Animania

I regularly talk about the manga I read or the anime I watch, enough so that most people know I love both. However, most folks may not know that I also enjoy reading Japanese light novels (translated of course), or even had much experience with a light novel. I've posted several reviews on them so far, but many readers may be wondering, what exactly IS a light novel? According to Wikipedia, its basically a Japanese novel primarily aimed at teens and young adults, often serialized in magazines, and regularly adapted into anime or manga series, or visa versa. However, this doesn't really work well, for me, because the main reasons they are considered to be aimed at the demographic is not because of the lack of substance, but because they use furigana rather than kanji. In Japan, furigana is used for those who may not have a strong grasp of kanji yet, so basically furigana is what people learn first, then graduate into kanji. Light novels also tend to be more dialog driven, with shorter paragraphs than mainstream Japanese novels. In a way, they are an equivalent to a novella, often with manga style illustrations peppered through them.

What are some of the ones I'm reading or have read? Well, current series I'm reading include Ballad of a Shinigami, Blood+, Trinity Blood, Chibi Vampire, and Kino no Tabi, as well as the single volume Calling You. On the whole, I find them very interesting reads, and enjoy them as much or more than other novels. Occasionally some, particularly the yaoi stuff from DMP like Ai No Kusabi, suffers from such a hideous translation that its nearly unreadable. However, except for that Ai No Kusabi, all of the ones I've read have been pretty well done. In particular, Ballad of a Shinigami, published by Seven Seas, has been beautifully treated here. Most companies that bring over novels print them in the traditional paperback format, and convert all images to black and white except the cover. However, Seven Seas is releasing their novels in the original light novel format with all of the color pages include, and on higher quality paper, making for a gorgeous release. The only real draw back of light novels is that sometimes the English printers cancel series mid-release, as Tokyopop has done with Chibi Vampire and Kino no Tabi, leaving you without the entire series, which can be very frustrating. Still, I don't think that should deter you too much, as the more people who get into reading them, the more likely the companies are to keep printing rather than stopping.

So, would you consider reading a Japanese light novel? I hope so! Much like anime and manga, it runs the gamut of genres, story lines, etc. If you'd like to give a light novel a try, you can read a free seventeen page sample of Ballad of a Shinigami: Momo the Girl God of Death here (PDF), courtesy of Seven Seas. If you like what you read, the first two volumes are available for purchase at most major book stores or online. You can also check out my reviews of some of the first volumes of light novel series I've read, including Ballad of a Shinigami, by going on the "light novels" category.