Japanese Light Novel Book Club discussion
General Discussion
>
General Blah Blah Blah
message 1:
by
Selena
(new)
Oct 05, 2014 11:33AM
Mod
reply
|
flag
Mod
Like, they were the first to put manga in its original right-to-left format. Everyone else adopted it and didn't leave in random Japanese words for the sake of "education" (no really, Tokyopop did that once a long time ago. I believe with Marmalade boy)
Mod
XD YAY! Did you get the first one or curtain call? >W< I got both and love them so much ^^ Rhythm games FTW!
Mod
Yesh! >w< I love the music! I really like that a battle system against other players was added ^^I pre-ordered the first one and that one came with a CD and a stylus that you could add stickers to. The character designs are so cute!
Mod
I actually didn't realize there were two of them until you said something.
Yes, there's a few extra features in Curtain Call and the obvious different songs...some of them are different any way, haha. The biggest is the battle system between players and a new mini game that's similar to find mii.
Mod
I'm sure you'll get it soon ^^Basically, you can search for players to compete against either by song intensity or random I beleive? It's just like playing normally, only you see the other players score and progress ^^ and there are chances to mess the other person up. It reminds me of Star Power in Guitar Hero, if you've played that? ^^
Mod
Mod
Aw, thanks! A little late of me but the same to you & everyone on here.
Happy Holidays to all of you as well!
Mod
Mod
Mine are:
1. Read 300 books
2. Write a little each day (preferably 5 pages in my little pocket notebook)
What are everyone else's resolutions?
2160 x 1440.
Mod
It took me a minute to get that. XD
Selena wrote: "I'm curious what everyone's New Year's Resolutions are.Mine are:
1. Read 300 books
2. Write a little each day (preferably 5 pages in my little pocket notebook)
What are everyone else's resoluti..."
Mine are to do more writing this year, too, and, in general, just have a better year than I did last year. It's not groundbreaking stuff, but I'm hoping to keep it, and wish everyone the best of luck with theirs, too!
Selena wrote: "I'm curious what everyone's New Year's Resolutions are.Mine are:
1. Read 300 books
2. Write a little each day (preferably 5 pages in my little pocket notebook)
What are everyone else's resoluti..."
1. Read 1 more book then last year so 124.
2. Read all of Malazan, I own all the books now so I just need to sit down and plow through the first 2 that are slow.
3. Make more money on video games then I spend this year. Shouldn't be too bad since I don't plan on buying any more $1000 controllers.
3b. Hit 10 dan in IIDX
3c. Full Combo Beach Side Bunny
4. Lose 30 pounds preferably the fat.
I wonder if this post is appropriate in this thread, but please let me ask everyone.Is Light Novel different from Urban Fantasy or Young-Adult? (I think Light Novel is nearly equal to those.)
Mod
I actually looked it up and according to wikipedia, most Light Novels fall under Young-Adult/New-Adult. They aren't necessarily "Urban Fantasy" though.
Young adult is a demographic marker (kind of like "shoujo") whereas "Urban Fantasy" is a genre (like "mystery" or "action/adventure").
Selena wrote: "There's actually another thread discussing this, but it's not out of place here. :) This is kind of whatever you want to talk about, so it's all good.I actually looked it up and according to wiki..."
Thank you for your reply, and I understood. Light Novel is not a genre like Urban Fantasy but like a marker like Young-Adult. I didn't know "New-Adult" that targets older ages than Young-Adult.
Mod
I didn't know about "New Adult" either until recently. Apparently marketers decided that young adult was straying too young (it used to mean about 15-25, I think, with it now being closer to about 10-16) and they were missing a market share. So, they started labeling things as "New Adult."
Far as I can tell, though, it's the same young-adult type story lines (obvious love triangles, etc.) with edgy things like drugs and sex included. At least, that's what it is in the US. I don't think "new adult" is a thing anywhere else yet.
Selena wrote: "Fanta wrote: "I didn't know "New-Adult" that targets older ages than Young-Adult."I didn't know about "New Adult" either until recently. Apparently marketers decided that young adult was straying..."
I'm pretty sure the New Adult genre was coined by angry parents who didn't want their children reading stories with sex and drugs and violence. That's what it feels like to me. I've read a few NA books and, far as I can tell, the amount of graphic sex, violence and drug use in them is the only difference that I can see. It basically reads like Twilight or Divergent without the "fade to black" that you see in YA novels.
I understood YA and NA includes sex and drugs that Light Novel includes little, and I suppose Light Novel is different from YAs.If so, is there a genre or a category like Light Novel?
Mod
If so, is there a genre or a category like Light Novel?"
In the US, not really.
From what I can tell, the big thing that makes a light novel a light novel is that it's serially published (meaning published in a magazine and then collected into a single volume) and usually illustrated. I haven't heard of a magazine serially publishing anything in years, and it's rare that a novel is illustrated.
I guess the closest we have is a novella, which is based on length. A lot of light novels fall in the length requirements for novella, but not all.
I really wish we would have serial literature magazines here in the US though, I would be all over that. There are some literary journals, usually published by universities, but they aren't serializations. It's just a huge difference in how the two cultures approach publishing.Could you imagine getting on of those every month? *drools at the thought*
Selena wrote: "From what I can tell, the big thing that makes a light novel a light novel is that it's serially published (meaning published in a magazine and then collected into a single volume) and usually illustrated."I agree with Selena on that the thing that makes a light novel a light novel is illustration. In Japan, though, some says that the definition of light novel is that it is published by a publisher of light novel(like KADOKAWA's Dengeki Bunko), and some says that a Character Novel(a novel that has unique or charming characters).
Rae wrote: "I really wish we would have serial literature magazines here in the US though, I would be all over that. There are some literary journals, usually published by universities, but they aren't seriali..."
Could I say that there are no literature magazines in the US, because the publisher doesn't have the author but deal with the agency?
Mod
I don't think that's it.
There used to be literature magazines in the past, especially for genres like Sci Fi. My dad actually has a few lying around.
More likely it's a money issue. My guess is publishers found that it's cheaper to publish a book than a monthly magazine, and they probably make more money.
Selena wrote:I don't think that's it.
There used to be literature magazines in the past, especially for genres like Sci Fi. My dad actually has a few lying around."
So does my dad! He always tells me cool things from those. We should totally start a kickstarter campaign to raise money to bring something back.
Mod
Could always make it a web publication, too, so we don't have to deal with print cost.
A lot of the great Sci Fi writers were published in those magazines, they were sold alongside comic books and whatnot. They were so cheap too! Though if we still had that option my bedroom would look like a scene out of R.O.D.I really do like the idea of them doing translated versions online Selena. They would just have to pay for the translation and uploading a digital version. It could be subscription based or people could buy individualized versions. As much as I love physical print, having it online is better than nothing.
As for having a US one, I'm not sure there are many writers who are built for subscription writing. Our deadlines and structure are very different. Like now, for most YA authors they sign a trilogy deal, so they're not selling one of their works, they're selling three.
Rae wrote: "A lot of the great Sci Fi writers were published in those magazines, they were sold alongside comic books and whatnot. They were so cheap too! Though if we still had that option my bedroom would lo..."R.O.D. great stuff.
The thing is, the people most willing to read sci-fi are also the most web/tech savvy so a web version would work to some extent. Then what you could do is print-publish the well received works in book format like LNs.
Both Sword Art Online and Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei started as web novels.
It would also be a good platform for young writers to get a start. There are a ton of amateur writers out there who have stuff but don't have a means to put it out there.
Parker wrote: "It would also be a good platform for young writers to get a start. There are a ton of amateur writers out there who have stuff but don't have a means to put it out there. "Do you say the platform like Shousetsuka ni narou where Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei was? If such the platform is in the US, I would like to visit there.
I'm so happy that Yen Press calls there LN division Yen On now...it makes ordering LNs on amazon no longer uhhhhhhh is this a LN or a manga?@place to write web fiction
We already have that in the US it's called
fanfiction.net
Wattpad
or Wordpress which seems to be where all the actually good web fiction hangs out.
Unless you mean a web publication that gives people editors which would be great but that means investing in people, and the publishing industry in the US has a stigma against publishing anyone new. Have you noticed that many of the new hit authors self published their first book and that sold like crazy before they got grabbed up by a publisher. I really hope this will transition into web novels as well Wildbow is a fantastic writer especially when you consider 15k+ words a week(broke 50k some weeks) serially with no editor. If he lived in Japan instead of in Canada, Worm would already be serialized and an anime adaption in the works.
Mod
When we say "web publication" we mean like professionally published on a website, not just fanfictions or blog posts.
Selena wrote: "fanfiction.net is for fanfiction only. A better place would be "fictionpress.net" which is the same place, but original works only. Though, last check, both have been overrun by XXX stories and I w..."There's another website that I just recently joined called Wattpad. It's actually a really huge database where people can publish their work. Several professional authors actually have a profile on there where they reveal bits and pieces of upcoming novels they're writing. I know that Brandon Sanderson actually posted his entire book, Warbreaker, on there, and I know at least three other people on Wattpad who actually got their Wattpad stories picked up by a literary agent and professionally published.
Thank you for introducing sites. Wattpad looks very interesting. I'm going to look into it later. :)
Wattpad has the best zero effort interface, you can do more things with Wordpress but it's certainly more effort if you want to make it look nice and can be a tad buggy at times. As far as everything being filled with slash fic, self insert, stupid crossovers, and creepypasta(which I adore because it's so hyper-realistically bad) what do you expect just learn to navigate though the slog or find something you like and look in the comments for other recommendations.
About ways of speakingIn Japanese novels, mangas, or animes, some characters are characterized by ways of speaking. Do translations keep such characterization in conversation?
When I watched Secret Window (the movie based on the Stephen King's novel, dubbed in Japanese) today, the protagonist's ex-wife told him why he had changed his way of speaking. His way of speaking had changed into rough one, such as, in Japanese, "Boku" to "Ore"(both mean "I"), or "Sou ha ikanai" to "Sou ha ikanee"(both mean "That's not how it works"). Since I watched the dubbed version, I was not able to get English lines. I wonder if using abbreviated forms seems to be rough, for example, 'em (them), ain't (am not).
There are other ways of speaking in Japanese, for example, man's, woman's, lady's, etc. If a man uses woman's way of speaking, he is characterized as a man who likes men, and if a woman uses man's way of speaking, she is characterized as a woman who seems stronger than ordinary women. Using lady's way of speaking makes us easily imagine a lady. I am curious about how translators translate such Japanese ways of speaking.
Mod
It's a bit tricky, but translators try to do their best to keep the "spirit" of what's being said.
For spoken language, it's a bit easier sometimes. Men who use a woman's way of speaking in Japanese are dubbed to have a more... "flamboyant" voice, I suppose, with the lisp that is cliche with gay characters. Women who would use a man's way of speaking in Japanese tend to speak in a harsh tone of voice.
Text is a bit more difficult, since you can't use the tone of voice, but usually people can fill in the blanks from the situation.
You know, I never thought too much about it before.
Fanta wrote: "About ways of speakingIn Japanese novels, mangas, or animes, some characters are characterized by ways of speaking. Do translations keep such characterization in conversation?
When I watched Sec..."
In movies it could be shown through tone of voice. But for both text and movies, varying dialects are used. Class systems still have their own ways of speaking in English. Posh(upper class) people will sound different to someone who's working class, who will again sound different to someone from the streets. That's done through intonation and word choice.
Text can be manipulated to show a dialect eg. "Ach, no lassie, you'll not have me wee bairn."
Word choices in dialogue and character descriptions will give the reader an idea of class and therefore a way of speaking.
In Secret Window, if I remember rightly, the character Mort changed from a softly spoken new england accent to a strong southern (Mississippi) accent. The reason for that being a major spoiler for the story ;-)
Mod
I find it interesting that that's not the case in the reverse, lol
Selena wrote: "What I find most amusing is the use of accents in translation. For the US, we tend to translate Osakan characters to have a southern accent while other characters speak with a Midwestern accent (cl..."Personally I think it would have been hilarious for Johnny Depp to go from speaking Tokyo standard to full-blown Kansai dialect.
Mod
I can't imagine Johnny Depp speaking Japanese. I'd love to hear either of those.
Japanese Light Novel Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon, Vol. 1 (other topics)Little Princess in Fairy Forest (other topics)
Little Princess in Fairy Forest (other topics)
Zoo (other topics)
Queen of K'n-Yan (other topics)
More...
