Forum - View topicTwelve Kingdoms
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hyojodoji
Posts: 586 |
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Sasamoto Yūichi said that when he had shown a draft of Operation Fairy to an editor of Asahi Sonorama in 1983, there had not yet been the term 'light novel'. (It is said that the system operator of NIFTY-Serve's Science Fiction/Fantasy Forum coined the term 'light novel' in the late 80s or in the early 90s.) So, it is probable that light novel's predecessors existed before the term/genre's being established. (Kōdansha X Bunko White Heart started in 1991, though.)
Light Novel Perfect Book deals with Kōdansha X Bunko White Heart as a light novel imprint. It also calls The Twelve Kingdoms light novels. 'What is a light novel?' is a difficult question, however.
You mean regular Kōdansha Bunko, rather than Kōdansha X Bunko White Heart? The Twelve Kingdoms' having been released also under the Kōdansha Bunko imprint probably means that Kōdansha thought it could be marketed also as regular novels. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18604 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Based on the several light novels that I've read, I would not consider any of the Twelve Kingdoms novels to be in that category. But what I think and what the Japanese apparently think on classification issues like this have not agreed on a few occasions before, so. . .
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 10133 Location: Virginia |
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Does it really matter??
I assume that the term "light novel" is a marketing term in Japan. It would probably effect where it is shelved in a book store and possibly in a library. I don't see why it would be important to a reader, especially in this country. It is either a good book or a not so good one (and these are very good). The marketing classification should not be an issue. |
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ridiculus
Posts: 72 |
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@hyojodoji
Thank you very much for your comment! Yes, the second edition is by regular Kodansha Bunko. And as I am aware, Shinchou Bunko is not associated with light novels even remotely. Moreover, that's where Mashou no ko (prequel to the Twelve Kingdoms) was published for the first time. @Key Yes, I have the same feeling, and that's the reason for my question.
No, it does not affect my opinion on the quality of the book, but we are free to discuss pure theory, aren't we?  Especially since the non-Japanese fans are usually very zealous about the Japanese classifications.
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 10133 Location: Virginia |
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@ridiculus
I see no problem with a discussion of theory, but usually the theory is intended to have some application. Yes, some fans want to catagorize things to an extreme degree. You have only to look at the talk back threads to see people fighting over what catagory a specific work falls in without any agreement of the characteristics of the catagory or any agreement as to what the works presence in the catagory would mean. From what you have said the Twelve Kingdoms books could fall into the light novel catagory or not depending on which edition you look at and how you define light novel. You basically answered your own question. Having arrived at this point, where does it take you? If it is just to scratch an intellectual itch, I can relate but if it is for some other purpose, I'm curious as to what you would do with the information. |
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nursemcquade
 Posts: 26 Location: NY |
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Seemingly the term "light novel" is used as more of a marketing term today than anything else. I always thought it had to do with the length of the novel. I believe that the Japanese releases of Twelve Kingdoms are fairly short.
I haven't read many light novels, but from what I have read it seems that the writing in Twelve Kingdoms is more sophisticated than others in the category. I've also read a translation of Ono's "Masho no Ko." It was also quite short but it's hard to determine the complexity or depth of the original text based on a fan translation (as the one I read was a bit clunky). As others have stated, both the concept of a light novel in Japan and the term itself predates the Twelve Kingdoms novels by at least a decade. |
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ridiculus
Posts: 72 |
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Masho no ko was published under Shincho Bunko label in 1991, and was almost 450 pages long. The new edition has almost 500 pages. In any case, that is too much for a light novel. Some of the subsequent books were initially published in two volumes, but the newer editions haven't always followed that choice. For example, Kaze no umi... was 2 volumes long as part of the White Heart imprint, and one volume as part of Kodansha Bunko. The newest, Shincho Bunko edition of the book will also be single volume.
Well, maybe I'll have more to say when I get the books. By the way, there is much new information on Fuyumi Ono these days, because recently two new works have simultanously been published: Kidan hyakkei (I hope that's the correct transcription, and the translation is something like "100 Views of Ghost/Demon Tales") and Zan-e . But that's the topic for another thread. |
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maaya
Posts: 976 |
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the new editions look so pretty, I'm tempted to rebuy the whole series. The actual text is also going to be slightly updated.
Concerning the classification, I posted this somewhere else before, but: Fuyumi Ono is in general not a typical light novel author. Most of her works were never published as light novels. 12 Kingdoms (and Ghost Hunt) being the exception was first published under Kodansha's White Heart light novel imprint (when it got popular they published it again in an "adult" edition without the "comic covers"). The new edition of 12 Kingdoms isn't published under a light novel imprint anymore, so I think the series has really lost that "status". The editors and readers refer to it as a simple "fantasy novel". Masho no Ko in any case was never ever published as a light novel. |
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hyojodoji
Posts: 586 |
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Shinchōsha will publish a Twelve Kingdoms book which will contain 4 short stories by Ono Fuyumi in July of 2013.
http://www.shinchosha.co.jp/12kokuki/log/34.html |
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Dhaos
Posts: 23 |
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Has this series been completed? I've always wanted to read the story since I finished the anime, and was left with a bitter taste because it was abruptly terminated.
Also, what's the status of fan translation? I know that official translation only arrive to a certain point. Sorry to ask very basic questions, but I wasn't able to find clear answers on the internet. |
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hyojodoji
Posts: 586 |
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The Twelve Kingdoms has not been completed yet. There are jokes and rumours about The Twelve Kingdoms' being unfinished in the light novel fandom in Japan. There was a thread about The Twelve Kingdoms on 2ch in January, and in the thread a 2channeller said,
Another 2channeller asked a question in the thread:
And a few people responded to it.
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Dhaos
Posts: 23 |
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Btw, do you know where I can find volume 2 and volume 3 for cheap? I can find almost all the other volumes as ebooks, but not volume 2 and 3, and they are too expensive on amazon (shipping cost to europe).
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hyojodoji
Posts: 586 |
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Er―you mean Amazon US?
Possibly on Amazon UK, Amazon France, and so on? I don't know which country in Europe you live in, though. |
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hyojodoji
Posts: 586 |
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Ono Fuyumi's Zan-é has received the 26th Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize.
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Dhaos
Posts: 23 |
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Just bought The Twelve Kingdoms 3: The Vast Spread of the Seas paperback edition. It is the newer version compared to the hardcover, isn't it? Also, in case it is the new version, did they correct any eventual translation mistake?
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