Disco Detective Wednesday
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I always presented some crazy stuff, right? right?
Oh, well, this is no different!
Remember Otaro Maijo? A Mephisto winner? Got Mishima Yukio Prize for Asura Girl (published by VIZ)? Nominated for Akutagawa Prize so many times? A Faust author?Well, this is one of his titles that approached LN realm the most.
Disco Detective Wednesday
Disco★Wednessdayyy
Disuko Tantei SuiyobiBut here's the catch...
One of the books is 600 pages.Oh, well, I am getting ahead of myself.
Status: Completed (Not sure but I think it was first released as 2-part book then re-released as 3-volumes bunko)
Publisher: ShinchoshaWell, Tanoshimi Blog talked about it for a bit (I lied, it was a lot).
Kastel's synposis<?>:
Before fedoras were worn by the homo euphoros, they were worn by intelligent, righteous people. Investigative journalists, mafia members, private detectives. These members of society were seen as the new cowboys; they were ready to break the law to deliver their own justice, whether society wanted it or not. They were the knights of New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. It was up to these vigilantes to take up the policing role in places where the police couldn’t reach. These men might have given up their shining armor for dusty worn jackets, but they followed a code of chivalry now immortalized in the genre of hardboiled fiction. They are what we call “superheroes”, but they prefer the humbler name of “detectives”.Disco Wednesdayyy is one of those guys. His job is to rescue kidnapped children all over the world. None of these cases are pretty. Human trafficking, sexual abuse — you name it, he saw it. His mind is all worn out and his latest job is to rescue a young girl named Kozue in Japan. But because there is no one to return to, he decides to take a break and take care of her in a small apartment in the outskirts. He is finally able to take off the knight helmet and breathe in some fresh countryside air. But sometimes, as he cooks an omelette for Kozue, he wonders when he will have to return to Los Angeles. That dirty, stinking office that looks like it’s from the set of the Maltese Falcon film except it’s real. Going back to a world where Black Mask stories (i.e. what Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction is based on) are real life events is not as enticing as babysitting a cute girl who greets you good morning every day. This is the peace and silence he needs.
Until she gets possessed by her seventeen year old self from the future and asks him, “Did you know everything that happens in this world is born out of fate and free will?”
The problem is when I try to think how to sell this, I got nothing...
It sounds absurd, hence It sounds really interesting to me.
It is not just plot-less or meaningless either, a main character alienated in their own book, a mismatched world and main character and a book that seems that ain't sure about its own genre.
SF? Detective mystery? Hardboiled fiction?
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@bloodygaikotsu said in Disco Detective Wednesday:
SF? Detective mystery? Hardboiled fiction?
Everything! It's not bound by the conventions hence why it is so intriguing, you could probably add the term "deconstruction" to the bunch but everyone hates the word by now.
Together with Densetsu series, it's my most wanted book to get an official translation somehow. The chances sure are slim though.
I also believe it has five volumes: two for the "PART 1" and three for "PART 2".
Also, the LNDB page.
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@novurdim
I know what LNDB says but when I checked "top"/first part of the BOOK 2, I found stuff like "first volume" in the reviews.
So, I went the assumption of Tankobon release then bunko re-releaseEspecially, since the artwork of the cover kinda changes between the 2 books (and there is this 3 years gap)
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@bloodygaikotsu said in Disco Detective Wednesday:
I know what LNDB says but when I checked "top"/first part of the BOOK 2, I found stuff like "first volume" in the reviews.
So, I went the assumption of Tankobon release then bunko re-release
Especially, since the artwork of the cover kinda changes between the 2 books (and there is this 3 years gap)Huh, who knows, I actually looked at Goodreads but that one is far from accurate when it comes to these novels.
@bloodygaikotsu said in Disco Detective Wednesday:
One of the books is 600 pages.
Oh well, at least the other ones are not as big.
Plus I'm 100% sure it will be infinitely easier to sell Disco to a new crowd that doesn't read light novels than, say, Last Idol or Haru.
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@novurdim
Well, I take LNDB with a grain of salt due to past experience lolOh well, at least the other ones are not as big.
Not as big but they are still longer than your average LN volume (300+ and 400+)
It's all matter of perspective, bud lolBut, I really am curious about your confidence that this is more sellable to non-LN folks!
I'll tell ya this but VIZ (Haikasoru) have sold LNs to these folks already (but they don't know it, they just think JAPANESE FICTION).
Haikasoru built their audience not around LN readers but regular folks who are interested in mostly SF, mystery and Horror.
Jnovel just haven't reached beyond their original initial audience (U know, they did no marketing...I just hope that the guy who will take over their social media can do a thing or two about that. Sometimes, I fail to notice some announcements due to that...the fact that they don't really make things known. I always hear it from the forums or before that from Justus.) -
@bloodygaikotsu said in Disco Detective Wednesday:
Jnovel just haven't reached beyond their original initial audience
Exactly, and without books like Disco they never will. You are getting the right books to try and reach the other crowd, not acquire the books for them after you have somehow gotten them aboard with only typical light novels.
@bloodygaikotsu said in Disco Detective Wednesday:
Not as big but they are still longer than your average LN volume (300+ and 400+)
It's all matter of perspective, bud lolWell, we have Clockwork Planet with 450+, bud.
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The bunko edition is three volumes, and the tankobon edition was two.
The first bunko is 369 pages, the second 485, and the third 603. And it's basically just one novel split in three.It is one of Maijo's best novels, but a meta mystery in which the solutions keep changing because of time travel is definitely for an audience that has ready thousands of mysteries and is looking for someone to chuck a grenade under the conventions.
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@novurdim said in Disco Detective Wednesday:
Exactly, and without books like Disco they never will. You are getting the right books to try and reach the other crowd, not acquire the books for them after you have somehow gotten them aboard with only typical light novels.
Jnovel already has novels that doesn't fit their main audience:
Coming of age/teen drama, mystery, psychological, horror, hard SciFi, hence they ain't doing that well with a few exceptions.
Adding one more without trying to utilize what they got first to build some ground is a bit stupid (if you ask me)Well, we have Clockwork Planet with 450+, bud.
Just a slight oversight
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@bloodygaikotsu said in Disco Detective Wednesday:
Jnovel already has novels that doesn't fit their main audience:
Yeah, the likes of Last Idol and Haru which are often a hard sell even to a hardcore anime fan. You don't really get what I mean but it's a long topic for a different place.
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@doceirias
Then I am right with my assumption that LNDB is slipping again.It is one of Maijo's best novels, but a meta mystery in which the solutions keep changing because of time travel is definitely for an audience that has ready thousands of mysteries and is looking for someone to chuck a grenade under the conventions.
Well, I am interested in Otaro (and majority of Mephisto winners) due to their uniqueness, after all.
They feel fresh even if they have their own style.
Ah,BTW, I used your blog's Kemuri Ka Tsuchi Ka Kuimono synopsis for my topic here.
Well, it was proved that a mystery with ER surgeon that swears a lot saying stuff like "motherfucker" is a lot difficult to sell here—even worse than this (it only got 2 votes lol)Well, while I want the Otaro for being so different, that's what made Asura girl get a lot of bad reviews, 'cause it is different from usual. -
@novurdim
Dunno about hardcore anime fans
Not like all anime fans are into escapism stories, some got into it via dark urban fantasy or teen drama.
Well, I was thinking about starting discussion about non-LN or really weird titles here at some point...well, at some point. -
What an old topic, but I’ll bump it anyway since Id Invaded is airing and is written by Maijo, so it’s somewhat timely, right? (It’s a good anime, watch it.)
I’ve been reading what I can that’s translated of his, and would love to see more of his work come over. Definitely polarizing stuff, but he’s a class of his own that should be known... while Disco Wednesdayyy isn’t what I’m most interested in reading (that would be Tsukumojuku), I’d love to see anything at all.
Considering Last and First came over (and was an incredibly cool look into the literary scene in Japan), I better start spending my premium credits on the more unusual stuff that J Novel Club has brought over/mass gifting my friends so you guys know I’m super interested, right? lol
icon by my friend Yo_Ymmat on twitter
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