AnimeSuki Forums

kj1980 · 2004-03-25, 18:08

Many recent anime are based from novels.

From the top of my head, there are: "R.O.D," "Scrapped Princess," "Maria-sama ga Miteru," "Full Metal Panic." Several old ones include "Record of Lodoss War," and "Slayers."

From reading through this board, many people overseas overlook that the novels played an important role. They seem only to focus on the anime and the manga transcription of the original novel.

My question is this: If you knew that the original story was a novel and if there was an actual English translation of them out, would you buy them as you do with anime/manga?

I am guessing that the main reason are that anime news sources outside of Japan just seem to overlook that this was a novel-based anime, or they just assume the manga came first. And of course, there isn't any English translation available.

LinChoiSin · 2004-03-25, 18:16

i'd definitely buy the novel from an anime that i liked, for exemple i bought a book about norse mythology after seeing "detective Loki" .The only problem is that most of the time i forget to check if the animes i'm watching are based on a novel.

DrWho2002 · 2004-03-25, 19:25

If Juuni Kokki novels were readily available in English, I'd grab em up in a second... ^_^

Jinto · 2004-03-25, 19:42

I would buy the whole series of the seikai no senki/monshou novels if they were available in english/german, sadly I do not know of any translation. Well I hope there will be a translation available some day.

Kaoru · 2004-03-25, 19:54

That's true. Many people do seem to disregard novels that the anime was based off of. Companies would rather focus on marketing what the general demographic purchase or read more often, in which case comics and animated shows/movies over text-only books. Or perhaps the companies just aren't aware that a certain anime is based off a book, or there's just not enough demand to bring it overseas. *shrugs* Maybe it's because the majority enjoy manga and anime over reading. No offense to anyone, I'm not trying to say the general populace is illiterate.

Although....

j/k! If I were to find any of my favorite anime-based novels available in my preferred language, I would certainly buy them as I would anime/manga, being a fan of the show and all. I would most likely want to read the Full Metal Panic! novels, since the whole complete story is told. Also I'd love to get my hands on the BoogiePop Phantom novels, as if the show wasn't weird enough, I heard the book was better.
I think it comes down more towards preference. :P

wao · 2004-03-25, 19:55

In Singapore, the novels wouldn't really have a big fanbase unless it proved to be popular in Hong Kong or China or Taiwan, because then we'd import some of the novels... the Singaporean market for this stuff is really odd, it's like the target market for manga is maybe a bit for otaku-ish people, but also for casual readers in general. Manga is fairly popular among teens and kids, but only Chinese ones unfortunately because almost all the affordable manga is translated into Chinese (The english ones are way too expensive!). However, it's mostly manga that has got itself a name, most especially thing like Hana Yori Dango... the VERY popular and famous show by F4, Meteor Garden, was based on that so girls flocked to buy it.

Novels are going to be much harder to market as not only are they rather texty, it also must have already gotten itself a name and it would be MUCH better if it was translated into English rather than Chinese. But will we ever see anyone doing? Almost possibly not. :\

Though I know there are some people out there that WOULD, like me, *LOOOOOOVE* to read the Juuni Kokki and Maria-sama ga Miteru novels (god, I'd die for one of those two in English here, my CHinese is pretty bad), but we're a bit lazy to translate. I also happen to know that if there was a translation of those novels and they were advertised a little, people might be interested and a fanbase could be built up. Those aren't bad novels, after all.

Yebyosh · 2004-03-25, 23:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by kj1980

Many recent anime are based from novels.

From the top of my head, there are: "R.O.D," "Scrapped Princess," "Maria-sama ga Miteru," "Full Metal Panic." Several old ones include "Record of Lodoss War," and "Slayers."

From reading through this board, many people overseas overlook that the novels played an important role. They seem only to focus on the anime and the manga transcription of the original novel.

My question is this: If you knew that the original story was a novel and if there was an actual English translation of them out, would you buy them as you do with anime/manga?

I am guessing that the main reason are that anime news sources outside of Japan just seem to overlook that this was a novel-based anime, or they just assume the manga came first. And of course, there isn't any English translation available.

Not really... it depends on a lot of factors. I would treat any such novel as how I would treat any book. Some stories would be much better fleshed out through graphics and/or animations. Some stinkers of an anime/manga had a much better novel.

Unfortunately, I have not seen many novels that gave rise to anime/manga. Infact where I am, I can count the numbers of such novels I have seen on the fingers of one hand. Not that much variety to make my choices, eh?

Kyuven · 2004-03-25, 23:59

add Dirty Pair to that list too
if they translated the Full Metal Panic novels to english, i'd read them in a heartbeat, same with the .hack novels
i myself recently picked up an Onegai Teacher "series synopsis" novel

unfortunately, the layout and grammar seems a little childish

the problem with translating novels is this:
with anime you aren't given much linguistic lee-way with dialogue due to mouth movements and context
manga gives a bit more lee-way, but is still limited based on space.
Novels, however, are entirely text, you could change the entire grammar and writing style of the novel and no one would be the wiser.

babbito2k · 2004-03-26, 00:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by kj1980

Many recent anime are based from novels.

From the top of my head, there are: "R.O.D," "Scrapped Princess," "Maria-sama ga Miteru," "Full Metal Panic." Several old ones include "Record of Lodoss War," and "Slayers."

From reading through this board, many people overseas overlook that the novels played an important role. They seem only to focus on the anime and the manga transcription of the original novel.

My question is this: If you knew that the original story was a novel and if there was an actual English translation of them out, would you buy them as you do with anime/manga?

I am guessing that the main reason are that anime news sources outside of Japan just seem to overlook that this was a novel-based anime, or they just assume the manga came first. And of course, there isn't any English translation available.

I would say your guess is correct. English-language anime review or "information" websites are often very sketchy about the origins of anime series, neglecting even to mention a manga or game source. For series I really enjoy I usually track down as much information as I can but English-language sites are not much help.

As far as reading translations of novels like those you have mentioned I would give them a try. I have read as many translations of Japanese novels and story collections as I could find (upwards of 60 I guess). I would be curious about how they stacked up to some of what I have read.

Yamano667 · 2004-03-26, 01:03

For me is better the anime because you see the characters and you hear the music ..in manga you miss that and if you dont watch the anime first, you might not be interested in the manga

Kyuven · 2004-03-26, 01:07

we're talking about novels here

novels leave it completely to your own imagination

Yamano667 · 2004-03-26, 01:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kyuven

we're talking about novels here

novels leave it completely to your own imagination

what if you dont have any imagination ..thats why anime was created to make it
easy to us the people who doesnt have any hehe

kj1980 · 2004-03-26, 02:59

スレage

Yes. That is true.

One reason that many of these animes that are based on novels are made are also for the reasons as said by Yamano above.

A novel that is fairly popular will become animated so as to spurn interest for those who haven't read the novel yet. Which in itself is a good thing as well.

"Pictures are worth a thousand words."
"Pen and ink can open a whole new world."

These two proverbs are interchangeable to each other. One may read the novel first and watch the anime to see the characters play and act it out on screen. One may also watch the anime first and read the novel later to see what was missing from the show. Whichever format or preference you may want to watch/read is totally up to you - but I do recommend that reading a novel sometime, anytime, would be definitely worth your while...especially if you love a series.

7thMethuselah · 2004-03-26, 18:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by kj1980

Many recent anime are based from novels.
My question is this: If you knew that the original story was a novel and if there was an actual English translation of them out, would you buy them as you do with anime/manga?

I am guessing that the main reason are that anime news sources outside of Japan just seem to overlook that this was a novel-based anime, or they just assume the manga came first. And of course, there isn't any English translation available.

returning to the original question, considering I read alot of books allready (I have quite a library by now) there is a big chance I would buy the novels as well. However this will strongly depend on the genre of the novel. While I watch anime and read manga of various types (ranging from romance comedy to action horror or whatever) I limit reading books to science fiction and fantasy only.

Also since I prefer buying books in their original language (this does not count for comics or manga) that would be a second issue.

In short : for the series I really liked and that are in the scifi/fantasy genre: yes, for very good series that aren't scifi/fantasy : maybe , for others : probably not...

Besides after reading a manga and watching an anime there is quite a possibility the book will bore me to death as nothing new can possibly occur anymore ...

Xie · 2004-03-26, 20:34

Books are my first true love and I'll read a book over watching a TV show or movie about the book any chance I get. In fact I'll often refuse to see a movie or TV show until I've had a chance to read the book it's based on (exception being when the TV/Movie script comes first).

I was just thinking the other day what a shame it is that chances are I'll never read any of the books the manga/anime I love is based on (or many Japanese book period). I've always figured that the translation process would just be to time consuming to make it worth bringing most novels over and the companies aren't willing to risk losing the money. Plus, let's face it, American's aren't the most voracious of readers and I'm just not sure they would ever get a fan base. Oh well, it gives me some motivation to try and learn Japanese at least. Manga and Anime it doesn't bother me to wait to have it translated but since that will likely never happen with the novels I'd love to read I'm not left with many other choices.

To bad I'm horrible at learning other languages

AG3 · 2004-03-27, 02:13

I'd definitely buy the Full Metal Panic novels, at least. But I'd likely do it AFTER watching the entire series.

When you've seen the anime/manga first, you've got a clear visual picture of the characters, settings, the "flow" of the story. With that as a basis, enjoying the novel is easier, at least for me.

Also, books that have movies made from them tend to have much more content than the movie adaption, so you risk getting hung up on everything that's missing in the movie if you watch it after reading the book. I'd rather be thrilled by everything that's new in the book by watching the movie first, that way I get more enjoyment.

It's pretty logical really, saving (what I perceive to be) the best for last ^_^

The only concern I have about the novel is that FMP's very spontaneous humor might not be as enjoyable. I have both the ADV manga and the DVDs, and when I read the manga, I noticed it was less fun than the anime. Don't get me wrong, it WAS fun, but the quicker pace of the anime reinforced the spontaneity of the humor and action.

I'd still buy it if I could get it in English. I can't get enough Full Metal Panic. I just hope ADV licenses FMP: Fumoffu and bring it over here soon, it's just one of those series one HAS to own.

NoSanninWa · 2004-03-27, 02:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kyuven

add Dirty Pair to that list too

The Dirty Pair novel was translated into English. I know because I read it.

Unfortunately it isn't available anymore.

babbito2k · 2004-03-27, 18:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xie

...I was just thinking the other day what a shame it is that chances are I'll never read any of the books the manga/anime I love is based on (or many Japanese book period). I've always figured that the translation process would just be to time consuming to make it worth bringing most novels over and the companies aren't willing to risk losing the money.

There are plenty of translations of Japanese novels available, just not usually the ones that get adapted into anime. They would be in the contemporary fiction or literature section of your bookstore or library. The key to finding them is having a list of names. I will throw up some names here; amazon.com will have reviews or sometimes some bargains on some of these titles.

Abe, Kono
Akutagawa, Ryunosuke
Kawabata, Yasunari
Murakami, Haruki
Murakami, Ryu
Oe, Kenzaburo
Soseki, Natsume
Tanizaki, Junichirou
Yamada, Eimi (Amy)
Yoshimoto, Banana

Secca · 2004-03-27, 18:27

I actually kinda heavy readers myself. I forgot time when reading novels. I forgot to eat and sleep. Reading and walking on the street sometimes bumped into people or traffic pole. >.<

So I was kinda touched when ROD TV came out, that show was portraying book lovers nicely.

My only regret is I cannot read Japanese Kanji, so it would be nice if there are a translation of japanese novels specially anime.

Fighter Volk · 2004-03-27, 22:32

I would definitely grab an english-translated copy of the Boogiepop Phantom novels. Would probably clear up a lot.

2004-03-25, 18:08	Link #1
kj1980 Gomen asobase desuwa! Join Date: Nov 2003 Age: 43	Regarding novels of anime Many recent anime are based from novels. From the top of my head, there are: "R.O.D," "Scrapped Princess," "Maria-sama ga Miteru," "Full Metal Panic." Several old ones include "Record of Lodoss War," and "Slayers." From reading through this board, many people overseas overlook that the novels played an important role. They seem only to focus on the anime and the manga transcription of the original novel. My question is this: If you knew that the original story was a novel and if there was an actual English translation of them out, would you buy them as you do with anime/manga? I am guessing that the main reason are that anime news sources outside of Japan just seem to overlook that this was a novel-based anime, or they just assume the manga came first. And of course, there isn't any English translation available.

2004-03-25, 19:42	Link #4
Jinto Asuki-tan Kairin ↓ Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Fürth (GER) Age: 43	I would buy the whole series of the seikai no senki/monshou novels if they were available in english/german, sadly I do not know of any translation. Well I hope there will be a translation available some day. __________________ Folding@Home, Team Animesuki

2004-03-25, 19:55	Link #6
wao OK. Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: The Fields of High Attus Age: 34	In Singapore, the novels wouldn't really have a big fanbase unless it proved to be popular in Hong Kong or China or Taiwan, because then we'd import some of the novels... the Singaporean market for this stuff is really odd, it's like the target market for manga is maybe a bit for otaku-ish people, but also for casual readers in general. Manga is fairly popular among teens and kids, but only Chinese ones unfortunately because almost all the affordable manga is translated into Chinese (The english ones are way too expensive!). However, it's mostly manga that has got itself a name, most especially thing like Hana Yori Dango... the VERY popular and famous show by F4, Meteor Garden, was based on that so girls flocked to buy it. Novels are going to be much harder to market as not only are they rather texty, it also must have already gotten itself a name and it would be MUCH better if it was translated into English rather than Chinese. But will we ever see anyone doing? Almost possibly not. :\ Though I know there are some people out there that WOULD, like me, LOOOOOOVE to read the Juuni Kokki and Maria-sama ga Miteru novels (god, I'd die for one of those two in English here, my CHinese is pretty bad), but we're a bit lazy to translate. I also happen to know that if there was a translation of those novels and they were advertised a little, people might be interested and a fanbase could be built up. Those aren't bad novels, after all. __________________ Thanks for the fish

2004-03-27, 02:13	Link #16
AG3 Inactive ex-WoW addict Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Trondheim, Norway Age: 44	I'd definitely buy the Full Metal Panic novels, at least. But I'd likely do it AFTER watching the entire series. When you've seen the anime/manga first, you've got a clear visual picture of the characters, settings, the "flow" of the story. With that as a basis, enjoying the novel is easier, at least for me. Also, books that have movies made from them tend to have much more content than the movie adaption, so you risk getting hung up on everything that's missing in the movie if you watch it after reading the book. I'd rather be thrilled by everything that's new in the book by watching the movie first, that way I get more enjoyment. It's pretty logical really, saving (what I perceive to be) the best for last ^_^ The only concern I have about the novel is that FMP's very spontaneous humor might not be as enjoyable. I have both the ADV manga and the DVDs, and when I read the manga, I noticed it was less fun than the anime. Don't get me wrong, it WAS fun, but the quicker pace of the anime reinforced the spontaneity of the humor and action. I'd still buy it if I could get it in English. I can't get enough Full Metal Panic. I just hope ADV licenses FMP: Fumoffu and bring it over here soon, it's just one of those series one HAS to own. __________________ Is this why dubs suck?

2004-03-25, 18:16	Link #2
LinChoiSin Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: paris Age: 41	i'd definitely buy the novel from an anime that i liked, for exemple i bought a book about norse mythology after seeing "detective Loki" .The only problem is that most of the time i forget to check if the animes i'm watching are based on a novel.

2004-03-25, 19:25	Link #3
DrWho2002 Fushigi Mystery!! @_@ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Canada, eh?	If Juuni Kokki novels were readily available in English, I'd grab em up in a second... ^_^

2004-03-25, 19:54	Link #5
Kaoru Pirate Girl Nyuu Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: I go about the world, looking for people to glomp. Age: 39	That's true. Many people do seem to disregard novels that the anime was based off of. Companies would rather focus on marketing what the general demographic purchase or read more often, in which case comics and animated shows/movies over text-only books. Or perhaps the companies just aren't aware that a certain anime is based off a book, or there's just not enough demand to bring it overseas. shrugs Maybe it's because the majority enjoy manga and anime over reading. No offense to anyone, I'm not trying to say the general populace is illiterate. Although.... j/k! If I were to find any of my favorite anime-based novels available in my preferred language, I would certainly buy them as I would anime/manga, being a fan of the show and all. I would most likely want to read the Full Metal Panic! novels, since the whole complete story is told. Also I'd love to get my hands on the BoogiePop Phantom novels, as if the show wasn't weird enough, I heard the book was better. I think it comes down more towards preference. :P

2004-03-25, 23:59	Link #8
Kyuven Bishoujo Goodness Galore! Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Stuck Between Reality and Fantasy	add Dirty Pair to that list too if they translated the Full Metal Panic novels to english, i'd read them in a heartbeat, same with the .hack novels i myself recently picked up an Onegai Teacher "series synopsis" novel unfortunately, the layout and grammar seems a little childish the problem with translating novels is this: with anime you aren't given much linguistic lee-way with dialogue due to mouth movements and context manga gives a bit more lee-way, but is still limited based on space. Novels, however, are entirely text, you could change the entire grammar and writing style of the novel and no one would be the wiser.

2004-03-26, 01:03	Link #10
Yamano667 Banned Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: The moon :)	For me is better the anime because you see the characters and you hear the music ..in manga you miss that and if you dont watch the anime first, you might not be interested in the manga

2004-03-26, 01:07	Link #11
Kyuven Bishoujo Goodness Galore! Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Stuck Between Reality and Fantasy	we're talking about novels here novels leave it completely to your own imagination

2004-03-26, 02:59	Link #13
kj1980 Gomen asobase desuwa! Join Date: Nov 2003 Age: 43	スレage Yes. That is true. One reason that many of these animes that are based on novels are made are also for the reasons as said by Yamano above. A novel that is fairly popular will become animated so as to spurn interest for those who haven't read the novel yet. Which in itself is a good thing as well. "Pictures are worth a thousand words." "Pen and ink can open a whole new world." These two proverbs are interchangeable to each other. One may read the novel first and watch the anime to see the characters play and act it out on screen. One may also watch the anime first and read the novel later to see what was missing from the show. Whichever format or preference you may want to watch/read is totally up to you - but I do recommend that reading a novel sometime, anytime, would be definitely worth your while...especially if you love a series.

2004-03-26, 20:34	Link #15
Xie Member Join Date: Apr 2003	Books are my first true love and I'll read a book over watching a TV show or movie about the book any chance I get. In fact I'll often refuse to see a movie or TV show until I've had a chance to read the book it's based on (exception being when the TV/Movie script comes first). I was just thinking the other day what a shame it is that chances are I'll never read any of the books the manga/anime I love is based on (or many Japanese book period). I've always figured that the translation process would just be to time consuming to make it worth bringing most novels over and the companies aren't willing to risk losing the money. Plus, let's face it, American's aren't the most voracious of readers and I'm just not sure they would ever get a fan base. Oh well, it gives me some motivation to try and learn Japanese at least. Manga and Anime it doesn't bother me to wait to have it translated but since that will likely never happen with the novels I'd love to read I'm not left with many other choices. To bad I'm horrible at learning other languages

2004-03-27, 18:27	Link #19
Secca nya` Artist Join Date: Feb 2004	I actually kinda heavy readers myself. I forgot time when reading novels. I forgot to eat and sleep. Reading and walking on the street sometimes bumped into people or traffic pole. >.< So I was kinda touched when ROD TV came out, that show was portraying book lovers nicely. My only regret is I cannot read Japanese Kanji, so it would be nice if there are a translation of japanese novels specially anime.

2004-03-27, 22:32	Link #20
Fighter Volk Thanks sakurabatou @ LJ Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: NYC	I would definitely grab an english-translated copy of the Boogiepop Phantom novels. Would probably clear up a lot.