[Question] About LNs...

[Zefyris]

hmm... powerful MC boy who is between 14 and 19 years old, and a harem creating around him without too much focus on the harem seems to be quite popular, most best selling LN have either that or a cynical boy MC in high school with pretty girls around (haruhi, Oregairu...).

That's usually not a very good setting imo, but numbers don't lie...

[RDNexus]

Please... Anything but that formula...

[IceHism]

Originally Posted by xrick

Please... Anything but that formula...

Write a mystery based on japanese books in a bookstore setting

Numbers don't lie for Biblia.

Though i'm serious here, what did you expect? Are you gonna be the next yoshiki tanaka(Legend of Galactic heroes), isuna hasekura(Spice and Wolf), Hajime Kanzaka(Slayers) or Kouhei Kadono(Boogiepop) or something?

or you could write satirical fantasies. Literature circles love romeo tanaka even though he doesn't sell much

[RDNexus]

Ah... OK... Thanks anyway...

[Zefyris]

Originally Posted by IceHism

Write a mystery based on japanese books in a bookstore setting

Numbers don't lie for Biblia.

Though i'm serious here, what did you expect? Are you gonna be the next yoshiki tanaka(Legend of Galactic heroes), isuna hasekura(Spice and Wolf), Hajime Kanzaka(Slayers) or Kouhei Kadono(Boogiepop) or something?

or you could write satirical fantasies. Literature circles love romeo tanaka even though he doesn't sell much

Except that Biblia is the only example of success in that category. Although, judging from Bannou kanteishi Q alongside biblia, girls really smart, calm and pretty between 20 and 25 years old like Rinda Riko and Shinokawa Shioriko solving mysteries without murder nor excessive violence involved, alongside a simple and slow romance developing on the side with a guy who has mostly the Watson role as well as the "saving the girl"role when the woman is too reckless confronting the culprits head on is... pretty popular as well.
Although, neither Biblia nor the Q series are LN, they indeed sold helluvah lots. And for once, I trully think that THIS is justified. Both the Q series and biblia koshodou are worth buying and reading.
Does anyone knows if "Tokutou tenjouin α" from Matsuoka sold relatively well? Seems the same kind of system as the Q series from Matsuoka after all.

[RDNexus]

Guess so... Maybe those mystery stories are quite appealing to the female audience?

But, disregarding harem LNs, aren't there other decent to good formulas?
I know it usually depends strongly on the genres and demographics, but...

[Zefyris]

Originally Posted by xrick

Guess so... Maybe those mystery stories are quite appealing to the female audience?

But, disregarding harem LNs, aren't there other decent to good formulas?
I know it usually depends strongly on the genres and demographics, but...

Not simply to the female audience. This is very enjoyable read for male audience as well. You don't get those sales by just appealing to half of the readers.

But, disregarding harem LNs, aren't there other decent to good formulas?
I know it usually depends strongly on the genres and demographics, but...

I'm not knowledgeable enough about sales to answer that I'm afraid.

[IceHism]

Originally Posted by xrick

Guess so... Maybe those mystery stories are quite appealing to the female audience?

But, disregarding harem LNs, aren't there other decent to good formulas?
I know it usually depends strongly on the genres and demographics, but...

How about just not looking for more LNs and try for something like Malazan or A Song of Fire and Ice.

If you look at here http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1389545
You will see that its either Sol with witty dialogue or some fantasy/sci-fi Ln with tons of world building. I really don't think the harem part actually matters. Heck, the harem is a complete afterthought that isn't even relevant to the plot 99% of the time

[RDNexus]

Well, taking into account (from what I regularly read here) that sales ranking are usually influenced by the seasonal series, alongside the regular top contenders like SAO & Mahouka, while you may be right on your words, it may also not be exactly as you say...

But, in a way, I take it that those kinds of stories you mentioned seem to have more appeal to the readers because they seem to care more about the characters and their surroundings than the plot of each story...

[IceHism]

Originally Posted by xrick

Well, taking into account (from what I regularly read here) that sales ranking are usually influenced by the seasonal series, alongside the regular top contenders like SAO & Mahouka, while you may be right on your words, it may also not be exactly as you say...

But, in a way, I take it that those kinds of stories you mentioned seem to have more appeal to the readers because they seem to care more about the characters and their surroundings than the plot of each story...

Of course, seasonal series are usually just advertisements that say "go buy the LN!", why wouldn't we factor them?

Why not both? Good Plot and characters are NOT mutually exclusive.

[RDNexus]

Originally Posted by IceHism

Why not both? Good Plot and characters are NOT mutually exclusive.

Ah... Sorry... I didn't quite get this one...


Also...
Do you guys think it is possible to write a decent story with Shounen-Manga-style Battle Scenes?
And with RPG-style entities and "bosses" but without the story being in an RPG-style setting?

[theultimates12]

Originally Posted by xrick

Ah... Sorry... I didn't quite get this one...


Also...
Do you guys think it is possible to write a decent story with Shounen-Manga-style Battle Scenes?
And with RPG-style entities and "bosses" but without the story being in an RPG-style setting?

It's possible as long you have a good plot and characters but generally, if you are writing a Light Novel, the battles shouldn't be a major part since word is not a good way to convey a fight. A skilled writer could make a good fight scene but without pictures or something visual, it won't attract much interest. Remember, Shounen Manga relies a lot on flashy moves and attacks in its fight scenes.

As for the second question, yeah, it's entirely possible to do so. Pretty much every major villains are "Bosses".

Originally Posted by Zefyris

hmm... powerful MC boy who is between 14 and 19 years old, and a harem creating around him without too much focus on the harem seems to be quite popular, most best selling LN have either that or a cynical boy MC in high school with pretty girls around (haruhi, Oregairu...).

This formula, many people dislike it a lot but I think it's not bad at all. It's just that most writers seem to like having harem as being just there to get readers. That's why many stories is considered by many to be better off without harem. Really, if authors want to have harem in their story, they should make sure it's an important part of the narrative.

However, I do dislike Overpowered MC since most of the time, they are very boring and unlike many people, I don't find them fun to read at all.

[larethian]

Originally Posted by theultimates12

It's possible as long you have a good plot and characters but generally, if you are writing a Light Novel, the battles shouldn't be a major part since word is not a good way to convey a fight. A skilled writer could make a good fight scene but without pictures or something visual, it won't attract much interest. Remember, Shounen Manga relies a lot on flashy moves and attacks in its fight scenes.

As for the second question, yeah, it's entirely possible to do so. Pretty much every major villains are "Bosses".



This formula, many people dislike it a lot but I think it's not bad at all. It's just that most writers seem to like having harem as being just there to get readers. That's why many stories is considered by many to be better off without harem. Really, if authors want to have harem in their story, they should make sure it's an important part of the narrative.

However, I do dislike Overpowered MC since most of the time, they are very boring and unlike many people, I don't find them fun to read at all.

Disagree! I think the best fights are done with words!! The best fights are those where you get a glimpse of what the people are thinking. It gives a lot of insight as to how a fight turns out the way it is, why the people take certain actions, their considerations etc. Many a times, I've observed people wonder why certain things happen in a fight or why seemingly stronger opponents 'lose' and the novels demystify all these.

Regarding overpowered MCs, the word 'boring' can reflect a pretty one-dimensional view. There are some series with ridiculously strong MCs but yet they can't overcome their problems and struggles outside of battles. In fact, some stories are written with such a contrast in mind, that not everything can be overcome with physical power alone.

All these are of course my views. In fact, all you've expressed is your own views and opinions based on what you've been exposed to but you make them sound like 'facts'.

[RDNexus]

I think what theultimates12 meant by "words" was that lengthy narratives and descriptions end up becoming boring and a chore to the reader.
In my view, I'd like to believe one could be capable of conveying a good Battle-Manga-style fight without lengthy narrative...

Regarding the "bosses", I was talking of non-human opponents which might have few things or nothing to give to a story's narrative, ending up being in-scene only as an obstacle to the relevant characters...

[theultimates12]

Originally Posted by xrick

I think what theultimates12 meant by "words" was that lengthy narratives and descriptions end up becoming boring and a chore to the reader.
In my view, I'd like to believe one could be capable of conveying a good Battle-Manga-style fight without lengthy narrative...

Regarding the "bosses", I was talking of non-human opponents which might have few things to nothing to give to a story's narrative, ending up being in-scene only as an obstacle to the relevant characters...

If the "bosses" are needed for something and you can't see any other alternatives, I think it's fine to add them in.

[RDNexus]

It's not that there aren't other alternatives, just that I was researching of ways to have non-human/humanoid characters as side-characters and antagonists without it detracting the quality of a literary story, mostly because those kinds of entities may either have lots of characterization possibilities or be almost devoid of such things... If I'm managing to make myself understood here...


Also... Are there any LNs written in a Third-Person View? Instead of the usual First-Person View...

[Zefyris]

There's a lot. There's rokka no yuusha to begin with . Ans spice and wolf, and magdala, and kyoukaisenjou no horizon, and biscuit frankenstein, and kyouran kazoku nikki, and shinigami wo tabeta shoujo, and yuusha, aruiwa bakemono to yobareta shoujo, and Fate/zero, and Mimizuku to yoru no Ou, and so on. well, like half of what I read, if not more, I'm not going to count or list them all.

[RDNexus]

It may seem like I've made this question before but it's slightly different... I think.

What do you guys deem as a story good to appease eastern and western audiences?
I got this question pop up in my head after reading a new report on ANN...


Also... Some time ago, I got remembered of an old curiosity of mine...
Does anyone know why Slayers v09-15 (Part2) never got an Anime adaption?