What are your favourite Top 5 (2025)

[vilobion]

I can do a top two where I can whole-heartily say that the series are entertaining and competently written, and then a bunch of honorable mentions.

Ascendance of a Bookworm is literally the only reason I initially subscribed to J-Novel. After finishing the last of the anime I had to know what happened next. I'd attribute its success to a few factors that help it stand out:

• It is brilliantly serialized. Plot threads extend from the first volume to the last, and it's clear it wasn't written by the seat of the pants volume to volume. There are no awkward ass pulls, the entire series is very logically consistent with itself, and for the most part (Wilfried and the Liesegangs do get a bit too much limelight late in P5 if you ask me) the series keeps a healthy pace.
• It avoids pretty much every deal breaker element that would prevent me from recommending it to someone. No weird harem ecchi stuff, no 1,000 year old loli dragons.
• It's not afraid to delve into some pretty grim subject matter

Cooking With Wild Game was recommended to me during my post-P5V12 Ascendance withdrawals, and it shares the same strength of having excellent serialization. I also appreciate the relatively mature handling of cultural conflicts and friction without being too cynical, and the People of the Forest are easy to empathize with and become attached to.

Honorable mentions:

• To Another World with Land Mines: Very competent and the female leads are all well realized characters too. Will probably take my #3 spot up above if it continues with the same level of quality as it has had so far.
• The World's Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat: This series is objectively very trashy trash but it's my favorite trash.
• DanMachi: I can't help but have a soft spot for Ryu.
• JK Haru is a Sex Worker in Another World: The difference between what I thought this novel was going to be and what it actually was was huge, in the best way possible.
• Mushoku Tensei: I feel like this series provides the template a lot of series doing the 'reincarnated as a baby with magical aptitude' concept attempt to follow. I personally do think Rudeus' character development over the series does redeem his dirtbag nature at the start of the series, but YMMV.
• Dahlia in Bloom/Lucia and the Loom: Probably the coziest series that don't have much plot conflict that still manages to keep me entertained and interested week to week.

Dishonorable Mentions:

The Series Dropped after the Most Volumes Read Award: Record of Wortenia War. Started as a pretty dry series, got significantly worse after ~volume 15 with the increasing frequency of long author tracts. Probably would've benefited from having a more hardass editor to tell the author no from time to time. The Boy Who Ruled the Monsters is a pretty strong contender for usurping this 'award' in the future.

The Series Dropped After its Politics Made me go ICK Award: The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress which decided around volume 7 that anti-war protestors are all schmucks who are easily brainwashed by terrorist organizations.

[yumenokage]

Keeping it to JNC Series, my top five are probably

Ascendance of a Bookworm
All-around great series that attracted me to JNC in the first place. Great world-building and character growth. Has a bit of everything genre-wise—action, slice of life, comedy, political intrigue, etc. Consistently entertaining. Fun forum community.

Far Away Paladin
It's a bit rough around the edges in places (shows that it's the author's first work), but I really like the themes and concepts here, especially in the first novel, which is a great coming of age story by itself. Especially interesting to see the blend of eastern and western religious concepts—the series may be built around the concept of the cycle of reincarnation, but the author definitely has some familiarity with judeo-christian theology. I remember at one point the protagonist or his goddess said something I recognized as a quote from Isaiah in the Bible.

Infinite Dendrogram
In many ways a standard shonen but also manages to be consistently entertaining, with a great cast of characters. Good short-term action combined with slow-burn mystery about what this "game" really is.

ATLAS
Very well done; definitely deserved the contest prize. Dialogue and narration is very snappy; some of the best I've ever seen. Interesting worldbuilding. Highly recommend anyone who hasn't already check it out.

Apothethecary Diaries
Very well-written political intrigue and characters. But I would be careful about recommending it because the MC's relationship with the male lead is...complicated and problematic at times. I don't think the series necessarily endorses the male lead's at times very bad behavior; the series is excellent in dealing with (no reference intended) shades of grey in relationships and morals. A lot of real-world relationships are messy too; people usually aren't wholly good or wholly evil in all circumstances. But because the series doesn't expressly say "this isn't great" when a character is behaving badly, and how I've seen some people in the forums apparently miss the hints and undertones to that effect, I'd be worried about recommending the series to someone, especially someone younger, who might miss the nuance and think certain things are acceptable in their own relationships when they're not.

Some JNC honorable mentions:

• Tearmoon Empire—recently got back into this. Not fully caught up yet. A lot of fun, but some parts have better momentum than others imo.
• Grimgar—a bit inconsistent in quality, but at its better points I like the contemplative style
• Crest/Banner of the Stars—I like the characters and worldbuilding. Plus I feel we should give a little more love to our older and sci-fi series.
• Otome Heroine's Fight for Survival—not high literature, but I do find the lil'est murder hobo amusing.
• Dahlia in Bloom—picked it back up recently on catchup. Something about it is comforting. Everyone is supportive and protective without being too controlling and stifling. (Imo; I know opinions differ on this. But as a single professional woman who often hasn't had a ton of support I feel it usually strikes a good balance. The male lead may scare other guys off, but only when MC is actively trying to turn them away herself or the guys are being rude/crude to her, and I have no doubt based on how he's written that if she really wanted to pursue another relationship he would let her. And although at first favors to her late father play a role, others ultimately support the MC because she's creative and is actively making everyone's lives better, and rather than take advantage of her social awkwardness or lack of social standing they'd rather fill in and complement and/or help her shore up those gaps.).
• Zilbagias—Good if you want something very edgy and or like terrible dilemmas like trolley problems. Not sure yet if I will follow to the end.

For non-JNC series, I enjoyed SukaSuka (WorldEnd: What Do You Do at the End of the World? Are You Busy? Will You Save Us?), but will acknowledge it's rough around the edges. I haven't finished it yet but I am also enjoying Zeroth Maria and Wandering Witch: the Journey of Elaina. I am very slowly trying to read Kino's Journey in Japanese, but that effort's on pause right now due to life circumstances.

[Serah]

@yumenokage said in What are your favourite Top 5 (2025):

Keeping it to JNC Series, my top five are probably

No need to keep it to JNC series only. ^.^
Otherwise I would have put the thread here: https://forums.j-novel.club/category/5/j-novel-club-series

[yumenokage]

@Serah easier to recall JNC series because I can see what I'm following. And most of what I've read and not dropped yet is JNC tbh. I did list a few non-JNC ones that come to mind at the bottom.

[morfowt]

@Serah said in What are your favourite Top 5 (2025):

@morfowt how did you make those separation lines? :3

three hyphens in a row

Oh if we want to talk about dishonorable mentions:

Fastest Dropped Series - My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's.
Dropped in the middle of vol 1. I really didn't like the female lead in that one. Her personality was kind of all over the place.

I Liked the Manga/Anime so I Thought I'd Like the LN too, but Nope - Chillin' in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers.
The writing style felt kind of simple or juvenile.

Logically I Shouldn't Like this Series but Somehow I do - In Another World with my Smartphone.
I'm not sure I need to explain this one.

[Travis Butler]

@yumenokage said in What are your favourite Top 5 (2025):

@Serah easier to recall JNC series because I can see what I'm following. And most of what I've read and not dropped yet is JNC tbh.

Heh. Same here.

Some thoughts of my own, off the top of my head (meaning I might change them tomorrow):

• Apothecary Diaries - Not always consistent and it's had its ups and downs, but the downs have been more tedious than 'oh Ghu make it stop', so I power through them.

• Frontier Lord - I'm a sucker for nation-building stories - there's something about watching a group of people come together and make something greater than any of them that really hits a sweet spot for me.

• D-Genesis - I'm also a sucker for anti-power-fantasy stories - novels that take a typical power-fantasy trope and subvert it with more of a 'did you really think there would be no consequences?' angle. Also, love to see curiousity-killed-the-cat nerds at work, and I can very much relate to their mindset. :) Land Mines is another anti-power-fantasy story I like, though I think the later volumes lost sight of that to a degree.

• Min-Maxing my TRPG Build - I've never been into it the way some of my friends are, but I do enjoy tabletop RPGs and the MC's mindset reminds me very much of my friends. :) Also generally very well-written.

• Late-Start Tamer - This almost slipped into the Honorable Mention category, because I think it's lost some of the joy as the original concept gets stretched out over more and more volumes, but it's still one of the series I look forward to the most. It's a little like D-Genesis by combining a clever person who likes poking at the unexplored with being a generally decent human being.

And a couple of (Dis)Honorable Mentions that would have made this list at an earlier point:

• Realist Hero - I loved the early volumes for the nation-building aspects, as with Frontier Hero, also with the clever problem-solving and competence porn. But it started losing sight of that, having to drag in a big nemesis character to provide Souma with a new challenge to overcome; it didn't help that a lot of the late reveals took away too much of the sensawonder for me.

• Infinite Dendrogram - I love the series when it's about Ray finding clever ways to exploit the situation or be willing to put himself on the line for things that would leave a bad taste in his mouth. I don't think it works very well when it gets political, like the peace talks volume. And I really hate the series when it gets into big grind-y boss battles that are more bash-your-head-into-the-wall-until-it-falls-down instead of thinking outside the box. And as the series has gone on, the latter has shown up more and more often.

• Lazy Dungeon Master - As with several of the other entries, I love it when Keima gets clever, especially in dungeon battles; I also enjoyed the nation-building aspects around the inn and Goren Town. I didn't like it when the author was shoving his fetishes in our face, because it's boring. Worse, it's too often lazy writing - dropping in a fetish joke is easier than coming up with something clever.

• Dahlia in Bloom/Lucia and the Loom - As I said, I love competence porn. I love seeing Dahlia and Lucia being creative, and watching them grow into being independent businesspeople with power of their own. I'm not so fond of the romantic elements, especially because Volf came across to me as overly controlling at first. And again, really not fond of the noble politics; it's murky and distracting from the competence porn I enjoy the series for.

And perhaps most of all, Rokujouma. I really hate to type this; it's the series that really drew me into JNC, and I absolutely loved the way it took a relatively shallow antics-based story and developed it into a lovely nakama, and then went beyond that and added so much depth with the time travel background. But it was already starting to run out of steam a little by the final battle with Vanderion; the resolution of the Goddess plot put Koutarou through hell. It still would have been a great series if it had ended there; but instead the author decided to reboot the conflict. Sometimes an aftermath story can be really good, showing everything's not Happily Ever After; but it can't be dragged out too long. And if the author then goes back and retreads the earlier plot... well, I dropped out for good when they brought Maxfern back. That was the last straw.

[Serah]

@yumenokage said in What are your favourite Top 5 (2025):

@Serah easier to recall JNC series because I can see what I'm following. And most of what I've read and not dropped yet is JNC tbh. I did list a few non-JNC ones that come to mind at the bottom.

You are right about that. I just think the top five memorable things should also stick more in one's memories. But for me it is the same: the great ones with some exception JNC has them covered - thank goodness.

I myself read many from other publishers and translators as well, but not that many I follow strictly. Currently I think its mostly FUNA, I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! and back then Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! / Combatants Will Be Dispatched!

On another note: anyone else here using syosetu.com because they cannot wait for the next chapter to be released?

---

Also I am somewhat relieved/surprised to see how diverse and interesting the likings of fellow LN readers are.

I was worried that most would reply with the same That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, The Rising of the Shield Hero and Solo Leveling or whatever is currently/recently running as anime.

[Nubz_Unite]

Well coming up with a list was actually more difficult then I thought. Let's see.

1. Ascendance of a Bookworm -- Bookworm is by far the best light novel I have read. It's worldbuilding is next level, the characters and fun and the story keeps you on your toes. The author rewards your ability to pay attention by keeping threads from Volume 1 relevant and meaningful all the way to the end. Bookworm provides you the opportunity to learn the answers before revealing them and keeps it's rules and laws consistent throughout even if you aren't made aware of them yet.

2. D-Genesis -- I've thoroughly enjoyed D-Genesis it can fill a small bit of the hole left by Bookworm. It's a very fun series and it's interesting to see something that focuses on the idea of science and how the world would receive and interact with dungeons. It kinda reminds me of GATE in a good way.

3. Saga of Tanya the Evil -- I like history, I went to school for history. So getting to read pseudo history about the world wars through the lens of a magically murderous child is quite enjoyable. I like the characters a lot and while the don't always make the best decisions they are pragmatic and you can't fault them for their choices.

4. The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom -- I really like this series I think the characters are fun and the story is set up to be quite the doozy. Only downside is that so little of the story is out there at the moment.

5. Imperial Reincarnation (My rising star) -- I like history and this series does a great job of leaning into historical matters. The world building of the continents history, political structure and conflict are so well done and the exposition at least for me never gets tiring. I'm not the biggest fan on the magic system but that personal gripe is small compared to the great things going on in the series. I will be watching their career with great interest.

[Paul Nebeling]

Oh boy. I would have to go back and review all of the JNC series that I've read before I could even begin to narrow it down to my top 5.

[Serah]

@Paul-Nebeling said in What are your favourite Top 5 (2025):

Oh boy. I would have to go back and review all of the JNC series that I've read before I could even begin to narrow it down to my top 5.

Just as a reminder: your top 5 does not have to be limited to JNC series.

I think a lot of good series are published by other publishers as well, as they have been snatched away before JNC could get their hands on them for whatever reasons.

Other FUNA titles or Konosuba just to mention some typical series which are not under JNC's hood.

[karasutengu]

@Serah said in What are your favourite Top 5 (2025):

@Paul-Nebeling said in What are your favourite Top 5 (2025):

Oh boy. I would have to go back and review all of the JNC series that I've read before I could even begin to narrow it down to my top 5.

Just as a reminder: your top 5 does not have to be limited to JNC series.

I think a lot of good series are published by other publishers as well, as they have been snatched away before JNC could get their hands on them for whatever reasons.

Other FUNA titles or Konosuba just to mention some typical series which are not under JNC's hood.

I would have to say my 5 favorites are:
Ascendance of a Bookworm
The Apothecary Diaries
Is It Wrong to try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon (including Sword Oratoria spin off)
Goblin Slayer
Gun Gale Online (SAO Alternative)

[strangeattractor]

1. A Late-Start Tamer's Laid-Back Life

I love this series. It involves having fun and exploring a game world with cute monsters. Nothing really bad ever happens. It's such a respite from the real world.

2. Holmes of Kyoto

A non-murder mystery series that mentions real locations in Kyoto. I like it for the travel and history more than for the mysteries or romance.

3. Rebuild World

For reasons I don't entirely understand, this is comfort reading for me. I almost didn't start reading it since I generally avoid post-apocalyptic stories, but someone on these forums recommended it and I'm glad I did. My nickname for it is "An AI and her boy." There are gunfights and life-or-death scenarios and weird politics, and yet somehow the story feels light.

4. I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level

Another slice-of-life comedy series. I have to be in the right mood to appreciate it, but when I am in the right mood, I laugh and laugh.

5. Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon

Although I have since read other series in the reborn-as-an-inanimate-object genre, this one was the first I encountered, and managed to be thought-provoking and poignant at times.

[Serah]

@strangeattractor I imagine you would totally love I Got Caught Up in a Hero Summons, but the Other World Was at Peace!

As far as I know there is currently no proper licensed official English translation for the light novel. And I strongly recommend NOT to check on the manga due to its "bad" translation.

But there is a very popular fan translation which covers the light novel as well as the web novel version which I would recommend to you, based on your likings.

[Passiflora C]

All 5 of them are Infinite Dendrogram. Heaven bless whoever of the team thought, 'hey, it'll be a good addition for JNC. Let's take this!'
I like battles n chuuni stuff after all. Naturally, I like good art too. I sometimes wonder if I read for the illustrations, or the illustrations exist simply to complement the reading.
Well, I'm certain I wouldn't pick up what I do if the illustrations weren't excellent.

Anyway, honorable mention to The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress, which I'm re-reading for the 11th time, & Zilbagias.

...
You know.
They say you stop caring for shounen/battle stuff as you grow older, however... it appears all my predispositions are increasingly bending thataway.
Infodumps, world war, endless mayhem, politics that seem to consume everyone and everything, millions of characters, plots intersecting and intertwining, concretized objectives, multiple POVs, world-building that stretches on for hundreds of pages, lots of deaths, carnage, everyone always in danger, titanic narratives, [BAD] endings, bittersweet endings.

The more brutal, the better.
The greater the density of contrivance, the more interesting.
The more contraptive the contraption, the more unconventional the already unconventional, the better.
I even like when the author deliberately spites his readers.

(´・ω・`)
Yep.
Consequently,
I can no longer read romcoms or whatever genre you might classify D-genesis as, though I did enjoy Saekano for some reason.

Now then.
It took me 4 pages (Vol. 1) to drop the Apothethecary Diaries.
It took 8 sentences to know I'll read Zilbagias all the way.
It took 1 illustration to know I'll read trpg all the way.

(Are the threads being lurked to observe user-input? Sorry for being blunt, PR team.. also, I'll take this moment to say: please get more scifi and please issue some wide plea toward all editor employees asking them to shed the effectualization of em-dashes at excess since it degrades the overall reading experience. RW had way too many em-dashes spilled across the pages from v2 onwards where commas or semicolons would do. No, really, just read and you'll see there's an em-dash in almost every other sentence where conjunctive, transitive, and conjunctural use or, again, a comma and even period would do! It's strange! It's weird! What happened, editor @NegativePrimes? Sorry for complaining here. I like the story, so I was a bit disappointed. I guess I'm no different to the party demonstrating disagreeability with em-dashes following its adamant appearance in AI-text. The sudden '(—)' pauses when reading are incredibly painful and tragic. )

All that said, I think I lost the ability to read vanilla stories with equally vanilla protagonist who do 'good 'to triumph over evil.

[Serah]

@Passiflora-C Nice comment!

I agree with you regarding the sci-fi stuff seem surprisingly lacking on JNC. At leas the sci-fi stuff I read seem all being published by others.

Speaking of which, have you checked out I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! ?

Not sure whether it is your alley, based on your description, but it sure makes me think of that after reading what you wrote. That series also got recently an anime while the manga is of good quality as well. ^^

[Passiflora C]

@Serah

Speaking of which, have you checked out I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! ?

Yep. I've more or less read everything from Mishima except for Dragoon. Its good his inexplicable anger against little sister characters has abated in OreAku lol.
Ah, you should read Seventh and Otome mob if you need further context on that. In fact, you should read them regardless.

[Serah]

@Passiflora-C said in What are your favourite Top 5 (2025):

@Serah

Speaking of which, have you checked out I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! ?

Yep. I've more or less read everything from Mishima except for Dragoon. Its good his inexplicable anger against little sister characters has abated in OreAku lol.
Ah, you should read Seventh and Otome mob if you need further context on that. In fact, you should read them regardless.

Already done. ;)

Not what I would consider top 5, but defintitely stuff which appeared on my reading list in the past. Currently I am all in with Pens Down, Swords Up: Throw Your Studies to the Wind due to the humour and pacing. https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/9558/pens-down-swords-up/1

[Lily Garden]

Off the top of my head and in no particular order:

Holy grail of Eris
A mystery/intrigue story with a dynamic duo of forthright Constance and the ghost of the villainess Scarlet. After Scarlet saves Constance from social ruination, Constance agrees to help Scarlet get her revenge on those who orchestrated her execution; but those operating in the shadows of the kingdom do not want the secrets of the past brought to light…

Fun and well written leading ladies in an engaging tale of political intrigue. Sort of like a buddy cop film mixed with classic ametur detective girl story. The world needs more LNs with pairs of ladies. Anime adaptation comes out this fall.

Tearmoon Empire
A story of a formerly selfish and still kinda lazy princess Mia trying to live up to the high expectations placed after her attempts to prevent a bad ending from the previous timeline paint her as a Great Sage.

A story of failing upwards and second chances with a lot of heart. Mia’s growth as a character over the series is a joy to watch and while she makes great strides, she never loses the core of person she was at the beginning of the series; a girl with a tendency to be chicken and lazy but still has a good heart. The story treats it characters with compassion, even its antagonists.
Also the best written LN I’ve read in terms of how the author crafts sentences and passages. As the series progresses the world of Tearmoon unfolds like a rose revealing new layers and new perspectives.

Altina the Sword Princess
Probably the best military tactics LN ever written. Interesting and layered characters. I reread chapters over again just to see the brilliant plans unfold. Waiting impatiently for the author to write the next volume.

Tales of Marielle Clarac
Dynamic heroine in a story of adventure and intrigue. Great banter, I love properly written banter. A touch of historical romance to make it all hold together seamlessly.

Min-Maxing My TRPG Build in Another World
Solid world building with great character writing. You can tell the author really thought about how the world fits together and how the different types of people would interact and develop society & culture. The best action-oriented isekai I’ve read.

Honorable mentions:
Bookworm

The Combat Baker and the Automaton Waitress

[Serah]

@Lily-Garden that is a very interesting list as well!

Even with some titles I have not thought about for quite a while. Might consider them even classics of JNC. ^.^

Two novel series which come to my mind which might fit to that list could be Accomplishments of the Duke's Daughter and The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen. The latter surely has the classic Tearmoon vibe, though that might apply to 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! as well... sorta...

[vilobion]

@Lily-Garden said in What are your favourite Top 5 (2025):

Altina the Sword Princess
Probably the best military tactics LN ever written. Interesting and layered characters. I reread chapters over again just to see the brilliant plans unfold. Waiting impatiently for the author to write the next volume.

Yeah Altina is very high on my list of "Deserved more volumes" but I can't fault the author for focusing more attention on How Not to Summon a Demon Lord even if it hurts my soul.