Index Novel Sales Figures and Discussion

[Chaos2Frozen]

The title "prince of light novels" had been used before.

There are various reasons why Index doesn't sell better than say haruhi or SAO. We covered some of them in the previous page l.

[Drkz]

Originally Posted by dniv

Why does it sell so little... It's pretty saddening in my opinion. This novel series really is incredibly well done.

I enjoy his series overall. I just feel index needs to be improved a way. Too many characters. Too little time to give each character a story. The flow just feels off. Especially with how well he writes his other series.

One piece is shounen. Its on a whole different category. Mainly it's manga and Jumps flagship. Its something someone can easily read with a fanbase of all ages worldwide. Index you need to literally read it or you'll get lost. The science can be a put off. Not all people want to read a novel about scientific or magical terms. It hurts the brain. And did i mention OP is weekly? I'm not that big of a OP fan, but if you go down to it. The plot has very little no no plot armor. Compared to naruto or bleach. OP is pretty well written ironically enough. Index is a novel. And a monthly serialization for the manga.

Index guy has enough money to last a life-time, but hes still pumping out stuff. Can you call it dedication or crazy? You decide .

Originally Posted by tsunade666

I don't understand the joke that when someone beat SAO in terms of sales. Haruhi is still the best seller per volume.

It was a joke with a close group of people. And the joke wasn't mainly about sales .

[Chaos2Frozen]

He's not rich.

Oda has a "lifetime of money", Kamachi on the other hand is just "doing very well for himself".

Kamachi's hobby is writing, he loves it.

[Goldzero]

how much did index light novels(to aru majutsu no index NT7) sold so far?

[Chaos2Frozen]

Last week's numbers haven't been released yet.

[Drkz]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

He's not rich.

Oda has a "lifetime of money", Kamachi on the other hand is just "doing very well for himself".

Kamachi's hobby is writing, he loves it.

Compared to most LN writers hes pretty rich. It seems most people don't realize that very few LN exceed 50k in sales. Rarely does a author manage to get two anime series that exceed 12 eps btw. Two season's of a spiff-off and a movie.

Why are we comparing One Piece and Index anyway? Its like comparing apples or oranges. One piece is a manga. Index is a light novel. That should be where the conversation ends.

[Birdway]

Its just a comparison.

If Oda is the best in manga.

Then Kamachi is his equal regarding Light novels.

[dniv]

Originally Posted by Birdway

Its just a comparison.

If Oda is the best in manga.

Then Kamachi is his equal regarding Light novels.

Sure, I'll buy this.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Drkz

Compared to most LN writers hes pretty rich. It seems most people don't realize that very few LN exceed 50k in sales. Rarely does a author manage to get two anime series that exceed 12 eps btw. Two season's of a spiff-off and a movie.

Why are we comparing One Piece and Index anyway? Its like comparing apples or oranges. One piece is a manga. Index is a light novel. That should be where the conversation ends.

You realize not all that money goes to him right? His royalties only gets him a percentage of what was made.

[Rovert10]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

You realize not all that money goes to him right? His royalties only gets him a percentage of what was made.

Doesn't erase the fact that he's certainly more well off than other authors.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Yes well-off, but not-

Originally Posted by Drkz

....enough money to last a life-time....

[Raisingfalcon]

Originally Posted by Birdway

Its just a comparison.

If Oda is the best in manga.

Then Kamachi is his equal regarding Light novels.

Im completely up for this xD

[Chaos2Frozen]

Note that this was before SAO had it's Anime.

[freeofgreed]

Originally Posted by Drkz

I enjoy his series overall. I just feel index needs to be improved a way. Too many characters. Too little time to give each character a story. The flow just feels off. Especially with how well he writes his other series.

I agree, My two biggest problems with Index is that, and how little "plot security" there is. By that I mean there is no end goal for Index. When Naruto becomes Hokage the series will end, when Luffy finds One Piece, the series will end. In Index, Touma has no end goal, he's simply going with the motions. And though there are tons of story arcs and overarching plot lines, there's no main storyline. As a result the audience has no way of gauging when the series might end, the series could literally end in the next volume or 20 volumes from now.

I feel this may be one of the reason why the sales were on the decline is because people don't know how long they'll have to invest in the series or if the series is even worth investing in at all, as there may not be any satisfaction from the hero achieving a goal he's had since the beginning.

[ultimatemegax]

Originally Posted by ultimatemegax

NT7 added 39,536 copies this week to total 131,311 copies sold in 10 days. This is only ~400 less than NT6 sold in 11 days, indicating that the decline seen from NT3-NT6 may be stopping

In "week 3", NT7 added 14,902 copies to total 146,213 thus far (17 days). This is ~800 more books than NT6 sold in its third week and it sold 145,845 copies in 18 days. Slightly more, though I'd put the sales about the same given the small difference (<400 copies) between them.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by ultimatemegax

In "week 3", NT7 added 14,902 copies to total 146,213 thus far (17 days). This is ~800 more books than NT6 sold in its third week and it sold 145,845 copies in 18 days. Slightly more, though I'd put the sales about the same given the small difference (<400 copies) between them.

I think it has more or less already found it's 'hardcore' fanbase, I wonder if any new Anime would give it another boost...?

[ultimatemegax]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

I think it has more or less already found it's 'hardcore' fanbase, I wonder if any new Anime would give it another boost...?

Doubtful at this point. One of the biggest increases in the amount printed for the Index LNs was actually the airing of the first Railgun anime series. If there's little bumps to be had from a currently airing anime and a movie out three months ago, there's little reason to believe the market isn't saturated at the moment. This likely means any anime would have to rely on disc sales more than an increase in novel sales to recoup costs.

[dniv]

Originally Posted by freeofgreed

I agree, My two biggest problems with Index is that, and how little "plot security" there is. By that I mean there is no end goal for Index. When Naruto becomes Hokage the series will end, when Luffy finds One Piece, the series will end. In Index, Touma has no end goal, he's simply going with the motions. And though there are tons of story arcs and overarching plot lines, there's no main storyline. As a result the audience has no way of gauging when the series might end, the series could literally end in the next volume or 20 volumes from now.

I feel this may be one of the reason why the sales were on the decline is because people don't know how long they'll have to invest in the series or if the series is even worth investing in at all, as there may not be any satisfaction from the hero achieving a goal he's had since the beginning.

I slightly disagree. I'm pretty sure the end goal of this series is actually doing two things:

These might be spoilers so I'm putting them in spoilers.

Spoiler:

1. Touma will unlock the full potential of IB, that will make it much more powerful than it already is as Terra and many others have already hinted.
2. Touma will defeat Aleister Crowley and prevent his plan from succeeding. In doing this, Academy City might crumble or the level 5's might band together to save it.
2.5 Touma will defeat Laura Stewart and the magic side. He will purify "God" the magic side and exorcise the "Devil" the science side and Aleister Crowley/Aiwass.

This is what I see happening. It has been hinted from the very beginning that this was exactly what the series was about. Everything has been related to these two things and these two questions have been surrounding everything that has been happening.

His name has constantly reminded us this anyway.

But, I think that Index having this freedom as it is makes it so much better. Having all of this potential lets us enjoy what is happening. When I know that a book is about to end, it ruins the surprise of the fact that it won't keep on going. But when I'm reading a series like this, what happens is much more surprising and drastic which lets me enjoy it more.

I wonder if at the end of the series Kamachi will reveal his identity. What if it turns out to be Oda with a fake background? JK.

[Goldzero]

atleast index is still one of the best selling light novels and NT7 is going to sell above 150k which would probably sell more then NT6 i believe. anyways i believe we should be grateful that index is still doing so well. while it may have loss a bit of popularity which every series tends to have the same problem in LN/manga or atleast most. i tihnk one of the main reasons to why index isn't getting any new readers is because of the fact that the story is to far ahead, which gives those who are a fan of this series well have lack of "motivation" to want to read which is kinda the same problem to many other series that are to far ahead as well in LN/manga.

[dniv]

Originally Posted by Goldzero

atleast index is still one of the best selling light novels and NT7 is going to sell above 150k which would probably sell more then NT6 i believe. anyways i believe we should be grateful that index is still doing so well. while it may have loss a bit of popularity which every series tends to have the same problem in LN/manga or atleast most. i tihnk one of the main reasons to why index isn't getting any new readers is because of the fact that the story is to far ahead, which gives those who are a fan of this series well have lack of "motivation" to want to read which is kinda the same problem to many other series that are to far ahead as well in LN/manga.

I'm pretty sure J.C. staff subtly let out in an interview yesterday that they are planning ahead for Railgun season 3 in doing Railgun S. Knowing this means we will probably see Index III and Railgun D (DD for Misaki) right after it in not too much time which should be nice. I feel like Index will be much more powerful after the first part of the main series is animated. When it is going to be animated, that will be really amazing. I'm really excited for this.