2010-08-12, 15:57 | Link #421 | |
Pedestrian
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Sweden
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Personally I've just finished Ben-to v04, which was as magnificent as always. I can't praise this series enough. I just love it so much, every damned page, every character, every illustration. It's filled with all the stuff you'll find in modern light novels, but it's executed with a fresh angle in the hands of a master. There's comedy and battle and romance and friendship and ambition and drama, and it's all balanced exquisitely. Every new book I read in the series, I can't help but worry that "it can't work this time too, it'll feel old and tired by now," but I'm surprised again and again at how great it always is. Sadly it doesn't seem very popular, and I'm torn between on the one hand wanting to share my joy at reading it with others, and on the other hand savouring the smug feeling of being able to enjoy a hidden gem. Before Ben-to, I tried to get through Shio no Machi, but it was so bad, and had such hideously ugly illustrations, that after three weeks and only managing 100 pages, I finally decided to abandon it as a lost cause. Life is too short to waste on books you can't stand reading.
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2010-08-12, 23:19 | Link #422 | |||
The Owl of Minerva
Join Date: Apr 2006
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Basically you can strip away the cover and the frontal colour pages and it will perfectly fit in the shelf of traditional literature (only one simple non-moe character illustration before each chapter). Somehow I have a soft spot for this kind of "border-line" light novels. The establishment of MW Bunko makes them even rarer than before: good for the public but bad for light novel buffs like me. Regardless, it is by no means anything like Sora no Kyoukai, which makes stuff abstract for the sake of sounding abstract. Just going through a few pages of SnK can burn out a good number of your brain cells, while Minerva can arouse your interest in liberal arts subjects. Quote:
Personally I love to share my love with other people. Good works deserve to be more widely recognized. Quote:
For Shio no Machi, the Kadokawa Bunko version comes with no illustration (just like the Sakuraba works they have accquired). There is also extra content added. But well just like you I would rather clear my backlog than struggle on stuff that I can't enjoy. Talking about hideous illustrations, you simply cannot beat the old school stuff in the 90s. An example is E.G. Combat, by Mizuhito Akiyama who is famous for his Iriya no Sora (perfect illustrations for that one though). Mind you the story is top-tier even by today's standard. But most will never know as they have already been scared away by the cover before they can pick it up.
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Last edited by Doraneko; 2010-08-13 at 01:53. |
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2010-09-12, 18:10 | Link #424 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
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Bah! Dead thread is dead. Golden Time has been out (along with Spice and Wolf 15, which is not the final volume) for a couple of days.
Wants! Sold out pretty quickly apparently. Story feels kinda =(. Guy A goes to college, Girl A tackles Guy A and is in love Guy B who is best friend to Guy A. Anyone bought/will buy this? |
2010-09-13, 00:15 | Link #425 | |
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Join Date: Jan 2008
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golden time? sounds average.... but anyway, I am not into an usual love story, you know with no magic or something different. so you can ignore my opinion I'll read spice wolf 15 today, after a vey very long wait. hope the climax wont be a cliffhanger |
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2010-09-13, 11:42 | Link #427 | |
Blooming on the mountain
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light....
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I have read Toradora (complete 10 vols.), 11 of 19 vols. of Zero no Tsukaima and 16 of 34 vols. of Maria-sama ga Miteru - all over on Baka Tsuki. Although I am grateful for the work they are doing over ther these are a drop in the bucket compared to the sheer volume that is available. One of the ones I was especially interested in have been the Mayo Neko Overrun novels, but no luck in finding translation attempts thus far (outside the anime and manga I mean).
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2010-09-13, 11:57 | Link #428 |
兄さんが望むなら...
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Ottawa, Canada
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For those that liked Mayoi Neko Overrun!, I highly recommend Papa no Iu Koto o Kikinasai!, also by Tomohiro Matsu. It's about a university student suddenly becoming the guardian of three young girls after their parents (their mother is his older sister) are presumed dead in a plane crash. He learns that taking care of kids is a lot harder than he imagined. I've read 3 volumes so far and it's a really heartwarming story, ranking among the top of those that I have read so far.
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2010-09-13, 12:14 | Link #429 | |
Blooming on the mountain
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light....
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Thanks for the recommendation - I will keep an eye out for any English translations thereof.
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2010-09-13, 12:54 | Link #430 | |
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Join Date: Jan 2008
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3 young girls as you mean an elementary school girls? I might as well search for it. |
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2010-09-13, 19:50 | Link #431 | |
兄さんが望むなら...
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Ottawa, Canada
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Well, joking aside (half truth since all light novels I read have an 'imouto' char...), the girls are Sora (14), Miu (10) and Hina (3). Sora calls him oniichan (since they're closer in age, and also due to a past event), Miu calls him ojisan (uncle) and Hina calls him oitan. There's a lot of character and relationship development. Well, I guess you could say Sora is the main girl, but I believe it's more like familial love or puppy love than anything else. He's interested in his senpai though in university, Raika... who ends up being more like a mother figure. Kinda. Spoiler for v3 Cover (Those are pads):
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2010-09-13, 21:12 | Link #432 | |
Pedestrian
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Sweden
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In the meantime, I've been "reading" Nekomonogatari, but I'm so disappointed in it that I keep playing Dragon Quest games instead. I've managed to squeeze in DQ 4, 5 and almost done with 6 in the few weeks I'm supposed to have been enjoying Nekomonogatari.
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2010-09-20, 04:22 | Link #433 |
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Join Date: Jan 2008
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@micchi; speaking about imouto related novel, I read baby princess just lately,it's about a guy who like any other main guy, is a lucky bastard who in one way have to stay with a girl. the problem is the girl have 18 others sisters. their ages each is from 0 to 18. lol. damn their parents...
it's like he have a new 14 imoutos and only finished SAO 5 yesterday. Kirito is a Jedi!! XD Last edited by AlaAlba; 2010-09-20 at 06:00. |
2010-09-20, 14:22 | Link #434 | |
兄さんが望むなら...
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Ottawa, Canada
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Too many chars usually means the story suffers though. What did you think of it?
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2010-09-21, 00:29 | Link #435 | |
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Join Date: Jan 2008
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It's quite nice, there are a hell lot of girls I have to go back to first page illustration almost everytime when the story shifted from one sister to another to know their looks (I always forget which are which). but the time I finished it I remembered almost all of them, though not all of them, thanks to their unique characters(or maybe thanks to the cute arts). |
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2010-10-11, 02:11 | Link #437 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
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2010-10-12, 10:29 | Link #438 |
Pedestrian
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Sweden
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Done with Nekomonogatari: Kuro. Yep, read it all. 305 pages, baby! In only two months! Even shorter, to be fair, more like, let's count, uh, 55 days! I am the master of novel reading.
I've never come across such a split story. Truly a book of two halves. And I really hated the first, which made it take so long. Chapters 1-5 (that's pages 1-160) work as a straight sequel to Nisemonogatari vol 2, where it seems like Nishio felt bad for short-changing Tsukihi, so decided he'd flesh out her character here instead. Which means it's chronologically fubar. And he knows it, so he's stuffed it full of irritating 4th wall breakage as well, with tons of references to the anime and other metajokes I personally loathe. I could go on a huge rant about how wrong this is, and how it doesn't fit in with the feel of the original Bakemonogatari series, but at the same time I feel like I have to concede that it's his series, and that he can do whatever he wants with it. But I still don't like the impression that he's mocking us. Well, me, personally, because I'm stupid enough to take offense. He finishes the first half off with a "thanks for your patience" and turns it over 100%. Suddenly we're in chapter 6-13 (pages 160-305), which is almost a straight sequel to Kizumonogatari, i.e. the book I wanted in the first place! The one I dreamt of! Why the hell did he have to fuck me over with 160 pages of bullshit? Ugh. Anyway, that half was nice. Tied up with the beginning of Bakemonogatari perfectly as well, damn it. I can't believe he keeps toying with my heart. Now I'll have to buy Shiro and be raped by his maliciousness again. And again. Evil genius indeed.
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2010-10-12, 11:03 | Link #439 | |
さっく♥ゆうきゃん♥ほそやん
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: in the land down under...
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His references (and puns) drive me up up the wall too, so I'm afraid of finally getting to the Bake series after everything else I've to read... hm...but Shiro hasn't even been listed on amazon Japan yet, has it?
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2010-10-12, 11:31 | Link #440 | |
Pedestrian
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Sweden
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