Shinigami no Ballad Light Novel

[serenade_beta]

Thread for the Shinigami no Ballad light novel, for discussion on it if anyone wants.

Spoiler for Light Novel covers:

Also:

Spoiler for Visual Book:

There are 12 volumes out in Japanese and 1 Volume to come out in March in English (Seven Seas).


I don't have the first English volume yet, but I plan to buy all of the JP volumes next time I decide to shop... and use up all my money (*sob*)...

[Matt122005]

So, I just picked up the english translated version of "Ballad of a Shinigami" by SEVEN SEAS.

The artwork is so awesome, I can't wait to read it.

I found the size a bit different from the usual TokyoPop light novel sized books, but with some adjusting and more titles I'll be loving it.

I can't wait for more books to come out. Only thing that is saddening is that on average, only 3 books will come out per year. I'd like it more if it was 4, but then again, maybe it will if it gets popular.

Anybody else get the english book by Seven Seas? I had pre-ordered it.

-Matt

[yongshun]

I have been trying to figure out why is it so small.

[Matt122005]

1. So that it can fit in your pocket.

2. Because thats how all light novels are sized in Japan

3. So that it can be thick

4. So that it can look and feel like a nice quick read

and 5. Because they can. <most important reason. lol


-Matt

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by Matt122005

1. So that it can fit in your pocket.

2. Because thats how all light novels are sized in Japan

3. So that it can be thick

-Matt

1. Best reason ever. Lot easier to carry around with, compared to big thick books like Harry Potter and whatnot.

2. That's how most are. There are a number of books that are bigger than that.

3. Not really, since I've seen books with similar number of pages, but one could be twice as thick as the other. Plus overall, they usually are not that thick at all.

[yongshun]

Cool, so Seven Seas is keeping it in the sprit of the original Japanese format through and through.

[Matt122005]

Yep, and their translations are superb.

-Matt

[yongshun]

I might have to pick it up, when I get the chance.

[Sterling01]

I have the first four in Japanese but haven't gotten a chance to really sit down and read them, though I havn't been able to find the Seven Seas version anywhere

[yongshun]

I dont know how it is now but Seven Seas used to have an excuive relase with Walden Books/Borders first and like a month or two later the rest of the stores.

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by Matt122005

Yep, and their translations are superb.

-Matt

Yet, if there is one thing to complain about, it's their horrible habit of changing their release date. This novel was supposed to come out LAST year, you know...
And a lot of their others suffer the same fate, like Neconoclasm and Dance in the Vampire Bund...

[yongshun]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

Yet, if there is one thing to complain about, it's their horrible habit of changing their release date. This novel was supposed to come out LAST year, you know...
And a lot of their others suffer the same fate, like Necoclasm and Dance in the Vampire Bund...

I like think it is because the company is pretty new and rather small. For the reasons that they are always delying the novels

[Matt122005]

Um, ACTUALLY, they aren't ALWAYS delaying novels. They pushed back the starting release of their light novels till March 2008. Now all light novels should come out on their respective dates.

-Matt

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by Matt122005

Um, ACTUALLY, they aren't ALWAYS delaying novels. They pushed back the starting release of their light novels till March 2008. Now all light novels should come out on their respective dates.

-Matt

Didn't say always. Of course, everything has to settle in the end (thankfully), but you can't deny that they have pushed back the release date of several of their novels/manga... and some pushed back more than once.
Ballad of a Shinigami is just one of the victims of Seven Sea's delaying that finally managed to be released.
Look at Gun Princess... Yet again, the date changes... Back to TBA...

Let's hope it doesn't change again...

[Matt122005]

True, but in reality I believe that Gun Princess, Kanokon, and Next Door Ninja are all coming out in 2009

To be precise, I am expecting Gun Princess and Kanokon to premier March 2009 to take the places of Strawberry Panic! and Pita-Ten. Next Door Ninja might take a new month for its own.

-Matt

[MercFH]

Yeah I just pre-ordered mine since NOWHERE has the books at all.
have to wait so long sadly for the rest of them.

just curious to those who have read. How many illustrations are total in the first volume (i like pictures ehehe)

[Ketchup11]

I saw the first volume at the bookstore. I didn't have money on me, so I couldn't get it. I got a quick glance at it. It's truly amazing!

[serenade_beta]

Haa, finally got around to reading the first volume. I have the English version on my bookshelf, but it can't beat the original, so I read the JP version...

But first, I did look at the English version. The only complaint I had (at first look) about the translations is the last chapter. The translations had the title as "Watching the Sky" (or was it "Watch the Sky"?), but it should be something like "That day, the girl who watched the sky/looked at the sky"... I don't really care, but I'd prefer if they translated more correctly~

Since I can't really remember the English titles correctly right now, I'll just refer to the stories by their number...
--

It was a great volume, as expected.
-Emotional
-Art was nice
-Volume split into separate stories, meaning busy people can read a chapter at a time and it's OK. Also, it means you don't have to read in order.
-Easy to read (though sometimes, the story gets boring...)
Also, the novel sometimes would get poetic. It was fun to read, yes. Quite unique there.

I think my favorite was the third one. To be honest, all four stories were very good, so I find it hard to choose, but the third one left me feeling the best (for obvious reasons).
The first two left me teary, the third one left me satisfied, and the fourth one left me "orz". (Though this is the second time I have seen the first two stories, so the impact was lessened. First time I heard the first story, I was completely )

Spoiler for thoughts with story content:

The first two were sad, but at least there was a saving point, like Daiki understanding what his father had intended or Kouta growing up a bit, but the fourth story was just harsh... orz
And was definitely not the best story to read before sleeping... It's like "Okay, now that the girl has gone mute, it's time to sleep" type feeling...
Which brings up whether one feels if it was better/more correct for Towa to be brought out to the "outside". My personal feeling, but I would have preferred if she wasn't brought outside and all of the bad events happened as they did. Anyways... orz. I'm hoping the future volumes do not have too many of these type of stories. Not that these are bad, but they leave a rather bad taste...
Anyways, poor Towa...

The third story was very nice too, but I wonder where Toiro's brother was the whole time...
Also, Toiro's name is too strange... Half-way through, I felt like just reading her name as "Toilet"...
Also, as always, the mentions to Daiki's paintings that seem to have light within are interesting.

Quick, but the the whole Toiro being abused and Towa "father" not being her real father were pretty predictable by the first hint. For the Towa case, it was all too clear when he sounded obsessed going "Boku no Towa" and such...

Another thing...

Spoiler for anger (rather, grudge) directed completely wrongly:

Stupid police for chasing that robbing lolicon.
Stupid random nameless people jumping to conclusions and thinking Towa was treated badly.
Stupid fate.
*mutter* *mutter*

And finally...
RIP, Ichiyou Ikuma (<--I think it was Ichiyou...)
RIP, Mai Makihara
RIP, thieving lolicon kidnapper

Now then, after reading another volume of another series (I don't think Shinigami no Ballad works too well when you read too much of it at once), onwards to volume 2. Two stories I already know (Snow Rebirth and Sakana no Koro, episode 2 of the anime), and a certain new character appears.

I believe the second English volume is coming out at the end of this month too?

[Matt122005]

It's already out, I ordered it, so I just have to pick it up at the bookstore.

I absolutly loved the first volume, although, I was very dissapointed to see a copy of the second. Why? Its like half the size of the first.

I mean, ok, I understand, the guy is new at writing novels, so the second was obviously at a higher risk of being shorter. Although, that usually means the third will be more like the first again.

Can't wait to read it.

-Matt

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by Matt122005

I absolutly loved the first volume, although, I was very dissapointed to see a copy of the second. Why? Its like half the size of the first.

I mean, ok, I understand, the guy is new at writing novels, so the second was obviously at a higher risk of being shorter. Although, that usually means the third will be more like the first again.

-Matt

Actually, throughout the volumes, the numbers are very... variable...
Just from the JP volumes:
1. 313 pg
2. 263 pg
3. 265 pg
4. 271 pg
5. 325 pg
6. 227 pg
7. 287 pg
8. 311 pg
9. 191 pg <--...
10. 281 pg
11. 363 pg <--
--

Spoiler for volume 2 thoughts:

As always, it seems the theme around the normal stories is "living your life to your fullest" type of stories...

To be honest, I found the second story ("Asatte no Mikakunin Rainbow ~Rude Rainbow~") to be slightly confusing (or maybe complex is a better word?). One moment, she's like "I'm pregnant" and I'm like "EHHH?!" and the next moment, it's like "It's gone" or "It was a delusion" and I'm just end up flipping back and checking to see if I got everything right.
Of course, it was still a good story, and the fact the male protagonist was a ghost from the start was interesting (his personality was something too).

Though, as always, my favorite story has to be the first one "Mizu no nai Pool", that also appeared in the anime. Though I was surprised to see that the anime had changed a few things. Don't know why, but there's just something about it that makes the story always enjoyable.

Snow Rebirth... In the drama CD, the girl's laugh was really weird...
Putting that aside, it was decent. No real comments here.
It was amusing to see that Momo, who usually doesn't show up much in the normal stories, showed up even less in this one.

The final story was... a big change from the normal stories. Suddenly, it became more mystery/action than the usual drama type, introducing An/Un and Nicolas.
They always say An looks exactly like Momo, but thanks to the different colors, I really can't tell...
I'm guessing that all of the similarities between these two will end up something like "these two are the same existence" or something?
By the way, vol.7 has a great color illustration of An.
Also, by the way, An uses "Ore" for "I"...
One more thing, but I wonder if the author just wanted to give Momo an illustration of her in twintails...?

Story, sorted in favorite:
1. 1st
2. 3rd
3. 4th
4. 2nd

Hah... Reading this book and seeing the ages of the characters... Really reminds me that I'm getting old...
Maybe I should go find a philosopher's stone or potion of immortality...


Next is vol. 3... It only has three chapters, so all three stories are rather long. Not only that, but one story appeared in the anime too.