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Old 2009-02-23, 03:06   Link #1
Matt122005
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Dengeki Bunko Magazine [Light Novel Magazine]

Ok, so just that no one gets confused, Dengeki Bunko Magazine (電撃文庫MAGAZINE) is a Japanese publication, not in english.

According to Comipedia.....

Quote:
Circulation: 2007/12 - ?

Publisher: MediaWorks

Links:

Official Site
Previous Official Site

Dengeki Bunko - MediaWorks' site.

Info:

Dengeki Bunko's official magazine. A light novel magazine that succeeded Dengeki hp. It started as a special issue of Dengeki Daioh. The first issue was released on December 10, 2007.

The magazine became independent from Dengeki Daioh as of the third issue (released on April 10th, 2008).

Here are images of all the covers of the so far 6 released issues. ^_^

Spoiler for 6 Issue Covers:



The magazine usually comes with a special half sized light novel each issue (containing previews of upcoming light novel chapters, or special exclusive short stories), like as seen below.
Spoiler for Image of Half-Sized Light Novel:



I recently ordered and recieved issue #5 (I've already put in my order for Issue #6, so cool that Horo is on the cover ^_^) and it came with a special Gakuen Kino light novel with an exclusive short story dealing with the character Tea. Also came with a preview chapter from Book 3 of Gakuen Kino.

So yea, figured we should have a thread for this magazine here, since so far there is none.

-Matt
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Old 2009-02-23, 20:45   Link #2
moose25
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Whats in the magazines serialized novels, articles about novels, interviews?
e.
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Old 2009-02-23, 21:14   Link #3
roan
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Side stories, features on ongoing projects (like anime), occasional manga, etc.
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Old 2009-02-26, 03:52   Link #4
Matt122005
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Yea, it contains short stories from popular series, and also publishes sneak previews from upcoming light novels, and has some occasional manga published on the side as well.

-Matt
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Old 2009-02-26, 04:36   Link #5
denice25
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Thanks for posting!!!
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Old 2009-02-26, 13:54   Link #6
Doraneko
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Got the latest March issue (vol.6) yesterday! Hooray! :P

Besides the serializations and spinoffs of current series, like "Wolf and Spice" and "Shinigami no Ballad", as well as the bonus manga by Tanigawa (of Haruhi), the most enjoyable readings are the recent award winning short stories.

Btw I wonder if it may be a better idea to make this a general discussion topic for all light novel magazines ? We'll then be able to talk about Sneakers, Dragon and others as well .
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Old 2009-02-26, 14:57   Link #7
Ryuou
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How much does it cost and would you say it's worth it? For some reason I never can get into serialized material. I just wait until it's eventually compiled and published. Although I'm sure there are parts of those magazines that may never get complied into something later.
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Old 2009-02-26, 22:43   Link #8
Doraneko
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryuou View Post
How much does it cost and would you say it's worth it?
For the selling price, it varies a lot.

Mainstream (shounen, shoujo)

FB Online (Famitsu) - 0 yen
Dengeki Bunkou Magazine (Dengeki) - 720 yen
The Sneaker (Kadokawa) - 740 yen
Dragon Magazine (Fujimi) - 740 yen
Charano (HJ) - 980 yen
GA Magazine (GA) - 2400 yen

Bungei LN
Faust (Kodansha) - 1890 yen
Pandora (Kodansha) - 1890 yen

Shoujo
Cobalt (Cobalt) - 630 yen
Shousetsu Wings (Shonshokan) - 820 yen

BL
... you have to do your own research


LN magazines usually have around 40% serializations, 40% spinoffs and 20% miscellaneous stuff. But each magazine also has its unique offerings.

Dengeki, for example, occasionally publish "collaboration" stories exclusive to its readers. Basically the editor will throw an theme/title out, invite several famous LN writers and let them write a short story on that theme. It is interesting to compare and contrast the different writing styles of different writers, as well as the differences in the way they interpret and illustrate the theme.

Another magazine, Faust, is published in a style very much like the conventional brick-like Western paperback novels with over 700 pages. Since the serialized stories are usually self-contained in terms of major plots, readers are not required to have a very good knowledge of the previous serializations or the general lineup of the publisher. It also has lots of interesting columns, essays, critiques and interviews, making it looks more like a general literature magazine than LN magazine.

There are simply too many choices in the LN magazine industry. You have to do your compare and contrast to see which suits you the best and whether it really "worths it."
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Old 2009-02-27, 03:21   Link #9
NeoSam
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doraneko View Post
For the selling price, it varies a lot.

Mainstream (shounen, shoujo)

Dengeki Bunkou Magazine (Dengeki) - 720 yen
The Sneaker (Kadokawa) - 740 yen
Dragon Magazine (Fujimi) - 740 yen
Charano (HJ) - 980 yen
GA Magazine (GA) - 2400 yen
These are shounen light novel magazines and not shoujo...
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Old 2009-02-27, 03:22   Link #10
Doraneko
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NeoSam View Post
These are shounen light novel magazines and not shoujo...
ok my mistake... meant to write seinen.

Last edited by Doraneko; 2009-02-27 at 03:40.
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Old 2009-02-27, 03:25   Link #11
NeoSam
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doraneko View Post
ok my mistake... meant to write seinen.
No problem these magazines are targeted at an audience of young adult males (teenage boys/men in their twenties). so shounen/seinen would be more accurate.
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Old 2009-02-27, 03:46   Link #12
Doraneko
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NeoSam View Post
No problem these magazines are targeted at an audience of young adult males (teenage boys/men in their twenties). so shounen/seinen would be more accurate.
You have a point . But well, attempts to make clear-cut and exhaustive classifications within the mainstream area is pretty difficult. A large number of LN (eg Library Wars) have their manga adaptations serialized in both shounen/seinen and shoujo manga magazines.

There maybe dedicated shoujo LN magazines. But beyond that, the only ones left are the otaku/moe-centric ones and acquired taste ones.

The classifications in wikipedia JP:
ライトノベル雑誌 (Sneaker, Dragon, Charano)
少女向けライトノベル雑誌 (Cobalt)
ライトノベル中心の小説誌 (Dengeki)
文芸雑誌 (Faust, Pandora)

Anyway IMO Dragon is the most "shounen" among all, simply because of its excessive use of furigana: a pretty redundant and distracting feature for serious readers.

Dengeki, though largely caters to the moe otaku crowd, from time to time have serious stories of such a depth that you would only expect to find them in serious literature magazines. Maybe that is the reason why it is the only one classified as ライトノベル中心の小説誌 in Japan.
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Old 2009-02-27, 05:06   Link #13
NeoSam
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doraneko View Post
You have a point . But well, attempts to make clear-cut and exhaustive classifications within the mainstream area is pretty difficult. A large number of LN (eg Library Wars) have their manga adaptations serialized in both shounen/seinen and shoujo manga magazines.
Yeah, but only few male oriented light novels get shoujo manga adaptations. Most male oriented light novels get manga adaptations in shounen/seinen manga magazines, and those that get shoujo manga adaptations are usually those that get/will get animated, to attract more female watchers...

Also Library Wars is not a good example, it wasn't serialized in Dengeki Bunko Magazine, and wasn't published under the shounen light novel label Dengeki Bunko. Its more of a "general" light novel.

Quote:
Anyway IMO Dragon is the most "shounen" among all, simply because of its excessive use of furigana: a pretty redundant and distracting feature for serious readers.
Yeah, exactly my thoughts its associated labels (Fujimi Fantasia Bunko and Fujimi Mystery Bunko) also target the same shounen audience (teenage boys).

Quote:
Dengeki, though largely caters to the moe otaku crowd, from time to time have serious stories of such a depth that you would only expect to find them in serious literature magazines. Maybe that is the reason why it is the only one classified as ライトノベル中心の小説誌 in Japan.
That's why Dengeki Bunko and its associated light novel magazine (Dengeki Bunko Magazine) are my favourites moe + serious stories makes me a happy guy
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Old 2009-02-27, 13:34   Link #14
Doraneko
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Library Wars is pretty interesting in terms of its nature... It is published as a regular hard-covered novel, sold with other conventional novel and got into the hard-covered rank of best sales. On the other hand, it has full-page ads in Dengeki HP and Dengeki Daioh and got its share of otaku buzz. It even has a spin-off published in Dengeki HP. So I guess this makes it a borderline LN. It may be relatively easy to mold your product to cater it to a specific market, but the difficult thing is to create one with an universal appeal that can please both sides of the invisible wall. But I digressed.

Back to the topic, I like Dengeki because of the diversity of its lineup. The glossy paper is a definite plus, because unlike my throw-away habit when dealing with manga magazines, I like to reread good stories (that never get published on paperbacks) from time to time. I also feel that the Dengeki team knows its readers better. Other magazines tend to have useless paper fans, stickers and figures as gifts, which always end up in my rubbish bin lol. But for Dengeki, it comes with bonus paperbacks, that I think most readers (being book-lovers by nature) will like to keep. .

The downside of Dengeki is that the selection of titles is getting less diversified with a higher and higher dose of moeness. Moreover, the number of columns is too small when compared to its competitors. It also tends to get thinner and thinner... o.0

Anyway what is your opinion on other novel magazines besides Dengeki and Dragon?
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Old 2009-02-27, 16:06   Link #15
NeoSam
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doraneko View Post
Anyway what is your opinion on other novel magazines besides Dengeki and Dragon?
I have two issues of Dengeki Bunko Magazine somewhere >_>, but that's it. With my current busy schedule and the lots of manga and light novels that I read, I'm not going to add light novel magazines to my reading list >_< my loss I guess, but that's how it is. Time is a b**tch... lol (the reason I'm recruiting help for this site)

Anyway, I remember reading a scan of an old issue of The Sneaker, other than the light novel serializations it had one manga serial (or maybe one-shot). It had a few columns (one of which was an interview with one of the authors ), and some figurines and anime info. I liked the serialized storied, so I'll hopefully be able to add this magazine to my reading list someday >_<
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Old 2009-02-27, 17:38   Link #16
Matt122005
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By the way, what's with GA Magazine? Such a high price, and it hasn't even released a second issue. lol

-Matt
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Old 2009-02-27, 18:37   Link #17
NeoSam
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt122005 View Post
By the way, what's with GA Magazine? Such a high price, and it hasn't even released a second issue. lol

-Matt
The probelm with this magazine is that its a mook (magazine/book). Its a magazine that's published like a book >_> so its won't be published on a regular basis (monthly/bi-monthly/quarterly).

But its also possible that the first issue was also the last one... I mean I have seen magazines starting and going defunct after just one issue anyway, lets just wait and see.
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Old 2009-02-27, 20:44   Link #18
Doraneko
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Well in a local book store here, there are still piles of GA Magazines in dust . GA's pricing strategy is certainly far from satisfactory as a new entrant. For the very few who have bought it, most agree that the extra dakimakura cover does not justify the premium.

Btw it seems like they did plan to release vol.2. In vol.1's editorial page it has been mentioned that vol.2 would come with a mouse pad. But then I am sure the sales figure can deter any non-determined team from releasing vol.2...

Regarding pricing, some time ago Dengeki was the only one at the 700 yen range. Sneaker was at the 900 yen range and Dragon was at the 600 yen range. Now they all have a very similar price. Competition is probably much more intense now.
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Old 2009-02-27, 23:38   Link #19
Ryuou
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Thanks for the info Doraneko. I thought they were more expensive than that. Must have been my imagination.
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Old 2009-03-21, 11:44   Link #20
NeoSam
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The male oriented light novel magazine Charano! has gone defunct it was suspended with the release of the March 2009 issue (released on January 30th, 2009)
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