Attack on Titan: Lost Girls

English Title: Attack on Titan: Lost Girls
Japanese Title: 進撃の巨人 LOST GIRLS — Shingeki no Kyojin: Lost Girls — “Advancing Giants: Before the Fall”
Author: Hiroshi Seko
Illustrator: Ayumu Kotake
Translator:
Genre: Fantasy, Post-Apocalypse, Adventure
Original Run: 2013
English Run: 2016
Japanese Publisher: Kodansha LightNovel (Kodansha)
English Publisher: Vertical
Volumes in Japanese: 1 (Completed)
Volumes in English: 1 (Completed)
Average Price Per Volume: Paperback $9

• English Website — Japanese Website
• MAL Entry — Forum
• Baka Updates — Novel Updates

Synopsis: Lost Girls tells of the times and spaces in between the plot points, through the eyes and ears of the saga’s toughest—but more taciturn— heroines. What they thought, and felt, and did on and off stage come to the fore via a medium distinctly suited to conveying interiority: language. The two novella-length offerings were originally included as bonus features in the initial Japanese Blu-ray releases, while the introduction and the titular story are unique to the book. A manga rendering of this official spinoff is slated to appear stateside from Kodansha Comics.

Volume 1
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository— RightStuf
Released June 28, 2016 — ISBN-13: 978-1942993353

Reviews of Attack on Titan: Lost Girls
(forthcoming)

Manga Adaptation
MAL Entry — 2 volumes — Published August 2015 – May 2016 (English releases by Kodansha Comics)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository — RightStuf

Related Anime
Attack on Titan — MAL Entry — Crunchyroll

Related Manga (original source)
Attack on Titan — MAL Entry — Crunchyroll — Kodansha Comics

If you liked Attack on Titan: Lost Girls, you might also want to try…

• Attack on Titan: The Harsh Mistress of the City — more light novels in the franchise
• Attack on Titan: Before the Fall — more light novels in the franchise

Note: The header illustration is by Namaniku ATK.

If you find any errors or broken links in this entry, leave a comment!

(pictured: Alderamin on the Sky)

Here are the anime based on light novels that will be airing in Japan this season (with links to their English simulcasts — I will update the links once they’re available). What shows are you going to watch this summer?

• Alderamin on the Sky (Nejimaki Seirei Senki: Tenkyou no Alderamin) — Crunchyroll
• Hybrid x Heart Magias Academy Ataraxia (Masou Gakuen HxH) — Crunchyroll

And based on novels:

• Battery — Amazon
• Cheer Boys!! (Cheer Danshi!!) — Funimation

Also, this is based on an educational book:

• Time Travel Girl (Time Travel Shoujo: Mari Waka to 8-nin no Kagakusha-tachi) — Funimation

For a general chart on summer anime, visit AniChart.net.

Reminder: The anime for Re:Zero will continue into this season as well, and the light novel series for that has been licensed by Yen On. The first volume of Re:Zero will release July 19th. The second film for Kizumonogatari will also air in Japan this summer, and that novel was released in English by Vertical last winter.

Alderamin on the Sky (Nejimaki Seirei Senki: Tenkyou no Alderamin)
At war with the adjacent Kioka Republic, the Katjvarna Empire. In that region, due to certain circumstances, there was a certain youth unwillingly preparing to take the High Grade Military Officer Exam. His name, Ikta. Disliker of war, lazy, admirer of women. No one predicted that that kind of Ikta would later on become a soldier referred to even as a great commander… He who survived a world embroiled in war with his superior genius, Ikta. Illustrating his dynamic, dramatic life, a splendid fantasy military history, the curtain is raised at last!

Battery
Meet Takumi Harada—not even in junior high and he’s the best pitcher in the region, although he’s frustrated and ready to give up, because he can’t find a catcher who is good enough to keep up with how he pitches in this backwater town his family has just moved to. Then along comes a kid named Gou Nagakura…

Cheer Boys!! (Cheer Danshi!!)
The story revolves around the “slightly odd and cute” members of a cheerleading squad at a men’s university.

Hybrid x Heart Magias Academy Ataraxia (Masou Gakuen HxH)
Hida Kizuna possesses the HHG (Heart Hybrid Gear) ability, but it is not strong enough to make him particularly important. His older sister calls him to transfer to a strategic defense school, where many of the students (many of which are large-breasted girls) use their HHG abilities to fight invaders from another world while wearing extremely skimpy pilot outfits. Kizuna’s fighting ability doesn’t measure up, but his sister has another plan—apparently having erotic experiences with Kizuna will allow the girls to replenish their energy or power-up. It looks like his new school life is going to be full of embarrassment.

Time Travel Girl (Time Travel Shoujo: Mari Waka to 8-nin no Kagakusha-tachi)
Time Travel Shoujo is based on a 1983 book titled Jishaku to Denki no Hatsumei Hakken Monogatari by Japanese educator Kiyonobu Itakura. It is part of the Hatsumei Hakken Monogatari Zenshuu series which describes the story of various scientific discoveries and inventions throughout history. The 1983 book focuses on discoveries related to magnetism and electricity.

(Kagerou Daze — official artwork)

For general information on this series: Kagerou Daze entry

This review is for the second volume of Kagerou Daze by Jin (Shizen no Teki-P), featuring art by Sidu. The English edition was released by Yen Press in September 2015. By the end of this year, there will be five volumes out in English. There are six volumes of this series out in Japan, with a seventh releasing this August.

Vol 2 — A Headphone Actor

If I were to review the second volume of Kagerou Daze in one line, I would simply call it a fun and pleasant experience. It is a light and breezy read, filled with characters that are easy to like. Good art, and a good translation. The plot meanders in this story just as much as it did in the first volume, but at this point I think it’s safe to say reading Kagerou Daze is more about enjoying the ride rather than anticipating the reveal.

That said, there are still some tricks up this story’s sleeve that manage to keep things interesting. The first two acts of this volume are devoted to a new set of characters, and a conflict that at first appears entirely unrelated to anything established in the first volume. It would probably be accurate to describe Kagerou Daze as a series of interconnecting short stories, and it remains a mystery what it is exactly that all of them are leading up to. It’s not a typical setup, and this volume follows in the first’s footsteps in regard to not answering any of the bigger questions that the story brings up. This can feel like the overarching story is dragging its feet, but I was overall able to overlook this thanks to the lively characters and their spirited interactions with one another.

The first two-thirds of volume 2 features the viewpoint character of Takane, a grumpy and hotheaded girl who is secretly one of the nation’s highest-ranking video gamers. In high school she attends a class that has only one other student–an airheaded and cutesy boy named Haruka. The two make for a bit of a gender reversal of a typical light novel setup, amusingly lampshaded right off the bat with a scene of Takane walking in on Haruka while he’s changing clothes (complete with illustration, of course). Rounding off the cast is their questionably lackadaisical teacher, Mr. Tateyama, who was part of an amusing scene in the first volume. The story centers on the three preparing for a school festival, but as you can imagine that’s simply the stage for a more dramatic plot that builds up under the surface.

The final act returns to the cast from the first volume, giving us Shintaro’s point of view once more as the Mekakushi-dan group takes a trip to an amusement park. It’s perhaps as close to “slice-of-life” as you’re going to get from current English LN releases, to the point where you can almost forget most of these kids have some kind of supernatural ability. But perhaps that is the charm of Kakerou Daze? On paper the characters’ back-stories are larger than life, but that does not stop them from getting scared by a tacky haunted house exhibit. It’s silly, but there’s a genuineness behind it all that manages to smooth things over.

Cho’s Rating: Recommended

(pictured: Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash)

For the first week of July’s reading program, we will discuss the first third of Psycome (volume 1) and Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (volume 1). For Psycome, you need to have read up to the chapter titled “Third Period: Destructive Hurricane.” Meanwhile for Grimgar, you need to have read up to chapter 9: “Heavy Resolution.”

If you have read further ahead, please refrain from spoiling anything past the points in the stories mentioned above. (Also, obviously, if you’ve experienced a manga or anime adaptation in the past, don’t reveal what happens next.)

Psycome

Our strange story begins with the protagonist Kyousuke Kamiya finding himself in a prison-themed high school, having been falsely found guilty of murdering twelve ruffians. Over the course of his first day at this school, he gets to know his unusual classmates–each of whom is a murderer, and each of whom finds Kyousuke either someone to fear or someone who piques their great curiosity.

Discussion Points

How are you all liking this one so far? Psycome is a bit of an odd light novel, especially compared to what else is currently offered among official English releases. What genre would you say this book fits under? So far my feelings for this one are mixed: I’ve generally found the dark humor here surprisingly amusing, but the story is bogged down by a lot of uninspired jokes as well. I’m hoping the story is just finding its footing.

What do you think about the main character? The story insists that he is a normal high school student, and then proceeds to reveal his penchant for beating up entire groups of gang members. Do you feel he is innocent of the crime of murder? Horror stories often have an “unreliable narrator,” so it is possible we never got the full story behind the showdown between Kyousuke and the gang.

That said, it’s still entirely possible that this was a setup. Is there a reason you can think of for someone wanting Kyousuke to go to the school prison?

How do you feel about the other characters introduced so far? Also, any thoughts on the premise in general? What direction are you hoping this volume will go?

(Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash art by Eiri Shirai)

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash

A group of teenagers find themselves in another world, but with no memories of what transpired in their lives beforehand. They are swiftly guided to a Crimson Moon headquarters, where they are volunteered into becoming monster hunters as a means of earning their livelihood. Haruhiro ultimately finds himself in a team of six, but as it turns out hunting monsters is something easier said than done.

Discussion Points

The “trapped in another world” subgenre has become the biggest continent in the light novel world as of late, but to be honest it’s not the sort of story I’ve generally been that interested in. One of the reasons for this is perhaps due to the rather “video game” sort of atmosphere the stories tend to go for, even when the setting isn’t actually meant to be a video game world. The influence of medieval Europe-style RPGs is readily apparent in pretty much all of these stories, and Grimgar is no different. What do you feel is the appeal of this sort of setting, particularly for readers in Japan? In what ways would you argue Grimgar stands out among other light novels in this subgenre?

At this point it looks like we have our team of six main characters. What do you think about them? To be honest I have had some difficulty really caring for any of them–but I do recognize that it might just take some time to get to know them better, thanks to all of them having amnesia. Regardless though, I will have to note that Ranta is a truly obnoxious character, and I can’t help but feel exasperated every time he starts whining and/or gloating… which is literally every time there is any dialogue among the characters at all. I really hope this gets toned down significantly, the sooner the better.

I can’t think of much else to bring up, as the plot has primarily just been devoted to setting things up. How do you feel about the story’s pacing? Or the level of detail it gets into regarding life in this other world?

———

As mentioned before, feel free to discuss any point you would like to bring up about either (or both) of these two books. General impressions, predictions for how the stories will play out, some compare/contrast between the two books, or any random observations and things you’d like to analyze are all fair game.

(pictured: Read or Die)

The summer light novel reading program is under full swing, but I’m still making time for another post full of news, reviews, and other LN-related links. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s start off with what’s new on everyone’s bookshelves and e-readers.

Recent Releases

In May, there were seven light novels released: Naruto – Sakura’s Story, My Favorite Song – The Silver Siren (vol 1), Baccano! (vol 1), Strike the Blood (vol 3), Overlord (vol 1), Another: Episode S/0, and Seraph of the End – Guren Ichinose Catastrope at Sixteen (vol 2).

And then in June, there were four more light novels released: Rising of the Shield Hero (vol 4), Psycome (vol 1), A Certain Magical Index (vol 7), and Attack on Titan – Lost Girls.

Upcoming Releases

We have five new releases coming out in a few days (on July 19th): Durarara!! (vol 4), Log Horizon (vol 5), Re:Zero (vol 1), Kagerou Daze (vol 4), and Legend of the Galactic Heroes (vol 2). It had appeared Galactic Heroes was going to release in August, but it looks like it will be here sooner than that.

August will certainly be a big month for light novel releases though. Nine releases all on August 23rd! That will include newcomer The Asterisk War. For the full list of releases, take a look at the right sidebar, which I try to update regularly.

Site News

• Are you all keeping up with the summer reading? Try to remember to share your thoughts on the books each week!
• I’ve started some more thorough updates on the light novel entries… I’m done with the series that start with A and B, along with a few scattered others. (For an example, here’s the Accel World entry.) I’ll try to keep at this in the upcoming months, but we’ll see how that goes.
• I will be moving back to Japan this month! I am going to be doing some English teaching again. Hopefully I can learn a bit a lot more Japanese too? We’ll see how that goes.

English Light Novel News

Recent license acquisitions:

• Goblin Slayer! (Yen On) — volume 1 releases December 13th
• Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody (Yen On) — volume 1 releases January 24th
• Konosuba (Yen On) — no release date yet
• Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers (Yen On) — no release date yet
• Nisemonogatari (Vertical) — volume 1 releases April 2017
• The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku (Seven Seas) — volume 1 releases May 2017

Other news:

• For those curious about Goblin Slayer, you can “preview” the light novel’s story by checking out the simulpub release of the manga adaptation’s first chapter.

• Are you looking forward to The Asterisk War, the first volume of which will release in English next month? If you have a PS Vita, you will be able to play a video game based off this light novel series on July 26th. This will be a digital release in North America and Europe, and will be localized with the strange title A.W.: Phoenix Festa.
• Speaking of video games, there will be a special release for the next Sword Art Online game (subtitled Hollow Realization). This collector’s edition set for the Playstation 4 game will include figures of Kirito and Asuna, among other goodies in North America. A set for the game in Europe will just include the figures.

Japanese Light Novel News

What are the top-selling light novel series in Japan for the first half of 2016?

• Konosuba — 757,412
• Sword Art Online — 489,374
• The Irregular at Magic High School — 371,880
• Sword Art Online: Progressive — 321,535
• Monogatari Series — 308,471
• No Game No Life — 304,721
• Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash — 302,013
• Boukyaku Tantei Series — 297,459
• Kokuhaku Yokou Renshuu — 280,586
• Re:Zero — 263,357

• For the top-selling light novel volumes specifically, check out this article. From the looks of things, it seems everyone in Japan is picking up a full set of Konosuba.
• The anime adaptation of Konosuba will be getting a second season in winter 2017, by the way.
• Speaking of successful light novel series, Re:Zero now has a million copies in print!
• Also, the same can be said for Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta? (And You Thought There is Never a Girl Online?).
• After ten years, the light novel series Read or Die will finally be getting a continuation. Volume 12 will release this August, followed by the final volume 13 in 2017.

• Guess what anime is getting a spin-off novel? The Lost Village! Apparently I’m not the only one who liked this series? At any rate, this book will release in August, and will focus on the character who goes by Lion. A second volume will later release, focusing on Koharun.
• One of the more oddly-named light novel series, Do you have what THE END? Are you busy? Shall you save XXX?, will be receiving an anime adaptation.
• Aspiring authors in Japan, do you have what it takes to write a short story that isn’t about an average high school boy finding himself transported into the world of Dragon Quest?
• Speaking of contests, this 81-year-old is out to win the MF Bunko J Light Novel Rookie of the Year Award. I wonder what his story is about?
• Releasing in Japan this September: two new Spice and Wolf novels. (Spoiler Alert!)

• Do you love No Game No Life? Soon you will be able to get Nendoroid figures of the two main characters.
• For all of you going to see the new Accel World movie in Japan, you may be able to get your hands on a new short story written by Reki Kawahara. It is titled “Accel World: Jump to Infinity,” and will be available from July 23rd to 29th.
• One anime airing this season I ought to mention: Qualidea Code, streaming on Crunchyroll. This is part of a cross-media franchise that originated from Sou Sagara (The “Hentai” Prince and the Stony Cat), Koushi Tachibana (Date A Live) and Wataru Watari (My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU). If you want to learn more, here is a blog post telling you everything you need to know!

Links to Recent Reviews and Articles

• For those interested in learning more about the Kono Ranobe ga Sugoi! contest, Melodicity presents a nice perusal of the most recent volume of the official booklet.
• Also from Melodicity, a review for the first volume of Zaregoto.

• New review from The August Hail: several volumes of The Empty Box and the Zeroth Maria, Psycome (volume 1), and Dantalian no Shoka (volume 1).
• From wcthinking, a look into Sword Art Online: Progressive.
• Want to learn more about Cross Infinite World and their new light novel releases? The OASG had a nice interview article with them.
• Also from OASG, a discussion on the first English release for the Baccano! series.
• At Nerd Rambles, an overview of The Devil is a Part-Timer! series.
• And at Sour Whiskey, an overview of the Book Girl series.

And that’s all I have for now! Please feel free to post links to more light novel-related articles, and to share your thoughts on this feature or anything else for the site.

(pictured: Psycome)

For the second week of July’s reading program, we will discuss the second third of Psycome (volume 1) and Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (volume 1). For Psycome, you need to have read up to the chapter titled “Fifth Period: Lucifer in the Cocytus.” Meanwhile for Grimgar, you need to have read up to chapter 16: “Aiming for the Top.”

If you have read further ahead, please refrain from spoiling anything past the points in the stories mentioned above. (Also, obviously, if you’ve experienced a manga or anime adaptation in the past, don’t reveal what happens next.)

Psycome

Life goes on in the dangerous school prison, but just barely. Kyousuke witnesses firsthand Maina’s destructive power, gets caught up in romcom-esque shenanigans with Renko, and learns the truth about Eiri. Also, the truth about the school?

Discussion Points

What do you think about Maina? Do you believe she is legitimately just a clumsy girl?

What do you think about Renko? Does she actually like Kyousuke? How would she react if she learned the truth regarding his twelve murders?

What do you think about Eiri? How does the reveal of her secret profession affect your understanding of her actions thus far in the novel?

How do you feel about the way the story has handled tone? Would you call Psycome an effective blend of comedy and horror?

(Psycome artwork by Namanie)

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash

Life goes on in the dangerous world of monsters. After successfully killing goblins for some number of days, the party decides to take on a tougher hobgoblin. The raid ends in disaster however, with the priest Manato falling in battle. Following the loss, a priest named Mary is enlisted to assist them in their monster hunts, but she does not get along well with anyone. Haruhiro finds himself struggling to lead the team in Manato’s place.

Discussion Points

Nobody commented on Grimgar last week, so I’m guessing this series isn’t as popular as I thought? At any rate, the story has gotten a little more interesting in my opinion, though I’ll reserve my judgement for the story as a whole until next week.

How do you feel about the way the plot has progressed in regard to Manato? In what ways does his death further the plot and themes of the book?

Amusingly, while nobody in the story liked Mary, I’ve quickly found her to be my favorite character. Perhaps because she seems the most sensible one in the book? I always found it odd how the story depicted its priest as a character fighting on the front lines, and frantically healing every single injury that befell anyone. The group as a whole, in all honesty, has had poor teamwork and planning… I can not tell yet if all of this was the author’s intention or not, but in any case I agree with Mary on each point she has made, as callous as she might be.

We’re also getting some drama that could easily lead into a romance-driven point of conflict (which I find a breath of fresh air, after so many pages of fighting generic monsters). Any predictions on that front?

———

As mentioned before, feel free to discuss any point you would like to bring up about either (or both) of these two books. General impressions, predictions for how the stories will play out, some compare/contrast between the two books, or any random observations and things you’d like to analyze are all fair game.

Re:Zero

English Title: Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-
Japanese Title: Re：ゼロから始める異世界生活 — “Ri:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu”
Author: Tappei Nagatsuki
Illustrator: Shinichirou Otsuka
Translator: ZephyrRz
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Original Run: 2014 – ongoing (web novel: 2012 – ongoing)
English Run: 2016 – ongoing
Japanese Publisher: MF Bunko J (Media Factory)
English Publisher: Yen Press (Yen On)
Volumes in Japanese: 8 (In Progress, plus two side story volumes)
Volumes in English: 1 (In Progress)
Average Price Per Volume: Paperback $9 — Kindle $8 — Nook $8

• English Website — Japanese Website
• MAL Entry — Forum
• Baka Updates — LNDB.info — Novel Updates

Synopsis: Subaru Natsuki was just trying to get to the convenience store but wound up summoned to another world. He encounters the usual things–life-threatening situations, silver haired beauties, cat fairies–you know, normal stuff. All that would be bad enough, but he’s also gained the most inconvenient magical ability of all–time travel, but he’s got to die to use it. How do you repay someone who saved your life when all you can do is die?

Volume 1
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository — RightStuf
Released July 19, 2016 — ISBN-13: 978-0316315302

Upcoming Releases

• Volume 2 (November 15, 2016)
  Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository — RightStuf
• Volume 3 (March 21, 2017)
  Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository — RightStuf

Reviews of Re:Zero
(forthcoming)

Illustrations Sampler

Anime Adaptation
MAL Entry — 25 episodes — Aired April 2016 – September 2016
Crunchyroll (streaming)
Note: It looks like the anime will adapt about 8 volumes of the light novel series.

Manga Adaptations
1) Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu: Dai-1 Shou – Outo no Ichinichi-hen
MAL Entry — 2 volumes — Published June 2014 – February 2015
2) Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu: Dai-2 Shou – Yashiki no Isshuukan-hen
MAL Entry — Published October 2014 – ongoing
3) Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu: Dai-3 Shou – Truth of Zero
MAL Entry — Published May 2015 – ongoing
English manga releases by Yen Press:
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository — RightStuf

If you liked Re:Zero, you might also want to try…

• The Rising of the Shield Hero — trapped in a fantasy world
• Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody — trapped in a fantasy world (upcoming release)
• Konosuba — trapped in a fantasy world (upcoming release)
• All You Need is Kill — story involves a time loop

If you find any errors or broken links in this entry, leave a comment!

(pictured: Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash)

For the third week of July’s reading program, we will discuss the final third of Psycome (volume 1) and Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (volume 1). This is also your chance to discuss the two books as a whole, so feel free to share any general impressions.

Psycome

How do you feel about the reveal regarding Renko’s character? I felt the story made an interesting distinction between what constitutes one’s personality and one’s nature. Who would you say is the “real” Renko?

The most amusing part of this book to me was probably the way Kurumiya is “defeated” following the rooftop confrontation between Renko and Kyousuke. The unnamed character who is simply referred to as “Mohawk” made for a simple running gag over the course of the book, but here at the grand finale he manages to display a level of masochism strong enough to rival Kurumiya’s sadism… Or, maybe not. But it’s enough to frustrate her efforts against the main characters at least, and it made for a fittingly over-the-top scene of dark humor.

The dynamics of the group of main characters appears established at this point. Where do you think the series will go in general for each of them? How likely do you think the school will be able to train them to become expert killers?

In the epilogue, we briefly get the point of view of Kyousuke’s sister Ayaka. To what lengths do you imagine she will go to find her brother?

How well do you feel the story of Psycome delivered on its premise in general?

(Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash art by Eiri Shirai)

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash

In what ways does Haruhiro grow as a leader over the course of this novel? According to Grimgar, what constitutes a good leader, and what constitutes a good team?

What are your thoughts on Mary’s backstory? In what ways does her experience overlap with that of the other main characters? Why do their reactions differ as significantly as they do?

Most of the third act is devoted to the characters fighting goblins. To be honest, I found it all rather repetitive and tedious, but perhaps for the right readers it could have all been interesting. How do you feel about the action in general for this book? Was there enough variation between scenes to hold your interest? How effectively do you feel the author managed to translate “video game battles” into the written novel medium?

Grimgar curiously introduced many more characters in the last third of this volume, only for them to not really do anything. Where do you imagine the series is intending to go with all of them?

And on that note, how do you feel about each of the main characters? In what ways do you think subsequent volumes may develop their relationships?

———

As mentioned before, feel free to discuss any point you would like to bring up about either (or both) of these two books. General impressions, predictions for how the stories will play out, some compare/contrast between the two books, or any random observations and things you’d like to analyze are all fair game.

(pictured: Re:Zero)

For August we’re going to read and discuss Re:Zero volume 1 and Our Journey to the End of the Ceasing World. You can choose to follow along with both books, or just go with one of the two.

Yen Press has recently released volume 1 of Re:Zero, so you can pick that up either at a bookstore or online (Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository — RightStuf). The book is available either as a paperback or in various ebook formats.

Synopsis: Subaru Natsuki was just trying to get to the convenience store but wound up summoned to another world. He encounters the usual things–life-threatening situations, silver haired beauties, cat fairies–you know, normal stuff. All that would be bad enough, but he’s also gained the most inconvenient magical ability of all–time travel, but he’s got to die to use it. How do you repay someone who saved your life when all you can do is die?

As for Our Journey to the End of the Ceasing World (AKA Tabi ni Deyou, Horobiyuku Sekai no Hate Made), you can find an English translation of it here on BakaTsuki. If you’d like to get a Japanese copy of the novel, you can order it online (Amazon.jp — Books Kinokuniya).

Synopsis: The story revolves around a boy and a girl who travel together through a world that is gradually nearing its end. A mysterious illness has emerged that erases the very existence of everyone who suffers from it. The story does not, however, focus on the tragic aspect of this fairly post-apocalyptic setting, but rather shows the people and events the two travelers come across during their journey.

Re:Zero (volume 1):

August 7th — discussion for up to chapter 2: “A Struggle Too Late” (page 68). This means you will need to read the prologue and chapter one for the first week’s post.

August 14th — discussion for up to chapter 5: “Starting Life in Another World” (page 174). So you will be reading chapters 2 and 3 for this week.

August 21st — discussion for the remainder of the book (chapter 5 and the epilogue, ending on page 228). We will discuss the ending and the book as a whole for this post.

Our Journey to the End of the Ceasing World:

August 7th — discussion for up to a specific point in the chapter titled “Wings.” You will find a page break marked with a big asterisk (*), the scene beforehand ending with “Before long, the only voice still speaking, the girl’s, slowly faded out and the boy fell into a soft sleep.” On my Kindle, this is page 66 (or location 999, 33% through the book).

August 14th — discussion for up to the chapter titled “Journey.” On my Kindle, this is page 121 (or location 1847, 61% through the book).

August 21st— discussion for the rest of the book, ending at page 195 (location 2978).

I will have a reminder in the sidebar for how far to read each week. If you choose to read ahead, that’s fine–just be sure to not spoil anything that happens past the assigned reading. (And, obviously, for those of you who have enjoyed anime or manga adaptations, don’t spoil anything from those either.)

The discussions will just be in the comments section of the weekly posts I put up. Everyone feel free to share your thoughts on the reading for each week, and to comment on each other’s observations. I’ll have some questions in the posts that can serve as prompts for discussion, but you don’t have to answer any of them.

If anything about the reading program is confusing, you can ask questions here.

(Pictured: Our Journey to the End of the Ceasing World)

For the first week of August’s reading program, we will discuss the first third of Re:Zero (volume 1) and Our Journey to the End of the Ceasing World. For Re:Zero, you need to have read up to chapter 2: “A Struggle Too Late” (page 68). Meanwhile for Our Journey, you need to have read up to the asterisk page break in the chapter titled “Wings.”

If you have read further ahead, please refrain from spoiling anything past the points in the stories mentioned above. (Also, obviously, if you’ve experienced a manga or anime adaptation in the past, don’t reveal what happens next.)

Re:Zero

Subaru has found himself flung into a fantasy world! He meets a magical girl and her talking cat sprite, but the fun and games is cut short when someone kills him at the local thief den.

I’m sure he’ll be fine though, don’t worry.

Discussion Points

I have not seen the anime adaptation everyone’s been talking about, so this is my first time experiencing the story of Re:Zero. Unfortunately I’m not sure what about it has enthralled everyone so much, or at least I haven’t noticed anything special from the beginning of this volume. Is there a particular aspect of the story’s premise that hooked you? In what ways might Re:Zero stand out amidst the sea of “trapped in another world” novels?

Regarding Subaru and his genre-savvy narration, I have mixed feelings. One might call the story a parody, in that the protagonist (or the author) is very much self-aware about all the tropes of the sub-genre, but overall it feels like the story is still playing things straight. It’s the sort of joke where the characters note “isn’t it funny how these stories always have this thing happen?” and then that thing happens. Maybe this humor works for most readers, but I feel like I need something more.

I’m going to go ahead and say I don’t care for Satella (who I always read as Stella). The story keeps emphasizing how she is such a gentle and kind soul, but she has such a harsh tongue it’s difficult for me to buy it. Did the story really need to spend all those pages having her struggle to come up with an excuse for NOT leaving Subaru to die in the alley? (Because that was apparently an extraordinarily noble thing to do?) Why is it so bad for people to just be nice to each other? The whole scene is particularly bizarre when later on we get an extensive “save the cat” tangent in which the two leads help out a lost little girl.

Perhaps my biggest issue with the story though is its pacing. I recall making this complaint for Log Horizon, but I feel that it’s an even more prevalent problem in Re:Zero. The author has this tendancy to have something happen, and then tell us what happened, and then tell us again, and again, and again, and again. And then a little while later, tell us about it another time, just for good measure. I heard that this was a web novel that had enough material to last over 40 volumes, and now I can see why!

For those of you who haven’t seen the anime, what do you think will happen next? How do you think this story will handle tone? Do you think there is a reason behind Subaru’s sudden and unexplained appearance in this fantasy world?

Our Journey to the End of the Ceasing World

Everyone is vanishing, losing their memories and identities. In a desolate part of Japan, a boy and girl ride a motorscooter around aimlessly, making the most of their remaining days of life.

Discussion Points

In some ways this story is pretty different from the norm, but at the same time there’s a rather familiar feel to it all. Perhaps it’s the two main characters, whose interactions are reminding me a lot of the dynamics from many other stories (including Re:Zero, actually). To be honest, I kind of don’t care about the boy and girl?

That said, I think this is more of a concept-driven story. What do you think? What would you say this story is actually about so far?

What would you do if you were in the situation of the boy and girl? Do you think they had nobody left but each other, wherever it was they came from? What is it exactly that they hope to get out of their journey?

In what ways do you feel Our Journey differs from other works of post-apocalyptic fiction? Would you place Our Journey in that sort of subgenre in the first place?

Any thoughts on the first vignette, featuring the farmer and secretary? Any predictions for how things will go for the second vignette, featuring the aspiring pilot?

Random aside: I do find it a little odd that the characters have had to struggle (slightly) to find supplies. I mean, unless they’re in the middle of an uninhabited part of Hokkaido, I don’t feel like they would have to go so far to find a few dozen abandoned convenience stores. Perhaps the cities have all been looted already? I suppose we have to just roll with things, given the lack of details.

———

As mentioned before, feel free to discuss any point you would like to bring up about either (or both) of these two books. General impressions, predictions for how the stories will play out, some compare/contrast between the two books, or any random observations and things you’d like to analyze are all fair game.

(Pictured: Re:Zero)

For the second week of August’s reading program, we will discuss the second third of Re:Zero (volume 1) and Our Journey to the End of the Ceasing World. For Re:Zero, you need to have read up to chapter 5: “Starting Life in Another World” (page 174). Meanwhile for Our Journey, you need to have read up to the asterisk page break in the chapter titled “Journey.”

If you have read further ahead, please refrain from spoiling anything past the points in the stories mentioned above. (Also, obviously, if you’ve experienced a manga or anime adaptation in the past, don’t reveal what happens next.)

Re:Zero

Subaru gets knocked down. But he gets up again! Are they ever going to keep him down?

Discussion Points

How do you feel about the way Re:Zero has handled its time loop premise? Does the story feel repetitive, or are there enough new developments in each “session” to tide you over? In what ways does the premise shape Subaru’s character development? Do you feel the main theme of this story can be directly tied to this premise?

What do we know about Subaru’s life before entering the fantasy world? What makes him wish to enter highly dangerous situations to help people he barely knows?

One point of the story I’m truly confused about is Satella’s name. I’ll assume all will be cleared up on that front soon enough, but for now I find it bizarre that she would use a pseudonym that is a name she (and apparently everyone else in the world) thoroughly despises.

Also, we still don’t know anything about her badge, which I suppose is safe to call a Macguffin at this point.

I feel my opinion on the story is more or less the same as last week, though I will admit rather liking the scene introducing the knight Reinhard. It was a strange breath of fresh air for the story, the idea that someone could interact nicely with Subaru. (Or just, be nice in general?)

Do you think Subaru has a limited number of lives? (I kind of hope he does; otherwise he is effectively immortal?) How do you imagine he will work things out with Not-Satella, Felt, and Rom? Will Subaru have to die again before Elsa is finally defeated?

(Re:Zero artwork Shinichirou Otsuka)

Our Journey to the End of the Ceasing World

The boy and the girl help “Boss” build a plane. He flies it and dies.

Discussion Points

Well, I can’t think of much to discuss this time. So I’ll leave it to all of you!

———

As mentioned before, feel free to discuss any point you would like to bring up about either (or both) of these two books. General impressions, predictions for how the stories will play out, some compare/contrast between the two books, or any random observations and things you’d like to analyze are all fair game.

(art by Tamaru)

For general information on this series: Zaregoto entry

This review is for the second volume of the Zaregoto Series by Nisio Isin (with art by Take). The English edition was released by Del Rey in December 2010. There has since been no word regarding the remaining seven books.

Zaregoto: The Kubishime Romanticist

Following the events of the previous volume, our protagonist, “Ii-chan”, returns to the bustling life of a student in Kyoto. Though lively, the city is now host to a serial killer named “The Kyoto prowler”, a skilful knife-user who chops his victims in pieces. This isn’t the least of his worries since just after partaking in a birthday party, he finds itself in the middle of a murder involving Emoto Tomoe, whom he just befriended. Directly suspected, alongside his new found friends from college, Ii-chan will stumble on an affable murderer, two cunning police officers and the ever-blazing contractor.

Ensues a classic detective story, intertwined with lengthy philosophical monologues about death, killing and forgiveness, subjects our nonsense babbler is very knowledgeable about. This ties with Nisio Isin’s “stream of consciousness” writing style. And again, the translator, Greg Moore, did a fine job transcribing Ii’s mind and thought process. The read is enjoyable, yet a little disturbed by Nisio Isin’s quirks. The wordy prose can be tiring at times, especially at the end of dense paragraphs who almost feel tacked to the story.

The murder is a simple one, the methods employed get as convoluted as possible, with little to no clear suspect until the big reveal. And like before, when everything ends, new details are unveiled and change our vision of the whole mystery. The latter being complemented by slice-of-life moments showcasing the relations between Ii and the whole cast. An important point as, by now, it becomes evident that each Zaregoto book delves into bits of the human nature and relations.

While the first book, The Kubikiri Cycle, took a stab at jealousy and pride, our second volume takes an interest in love and how far a person could go for another. This fits right into the numerous talks mentioned before, shared between Ii and his interlocutor, a certain killer…

At the end, Zaregoto: The Kubishime Romanticist is a convoluted detective mystery, à la Agatha Christie but with a more interesting moral than a simple “bad guys killing for a simple reason”, as no one is a clear stereotype of the brainy detective with unyielding common sense. The method follows the one set in the previous instalment and while it doesn’t become stale for the moment, I think a renewal of the story development is welcome.

Then again, I love my pun-filled mystery monologues. I’ll have another serving of Zaregoto, please.

Melody’s Rating: Strongly Recommended

(pictured: The Seven Deadly Sins)

Another light novel license to announce! Vertical will publish a novel titled The Seven Deadly Sins: The Seven Scars Left Behind, planned for English release in May 2017. This book was written by Shuka Matsuda, and includes illustrations by Nakaba Suzuki–the creator of The Seven Deadly Sins manga series.

The Seven Scars Left Behind

It sounds like this light novel is a prequel to the manga. It was released in Japan in October 2015. There are two other light novels for this series in Japan, but no word on a localization for those yet.

The Seven Deadly Sins Synopsis:

The “Seven Deadly Sins,” a group of evil knights who conspired to overthrow the kingdom of Britannia, were said to have been eradicated by the Holy Knights, although some claim that they still live. Ten years later, the Holy Knights have staged a Coup d’état and captured the king, becoming the new, tyrannical rulers of the kingdom. Elizabeth, the king’s third daughter, sets out on a journey to find the “Seven Deadly Sins,” and to enlist their help in taking back the kingdom.

The manga is available in English courtesy of Kodansha Comics. You can watch the anime adaptation on Netflix.

(pictured: Aldnoah Zero fanart by aki)

• アルドノア・ゼロ — Aldnoah.Zero (“Extra Episode 02”)
• Author: Ayumi Sekine
• The novel: (bundled with Aldnoah Zero Blu-Ray set 3)
• The fan translation (by Frog-kun): NanoDesu Translations
• MAL Entry — Forum

(Note: This site’s central focus is on light novels officially translated and published in English, but at times I will post reviews for stories that have only been translated by fans. Please support the Japanese books that don’t get English releases.)

Aldnoah Zero (Blu-ray set 3)

Aldnoah Zero, for those who don’t know, was an anime that aired in summer 2014 and winter 2015. It’s a mecha series about a future conflict between the people of Earth and Mars, and overall it was an anime I enjoyed watching. The action sequences were exciting, the soundtrack was fantastic, and I really liked the character Slaine.

This tie-in novel that was bundled in Japan’s third Blu-ray release for the series features none of these things. It is a prequel story about Inaho and his older sister Yuki, back when they were orphan children simply trying to get by in a world that has been severely impacted by the destruction of war. It’s a shorter novel, and has a “slice-of-life OVA” feel to it that will likely only be appreciated by those who are fans of the anime.

The story is told from the perspective of Yuki, the older sister (a refreshing point of view for light novels, right?). She is a character who is much easier to relate to than Inaho (who was the protagonist of the anime), and it’s not hard to sympathize with her dilemma. After an incident that forces the two siblings to leave their orphanage, Yuki (despite still being a child herself) takes it upon herself to raise her little brother… but he is an unusual boy in that 1) he doesn’t emote, and 2) he hardly needs any supervision whatsoever, repeatedly proving the more capable of the two in everyday, practical matters. This extra episode is thus about how Yuki struggles to connect with her little brother, and all in all it’s a sweet and tenderhearted story. It makes for a good addition to the series, as it gives some useful context for understanding the two characters.

It makes me wish something along these lines could have made it into the anime, actually! And makes me wish Yuki could have had a bigger role in the series, for that matter. At any rate…

Cho’s Rating: Recommended… for Aldnoah Zero fans

(Note: For those wanting a prequel story for Slaine and Princess Asseylum, there is an “extra episode” for that too, in the form of a short manga Frog-kun translated.)

(pictured: Re:Zero)

For the final week of this year’s summer reading program, we will discuss the final third of Re:Zero (volume 1) and Our Journey to the End of the Ceasing World. This is also your chance to discuss the two books as a whole, so feel free to share any general impressions.

Re:Zero

The final chapter of this volume was pretty exciting. I felt the author did a good job at writing a climactic action sequence detailing everyone’s struggle against Elsa. There are a few issues I had with the final act though:

1. I’m not sure how I feel about Reinhard showing up just in time to save everyone. This is a trope I’m not fond of in any medium — I generally prefer it when the main characters work things out through their own merits and limitations.
2. Loads of unanswered questions. Actually, pretty much every question I had over the course of this volume is left unanswered. I understand there are more volumes to be had in this series, but it still bothered me. We don’t even find out what the badge was! The thing everyone in the volume is fighting over! The lack of any kind of explanation over the Satella thing was also rather aggravating.
3. I still have mixed feelings regarding Subaru’s… dumbness. Mainly I just don’t find most of his dialogue that funny, but there are times where he does go too far with his social ineptitude. His actions ultimately show his heart’s (overall) in the right place, but I can understand some readers not liking him.
4. Elsa gets away at the end. Can this volume feel any more inconclusive? I get that this was originally a web novel series (and thus didn’t need to really follow a “series of books” structure), but still…

As always, feel free to guess what happens next. (e.g. What’s up with Felt at the end there? or How many more times must Subaru die to appease the fantasy world?) I don’t think anyone has commented on Re:Zero in these posts who hasn’t already seen the anime though. In which case, feel free to compare the novel to its anime adaptation.

(pictured: Our Journey to the End of the Ceasing World)

Our Journey to the End of the Ceasing World

What do you think of this novel? Did anyone read it?

I’d like to say you all should have read it, but I personally just couldn’t get into this one. The final act was no different from the first two, and really not much of anything happens in this book as a whole. The author didn’t work with the premise in a way that I found interesting, and there was nothing to like about either of the main characters. While the boy was just thoroughly bland, I continually found the girl aggravating from start to finish. (She wasn’t quite as obnoxious as Ranta from Grimgar, at least?)

What do you think of the final vignette featuring the “princess” and the doctor? Any thoughts on either of them?

What does this story have to say about journeys? In what ways does the story being a travelogue affect its general themes and messages?

———

As mentioned before, feel free to discuss any point you would like to bring up about either (or both) of these two books. General impressions, predictions for how the stories will play out, some compare/contrast between the two books, or any random observations and things you’d like to analyze are all fair game.

(pictured: The Asterisk War)

How was everyone’s summer? I hope you all had a good time reading light novels. I haven’t been keeping up with all the posts I’ve wanted to publish here, but I think it will be easier now that things have settled a bit with my move back to Japan and wrapping up the summer reading program, etc.

I will go over what light novels released the past couple months, just in case you might have forgotten a volume you were interested in picking up.

July

Durarara!! volume 4 (paperback, ebook)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository

Log Horizon volume 5 (paperback)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository

Re:Zero volume 1 (paperback, ebook)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository

Kagerou Daze volume 4 (paperback, ebook)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository

Legend of the Galactic Heroes volume 2 (paperback, ebook, audiobook)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository

Durarara!! volume 4 Synopsis:
“Do you enjoy being the Black Rider who’s been spotted all over Ikebukuro over the past few years now? Why is it that you’re riding such a dangerous bike all over the place? Are you aware that you’re violating the law?!” Ikebukuro, Tokyo. A place full of fires waiting to be lit and plenty of people ready to light a match: Twins who are the perfect opposite of each other. An idol who’s nothing like her older brother. A girl with a crush on her senior in the Dollars. And a headless rider with a bounty on her…uh, head. Keeping the peace is probably not gonna happen.

Log Horizon volume 5 Synopsis:
In the sort of autumn afternoon that leaves maidens sighing, new enemies arrives in Akiba! And these enemies are more terrifying than any monster–they’re human. Worse, their target is the very system at the heart of the city–the Round Table Council! Will the tenuous government that Shiroe’s worked so hard to build survive this latest threat?

Re:Zero volume 1 Synopsis:
Subaru Natsuki was just trying to get to the convenience store but wound up summoned to another world. He encounters the usual things–life-threatening situations, silver haired beauties, cat fairies–you know, normal stuff. All that would be bad enough, but he’s also gained the most inconvenient magical ability of all–time travel, but he’s got to die to use it. How do you repay someone who saved your life when all you can do is die?

Kagerou Daze volume 4 Synopsis:
A certain boy and girl meet on a certain endless summer day. They thought they were alone, misunderstood by everyone, but the powers they hold in their eyes lead them to a group that does understand them: the Mekakushi-dan. They’re not alone anymore, but now they have a new mystery to solve: What is the phenomenon of the “kagerou daze,” and who is the shadowy figure behind it?

Legend of the Galactic Heroes volume 2 Synopsis:
In the thirty-sixth century humanity has conquered the galaxy and colonized countless star systems. The Galactic Empire, modeled along Prussian lines, and the democratic Free Planets Alliance are at war, and the fate of every human being in the universe hangs in the balance. This classic Japanese space opera, adapted into a legendary anime, is finally available in English for the first time. After a coup d’état erupts in the Free Planets Alliance, military strategist Yang Wen-li is ordered to use his tactical wizardry to put down the rebellion, but the ringleader holding the capital is someone he once trusted deeply. Meanwhile, in the Galactic Empire, Reinhard will soon face a new trial, as in the wake of the emperor’s death he stands amidst an intensifying power struggle among the aristocracy. The unbeatable magician and the unstoppable genius: the battles these heroes wage will send shock waves across the galaxy!

August

A Certain Magical Index volume 8 (paperback, ebook)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository

The Irregular at Magic High School volume 2 (paperback)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository

Rising of the Shield Hero volume 5 (paperback)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository

The Asterisk War volume 1 (paperback, ebook)
Amazon — Amazon (Kindle) — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository

Black Bullet volume 4 (paperback, ebook)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository

The Devil is a Part-Timer! volume 5 (paperback, ebook)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository

Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? volume 6 (paperback, ebook)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository

Baccano! volume 2 (hardcover, ebook)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository

Sword Art Online volume 8 (paperback)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository

A Certain Magical Index volume 8 Synopsis:
Tokiwadai Middle School–a place bathed in the envious gazes of all the schoolgirls in Academy City. Every single one of its female students is a proper young lady, and none more so than Mikoto Misaka. Kuroko–a Level Four teleporter and a member of Judgment, the organization that preserves public order in the city–knows this all too well. She invites her darling Misaka out to go shopping, but that’s just the beginning of what ends up being a very, very long day, one in which she sees Misaka’s true form and may wish she hadn’t…

The Irregular from Magic High School volume 2 Synopsis:
Tatsuya and Miyuki Shiba are brother and sister, but they share a bond that transcends mere blood relation. Despite the fact that they’re siblings who attend the same school, their lot in life couldn’t be more different. Miyuki’s a Bloom, one of the elite students of Magic High, while Tatsuya’s a Weed, with low expectations and even lower levels of respect. But having skillfully diffused a tense situation, Tatsuya finds himself recruited by the school’s disciplinary committee and soon discovers there’s more to Magic High than he realized…

The Rising of the Shield Hero volume 5 Synopsis:
Naofumi is off to the Cal Mira islands, where he plans to continue leveling up. Soon after arriving he meets a mysterious young man named L’Arc Berg. But how will this curious new character impact Naofumi’s adventures? Surrounded by mystery and intrigue, Glass makes her second appearance. Aneko Yusagi’s epic fantasy continues in volume 5!

The Asterisk War volume 1 Synopsis:
The school-city of Rokka-also known as “Asterisk.” Here boys and girls of the Starpulse Generation all compete in the Seibusai-the “star battle festival,” fighting for glory on the greatest combat entertainment stage of the world. Ayato Amagiri has just arrived at one of these academies at the express invitation of its student council president, but when he begins his career by making a dangerous enemy, his life on Asterisk is off to a rough start!

Black Bullet volume 4 Synopsis:
One of the giant Monoliths that protects Tokyo Area from the virally superpowered Gastrea creatures has been destroyed. And right on schedule, the Stage Four Gastrea Aldebaran leads an invading army of the monsters into the city. The elite self-defense forces are sent to face them, and the terrible sounds of war echo across a newly christened battlefield–but soon a tense silence falls. What is it that appears before the eyes of Rentaro and his friends? The near-future thriller of post-apocalyptic survival continues!

The Devil is a Part-Timer! volume 5 Synopsis:
With the repairs to his dingy one-bedroom apartment completed, Maou needs a new TV, so…the Devil’s going digital! The trouble is, Maou and Ashiya don’t know the first thing about flat-screens, so they bring Emi’s friend Rika along with them to the local big-box electronics outlet. For some reason, Suzuno ends up coming along, and it turns into a shopping tour with the whole gang!

Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? volume 6 Synopsis:
“Hestia, I challenge you to a War Game!” “What’s with you, Apollo?” A War Game–an all-out proxy war between gods, and the winner takes all. But what is it that Apollo wants? Hestia’s beloved Bell Cranell, of course! With a week to go until the Game, things are bleak enough, but then Lilly is kidnapped by the Soma Familia. The outlook isn’t good , but Bell has made many friends through his adventures, and they won’t stand idly by. The familia myth continues!

Baccano! volume 2 Synopsis:
The place: America. The year: 1931. The setting: the transcontinental express train known as the “Flying Pussyfoot.” Aboard the train are a gang aiming to make some extra cash, a group of revolutionary terrorists trying to recapture their leader, and a pair of thieves looking to meet up with an old friend in New York City. But drunk on the excitement of their departure, none of them are prepared for what awaits them on the rails…

Sword Art Online volume 8 Synopsis:
The saga of Sword Art Online continues with three side stories set during the Aincrad and Alfheim eras. The game of death took its toll on every player in a different way–when one turns up dead on the fifty-seventh floor, the game’s afoot, and it’s up to Asuna and Kirito to crack the case. There’s also the story of how Kirito got his Excalibur sword in Alfheim (with a little help from his friends). And when the game of death first began, Kirito learned a difficult lesson–one he would never forget.

———

That was a lot of light novels! Are you keeping up with all your favorite series? What book are you planning to read next? I’m thinking of picking up the second volume ebook of Baccano!, when I get the chance. Also, the second volume of Legend of the Galactic Heroes? I’ll probably go with an audiobook again for that one.

I have two other light novels I’m in the middle of right now though; I need to finish reading those first…

The Asterisk War

English Title: The Asterisk War: The Academy City on the Water
Japanese Title: 学戦都市アスタリスク — Gakusen Toshi Asutarisuku — “Academy Battle City Asterisk”
Author: Yuu Miyazaki
Illustrator: Okiura
Translator:
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance
Original Run: 2012 – ongoing
English Run: 2016 – ongoing
Japanese Publisher: MF Bunko J (Media Factory)
English Publisher: Yen Press (Yen On)
Volumes in Japanese: 11 (In Progress)
Volumes in English: 1 (In Progress)
Average Price Per Volume: Paperback $9 — Kindle $8 — Nook $8

• English Website — Japanese Website
• MAL Entry — Forum
• Baka Updates — LNDB.info — Novel Updates

Synopsis: The school-city of Rokka — also known as “Asterisk.” Here boys and girls of the Starpulse Generation all compete in the Seibusai — the “star battle festival,” fighting for glory on the greatest combat entertainment stage of the world. Ayato Amagiri has just arrived at one of these academies at the express invitation of its student council president, but when he begins his career by making a dangerous enemy, his life on Asterisk is off to a rough start!

Volume 1 — Encounter with a Fiery Princess
Amazon — Amazon (Kindle) — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository — RightStuf
Released August 30, 2016 — ISBN-13: 978-0316315272

Upcoming Releases

• Volume 2 (December 13, 2016)
  Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository — RightStuf
• Volume 3 (April 18, 2017)
  Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository — RightStuf

Reviews of The Asterisk War
(forthcoming)

Illustrations Sampler

Anime Adaptation
MAL Entry — 24 episodes — Aired October 2015 – June 2016
Crunchyroll (streaming) — Hulu (streaming) — Amazon — RightStuf
Note: Adapted volumes 1 to 6 of the light novel series

Manga Adaptation
MAL Entry — Published January 2013 – ongoing (English releases by Yen Press)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository — RightStuf

Video Game
A.W.: Phoenix Festa (PS Vita) — PSN store — Play-Asia

If you liked The Asterisk War, you might also want to try…

• The Irregular at Magic High School — story takes place at a magic school
• A Certain Magical Index — urban fantasy

If you find any errors or broken links in this entry, leave a comment!

(pictured: The Other World Dining Hall)

It’s time for light novel notes!

I’m going to stop posting recent releases (I have those covered here), but I will go over what’s coming out soon. (Or in the case of The Violet Knight, what has just barely released.)

The Violet Knight volume 1 (ebook)
Amazon
Release Date: September 12, 2016

Strike the Blood volume 4 (paperback, ebook)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository
Release Date: September 27, 2016

My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected volume 1 (paperback)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository
Release Date: September 27, 2016

Overlord volume 2 (hardcover, ebook)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository
Release Date: September 27, 2016

Kagerou Daze volume 5 (paperback, ebook)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository
Release Date: September 27, 2016

Accel World volume 7 (paperback)
Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Book Depository
Release Date: September 27, 2016

Note: The release date for the third Seraph of the End omnibus appears delayed — that will release on November 8th.

Site News

• Reminder: Did you know you can submit your own reviews for a light novel? Now is your chance to become internet-famous, at least among people who visit this site!
• Plans for the future: I am thinking of putting together LN Notes posts more often, and having them be shorter. Does that sound good to all of you?
• I really want there to be more light novel discussions. I’ve tried having a summer reading program for two years now, where we could all chime in on six different books. But I feel like I need to find a better way to encourage people to share their thoughts on… anything. I have two ideas, and I’m willing to try them both:

1. Pick a series, and set up a discussion for each volume as they come out. (If you’re wondering what series I have in mind, it’s My Youth Romantic Comedy. The first volume releases in a couple weeks.)
2. Find someone who will want to discuss a specific LN at length, and go from there. Basically, a quality over quantity approach using guest-collab posts to create discussion. (Feel free to email me if this sounds like something you would be interested in taking part in at some time over the next… six months?)

English Light Novel News

• Reminder: Vertical recently announced a license for a Seven Deadly Sins light novel. It is expected to release in English in May 2017.
• Udon Entertainment will be releasing an English translation of a Street Fighter novel. It is called Street Fighter: The Novel.
• Do you want to see Isuna Hasekura, the author of Spice and Wolf? He will be appearing at New York Comic Con, which will be held from October 6th to 9th.

Spice and Wolf Collector’s Edition

• Speaking of Spice and Wolf, Yen Press recently announced a collector’s edition hardcover omnibus of the seventeen volumes — preorders sold out quickly, but fortunately there will be a second printing. Keep your eyes peeled for that!

Japanese Light Novel News

• In Japan, the 18th volume of Sword Art Online has released, concluding the “Alicization” story arc. A new story arc for the series will begin next year.
• Ryohga Narita has revealed that he is working on the final volume set in 1935 for the Baccano! series.
• Which will you choose: Death or Kiss? You will get the chance to do just that, when a Re:Zero video game releases in Japan.
• How are things looking for the upcoming Zaregoto OVA adaptation? You can take a look at all the characters and how they compare to their LN counterparts here. (Also check out its trailer here.)
• A certain magical author, Kazuma Kamchi, has published a light novel every month for the last 24 months! An LN stack like that is one heavy object. To write so many books, he must come from an intellectual village.

• Makoto Shinkai’s latest anime film, Your Name, is currently making a big splash in Japan. The book (also written by Makoto Shinkai) is doing just as well, apparently.
• A slightly different kind of LN -> anime adaptation: The Other World Dining Hall will be about an unusual restaurant.

Links to Recent Reviews and Articles

• First off, an interesting article going over all the top-selling light novels in history. Some of the titles that make the list may surprise you!
• OASG is hosting a contest: win a copy of the first volume of My Youth Romantic Comedy!
• Some of their recent reviews: Log Horizon (vol 5), Seraph of the End (vol 1), and My Favorite Song (vol 1).
• Lots of August Hail reviews to check out, including Re:Zero, Qualidea of Scum and a Gold Coin, and Manuscript Screening Boy and Manuscript Submitting Girl. Also, be sure to look at this post going over a year’s worth of light novel reading.
• For those of you following Re:Zero, I suggest reading this article by Frog-kun. It focuses on the translation of the first light novel volume, as well as the anime.
• At Logistics, an article titled “Reasons Why I Like The Rising of the Shield Hero.”
• And at Toxic Muffin, an article regarding web novels and “chuuni delusions.”
• At Anime Tengoku, reviews of Sword Art Online (vol 8) and A Certain Magical Index (vol 8).
• From Cardigan Chrissie, a review for Chain Mail: Addicted to You.
• At Sleepless Book Junkies, a quick Kino no Tabi review.
• And at Hopeless Procrastinator, an in-depth No.6 review.
• Not exactly light novel-related, but might still be of interest: a look at the covers for A Study in Charlotte, comparing its US release to its Japan release. You might notice how in Japan, it basically looks like a light novel cover? This is actually quite common for English YA novels, when they are published in Japanese.

And that’s all I have for now! Please feel free to post links to more light novel-related articles, and to share your thoughts on this feature or anything else for the site.

(art by VOFAN)

In 2003, a nice Japanese person from Kodansha, named Katsushi Ota, decided to create, in collaboration with big names from the LN world, a magazine under the name Faust. And in 2008, decided that the English market was a good place to sell them.

Del Rey Manga, (definitely one of my favourite publishers and the most interesting one from the so-called “Tokyopop Era”) as the US Kodansha representative of the time, delivered two out of the 8 volumes only released in Japan. Or in fact, two anthologies made from those magazines. Its goal was simple: to make the world of light novels accessible to everybody, even the neophytes. A goal I found easy to fulfil, with an editor who could be called a specialist of the subject. If Cho or I could be called light novel aficionados, then Ota would be a leading expert.

Volume 1 Cover

Faust is a gathering of various novellas written by famous LN authors who dedicated their time to write more engaging and creative stories. It’s the top of the top. You couldn’t go wrong with it. It’s provocative, it’s different and it’s probably due to their format.

Light novels are inherently long-winded stories. They’re 300 pages stories with a lot of fluff, mainly character thoughts or just plain descriptions. Most of the time, they go overboard with those. It’s one of the main cons of reading a light novel. After all, if the author can’t fill those 300 pages with enough quality-writing (and you can be assured that most the time, they can’t), reading them becomes tedious.

Novellas kept their descriptions to the bare minimum and allowed much more creativity, even if some recurring quirks from light novels were still present. However, it isn’t as apparent because of the aforementioned problems that can be addressed thanks to the smaller, tighter grasp on the story development.

Alongside the novellas, Faust also compiled some manga and some neat features like interviews or editorials. They’re here to spice things up and provide other experiences for interested readers. Those too, are shortened, to not extensively turn the book into a huge, non-practical pile of paper.

The manga features are lacking, probably due to the look more experimental of the works presented. Aside from two of all of them, they’re either too short to make us feel invested or simply ignore typical manga rules (not a bad thing but more interesting on a longer work).

Editorials and essays are always welcome in my book, and I won’t deny that the Lost in translation?! interview with Andrew Cunningham and Yukari Shiina was my favourite. There’s also a nice talk between the writers and Ota discussing the release of Faust in the U.S.

Volume 2 Cover

Faust in itself was a good effort from Kodansha and Ota to help make light novels more popular in the U.S. during the late 2000s. It is a bit saddening for us to only receive two anthologies instead of the eight original issues. But those anthologies still delivered what they promised: Fiction and Manga from the cutting edge of Japanese pop culture.

Unfortunately, to keep things short, I won’t do a review of each novella and you could assume from the get-go that I like them a lot thanks to their tighter proses and unusual premises. For a list of the novellas, you can check the presentation page here on the site.

If you have a question concerning Faust and its publication, feel free to ask them in the comments!