Wait, Kokoro Connect is really hated???
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@jaquobus Good to know, that actually changes my mind a bit. I might check it out after all.
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Well, I went and came back to find the topic flooded.
Anyhow~-
To clarify my intentions related to this thread.
The curious cat questions kinda gave the impression that Kokoro Connect is being rejected due to the past incident and it was continuation to some sort previous talk (either here or on discord...dunno)
So, I just wanted to see if that's true
After all, I know people here prefers light and fun reads -
I wanna address a few things I found weird....
a) There is nothing called body-switching genre. it's not a genre, it's like Isekai, a trope.
b) NOT ALL NON-FANTASY ARE SLICE OF LIFE or of the same genre...
"Haruhi Suzumiya" and "Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions" are not of the same genre as Kokoro Connect.
Chunnibyou is romcom with a bit of peter pan syndrome (not about growing up, but enjoying the moment before growing up)
Haven't read Haruhi past anime yet ('cuz YP won't reprint that for people who came to the part late like me), but if it stays like the anime so it's more like meta comedy than coming of age... (There are moments where I think it can be coming of age, but never explored enough)
They all are of different genres.
And like how someone went ahead and asked Sam for more slice of life and the answer was there are fantasy slice of life for him to read (which is true)
Don't lump all non-fantasy together.
They are all different.- Now, I gotta wonder.
If people here don't want real drama, why is bunny so popular?
Just recency effect thing?
Why is a non-fantasy drama title higher than romcom and comedy titles on the license suggestions? just cuz it has anime this season not 2-5 years ago?
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I like Bunny, despite not generally being a drama fan because the two main characters really caught me as being real. Their interactions feel much less contrived than the typical drama stuff. They don't feel forced to be dramatic or comedic, they simply are.
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@flarecde
Tbh, I can say that about majority of coming of age LNs like Monogatari or Sakurasou or Oregairu or Kokoro Connect.
Ultimately, these novels all are about characters interactions. -
@bloodygaikotsu said in Wait, Kokoro Connect is really hated???:
- Now, I gotta wonder.
If people here don't want real drama, why is bunny so popular?
People like real drama, Oregairu for example is something like TOP5 in terms of sales per volume among LN. But people like only really good drama, any even not that big mishaps and bits of bad writing breaks immersion greatly.
So in the end, real-life drama is just significantly harder to write, and LN writers in general are not so skilled. - Now, I gotta wonder.
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@darkurg2 said in Wait, Kokoro Connect is really hated???:
People like real drama, Oregairu for example is something like TOP5 in terms of sales per volume among LN.
In Japan, where Kokoro Connect also sold quite well. And here we see people talking how they won't give KC a chance because "drama". How would you discern "real drama" from "bad drama" if you don't read it?
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@novurdim Well, yeah my bad, I care more about Japanese side of things.
For Western side though - it's just the way things are, novels with comics-like or other "light" ideas and tropes are much more popular in comparison with drama and/or psychological ones. -
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I'm talking about JNC forums atm.
Oregairu was one of the most requested novel titles for YP BTW. -
about drama and serious genres and LNs.
When you look at the series that started the craze or started along with it, you will find heaps of drama and psychological that offered philosophical elements, tragedy or clear important messages...many titles that really spoke to people. (Not saying that they were only that, but they were a major faction. Even old Fantasy and Isekai LN are different than modern fantasy which became more associated and related to games and gamers)
Boogiepop, Zaregoto, Welcome to NHK, Kino no tabi, All You Need Is Kill, Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora, etc.
(Yeah, a lot of these names ain't LNs technically, cuz there was no LN imprint when they were released like NHK and Zaregoto and wereally published by general literature imprint. However, their effect on LNs just can't be ignored or denied.)
Then what changed?
The demographic audience shifted, people grew up.
that's why from the same roots of LNs, there's a whole new medium growing for older audience that covers similar genres of that old titles.
Some of the old-timer LN authors started to write for that medium like Kino no tabi.
Some of the LN authors who couldn't do well due to the fact they were a bit too serious also started to write for it like Eiji Mikage.
Many authors do switch between the two mediums.Probably, the most famous title of that genre would be Biblia Koshodou no Jiken Techou.
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@bloodygaikotsu said in Wait, Kokoro Connect is really hated???:
Many authors do switch between the two mediums.
I always find it interesting when an author does this.
Like the person that wrote "Killing Slimes for 300 years" also now writes a realistic romantic college story about a boy dating a NEET.
Here's his complete list of works.
https://bookwalker.jp/author/1352/?acode=WpfPW3yk
If you look at his works, he's about 50/50 drama / rom com vs Fantasy.
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@terrence
One of the most popular Drama/Romance title rn, My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday, is written by Shomin Sample author but under different pen name. -
I'm just not that big into body-swap stories so it's rather low on my to-read, I'll give it a shot eventually.
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Kokoro Connect is the best thing J-Novel has licensed yet. Though that is not say that their other series are not good. (they are good. I also enjoy Amagi Brilliant Park). I am hoping for a print release of it and new licenses similiar to it, at least same genre.
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@makohime
Don't wanna to be the bearer of bad news but I don't think they are selling enough for Sam to print them (or try with the genre even tho I prefer teen drama over fantasy action) -
@makohime said in Wait, Kokoro Connect is really hated???:
Though that is not say that their other series are not good.
It's okay, it's true that most JNC series aren't... well, aren't all that good, to say the least, nothing can be done about it. But as BG has said above, isekai or at least full-on fantasy seem to be the only things current JNC-community buys so, if nothing changes, licenses like KC are going to be extremely rare on JNC. Let's just hope other publishers won't follow suit.
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@roland said in Wait, Kokoro Connect is really hated???:
I'm just not that big into body-swap stories so it's rather low on my to-read, I'll give it a shot eventually.
Someone write a bot to autorespond to these posts that the body swap is only volume one?
am I a weirdo to love KC and all the 'shitty escapism isekai'? Seems like most of the comments in this thread have people heavily either/or
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@smashman42 Yeah, I like kc and a lot of “crappy” Isekai too. Honestly right now I’m reading vol 2 of “Killing Slimes for 300 years” (extremely fluffy escapist fun) and Sebastian Jungers “Tribe” (brilliant but neither escapist or fluffy). Every day I cycle through a number of moods and like reading for all those moods.
That said I’m behind on KC and really need to read vol. 2 finally. Maybe after slime...
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@smashman42 I think it's a case that the anime actually "killed" the story. Most people, even if they know better, saw the body swap being the focus early on led everyone to believe it was the story. Those repelled by the arc aren't going to look past that for any further story.
For me at least, the story seems somewhere in the middle of too soft or too serious, so not really interested. Hyouka, which had a similar arc based method has a more serious feel (something I usually don't care for), but just enough tension to keep me interested without going overboard. This is also the reason I don't read/watch horror. Haruhi, also has the same arc based story type, but is a lighter read.
As for the body swap issue, it'll always continue. Because it's the opening, anyone giving the series a shot is going to be either drawn-in or repelled by the arc. What happens after is irrelevant if you don't like the beginning. In other terms, nobody is going to watch a movie if the first half hour (and all of the character introduction) is static.
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Like is body-swap a genre now?
Don't really get it lol -
@smashman42
Well, for me, it's more like I ain't that compatible with action and adventure series and need something else for a hook.
But I love gritty dark series through teen drama like KC, Monogatari, Oregairu and Seishun Buta to sweet or hilarious Romcoms. -
@bloodygaikotsu said in Wait, Kokoro Connect is really hated???:
Like is body-swap a genre now?
Don't really get it lolYour Name. Inside Mari. This.
That's all I got, unless you want to stretch it (Punch Line is a body swap because somebody hijacks the main character for the majority of it while he floats around as a ghost). I'm sure there's more though.
