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Old 2010-02-19, 08:38   Link #361
Doraneko
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Quote:
Originally Posted by apr View Post
Finished MAMA by Kougyoku Izuki, whose debut work Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou had me quite mesmerized. Back then I wondered if her writing was more like the magical earlier half, or like the dull second half, and with MAMA she's proved it's the latter. While the cozy world view remains the same, the writing, plot and characters feel pretty flat. A particular eyesore was all the 『その瞬間だった』 repeated page after page, getting me irritated for no good reason. It's not a bad book, and I'd probably be nice enough to give it 3/5 as a grade, but it's nowhere as dazzling as I'd hoped. Maybe next time?
I started to know about Kougyoku through her serialization of MAMA in the Dengeki Bunko magazine. While I agree that it is certainly not her best work to date, it was still enough to make me check out her other works.

IMO the attention to atmosphere building and cozy dialogues are the major characteristics of the 人食い trilogy (Mimizuku, MAMA, Yukikamatari). This style is certainly far away from the norm of light novels, where sharp characterization and smart dialogues are largely prevalent. Apparently she attempted to made them feel like children's literature, which is quite successful. But then of course there are some adults who can't stand the simplicity and cheesiness in children literature. Just like how readers pick their books, books also choose their readers.

Her writing style in her general literature works are very different though, and sometimes remind me of Sakuraba Kazuki (GoSick, Watashi no Otoko, etc). Either way, I think she is quite a talented writer, and can shape her style to fit different purposes, from game screenplays, short stories to general literature novels.
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Old 2010-02-19, 11:17   Link #362
apr
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doraneko View Post
IMO the attention to atmosphere building and cozy dialogues are the major characteristics of the 人食い trilogy (Mimizuku, MAMA, Yukikamatari). This style is certainly far away from the norm of light novels, where sharp characterization and smart dialogues are largely prevalent. Apparently she attempted to made them feel like children's literature, which is quite successful. But then of course there are some adults who can't stand the simplicity and cheesiness in children literature. Just like how readers pick their books, books also choose their readers.

Her writing style in her general literature works are very different though, and sometimes remind me of Sakuraba Kazuki (GoSick, Watashi no Otoko, etc). Either way, I think she is quite a talented writer, and can shape her style to fit different purposes, from game screenplays, short stories to general literature novels.
The first half of Mimizuku is written in a very engaging fashion due to being from the crazy protagonist's point of view, creating a delightfully twisted fairy tale. That's what I fell for. MAMA in comparison is much too "normal". When the rest of the story lacks any discernible depth, it's disappointing. Even so, I find the atmosphere very "Gaiman-esque", if you know what I mean.

What do you mean "her general literature works"? Does she write under other pseudonyms? From what I can tell, she's only written 4 novels, 3 of which are Hitokui light novels, and the 4th came out just a couple of weeks ago.
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Old 2010-02-19, 12:37   Link #363
Doraneko
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Originally Posted by apr View Post
What do you mean "her general literature works"?
Before she became a writer under Dengeki, she had been publishing her works personally on her website. Even Mimizuku was originally an web novel. Too bad that Dengeki has dropped the illustrations, and the online version is already removed now.

Occasionally she also publish short stories on magazines and I really love some of them.

(Oh well I guess those shouldn't be categorized as general literature afterall. )

Anyway even in the light novel community in Japan, it isn't like her works are overwhelmingly welcomed. Her less-than-refined style of writing has indeed driven away some readers away. Opinions on the newly released novel are very much divided as well.

I'd say she is good at creating the suitable atmosphere for every scenario and "improvising" as a decent writer for each genre she works on. But at the very core, her writing style is still the shorter and simpler form you can see in Mimizuku and MAMA. It may be a better idea to move on to another writer if you simply cannot stand that style.

As for whether you will be able to see the kind of twist in the first half of Mimizuku again in her other works, I think she is the kind of writer that adapts the story to the atmosphere, instead of the other way round. In other words, you would only see those twists again if she intends to, and finds it necessary to create such a atmosphere again. She sees them as merely devices, instead of required characteristics of her works.

Apparently she cares more about conveying the love and emotion between the characters in MAMA, and she created a good story with a decent atmosphere for that purpose, IMO. There may be are other writers who are more famous for the kinds of "crazy protagonist narration" and "twisted fairy tale" which you may be more interested in. But those are already beyond my current scope of reading.

On a side note, the special award winner of えんため大賞, K-ON Kokoro Connect, has been released . The illustrations are LOL, but the readers' comments seem to be overall positive.
Spoiler:
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Old 2010-02-19, 12:55   Link #364
apr
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doraneko View Post
I'd say she is good at creating the suitable atmosphere for every scenario and "improvising" as a decent writer for each genre she works on. But at the very core, her writing style is still the shorter and simpler form you can see in Mimizuku and MAMA. It may be a better idea to move on to another writer if you simply cannot stand that style.

On a side note, the special award winner of えんため大賞, K-ON Kokoro Connect, has been released . The illustrations are LOL, but the readers' comments seem to be overall positive.
Spoiler:
I don't dislike the style, I just felt bewitched by the very lively writing in the first half of Mimizuku, while there's nothing original and fresh about MAMA. The gap is disappointing. I still enjoy the world view and whatnot.

The K-on cover you posted totally isn't plagiarism, because Mugi's eyebrows aren't thick enough!!
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Old 2010-02-20, 20:18   Link #365
apr
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Originally Posted by Darknemo2000 View Post
Anyways any recommendations for me yet?
I've started on vol 2 of Ben-to, and it's just as good as I remember vol 1 being. Definitely one of my favourite light novel series currently being published. Give it a try? 5 volumes out, and a sixth scheduled for April.

(PS. I may change my impression in a hundred pages, as usual.)
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Old 2010-02-27, 19:48   Link #366
apr
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Finished Ben-to v02, and it was fabulous. If we pretend Nishio writes regular novels, it's possible that this is the best light novel series currently being published. Highly recommended.

Since I've finished a bunch of titles over the past few months, I sat down and compiled my impressions here and here, for those looking for something new to read.
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Old 2010-02-28, 02:51   Link #367
JiggleJiggle
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does anyone know any taiwanese/chinese websites where i can read light novels?
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Old 2010-02-28, 02:57   Link #368
LusterFlare
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Originally Posted by JiggleJiggle View Post
does anyone know any taiwanese/chinese websites where i can read light novels?
I believe this has Chinese manga, light novels, and Chinese subbed anime.
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Old 2010-02-28, 06:57   Link #369
loctrife
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Originally Posted by JiggleJiggle View Post
does anyone know any taiwanese/chinese websites where i can read light novels?
You can try this site: http://www.lightnovel.cn/
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Old 2010-02-28, 07:50   Link #370
Darknemo2000
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Quote:
Originally Posted by apr View Post
Finished Ben-to v02, and it was fabulous. If we pretend Nishio writes regular novels, it's possible that this is the best light novel series currently being published. Highly recommended.

Since I've finished a bunch of titles over the past few months, I sat down and compiled my impressions here and here, for those looking for something new to read.
Maybe if I get my hands on it, I could translate on B-T it if I like it (and tsundere's I always like with an exception of Taiga and Suzuka).

Still though thats a long time ahead because i am still busy translating ZnT.
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Old 2010-03-04, 17:59   Link #371
apr
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Finished the first Boogiepop novel, and didn't like it. I just can't decide if it's because the book sucked, or if it's because I'm too dumb to appreciate its greatness.
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Old 2010-03-12, 18:52   Link #372
apr
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Originally Posted by Doraneko View Post
On another note, here is the result of the light novel ranking by このライトノベルがすごい published a while ago. The overall rank is largely influenced by public opinion polls, while the number at the right shows the professional review committee's scores to the works.

10位 カルマ 4.80
I finished Soukyuu no Karuma v01 today. It's an action comedy about a 17-year-old flying super knight who loves her niece above all else, and the first volume is basically one long line of obstacles she has to overcome in order to attend her niece's "parents' day" at school (as her guardian). These obstacles come in the shapes of 1) flying monster invasion, 2) summoned to another world to defeat a demon king, 3) ancient android, 4) eternal maze of the gods, 5) final flying monster boss fight. They all take up a chapter in length and are usually amusing enough to bring out a chuckle. The writing's decent, nothing particular to complain about.

Still, overall it just comes across as meaningless. It's ridiculous to demand "value" from random entertainment, I guess, but I'd like to pretend that my intellect is being tickled with original stuff when I read a book, and Karuma has nothing new to bring to the party, really. It's just bland and reasonably predictable, where most of the jokes are of the "nice as concept, dull in execution" variety that you don't necessarily need to read 30 pages about. The laughs are too scarce in relation to the setup required, compared to something like BakaTest where you have similar quality jokes every third line instead. The action sequences are boring, mostly because Karuma herself is clearly invincible, and there's never anything at stake, which keeps tension levels low.

All in all, it's not worth the time and effort to read.
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Old 2010-03-22, 03:32   Link #373
elroid
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just bought 9S volume 10, still cant get used to the new illustrations. Does anyone knows why did they changed the illustrator? Although I don't seem to hate the new ones, but I find myself to prefer Yamato Yamamoto's style more. Maybe its because I ran through 9 volumes (with another 2 extras) lol.
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Old 2010-03-22, 15:42   Link #374
Kleeyook
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Umm. I've only read this thread from page 1-3 but I can't stand reading it anymore. Isn't this thread supposed to be a thread for recommendation? All I've read so far are a bunch of arguments about LN between people that just want to bash each other. The more I read, the more ridiculous this thread gets. It's annoying, dudes!
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Old 2010-03-23, 10:56   Link #375
surerman
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I recommending this visual novel
Ludesia : Spidering with Scraping from Talestune

quite good IMO

hm?, can't find it?, let see...(mess with google for a while...)

here:
h++p://vnddl.webs.com/list.txt

try it! love it!

oh btw this is japanese language, english not out yet or may be I can't fully utilize this search engine
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Old 2010-03-23, 20:56   Link #376
billborden
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Tokyopop has just recently released Gosic Vol2, and, with the anime now confirmed, there's actually a possibility of the rest of the series following. The series itself is definately an original take on Holmes and Watson set between, WWI and WWII. The mysteries are interesting and the characters have some/develop some decent depth. Give it a shot
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Old 2010-04-08, 08:00   Link #377
Doraneko
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Warners Makes 7-Figure Spec Deal For Japanese Novel 'All You Need Is Kill'
Spoiler:

This is certainly a good news to the light novel community in the English-speaking world. I have been hearing many positive comments about the novel, included it in my previous batch of orders and am about to start reading it. Having an English translated version readily available is also a bonus too. Hopefully it can serve as a starting point for anime fans and readers in general to get into the realm of Japanese light novels.

Now we just need to wait for the live-action of Yukikaze with Topgun-class visuals.

(Btw has anyone read the latest book of the Yukikaze series? I've heard that it is more about philosophical stuff and much less weight is put on planes and dogfights, and am not sure if I'll be interested in it...)


In other news (not extremely recent actually...), PHP Institute, which is responsible for publishing many of the moe textbooks in the market, has entered the light novel field and started the Smash Bunko. I haven't read any of its works so far, but the general consensus towards its lineup appears to be (1) relatively cheap price; (2) many illustrations when compared to the norm of light novels; (3) attention to fanservice
Spoiler for Smash Bunko Lineup:
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Old 2010-04-08, 12:49   Link #378
NeoSam
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Yeah, I posted news about the new light novel label Smash Bunko, in these news posts:

PHP Institute to Start the Light Novel Label Smash Bunko

and here:

Smash Bunko: Miracle Shot of Love and Friendship

Someone at Japanator, saw my news post, and posted about the new light novel label here:

PHP Institute branches out with Smash Bunko light novels

Guh, how much I wish someone can help me with news posts >_< its lonely working alone
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Old 2010-04-08, 13:00   Link #379
NeoSam
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And on other news that got me really hyped up:

Kodansha is Recruiting Editors for Male Oriented Light Novels

Yay Yay , I can't wait to see what they have in store for us. They are most likely going to start a new shounen light novel label to compete with already established male oriented light novel labels.
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Old 2010-04-08, 19:26   Link #380
Doraneko
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Hey NeoSam, long time no see . I am still a loyal reader of the Dengeki Bunko magazine after you have recommended me Dengeki HP (its predecessor) more than 2 years ago. o_0

I wonder if you have read any of the Smash Bunko novels? The current titles sound fun but I am not too fond of blatant fanservice...

And Kodansha's possibility of starting a new label is a good news too. More competition = better product + lower price for broken students like me.
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