Forum - View topicExplaining the English Light Novel Boom with Bookwalker Global
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mierin
Posts: 270 |
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Ooh I would be so over the moon if that happens. I have bought several manga volumes at the Global store, but no light novels yet. The last time I checked out the light novel I wanted, there was a restriction on my country (I'm not from the US), but looks like it's been lifted? I have bought stuff from the Japan store too. Well actually I've been a member of BookWalker Japan before the Global store even opened. I find the fact that you can login both sides of the store with the same login ID convenient. Now, if they could have the same points system from the Japan store over at the Global store... |
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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It was mentioned in the article that the western market isn't very diverse right now. I imagine that has a lot to do with it. |
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AksaraKishou
Posts: 1414 Location: End of the World |
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So many oblivious people here... Fan Translations aren't important...? :O The only reason i bought Officially translated LN's was because i read the fan translations and felt the need to support the series. When i got into LN's, i was on a high school student budget, so yeah, fan translations helped me on my selectiveness.
Also, a lot of series have no western exposure, such as The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village, and let me tell you, if this so much is announced to be officially translated, i'm pre-ordering asap. |
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invalidname
 Contributor Posts: 2480 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
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Getting at one of the central theses of this article… are there cases where we've gotten an LN in English before its anime adaptation (since that's something BookWalker is hoping for when they pick titles)? Seems like one of those weird J-Novel Club titles lucked out and got an adaptation. Was it In Another World With My Smartphone?
ATM, I think I like LNs more in theory than in print. I remember after seeing the Baccano! anime that I so wanted to get the LNs and follow the story after where the anime ends, but now we have those LNs and yet I'm like maybe 40 pages into the first book and not really driven to keep reading it. Sigh. |
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Altorrin
 Posts: 321 Location: Florida, United States |
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Yes, that was the case with Danmachi. |
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#DJ_POP
Posts: 2 |
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still would like to know why they sell the light novels so expensive than Kadokawa Taiwan Corporation. Also their manga publication are expensive and slower (again) than kadokawa gempak starz
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 10015 Location: Virginia |
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@invalidname
I found the Baccano! novels a breezy, engaging read. I just finished the fourth a couple of days ago. You might give them another try. They certainly make the time line easier to follow. @#DJ_POP A lot of pricing depends on the size of the market. Usually the more copies they sell the cheaper they get. Of course other factors contribute, including a calculation on just how much they can get away with. |
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Stampeed Valkyrie
 Posts: 856 Location: PA |
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I'd love to be able to finally read all of the Crest/Banner of the Stars novels.
I know that Tokyopop release the Crest of the Stars trilogy, but never released Banner of the stars and the originals are OOP with Tokyopop going Belly up. |
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samuelp
Industry Insider
Posts: 2246 Location: San Antonio, USA |
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No luck involved we were tipped off. |
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7580 Location: Wales |
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I feel that the likes of Gonzo and Bost don't get enough credit in this scenario. In a world where we have Hulu and Netflix and Amazon Prime in Japan, are you really saying it is completely inconceivable for a company to think of adding subtitles to a anime?
There's no way to prove or disprove that statement, but FYI I was first aware of it when my local dealer ordered it in for me because he thought I wanted ALL light novels, and when ANN reviewed it around the same time.
Is this some new definition of "market" I was previously unaware of?
You can add items to your basked on the global store then check out on the Japan store to get points. The global books are also visible directly on the Japan store, but the authors have different ID numbers so Japanese and English books don't come up together.
That's your story. The reasons I bought officially translated LNs include because I liked the anime, because they sounded interesting, because I liked the cover art and, back when they were rarer than they are now, just because I was glad they existed at all. When it comes to "supporting the series" did importing the books or buying the ebooks never occur to you? |
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Jose Cruz
 Posts: 1796 Location: South America |
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Light novels are getting popular because anime fans are buying then thanks to more light novel adapations than ever before as Alan45 noticed before.
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Crext
 Posts: 211 |
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I think there are more factors that play into this as well.
1. We're now starting to experience the first "third generation watchers" in the west. "Japanese style" of drawing has become so common that none gets bullied/shunned over finding it interesting anymore (think video games 20 years back, or this industry just 5-10 years ago). 2. There are also tendencies that there's evolving a stronger second generation of Western "grown-ups" (25+) that enjoy the medium as well (recent polls seems to indicate they're as many as 10-20% of the market, where the majority is 18-25). Recent straw poll (not scientific) seen here: http://www.strawpoll.me/12518976/r from March this year with a fairly large sample size (25+ =14%, those under 18 = 20% and a remaining 18-25 = 66%). These people may be fewer in numbers than any third generation stage, but it's an indication for what to come as the medium manages to further strengthen its hold of being "an acceptable medium". The 25 years+ group has also superior purchasing power. One could speculate that in 5-10 years time the situation for these VN merchandise will follow that of the video game industry before it, and even if the peak won't be near video games, it will be a lot bigger than it is now (gaming is currently the biggest entertainment industry in the world by far, and the average age of gamers are now 31 years old, while the biggest demographic is those above 36 (bigger than the 18-35 or 3-17 groups)). 3. The Japanese has finally figured out that the PC and digital markets are a thing. Printing digital copies at 0 costs also increase profitability. Cutting down BD/DVD costs for anime adaptions could also give further profits indirectly through licensing deals, etc. Things like Chruncyroll etc. also further increases the accessibility of overseas products. 4. Japanese video games are booming right now. Especially brands like Persona 5 could familiarize more people towards "Japanese cartoons" as they use a lot of this in their own material. 5. Westerners are growing more tired of their own media. As has become abundantly clear over the last year, people are rejecting much domestic forms of entertainment. The popularity of Hollywood is at an all time low (and new talent gets pushed out in favor of networking and "political correct opinions"). This further hampers recruitment to the industries and polarize the mediums further (politically, intellectually and storytelling-wise), and the common-man thus look to other places. The Japanese market has different impulses, and thus are far less affected by this trend. Translator also tends to view Japanese sub-cultures in a favorable light, meaning the localization/translations also gets high quality that stays truer and truer to the original content. 6. Other merchandise also becomes more popular (figurines, games, cosplay, etc.) which again function in synergy for further sales of merchandise like visual novels. |
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dark_bozu
 Posts: 208 |
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" “The Japanese market also really likes ecchi manga, of course, but because there's more variety in the Japanese market, they also tend to pick up titles like March comes in like a lion. The US market is not that diverse.” "
Triggered. I call this bshite, just look at hype over Inio Asano and his works. There's many serious type of works which is quite popular and I can't understand why 3-gatsu haven't yet published on the west. Seems like stupid publisher choice, just like in Hakomari case. |
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Double Mangekyo
 Posts: 180 |
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Though unlike 3-gatsu, The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria is coming out in English this year. License courtesy of Yen Press. So that's something at least. |
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AksaraKishou
Posts: 1414 Location: End of the World |
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Not only did it occur to me, i did exactly that. No the ebooks tho because i'm not a fan of them in general. (i'm looking at you Hidan no Aria) |
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