Omae o Otaku ni Shiteyaru kara, Ore o Riajuu ni Shitekure! [Light Novel]

[blade82]

the girls are so cute but all of them are in Naoki's harem?

[kobester11]

I thought IMS dropped it... Oh well

[larethian]

^ no, it's because I'm delaying it. Are yall really dying to read the manga? I don't really see the demand though.

[tsunade666]

thanks for the summary Lare. if the novel isn't being translated anymore then ... well I will wait. Its a normal thing anyway maybe I should read some summaries (if there are any) because I'm not familiar with the other character. I only read the translation from bt and the manga. (Maybe I should look into the thread if there are any summary)

[hdt545]

I loved toradora and picked up the LN series. Right now I am waiting for the 6th volume to arrive (should be here by friday). I am anxious to see how the plot develops from before. Hopefully more people would be intrested in series now that some chapers have been released in manga.

I can understand about 95% of what's written in the novel despite only studying for half a year. I don't feel too comfortable trying to fully translate the LN just yet. I could try writing summaries instead if people are intrested. IIRC there are no summaries out apart from the short one of volume 4 and more extensive one of volume 5 written in here.

[larethian]

Finally read v6. It was a very interesting volume. And, drama CD has been green-lit.

[DarkSkiper]

Originally Posted by larethian

Finally read v6. It was a very interesting volume. And, drama CD has been green-lit.

Interesting you say? Are there some developments or something?

[kobester11]

There's gonna be an anime of this, I'm sure of it...




Can someone put some summaries? >.<

[larethian]

To be honest, I rather not have an anime. With the amount of love comedies getting adapted, this will flunk sales targets for sure.

And volume 6 has some unnecessary pandering by adding another potential love interest (Nee-san archetype) and making Akari more brocon than ever. I rather the dynamics be kept between Naoki and the trio: Momo, Midori and Azuki. However, the development was still very entertaining.

Next volume, we will have Naoki playing snow white in school festival and Midori playing prince

Despite having Toradora vibes, this a very mediocre LN, but its entertainment value is no doubt high if you are very into the Otaku culture.

I don't feel like doing summaries because I'm already translating the manga.

[Sumeragi]

I'll just say this story is pretty bland for being made into an anime series.

[tsunade666]

Originally Posted by larethian

I rather the dynamics be kept between Naoki and the trio: Momo, Midori and Azuki. However, the development was still very entertaining.

What's the current relationship status between Naoki and the 3 girls?

[kobester11]

Originally Posted by larethian

To be honest, I rather not have an anime. With the amount of love comedies getting adapted, this will flunk sales targets for sure.

But whenever I see this series, it just screams "Please animate me!" With the right director and screenwriter, anything can sell...sometimes

Originally Posted by larethian

I don't feel like doing summaries because I'm already translating the manga.

In the recent raw, they're in the volleyball match now right?

[larethian]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

I'll just say this story is pretty bland for being made into an anime series.

I would disagree on that. Well, most of the love comedy series will be mediocre in my book (w.r.t. writing and plot) with a few exceptions, but the entertainment value for the less 'novel' stories will differ based on the execution of the story.

Spoiler for TLDR: nope, I don’t think it’s bland, not in the slightest:

My Thoughts In General
And while it may be mediocre since it lacks some originality in plot devices, IMO, Otaria is far from being bland in terms of entertainment value. I actually enjoyed the character interactions and the progress of the romance more than Papakiki, Mayoi Neko, Haruka no Himitsu, Mayo Chiki, and a number of other love comedy LNs that I dropped after a volume or two. And Naoki is definitely a standard, 'weak' and cliche harem protagonist.

However the execution of the story progression has a certain charm to it, which was somewhat like what I experienced in Toradora. And I'm always looking forward to reading the next volume compared to some other novels (of course, the novel being easy to read fast is a bonus to that as well, unlike the sci-fi and obscure fantasies ). In fact, while I feel OreShura > Otaria, if I were to choose which to read first if I have both new releases side by side, I would almost always pick Otaria.

Some of the things I think the author did right to hook the reader in:
1. While the first half of the premise of having the MC and heroine helping each other to get their love interests is nothing new (which was what made it look like Toradora), the second half of the premise of having the MC and the heroine trying to switch their roles between Otaku and Riajuu in order to woo their love interests is actually very original to me and is one of the basis for creating the comedy, and the heartaches.

2. The character called Hasegawa Midori: The love interest of the MC. I think the author managed to create a "Takane-no-Hana (高嶺の花; well not exactly the same but I just felt like using relatively bombastic words all of a sudden )" character type that constantly piques the reader’s curiosity on what kind of character she really is and how she really thinks. After every volume, I cannot help but want to know more about Midori. Volume 2 highlights her social ineptness (or hard-to-approach aura) when she’s unable to find a partner for a pair-up in class (and she sucks at art). Volume 4 (or 5) reveals her extreme detest of Otakus, and later shows another side to her when she’s with her close friend. It is currently hinted that she had certain past issues that has made her unable to become close to other people (and by my guess, it might be related to Otakus). Anyway, it’s hard to explain to people who haven’t read the novels, but I would say she’s one of the ‘curiosity’ factor of the series for me. And while she’s very unlike Minori (Toradora), just like Minori, I can’t help but want to root for her more than the main heroine in the initial parts of the story.

3. The execution of the romance dynamics between the characters makes this interesting and entertaining to me: In most love comedy series, I would have a preference. But in this story, the 3 main heroines have the right mix of attributes and development that makes it hard for me to choose

Momo: Main heroine whom I dislike a lot initially. But as the story progresses, and as the cooperative relationship deepens, and as her dere appeal also increases, I was swayed. This works a little similar to Ryuuji-Taiga relationship when Taiga started putting a lot of effort in helping Ryuuji, however, in Toradora, I still very much prefer Minori.

Midori: The first love interest of the MC and the curiosity factor of this character constantly works for me. Enough said.

Azuki: Azuki is like a character who constantly tests the resolve of the MC in continuing his pursuit of Midori. Why? She has big boobs and matches the MC’s fetishes (in the eroge, doujin he buys). She is a hardcore Otaku as well and has a wide variety of Otaku interests (especially cosplay), and as such the MC can actually abandon his quest to become a Riajuu if he goes with her. The best part is, it is clearcut that she likes the MC! (this character is probably the author’s own pipedream, but who cares about that when her presence adds so much ‘flavor’ to the Ren-Ai Kankei)

4. Another point to add is that the things that Momo does in the story to become an Otaku was actually written from first-hand experience by the author, which makes the reading experience richer. Compared to OreImo, except with respect to Eroge in which OreImo clearly is the winner, I found that Otaria provided a richer experience into the Otaku culture, be it Cosplay, Comiket, Doujin creation, etc.

The bad (my personal opinion):
1. Adding Murasaki, the doujin artist, as a potential love interest and increasing Akari’s brocon in the latest volume is not a good development in my opinion. I think the author should go straight into resolving the Otaku issues Midori had, the 3D issues Suzuki had, and then start resolving the triangle (or a pentagon maybe), and ending the story by volume 8 or 9.

There are other things but my time is up.


Why I’m against this having an anime is definitely not because of its content quality and entertainment value, but because anime viewers have become dull, shallow watchers of love comedies and they love to prejudge. Moreover, Otaria only becomes more interesting towards the end of volume 1 and much more interesting in later volumes. Anyway, while there are a fair number of love comedies that focuses on brainless pandering, or pure comedy-based, many of the slice-of-life love comedies have some secondary themes and stories to tell, and use the theme to set up the love comedy, or they have a primary theme clearly embedded into a love comedy, and except for a few titles which have superior execution, these themes are largely ignored by anime viewers who are mostly engaging in shipping, waifu and other types of similar talk or needless bashing without substantiating their points.

For example (in terms of having clear sub-themes/supporting-themes that are consistent in the series):
In OreShura, the author is also covering a real-life adapted version of “JiEnOtsu” previously originating from 2ch, with all key characters engaging in some form of obvious acting and dishonesty.
In Sakurasou, it’s “talent vs hard work”
In Henneko, the author uses “honne vs tatemae”, which is a key social aspect of the Japanese. For all we know, he may be indirectly mocking ‘tatemae’ (but I can’t know for sure, since I haven’t started on the novels yet)
In Papakiki, it covers ‘family bonds’.
In Mayoi Neko, it never left the theme of ‘stray cats’, every volume or arc has a focus in someone ‘losing their way’ in life or something.

and so on and so forth. A fair number of the love comedies have something of value to bring to the table if one can read between the lines, but what distinguishes the good from the mediocre will depend on how the author executes it (and how the anime studio executes it for the anime-version). Of course, how much entertainment value it provides will be subjective and that also depends on the author’s execution and the reader’s individual tastes.

In Otaria's case, it is about the story of a guy and a girl who want to shed their ‘past selves’ and become anew to pursue their love interests. In this case, for the guy, his past self is that of an Otaku. The LN also lightly touches on the prejudices that ‘normal’ people have against Otakus (similar to Oreimo: reference to Ayase-Kirino kankei). But for the MC of Otaria, it is a question of staying as a closet Otaku, or giving up his Otaku hobbies, to be with the girl he likes. Is this really possible? Is it really worth throwing away what has defined him for the past don’t-know-how-many-years of his life? Or is it possible to remove the prejudices of the girl he likes? And with someone like Azuki close to him, will he be able to ‘stay true’ to his original purpose. These are the questions I kept having as I read the series. And I’m sure it’s one of the key factors that appeal to hardcore Otakus who want to get a ‘Riajuu life’ as well. On a side note, I’m lucky that I don’t live in Japan, and my wife and our circle of non-Japanese friends are Otaku to a certain degree, being anime-watchers and manga-readers, mainly influenced by me since high-school and Uni days ().

While it won’t have as much drama as other love comedies like Sakurasou and Toradora, and won’t be as funny as OniAi and Seizon, the overall series is definitely far from bland in my opinion, or I won’t have done teasers or work on the manga.

On another side note, the LNs which I feel are less than mediocre in both writing and entertainment value have the following characteristics:
1. Excessive pandering that the focus of the plot becomes lost.
2. Trying to ‘become’ too many things, using too many ideas and genres or rehashing too many old ideas and making the story a mess as a result.
3. The setting and development have no real meaning even though the author appears to try to give some to them; they are just there for the sake of being there. Any experienced non-shallow reader can tell just by seeing how much they ‘seem to resemble afterthoughts’. Sometimes this is a result of bad planning. But usually, in my opinion, I feel that the author is trying to write a softcore eroge-wannabe light novel (and a lousy eroge at that).

In short, most of the time, in such cases, I don’t get what the author is thinking and what he is trying to accomplish in the story. The only titles with these characteristics that I can accept as entertaining is when it’s obvious that the author is writing for the sake of pure comedy. I think Seizon fulfills 70-80% of characteristic 3, especially with its somewhat repetitive and recycled joke types. However, save for the serious yet occasionally facepalming prologues and epilogues and over-used 4th wall breaking, the novels did well to elicit a laugh from me at least every 2 pages, so it’s something I enjoyed and found entertaining. Nyarko is another one such title. Though I won't bother with novels at all, but I do enjoy the anime to certain degree.

Other than that, I shall not go on to list out what titles I feel possess strongly any one of those 3 characteristics. Just to be diplomatic, and I respect each and every individual’s taste.

Originally Posted by tsunade666

What's the current relationship status between Naoki and the 3 girls?

It's hinted that Momo is getting more conscious of her growing feelings for Naoki, but in denial.

Azuki pretty much fell for Naoki after volume 2. She took the initiative and asked him out for a date, which he left in the middle to save Momo. This led her to believe that Naoki was interested in Momo and she began avoiding him. Thereafter, the 'misunderstanding' was cleared up and she went back to taking the initiative again.

For Midori, the first 'major' interaction was in v1, after the karaoke, when Naoki thanked her for coming. In v2 (IIRC), she was left out during pairing in art class, and Naoki paired up with her, where they are supposed to draw portraits of each other. This was the second interaction. Following that, we had the fireworks viewing at summer festival, though I can't remember whether it was Naoki who invited her or Momo (i think it was Naoki but I can't be sure). Then, later, Midori invited Naoki to the school festival of her best friend in another high school, to get ideas what to do for their own school festival. It was then revealed through her close friend that Naoki was probably the first friend Midori made in high school. Midori is definitely warming up to Naoki but I do not think there are any romantic feelings yet.

Originally Posted by kobester11

But whenever I see this series, it just screams "Please animate me!" With the right director and screenwriter, anything can sell...sometimes




In the recent raw, they're in the volleyball match now right?

Errrhh, sorry, what volleyball match? Are you sure we are talking about the same series?

EDIT: Oh, you are talking about the manga, I haven't have time to look at chapter 9 and beyond yet. 8 should be released soon. I'm on business trip now until next week. Probably won't be watching any anime till I'm back. I'm getting busier again.

[tsunade666]

Originally Posted by larethian

It's hinted that Momo is getting more conscious of her growing feelings for Naoki, but in denial.

Azuki pretty much fell for Naoki after volume 2. She took the initiative and asked him out for a date, which he left in the middle to save Momo. This led her to believe that Naoki was interested in Momo and she began avoiding him. Thereafter, the 'misunderstanding' was cleared up and she went back to taking the initiative again.

For Midori, the first 'major' interaction was in v1, after the karaoke, when Naoki thanked her for coming. In v2 (IIRC), she was left out during pairing in art class, and Naoki paired up with her, where they are supposed to draw portraits of each other. This was the second interaction. Following that, we had the fireworks viewing at summer festival, though I can't remember whether it was Naoki who invited her or Momo (i think it was Naoki but I can't be sure). Then, later, Midori invited Naoki to the school festival of her best friend in another high school, to get ideas what to do for their own school festival. It was then revealed through her close friend that Naoki was probably the first friend Midori made in high school. Midori is definitely warming up to Naoki but I do not think there are any romantic feelings yet.

Wow. You put a lot of your thoughts there Lare though I didn't read it yet.

What happen in vol 02 that makes Azuki interested on Naoki?

Midori is a slow paced development but does Naoki still love her? because if this story has toradorish in it then at some point. Naoki should start noticing Momo?

What are the feeling of Naoki at the moment for the girls?

EDIT:

After reading your thoughts about the work. You put a lot of effort on it if you ask me or at least it shows on what you like about the work.

If you ask me, Naoki is a nice guy

Spoiler for thoughts:

and I can't probably do what he is trying to accomplish. Plus I'm way pass at that point. I'm already finished at college and aiming for a work. I can understand Naoki and I admire his guts to even try but for me. I already gave up on it or maybe I just haven't found my reason yet. That's why I also like the story of Accel world while SAO looks crap for me. I can relate on Haruyuki but he got morale support from KYH and Naoki has Momo. Lucky guys while I don't have one. My close friends are otakus too which have work and we rarely meet and even my university friends don't mail me or contact me again even though I said they should at least contact me if there is something happening but ... oh well. Lonely has its perks on being cheap on living but still it felt saddening. And having no confidence and social awkward in real life has its problem which is probably the same for other hard core otakus, which lead them on their way of life style. Well I'm stopping my ranting but really. For me I would like to see Otaria animated. JC did a good job on Sakurasou and henneko so far is good. I can't read the novel so that's why I only can wait for the anime.

[larethian]

Well, I'm just trying to be objective. And part of the reason why I'm TLing the manga is because of an agreement i want to keep. I enjoy it as much as i enjoy the other romcoms I'm reading. Why i look forward to it is because of the toradora vibes

[tsunade666]

agreement? with the group doing the manga?

toradora.... hmmm
Momo = Taiga
Midori = Minori
Azuki = Ami

toradoraish?

[kobester11]

Having read what you wrote lare, i was enlightened.
A perfect example would be Oregairu. That LN has great reviews, it showcases quirky character interactions, issues in society and etc. It became so famous that the MC even made it into 4th place of being the most popular character in the LN category. Normally, this would be suitable of being an anime, with it's hit novel I'm sure it's gonna be the next toradora/haruhi in the recent years.

Then the anime came, having read the novels it's pretty much "okay" for me. But for some people, some have positive reviews but mostly they have negative reviews of it.
Long story short, some LN/manga can't be adapted to another. Sometimes, things are just fine on just the way they already are.

[PerfectScore]

I predict that Naoki is going to get really close to Midori, but she finds Momo cosplaying (activating Midori's otaku hating nature), thus Naoki seeing how much of a bitch Midori is, and abandons her (for Momo, but I'm shipping for Azuki). Aside from that, does anyone have any updates on the new volume?

[tsunade666]

Originally Posted by kobester11

Then the anime came, having read the novels it's pretty much "okay" for me. But for some people, some have positive reviews but mostly they have negative reviews of it.
Long story short, some LN/manga can't be adapted to another. Sometimes, things are just fine on just the way they already are.

I haven't watched the anime yet of oregairu but I'm downloading it. I'm also not familiar with the novel of it but I heard its good. I read the manga but its only 3 or 4 chapter yet when I last check.

From what I gather on the adaptation. It looks like Hachiman is lacking in his quirk. The selling points of that series isn't captured as a whole by the studio. I gather that shaft would do good at that type of series.

It probably depends on the studio on how good the adaptation would be. Some of the light novel adaptation that I watched are horrible bad that its funny but still I detest it as an adaptation. While some studio do good on it and they do justify the work. So it all ends with the staff and studio doing the job.

[larethian]

Drama CD cast:
Naoki : shimazaki nobunaga
Momo : yamamoto nozomi
Midori : saitou chiwa
Azuki : fukuen misato
murasaki : harada hitomi
Suzuki : kishio daisuke