Interview With Sam Pinansky (The Light Novel Podcast)
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@terrence YIKES! The interview is 1:55 long. Need to have the time to listen to it. Maybe this weekend.
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@terrence
He did mention on CC that people who prefer "serious reads", prefer physical release as well. (Well, I'm omnivore who leans towards physical release so, I can't comment on behalf any of the two sides lol) -
Well, I do wanna see the line between LN and non-LN disappearing tbh.
I've been trying to push this by requesting titles that I know they don't go along with the usual audience.
General literature titles or LN with topics that ain't very LN-y.
I'm just fishing—hoping that just one title get enough backing.
(Unfortunately, so far—no good lol. The last one got only one vote and it's from you, @Terrence lol ) -
@paul-nebeling said in Interview With Sam Pinansky (The Light Novel Podcast):
@terrence YIKES! The interview is 1:55 long. Need to have the time to listen to it. Maybe this weekend.
Yeah, Sam was generous with his time. I actually didn't ask more questions at the end not to keep him (and I would have had to look over my notes again to find one), and then we talked quite a bit longer after the recording, so no need to worry.
I didn't get the chance to ask my "Would you license 'King of Mayo'" and "How about licensing 'Because I Reincarnated as a Succubus, I’ll Squeeze Out Milk'"... Next time surely. These quality titles must be seen in English! x)
https://bookwalker.jp/de32e6ef60-9c31-4d8c-9ae8-d4325d543c30/?acode=WpfPW3yk
https://twitter.com/GRNKRBY/status/989010718165995521?s=20
Oh god, I should have told him to license 'The Panda and The Prime Minister' one from that Twitter post when talking about the push for Shoujo. That literary masterpiece does not belong locked up in a museum!
@bloodygaikotsu said in Interview With Sam Pinansky (The Light Novel Podcast):
Well, I do wanna see the line between LN and non-LN disappearing tbh.
I've been trying to push this by requesting titles that I know they don't go along with the usual audience.
General literature titles or LN with topics that ain't very LN-y.
I'm just fishing—hoping that just one title get enough backing.I still think something safe-ish, like the one I posted a bit back, It's Time From Z (by the Bluesteel + Outbreak Company author), could help break the tide a bit. There's a few other ones that have that LN author or feel to them, but with horror / death game attached, that I think could help ease people into horror too. I'd like more of those mystery type full on novels and psychological things too (especially Sakurako, which blurs the line between LN and novel, and Subete Ga No F which is very much not light novel-y) in addition to straight out horror (Shiki).
There's ones I want to suggest, but I know nothing about too, which makes for a tough thread (and a lot of them are very short, and potentially unfinished, which I don't want, so that makes it tougher to recommend). T_T
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@bloodygaikotsu said in Interview With Sam Pinansky (The Light Novel Podcast):
Well, I do wanna see the line between LN and non-LN disappearing tbh.
I've been trying to push this by requesting titles that I know they don't go along with the usual audience.
General literature titles or LN with topics that ain't very LN-y.
I'm just fishing—hoping that just one title get enough backing.
(Unfortunately, so far—no good lol. The last one got only one vote and it's from you, @Terrence lol )I think there is something about LN that makes them strictly LN. LN are basicly serialized book series that run for a very long time. Each book tells a complete story (or has some sort of conclusion) while also progressing the larger story in some way. Novels typically tell one story and ends in 7 or less volumes (usualy). There is just a difference between LN and novels that I do not want that to change. Pulp fiction is special for its own unique reason like LN is special for its own unique reason.
Edit: though this does mean I don't want more ppl finding about LN and such but I just think the stuff that makes certain types or categories of stories should be considered "different." Though I also want authors to explore and experiment with new ideas and whatever they can think of regardless if it is "LN-ish" or not.
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The line between LN and novels is more thing than you think—which is evident by NisiOisiN and Light Bungei stuff like 'I want to Eat your pancreas'
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Serialization ain't unique to LNs—take NisiOisiN's Legend Series (which has not LN-like elements a.k.a Moe like his other series), Hyouka (which is YA mystery series and only touched the LN market cuz of the anime), or, let's shot really away from LNs and say Ryuusui Seiryouin's What a Perfect World! Series (which he wrote to match Katanagatari) or any of his other series.
Actually—the genres and type of stories that started LN craze are very different from what we have now to begin with.
Like in late 1990's early 2000's
Boogiepop, Zaregoto, Welcome to N.H.K
These stuff ain't really what you call light read or genre and at the same time, some of kind of evolution of 80's titles with more Moe heroine appeared like
Shana, Zero no Tsukaima
And into 2004-2006, we got more stories and really attached with their heroine like
Circlet Girl and Toradora.Then meta concept appeared with
Haruhi and Monogatari.
—And lead to appearance of novels which comment on Otaku culture and at the same time, try and promote more positive overview with a pair of Otaku and non-otaku as Main characters like Oreimo.At similar time, battle school started to get popular.
Then we hit isekai boom that ain't stopping.
Not like the early, more heavy stuff are nonexistent but majority of them are not attached to 'proper' LN line but you got Kodansha Taiga, Box, novels, MediaWorks bunko, Futaba Bunko, etc.
What I'm trying to say with all of that is—the line between LN and non-LN is pretty thing and now, we got a whole new group living there (which is called light bungei).
- Plus, I mainly meant the readership.
After all, it will do a lot more good to both markets—where people of both sides can get smth to read.
Like, I guess people who are interested in Japanese mystery may enjoy checking NisiOisiN or Hyouka which are staying in LN side of things in the west unlike in more vague area like in Japan.
Also as I said before, while Perfect Blue and Hosoda works are published as LNs in the west—unlike Paprika and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.
And I believe that you, @Drone205 , will find a lot of things appealing on the other side since you like NisiOisiN.For me, what I feel like what's so unique about LNs and works near it—is the personality and the freedom/freestyle writing lol.
One of biggest way to sell LNs is making really likable characters especially heroines, so we get really interesting characters.
In LNs, you are more free with your structure and some author even uses blank pages and typography as storytelling method.
And—the most important thing is the personality that oozes from them especially, when the narrator is like Hachiman, Kyon, etc. -
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@terrence said in Interview With Sam Pinansky (The Light Novel Podcast):
I still think something safe-ish, like the one I posted a bit back, It's Time From Z
Well, not like I'm being random, I suggest stuff I'm interested in or love...after all.
They happen to be so unpopular here—totally, not my fault!!! -
Oh, it's definitely best to suggest what you love (because that passion comes across in suggestion topics, which gets people more interested). And I'd like some traditional horror / mystery stuff too, probably moreso than stuff that plays those elements halfway with more LN type content.
I just think there might be that title that can bridge audiences. I mean, there's titles that are "horror" that I don't consider horror (see horror being romance like Dusk Maiden of Amnesia or comedic horror) along with mysteries + psychological stuff that are fairly SOL in nature. Occultic;Nine was kind of close to bridging the gap, having a current anime and having some LN tropeish stuff, but it did only appear at the beginning of JNC's life cycle. I'd want a bridge the gap title to open up more possibilities of the more traditional stuff too.
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@terrence said in Interview With Sam Pinansky (The Light Novel Podcast):
(because that passion comes across in suggestion topics, which gets people more interested)
I wonder about that lol
E.g. I wrote about Three Days of Happiness and shared a quote I like (yet it only got 6 votes) but get 20-30 votes over synopsis + cover with cute girl or half-naked girl, so....
(The same applies to 'Biblia Koshodou no Jiken Techou' and 'Omae wo Otaku ni Shiteyaru kara, Ore wo Riajuu ni Shitekure!' lol) -
@bloodygaikotsu said in Interview With Sam Pinansky (The Light Novel Podcast):
E.g. I wrote about Three Days of Happiness and shared a quote I like (yet it only got 6 votes) but get 20-30 votes over synopsis + cover with cute girl so....
Well, cute gals help too (unfortunately?). xD
I think covers are really important. A high quality (subjective I know) cover sells me on a series because I think the story underneath could be just as good. Something more vague doesn't as much.
If I didn't know the authors / stories, I wouldn't give these even a seconds look:
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@terrence
Well, those ain't LNs and general literature's covers in JP seems weird to me (like I WANNA MEET THESE DESIGNERS AND ASK THEM DO YOU REALLY THINK THIS COVER WILL WORK?)I dunno the first guy but the author of the 2nd is the author of "The Sky Crawlers" and "Perfect Insider" and he's the first Mephisto winner (so, I am interested).
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@terrence
Well, I don't really mean the cover is selling it in my case but more like what people like here won't change 'cuz I have some passion.
It's like giving Bible or Quran to a Buddhist and tell him it's cool cuz it's holy book!
He will be all like "man, it ain't my religion"
What I seek (and showcase) in a book is kinda different, after all. -
It was a great interview, thanks for making the podcast, and thanks to Sam for answering all the questions with so much detail about the industry. In reference to Bakarina and Beast head which were mentioned in the podcast, I want to say that I am one of those male readers that enjoy reading otome game novels, getting two titles at once was amazing but I am really looking forward for more maybe from some other publisher like Arian Rose.
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One of the things I liked early in the interview was when Sam mentioned "My Big Sister" not being forgotten; one of the author's latest Earthstar release does something with the universe connected to Neechu. I assume it's this title that has 5 volumes:
"An instant-death cheat is the strongest, and the members of the other world do not become opponents at all"
https://bookwalker.jp/de6df4b3c7-a265-4dad-a2b3-eca984d99e90/?acode=WpfPW3ykCurious if he wanted to continue "My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World", could it be done with Earthstar?
Still sad he hasn't continued the "Mimic" novel yet, but I guess I gotta be patient. Some novels take a whole year off before continuing.
@renofury said in Interview With Sam Pinansky (The Light Novel Podcast):
I am one of those male readers that enjoy reading otome game novels...
Are you reading Cross Inf's Visual Novel type game Light Novel title (name escapes me, but the cover looks musical)? I heard it's pretty good as well.
I want to read Emeth of their releases as well.
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Any chances of a transcription? I can read whatever I want, but audio is a no-no.
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@flarecde said in Interview With Sam Pinansky (The Light Novel Podcast):
Any chances of a transcription? I can read whatever I want, but audio is a no-no.
The video does have automatic subtitles if you turn captions on. Don't know about their accuracy.
Edit: You can actually get the transcript on the Desktop version of YouTube. Just go the three dot button that is the "more actions" button on the bar below the video (next to Share and Save), and then click on transcription in the dialogue box that pops up. I had no clue you could do this! This might be insanely helpful for certain JP language videos.
If you're on mobile, just switch your browser to desktop mode before heading to YouTube.
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@terrence Thanks! I'll take a look!
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@terrence, I haven't read Obsessions of an Otome Gamer, it seems interesting but from the synopsis sounds a bit a heavy, I do not mind if a novel is heavy if it cantered around politics or conflict between factions; but if it is an otome novel I prefer easy reading novels featuring a very likable heroine. Unlike I like the art of Emert and the synopsis is really good, I will be checking it out too.
From Cross Infinity I only read:
- Little Princess in Fairy Forest
- Secretary of the hero
For some of my favourites otome novels, I can including my novelupdates read list but I am not sure if it is allowed.
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@renofury said in Interview With Sam Pinansky (The Light Novel Podcast):
I haven't read Obsessions of an Otome Gamer, it seems interesting but from the synopsis sounds a bit a heavy, I do not mind if a novel is heavy if it cantered around politics or conflict between factions; but if it is an otome novel I prefer easy reading novels featuring a very likable heroine.
I have no idea why the synopsis makes it sound so scary, but the heroine is indeed very likeable, and the first volume (the only one thus far) only covers the elementary school arc, so any scary ending is far into the future, and the author's notes (and the synopsis) imply that they're going to write the subsequent volumes based on reader feedback on which male capture target the readers prefer, so apparently the future is still malleable.
The "horrifying ending" referred to in the synopsis is about on par with the "killed or exiled" Bad Ends of Bakarina, albeit treated rather more seriously here, since Mashiro is more self-aware.
The interesting parts of the LN are twofold: firstly, there's an underlying Secret Mystery that keeps a small but consistent level of plot tension throughout, some aspects of which do get revealed (with varying degrees of subtlety) as the story goes on. I'm curious to know where it goes.
Secondly, there's a clear love of music and composing throughout the text, and concert recitals are described with enthusiastic and loving care. Mashiro (and the author) loves music, and really wants the reader to love music as well.
As per Cross Infinite World's usual, though, I have no idea when a volume two will come out, if ever, so I don't know if the story will be continued, or if it will just stay unfinished.
On an unrelated note, amusingly there's another music-related LN by Cross Infinite World: My Favourite Song - The Silver Siren, which is an isekai where the heroine is the only one who knows how to sing, because singing is magic. Again, the synopsis ("nightmare made reality") makes it sound way more dramatic than the story actually is.
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Great episode, it was very informative. Thanks Sam for always being so upfront. I'm looking forward to being inundated with that 30+ manga to read in the coming year or so.
