Syosetsuka ni Narou Discussion Thread

[shmaster]

Let me bookmark it first and see for myself.

[Greenish Growth]

I've noticed that the number of stories posted in syosetu in the real life romance category seems to be dropping. The number of rating points has dropped too so less people seem to be reading them. The very top ranked stories still get points, but the lower ranked stories have less points than they did before. Since the real life romantic category is dominated by male reader targeted stories. I wonder if the tighter sexual standard they instituted just drove a number of authors and readers away?

The stories posted in the real life romantic category of syosetu are kind of boring for me these days. They highly consist of nice romance stories without much drama. They had a lot of those before, but now it's even more imbalanced. I guess it's because they can't depict much drama when it comes sexual descriptions so most authors play it safe. Sure we still get those ridiculous "I was falsely accused so now I act like an angry jerk while everyone comes to me for some reason acting like they didn't do anything to me"

I find more interesting stories using this and searching for NTR. At least there's more interesting drama romance there:

https://webnovels.jp/

I need to search for regular romance stories, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I think I'd better do that considering how boring the syosetu real life romance category has become the last few months. Kakuyomu has better stories now.

[dragon1412]

Not surprising, Romance and drama tend to cause a lot of controversy, and they really easy go into rules and getting banned, I remember a lot of stories got banned because of some rules change recently.

I guess I should try for Kakuyomu these day. They seem to have a laxer rules compare to Syosetu

[Avrorrange]

Originally Posted by Ruki0089

So sad.... This thread used to be very crowded....

This WHOLE site used to be so crowded ten years ago lol.

So is the webnovel hype finally over?

EDIT:BTW, do people only talk about JP webnovels here nowadays? No KR novels like TBATE?

[Rasty]

^ I don't read much of KR stuff. Lately, I read only Regressor Instruction Manual - it's good, though unique.

I lately mainly read CN and other qidian stuff (ENG originals mostly though), though after giving JP works some time off I am returning a bit to them. Though Syosetu seems to be a lost cause, so browsing through Kakuyomu now. Btw., the Kakuyomu interface is leagues ahead of Syosetu (though, as much as I hate qidian, still arguably behind their one). No wonder that site is dying since they haven't done any work on the usability, etc. for ages.

[Avrorrange]

So no one read The Beginning After the End?

[Rasty]

Originally Posted by Avrorrange

So no one read The Beginning After the End?

Is there romance (somewhat fulfilled, not a fanclub)? Also, how dark does it get? Korean stories tend to get pretty dark and this one is especially mentioned as dark.

Random Kakuyomu recommendation: 転生した主人公は異世界で最強の魔法使いを目指す！. It's a lighthearted story with all the usual romance, comedy, slice of life, and some battle elements. The story isn't deep or anything new, but also not terrible. It reads pretty smoothly and is great for some relaxing reading as long as you don't think too much about it. FAQ: Yes, Yes, Yes.

[Avrorrange]

Originally Posted by Rasty

Is there romance (somewhat fulfilled, not a fanclub)? Also, how dark does it get? Korean stories tend to get pretty dark and this one is especially mentioned as dark.

Random Kakuyomu recommendation: 転生した主人公は異世界で最強の魔法使いを目指す！. It's a lighthearted story with all the usual romance, comedy, slice of life, and some battle elements. The story isn't deep or anything new, but also not terrible. It reads pretty smoothly and is great for some relaxing reading as long as you don't think too much about it. FAQ: Yes, Yes, Yes.

Spoiler for The Beginning After the end:

There is.Very dark, loads of people close to the mc dies. Very plot heavy too. In fact, the Big Bad actually wins and the MC loses almost everyone he made acquaintance with in the first half of the story. The story is basically at the stage where MC rebuilds and gets new allies. MC is OP but he is up against beings that are far more OP. Wiki for more info:

https://tbate.fandom.com/wiki/The_Be...r_The_End_Wiki

[zztop]

The author of 90s LN series Gokudō-kun Manyuuki thinks the current crop of isekai stories, esp. the ones that started from Narou, have no originality in them.
https://animehunch.com/isekai-storie...nyuuki-author/

Notable comments from the interview:

…When I see so many stories being mass-produced about people suddenly being given amazing abilities, being popular with girls, and being in a harem...I wonder where the originality (is). I wonder if people are not ashamed of writing the same kind of novels.

You shouldn’t write for the sake of sales from the time you are an amateur. It is out of the question to be concerned about what others think of you. You must write what only you can write. It is out of that that future hits will be born.

The Reddit thread discussing her views also have some food for thought comments as well.
https://old.reddit.com/r/anime/comme...ginality_says/

Many of those authors writing what seems to be the same repetitive tripe...will also be passionate about what they write. If you love to write, writing is FUN! Also, hard and gruelling.
The idea of getting published at all when you're an amateur is absolutely incredible and feels like an unobtainable dream. It's not even just about putting food on the table, it's everything you've ever hoped for as an amateur author.
Plus, it's easy to understand that there are people who love to watch and read this repetitive isekai-fantasy. So it should be equally obvious that there are also people who just love to write it, too, love to draw it and love to animate it.

[sasuke706]

Originally Posted by zztop

The author of 90s LN series Gokudō-kun Manyuuki thinks the current crop of isekai stories, esp. the ones that started from Narou, have no originality in them.

Never read or watched her stuff, but what she's said has been said here and elsewhere hundreds of times. Because it's true and obvious.

The bigger problem over no originality is that publishers are enabling this trend...because it sells. For a time, anyway. The market doesn't seem to want originality. I can't even count how many times I've seen a Narou novel, think to myself 'this is trash', and then some months later see it get either a manga or light novel adaption. Or both. They make clickbait titles (strongest, musou, slow life, akuyaku reijou), they get a quick following due to a mildly interesting start and promising premise, and that's all that matters. Publisher sees big following, publisher reaches out, it gets a book. It sells for 1 or 2 volumes, then gets dropped and forgotten by both author and publisher. Like I've seen maybe 2-3 web authors keep writing for a series after the physical version got axed, and one of them even seemed to revive his seemingly doomed publication status due to it.

And then ones with actual planning, writing and passion get ignored or flop. Like I'll use Hishikage Dairi (Kuro no Maou) who just seems to have no luck with publications despite all the qualities for a good work being present.

[Rasty]

^ Isn't Kuro no Maou ignored more because it would need an R18 rating even without any erotic stuff?

But I do agree that there has been recently a trend of publishing anything that gets even a bit popular, no matter how bad it is. Some of the mediocre series are now even getting anime.

[zztop]

Originally Posted by Rasty

^ Isn't Kuro no Maou ignored more because it would need an R18 rating even without any erotic stuff?

But I do agree that there has been recently a trend of publishing anything that gets even a bit popular, no matter how bad it is. Some of the mediocre series are now even getting anime.

The worst thing is that some of the mediocre/subpar titles keep generating enough novel sales and popularity to the point that they can get anime. Which I suppose says something about mass consumer taste.

Like that Isekai Smartphone series that apparently generates enough sales with Western readers (J Novel Club claimed it was one of their more popular titles).

Compare with stuff like Deathbound Duke's Daughter that has detailed, intriuging world building and a dark action mystery, only for the LN version to be quietly cancelled after 2 volumes.
https://j-novel.club/series/deathbound-duke-s-daughter

[Ultimateninjax]

Originally Posted by sasuke706

Random recommendation time. Haven't done this in a while; haven't had one that hasn't already been recommended already that I thought was good enough or didn't get abandoned before I cared to do so.

かくしてはをける　　～もももるなったなるの～
Story premise itself isn't anything new, with extremely low caste boy with almost nothing to lose goes on reckless adventure to get stronger to get what he wants. The twist here is, sad as it is, unlike most other Narou novels in the same vein it has actual effort. Characters have personalities and backstories including personal motivations, it has world building and foresight, and it's been pretty decent at conveying action. The MC himself doesn't just stumble into power, nor does he even have any sort of special ability due to birth (at least nothing revealed yet), which is a nice personal plus.

The subtitle itself is misleading. I'm sure it'll happen eventually—it hasn't yet, as it's a steady growth story—but whenever I see a story that has 'hero' or 'demon king,' let alone both in a title, I get wary; those ones tend to be particularly thoughtless and bad. I can only assume the subtitle itself a bid to attract the attention of the habitual low attention Narou fanbase. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have worked in spite of daily updates with decent chapter length. It's also harem but frankly the harem elements are fairly minimal.

I'd say the biggest strength the series has compared to most the stuff I tried to read over the past couple years on Narou is it's able to keep my attention. Just fun to read. No random long filler chapters of trying to build onsen and eat rice while praising isolated eastern island nations, and enemies aren't just comedic elements or complete jokes. If I had to list a con, the MC in particular gets stronger as the series progresses but it's also kind of hard of to tell that he does. Can't necessarily write it off as poor depiction since the MC is always fighting mobs way stronger than him, with the trash mob fights happening offscreen 99% of the time.

Hope it gets serialized, especially considering the low bar for it nowadays, but I regrettably don't think it has the popularity numbers to get one. Would be nice to be wrong.

I got caught up with reading this and it was pretty entertaining. It has been a while since I have enjoyed reading a new title.

[Rasty]

Random recommendation: 軽い気持ちで『異世界産の商品』を売ってみたら結構な騒ぎになった……. A random high-schooler gets summoned as one of the heroes, but his only blessing is Otherworldly Merchant (buying things from Earth, but doesn't sell well there). Tries fighting for half a year but fails and starts a career as a merchant with moderate success instead. After 10 years he gets sent back to Earth, except the wrong one. This one is a modern-day dungeon world and he can still use the blessing, though now by buying/selling isekai items he gets a great advantage.

Pretty laid-back series with lots of funny interactions and a slight amount of fighting (ignoring poor slimes getting massacred behind the scenes).

FAQ:
- MC OP?: Not from the start, but can do lots of things locals can't.
- Harem?: Yes, currently ~7 girls
- Snu-Snu?: Yes, though pretty late in the series. Has some interesting scenes from the beginning though.

Random note: Winning heroine (not the main one, just the one that always wins ) is a 30+ scary career-woman onee-san.

[Greenish Growth]

If Mushoku Tensei helped make writing isekai stories more popular and Arifureta made writing stories about being left to to die by your group more popular and Bakarina made villainess stories popular, what stories helped make expulsion from your adventurer party popular?

Anyone know? What story helped popularize that trend?

I know there's family banishment, village banishment, job banishment and broken engagement banishment stories, but I'm more curious about the adventurer/anti-demon king party type.

[Greenish Growth]

I've noticed that more Replacement Main Character stories have been popping up lately.

Those are the stories where someone becomes the replacement for the main character in the novel or game's story. An example of this is the person who becomes the leader of the adventurer party that is about to banish the game's protagonist. Eventually the party leader essentially turns into the story's main character as he does the same things as the game's protagonist by saving heroines in trouble , etc. Usually the game's protagonist turns into the villain. So essentially the hero and villain switch places. At least with these kinds of stories the hero and villains powers are closer in strength compared to the usual banishment hero/villains. The hero actually has to put in more work and planning to win fights. It's usually a stretch to turn the game's protagonist into a bad guy, but that's what the writers do.

There are also Replacement Main Character stories of mob guys/game's protagonist best friend/NTR character guys replacing potential harem game characters because the game's protagonists are not saving the heroines for whatever reason. They might be choosing all the wrong choices from the game. The story is not going how it is supposed to go.

At least with this trend, the good guys are less overpowered and have to work harder to improve their skills while the villains are stronger and slightly less stupid and naive.

On another different note, I like it when someone writes in a different way from what I'm used to seeing. There is a story where an introvert guy became the main character but lets the scum mob guy act as the main character because scum mob wants a harem. He makes the game's main character look bad every chance he gets. He killed off many of the original game's characters. Not sure what will happen now.

EDIT:

Alright, this is the second time recently that I've seen the game's villain male character and the hero male character get replaced at the same time by isekai people where later the villain guy plays the hero's role because the hero character guy is crap. Seeing hero and villain character male characters combo replaced is not common. It happens often with female villains/female heroines or a male character/a female character generally, but not male hero and male villain.

[Rasty]

^ I have seen this happen quite often, especially if the protagonist replaces a side character or the replacement happens a longer time before the "original story" begins. It's a way for the author to add some more thrill to the story where the protagonist is starting to breeze through everything by knowing everything ahead.

Also, the male/female villain replacement stories feel quite different. Usually, the "original story" for female villains makes it so that the villain is fated to get scr*wed up no matter what she does and the MC then has to defuse 100 landmines and act smart to get out of the trouble. The male villains on the contrary tend to start with overwhelming advantage in the original story and the hero then wins by great effort, cleverness, and the villain's stupidity, so after they get replaced by someone with foreknowledge it tends to spiral out into them being pretty much peerless.

[Greenish Growth]

Yeah, the female villain replacement stories tend to have a lot more difficulties and frustrations (that is...the stories aimed more toward a female demographic). That's why I tend to read less of those these days. They can get pretty darn irritating for me especially when there's a psycho, bad guy prince in there somewhere. They often completely ruin the nice scenes between the main couple.

To be more specific, the stories I'm seeing popping up more lately are the ones where a guy who replaced the male villain/mob/main character's friend/NTR guy and wait for the setup's main character to do the proper thing (usually save a heroine or complete a game event), but main character doesn't do anything. Then the guy says something like:

"Why isn't main character doing anything? I guess I'm going to have to do it myself."

"He's not doing anything again! What's wrong with this guy? Did I derail the story with something I did?"

What I don't like about this kind of setup is that the guy rarely ever thinks that the reason the main character is acting weird is because they're another reincarnated person. If they were a little genre knowledgeable you would figure they would know earlier. It takes too long for them to realize it. The authors also tend to make the story's main character (replaced by bad isekai person) too unbelievably stupid. I guess the author wants to be sure the readers hate them, but they're going too far. Nobody is that brainless.

I would like to see a dark main character and villain party leader from a banishment adventurer party story replacement. It would make more sense for a dark main character to turn bad guy compared to the docile baggage handler type.

There have also been a few netori type romance stories coming out lately. Those are like replacement main characters too even if they are not game characters. The guy in the main character-like position treats his childhood friend poorly and takes her for granted. Then the other guy swoops in, treats her much better and gets her in the end. These are non-adult stories not the R18 ones. These characters are also wondering why the "main character" is not doing his job properly.

I guess we can call it the "You're not doing it right! I'm taking your role." genre.