world, Haruhiko should lose her ideal weight of 58 kg and release the gate to the other world. So, the two grand diet plans were to come to an end! Diet fantasy to commit to the results!
Syosetu:
「異世界召喚されたが強制送還された俺は仕方なくやせることにした。」読んだ！ https://ncode.syosetu.com/n1778dx/ #narou #narouN1778DX -
@xftg123 I can't blame them going for fanslations, Yen Press takes a year to release 3 volumes. With long running series it can be a pain to wait until they catch up, I mean, they haven't even caught up to SAO vol 13 (which is the one that had been released in Japan when they announced the license), and SAO is one of the series with slow releases in Japan (the last few years had seen barely 2 volumes per year), yet they are still 8 volumes behind the current japanese releases, meaning that in almost 5 years they've barely closed the gap by 5 volumes, and still behind the fanslations which had already done vol. 13 by the time they released vol. 1.
Mahouka is an even harsher example since they have more releases than SAO per year, it started 2 years later yet has already 25 volumes released, unlike SAO's 20. In these 2 years YP has worked on the series, they haven't been able to close the 19 VOLUME GAP.
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@paulnamida
I wish they were like JNC. Look at Grimgar, it's only been a year and a half since JNC licensed it and they have already fully translated 8 out 12 volumes while the 9th is partially translated.If JNC, a new publisher, can do it then I really can't understand why YP can't when they have been in the business for years.
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Regarding Yen Press, the reason I've heard for the lengthy release gaps is that they did not want to flood the market and make it hard for people to stay caught up on series.
Physical books have vastly different logistics compared to digital books; their primary method of sale is through brick & mortar stores, which means they need to negotiate with retailers, plan release dates and amounts of books to print and ship, deal with physical storage, contingencies for low sales, etc. etc.
What happens if a series they committed to performs poorly? Retailers might not want to stock it as much, or at all. What happens if they release too many books too quickly? Some consumers might get overwhelmed and fall behind on collecting books, then drop the series because there's too much backlog or because it's too hard to find the books. Not everyone can afford to buy dozens of new releases every couple months, or has time to read them all even with a 6-month gap.
New fans as well could have a harder time catching up on a series if books are hard to find or out of print. I could only find one example with a cursory search, but on RightStuf the Haruhi novels are mostly out of print.
For the record, I think YP's business model is outdated and should be revamped. Their translating and editing processes need to be reviewed, and they need to identify what's causing various release delays and really work on correcting that problem. But, at the same time, I think many people are too quick to lay on the hate without even bothering to consider all the factors that go into running a consumer business.
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@myskaros What you're saying makes sense, in part at least. But let's take No Game No Life as example.... 1 year between volume 6 and 7 is just annoying. They keep delaying it for no apparent reason, I haven't found any reason provided by them at least. As you've mentioned near the end, their business model is way too outdated and can't keep up with the current times.
That said, I guess JNC is spoiling us with a new volume coming out constantly every 2-3 months. I haven't been a premium member for long yet, barely a month, but I don't recall seeing anywhere mentioned that there have been huge delays like Yen Press for any series. And yeah, I know, let's leave My Little Sister Can Read Kanji aside, that's the exception... And not a long one compared to YP anyway lol
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@terabyte Right, I'm just talking about their overall business model. I too think the NGNL situation is ridiculous, but since they have the exclusive license, we as consumers have no other option but to suffer their delays.
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@myskaros The other option left is to vote with our wallet I guess. I want to pick up NGNL to know how the story continues, when I saw the anime years ago I wasn't even aware LNs were a thing. But so far I haven't gotten the first 6 volumes given the whole situation. And I will probably wait until they catch up to the last volume released in Japan, which might never happen if they keep going like this. If it goes like that, I guess I'll just save my money and use them on something else :)
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@xftg123 On the matter of Mahouka, having Miyuki call "Onii-sama" by his first name instead of something like "Dear Brother" (apparently) might've also been a deterrent for already existing fans of the anime and/or available fanlations to give YP money.
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@doublemangekyo I have a lot of rude things I want to say in response to that stupid argument, but, in the interest of time and word count, I'll just settle with grow the fuck up. Note: this is in no way directed at you personally.
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@myskaros I have a lot of rude things I want to say in response to that stupid argument, but, in the interest of time and word count, I'll just settle with No, you grow the fuck up.
Note: this is in every way directed at you personally.Anyway, with that out of the way. One big problem with jap to eng translations is the way honorifics are used by the authors. In most circumstances, they are meant to show the closeness of the characters. In Mahouka's case,
without honorifics what you're currently reading is nothing more than an official fanfiction. I'm actually eager to hear from by bud, whose reading YP's TL, what that "professional" translator will pull off in the next volume, where the meaning behind the "onii-sama" will be explained.
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@mmkop said in Novel pick-up requests:
without honorifics what you're currently reading is nothing more than an official fanfiction. I'm actually eager to hear from by bud, whose reading YP's TL, what that "professional" translator will pull off in the next volume, where the meaning behind the "onii-sama" will be explained.
Very much this, the events that unfold in the Recollection arc, deal with the whole process in which "just Tatsuya" became "Onii-sama" in Miyuki's eyes. It HAS that much of a point. I'm not against localization. But she always acts so polite and reverent towards Tatsuya that her calling him by his first name simply seems out-of-character to me. Dear/Esteemed Brother would be a lot better, as it conveys better their relationship.
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Yen Press doesn't use honorifics that much in their series. Instead of using honorifics such as "-kun", "-san", etc, they replace it with "mister" or "miss" so it has more of a westernized appeal to it.
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I agree with @myskaros, as less than diplomatic as it was phrased. The sheer fetishization of certain elements of the Japanese language by some fans is insane and silly as hell. This isn't to say that it's quite possible in Mahouka's case that it was poorly done - but the way people focus on honorifics as so important so often makes me cringe.
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@xftg123 said in Novel pick-up requests:
The only thing I feel bad for with official translators, such as Yen Press, is that even though any LN series they get is licensed by them, people still find a way to look for illegal fan translations.
I only buy two titles from YP, and both of them have robust online discussions based on the latest fan translations, which are 6-9 volumes ahead of the official licensed translation.
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Could Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi get picked-up, the light novel is at 5 volumes currently, and I want to see it translated before it gets too far a head.
Synopsis: Mukouda Tsuyoshi, summoned from modern Japan to a different world of sword and magic.
He thought of what kind of a huge adventure was waiting for him, but actually, Mukouda is just a civilian who got caught in a 『Hero Summoning』!!
And that Mukouda’s base status shabby compared to the legitimate heroes(There’s even three of them!)……
On top of that, the king who summoned Mukouda and the rest were suspicious, and Mukouda left the castle by himself realizing 「Ah, this is the type that heroes would only be used」.
The only thing that Mukouda could rely on in this world is his unique skill 『Net Supermarket』――it can only order goods from modern Japan to the different world.
“It is not for combat, but if I use it properly, I might have no trouble living?”, Mukouda thought lightly, but actually――he found out that the modern「food」that he ordered would display ridiculous effects!
On top of that, ridiculous guys who were attracted by a different world’s food gathers……?!!
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@paul-nebeling which series are they?
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@xftg123 I would guess SAO and Mahouka?
